By Vivienne Clarke
Public health expert Professor Anthony Staines has said that localised restrictions in Dublin and Limerick would not be effective.
A national response was required as the problem was not going to be limited to just those two areas, he said.
At present, the country’s response is “trailing behind the virus” and is not catching up. “The virus is ahead of us.”
Prof Staines said there was nothing that the Government or NPHET could do that would reduce the risk of transmission fast enough, it was now up to the Irish people to do everything they could to suppress the virus – maintaining social distancing, washing hands and wearing a mask.
National plan
Keeping schools open and reopening universities remained the national priority, he said and this could only happen if rates of transmission in the community were brought down.
There remained a risk that the virus would escape suppression again so there was a need for an overall national plan "this is what we are going to do and this is where we are going," he said.
According to The Irish Times, the Government is considering movement restrictions similar to the ones in place in Glasgow. This would see people in Dublin and Limerick banned from visiting each other's homes.
Household meetings are understood to be the driving factor in a spike in cases in the Scottish city.
Pubs have remained open in Glasgow while people are still permitted to meet outdoors.
