Ireland could see more Covid restrictions introduced later this week - with Tanaiste Leo Varadkar saying he "expects" NPHET to recommend a tightening before Christmas.
And a NPHET member has now warned that anyone who tests positive after Friday will need to be in isolation on Christmas Day.
Dr Mary Favier, NPHET member and the COVID lead for the Irish College of General Practitioner, spoke on Morning Ireland about the outlook for the next 10 days.
With the Omicron variant already responsible for 14% of daily cases, the surge in infections is set to continue.
Dr Favier explained: "People must remember something - if they have a COVID-positive test tomorrow, they are now in self-isolation on Christmas Day.
"So it is our personal behaviours in the next few days that will make a difference to how we manage Christmas and how we manage the next surge."
Her comments came just hours before Mr Varadkar told Newstalk that he "expects" NPHET to recommend further restrictions before Christmas.
He said: “I would expect more recommendations around the management of close contacts, recommendations to decrease the amount of social mixing, and recommendations around international travel.”
“If it is the case restrictions are required to protect life and public health… then that’s what we will do.”
On Tuesday night, the Taoiseach, Tanaiste and Green Party leader met with NPHET members including Professor Philip Nolan and the CMO Dr Tony Holohan.
NPHET is set to hold crunch talks on Thursday evening, before guiding the Government over the weekend.
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