Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said that the number of coronavirus infections in Ireland is running into hundreds of thousands a week.
The Health Service Executive's Emergency Department Taskforce is asking that the imposition of public health measures be considered by the Government.
Mr Donnelly addressed a meeting of Fianna Fáil party members online last night, when he said that the number of positive cases of Covid-19 is likely to be hundreds of thousands a week.
Mr Donnelly said that while the daily number of PCR and antigen tests can reach 15,000 a day - the true figure is likely to be two or three times that.