Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said it is impossible to say if there could be a lockdown in the future. He was speaking after the Government announced a series of new measures in a bid to curb a rise in Covid-19 cases.
Mr Donnelly said that although a lockdown cannot be ruled out, it is "not where we are" currently. However, he said, the National Public Health Emergency Team could make such a recommendation in the future and is carefully monitoring the situation.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the minister said that stark new modelling shows that if the country does not make changes there could be between 200 and 450 people in ICUs by Christmas week.