Paschal Donohoe has insisted there is not enough evidence of a long-term drop in Covid-19 transmission for Ireland to exit Level Five early.
But in a blow to businesses and households around the country – many of whom are hoping the spread of the virus drops enough to allow for an early exit from Level Five – he said the Government hasn't seen enough evidence of a stabilisation to make a call on the issue. "Before I reach a view on that, and before Cabinet reaches a decision on it, we would need to see the spread of Covid-19 within our country at a low rate for a more sustained period of time," he told Claire Byrne on RTE.
But he hailed the impact of Level Five on the spread of the virus across Ireland, and pointed out that several other European countries – including France, Germany and the UK – "have now moved to their equivalent of Level Five".
Northern Ireland re-opening 13th Nov Wales re-opening 9th Nov Scotland not locked down Our government are blind