The head of the HSE says next Monday will not be 'the single big moment' in the easing of coronavirus restrictions, and will instead be a 'minor step along the way'.
Under the roadmap published by the government, May 18th will mark the start of the first phase of restrictions being eased.
The planned measures include allowing people in sectors such as outdoor construction to return to work, as well as a reopening of garden centres and some other retail businesses.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) is meeting this morning - a day earlier than use - to consider what advice it will give on easing the restrictions from Monday.
Cabinet will then consider the proposals and make a decision tomorrow, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar telling the Dáil today that the Government is 'increasingly confident' they will be able to move to phase one in a few days.
Speaking this morning, HSE CEO Paul Reid stressed that phase one is merely one step along the way.
He explained: "This has been a very difficult few weeks for people, and you can already see some people are beginning to get less focused on it and more relaxed.
"We would have a concern that you would see a surge in people thinking the 18th [May] is a big single moment - it isn't a big single moment.
"The 18th is the not the single big moment - it's a minor step along the way."
He stressed that if the public 'stays with' health officials, there will be a continued suppression of the virus - saying that generally in the community it has been 'suppressed quite well'.
Testing plans
Meanwhile, the HSE says it is hoping turnaround times for a COVID-19 test will be three days from Monday.
The executive says it has been working to update its technology to automate results.
Latest figures show there have been 23,400 confirmed cases here since the outbreak began, with 1,497 people having lost their lives.
Health officials are now planning to have capacity for up to 15,000 tests a day from next week.
However, Mr Reid explained that it will take three days from reporting symptoms to getting a result.
He said: "We are dealing with a whole range of separate systems.
"We have had to - and we will continuously - automate the interfaces between those systems, so we can extract the data and publish results quicker."
