Dr. Tony Holohan:

I think we are. It has never been our advice not to hug your granny or whatever. The measures people have been asked to take have related to cutting down on social contact between people who are vulnerable and others who might infect them. People were asked to stay apart from one another over the past two years.

This has limited many of these opportunities. People can now conduct sensible risk assessment for themselves on their own individual risk. They should ask themselves whether they have symptoms, whether they are properly boosted, whether the people they are meeting are vulnerable, what are the circumstances in which they are meeting and whether it is indoors and well ventilated, whether they are using face masks appropriately when recommended, and whether they are using hand sanitiser and so on. When people are following the recommendations and interactions are taking place between people who are not symptomatic, we have not said they should not be hugging. Interactions between grandchildren and grandparents are important for all sorts of reasons. It is not that there will be a day when we say it is okay to hug grandchildren again. If people are following all of the basic public health advice and doing everything they can to limit the risk of transmission then it is appropriate in that context for people to consider those kinds of interactions as part of how they live their lives. It is important that we get back to these basic measures and interactions between people. Common sense will have to apply. If one of the grandchildren has a runny nose, they should stay away that day. It is these basic measures we are trying to promote for the whole population. If people can observe these basic measures I see no reason people should not resume this type of interaction. It is perfectly normal, natural and understandable between grandparents and grandchildren.