Health experts have backed calls for face masks to be made mandatory in supermarkets as well as public transport.
It comes as Cabinet is set to consider new rules which would make it an offence to not wear face coverings while on public transport.
However, it has renewed calls for similar measures to be introduced for other indoor settings such as supermarkets.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, the HSE's chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said it could be a useful measure.
He said: "Society at large and people right across the country embraced social distancing.
"We've seen the really positive benefits of that for Ireland, and for the way the curve was flattened.
"We don't seem to have embraced the masks as well - perhaps it's culture, perhaps it's embarrassment... we know in the far east, for example, there's a longer tradition in wearing masks as a means of prevention."
Dr Henry said face coverings in settings such as supermarket needs to be part of a broader package of measures, including hand-washing and other hygiene practices.
However, he added: "I would certainly see a very good argument supporting the mandatory use of masks in those settings."
Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology at Trinity College Dublin, also voiced his support for such measures.
He said: "Somebody said that it was 41% [wearing masks] - in my view it's nothing like 41%.
"I'm very often the only person wearing a mask in the supermarket - one or two others perhaps. I'd say it's less than 5% of people who are wearing masks."
Prof Mills said it's particularly important to introduce face coverings for public transport, but also flights when they resume.
