An immunology expert has said it is more important that the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control on a long-term basis rather than in time to save Christmas.
Kingston Mills, Professor of experimental immunology at Trinity College Dublin, said the idea of implementing Level 5 restrictions just so the festive season can be saved is "ridiculous".
He said that we could be back in a lockdown in January if the usual Christmas activities are allowed to go ahead.
For the first time since July, Ireland's reproduction number, the rate at which COVID-19 spreads, has dropped below 1, meaning the virus is on the decline.
The Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said yesterday that the rate has dropped to between 0.7 and 0.9, and that Level 5 restrictions have helped the 14-day incidence rate of the virus fall to 228 cases per 100,000 population.
It comes as 444 new coronavirus cases were announced yesterday evening alongside eight further deaths.
Professor Mills told Newstalk Breakfast that we are on track to come out of lockdown as scheduled in December.
He said: "Once [the R rate] is above 1 you're going to see growth of the infection, when it gets below 1 you're going to see declining in numbers.
"The big issue is can it go down further, we're still seeing hundreds of cases a day, which is not where we'd like to be.
"I think some of the Level 5 restrictions are already having an impact because we're seeing a reduction across the whole country.
"I think the number of hospitalisations takes a longer period to reflect changes to restrictions.
"Hopefully in two weeks or so, we'll see reductions in numbers hospitalised, which is probably more of a key factor than the number of positive tests.
Professor Mills said that while he "can't predict the policy of the government", he believes the country is in a position to exit the Level 5 restrictions next month.
He said: "It's great, we're actually doing better than most countries in Europe now, I think there's only five countries better than us in terms of cases per hundred thousand.
"I think the key issue for me is that while we've done a great job getting those numbers down we've got to keep them down.
"In order to do that we need to ensure when and if the restrictions are eased, we don't go back to parties and travel."
Christmas
Professor Mills added that he found it "disheartening" that Christmas is being used as a goal to aim for in getting the numbers down.
He said: "The idea that we should all be locked up for five weeks to save Christmas is ridiculous.
"It's more important to get the pandemic under control, get the economy back to working again, and get normal life back again.
"It is realistic, the vaccine will certainly help it, but prior to the vaccine, we have to rely on other measures.
"It could be another year before the general population is vaccinated.
"We need to put in place measures that are long-term and not short-term to control the numbers.
He added: "If we allow the numbers to resurrect in mid-December, were going to be back to square one.
"Who wants to be back in lockdown in January even if you had a Christmas with all the activities that go along with it.
"I certainly would prefer to have no more lockdowns and have life back to normal on a long-term basis."
