A top health chief has warned that Ireland will experience thousands of cases, stricter and longer lockdowns and a dreaded third wave of the virus if we open up the country on December 1.
Dr Tomás Ryan has said that the health system will be put under serious pressure over the festive period as the government discuss the possibility of Level 3 which would start next week.
The Associate Professor in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College said we should not "take out feet off the brakes" at the start of December.
He said: "We're going to have thousands of cases and we know our public health infrastructure cannot suppress this.
"If we open up on December 1st, we are admitting that the only way we can respond to this is by prolonged lockdowns, further lockdowns in January and beyond that.
"My view, and the view of my colleagues, is that we have invested heavily in restrictions so far and we need to consider, I don't like using the 'l' word, lockdown, as an investment."
The health expert has warned that easing restrictions on December 1 will cause a 'third lockdown and third virus wave' in January.
He continued: "The concern is that if we squander that investment over a concentrated couple of weeks of activity, we're going to be not only increasing the health and mortality risks and the number of people getting infected, but more than that, we're going to be creating more restrictions for us."
He said: "Just after New Year's, we're going to be accelerating a third wave, which we don't want to have, we would rather prevent a third wave, and prevent a third lockdown."
