The National Public Emergency Team (NPHET) told Government that a full six-week Level 5 lockdown would see cases drop to around 50-100 per day ahead of the Christmas period, according to reports this morning.
In a recommendation letter to those in power last week, NPHET warned that failure to act now would see the 1,000 cases a day, that we've become used to in the last month, still being a norm just one week out before the festive period.
The Public Health body also admitted that despite the Level 5 lockdown and dramatic predicted fall in cases, they are forecast to slowly spike again to around 300 a day at the start of January.
The letter to Micheal Martin and Co was seen by The Irish Times and outlines that without a full lockdown, the disease would have spiralled out of control by Christmas.
It comes as Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien confirmed that the length of the Level 5 lockdown will be under review.
He said the six-week restrictions could be extended or even shortened depending on its success.
The Fianna Fail, Dublin Fingal TD admitted that six weeks was the "optimum time frame" and is what the Government plans on sticking to but that it will be "under review during the course of [Level 5 restrictions]".
The Minister was speaking ahead of plans today where he is expected to bring forward a memo outlining a ban on evictions for renters during this six-week period.
