Irish holidaymakers hoping that their favourite getaway destination will be included in the list of "green" travel countries may be left disappointed.
The government is expected to release a green list on Monday of "safe" countries to travel to during the coronavirus pandemic.
But the list is only expected to include countries that have similar or lower numbers of new cases of COVID-19 than Ireland, RTE reports.
At the moment, the number of new cases per 100,000 people is four in Ireland.
But if that is the criteria to be included on the list, holiday hotspots like Spain, France and Portugal will be excluded alongside Germany and the UK.
The countries with a lower number that are likely to be "green" include Norway, Finland, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Malta, Cyprus, and Latvia.
Other countries that could be at risk of exclusion are Italy, the Netherlands and Greece. The US is unlikely to be included also due to the rising number of cases in the country.
When the list is published on Monday, it is expected to be updated every two weeks.
Yesterday, health bosses confirmed a further 34 cases of the coronavirus in Ireland along with three more deaths.
Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, has urged people to continue to follow public health advice around hygiene and mask wearing.
He said: “COVID-19 is extremely infectious. It wants to spread, but it needs people to come into contact with each other to do so.
"All of the measures that we have been talking about for many months now are so important; physical distancing, hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, wearing a face covering where appropriate, avoiding large crowds - are all actions each of us can take to cut the chains of transmission and stop this virus in its tracks.
"It now depends on the actions we take as individuals, as to whether this virus gets an opportunity to spread through our communities.
"Continue to follow the public health advice, know the risks, know the symptoms and stay safe.”
