MINISTER for Higher Education Simon Harris has warned that further restrictions are on the way as Ireland grapples with a recent surge in Covid-19 cases.
On his way to a Cabinet meeting this morning, Mr Harris told reporters that everything must be done in order to save as many lives as possible and that this must be the Government's priority.
"We are now at a point now where it is so dangerous and so worrying, life and health has to come above everything else," he said.
The Covid-19 sub-committee met yesterday, while a full Cabinet meeting is set for today to sign off on an increase to public health measures, which is expected to include the closure of schools across Ireland, as well as the closure of the construction sector.
"Every single decision we make today has to be about the lives of our people, how we keep people alive and quite frankly, how do we keep them alive long enough to give them the vaccination," Harris added.
As well as schools and construction closing, it's understood that a new requirement for travellers arriving in Ireland from the UK and South Africa - where recent new strains of Covid-19 have been running rampant - to produce a 'not detected' PCR test result at least 72 hours before their journey is being considered.
It comes after reports that 25% of new Covid-19 cases in Ireland were that of the more virulent UK variant of the virus, rather than just 10% as previously suggested.
