An announcement is expected on Friday.

Ireland’s Level 5 restrictions will be lifted on December 1st, but the Government has yet to decide how to control the spread of coronavirus during the most social month of the year.

A further 252 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in the past 24 hours, with no additional deaths from the disease.

Of the new cases, 88 were in Dublin, with 26 in Cork, 21 in Kilkenny, 16 in Louth and 16 in Mayo with 85 spread across another 20 counties. 65% are under 45 and the median age is 34 years old.

NPHET will discuss the next steps when they meet on Thursday, with Taoiseach Micheal Martin expected to make a formal announcement on the plan at the end of the week. With the Late Late Toy Show set to air at 9.35pm on Friday, the Taoiseach has indicated that any address would be made beforehand so as not to interrupt the show for thousands of children around the country.

It is highly likely the Government will settle on Level 3 restrictions for most of the month, with the potential to relax the advice a little to allow people to spend Christmas together.

Worries over attitudes to Covid-19

Last night, Dr Holohan said new research by Amárach showed that Irish people are less worried about Covid-19 no than we were back in July.

The study showed that while one-third of people surveyed believe the worst impact of coronavirus is yet to come, 28% of people in Ireland believe the worst is over.

“It’s not that we want people to be worried but we do think there is a correlation between people’s level of concern and ultimately the behaviours that people exhibit.” Dr Holohan told a media briefing.

“It can lead us to drop our guard from time to time in ways that we may not intend to.”