It is two weeks since the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan first urged the Government to move the entire country on to Level 5 restrictions in order to suppress the second wave Covid-19 infections.
On that occasion the advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) was that the pace with which the virus was then spreading had accelerated, that all the metrics related to the virus had deteriorated.
His letter clearly stated that immediately moving the entire country up to Level 5 restrictions (from Level 2 at the time) would be the last chance to suppress the virus while keeping schools and colleges open, protecting the most vulnerable, and maintaining non-Covid-19 health services.