WITHOUT moving to Level Five restrictions, the coronavirus situation in Ireland would have become "unmanageable" according to the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
On Monday, the Government agreed to NPHET's proposal to move the entire country to Level Five, despite rejecting the advice earlier this month.
The country will now effectively go back into full lockdown for six weeks as of midnight on Wednesday, a move that NPHET believe was more than necessary to contain the spread of the virus.
In a letter sent to the Cabinet on October 15, NPHET said that the six-week lockdown will help to reduce daily case numbers to around 50 by Christmas.
Yesterday, 1,031 cases of coronavirus were confirmed nationwide, and the only way to curb the spread and reduce it to manageable levels was to take drastic action.
According to the Irish Times, the letter also expresses concern "in relation to health system capacity" coming into winter, "which has traditionally been the most challenging for the system".
NPHET warned that hospitals will have great difficulty meeting demand over the coming weeks, and so extreme measures needed to be taken to avoid a catastrophe.
"NPHET firmly believes that an escalation to Level 5 is inevitable and that the earlier this proactive action is taken, the greater chance there is of quickly reversing the current trajectory," the letter read.
Level Five restrictions will now be in place for six weeks, but a review will be taken of the situation after four weeks.
