People need to adhere to COVID-19 public health guidance and not wait for "restrictions and orders from on high" to control the spread of the virus.
That's according to Dr Catherine Motherway, Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at University Hospital Limerick.
It comes as 484 new cases of the virus were confirmed yesterday, along with three additional deaths.
The 14-day incidence rate has jumped to 94.2 per 100,000 population while there are 200 COVID-19 patients in Irish hospitals.
Restrictions for the Christmas period are being eased from today, with people permitted to travel outside their county and three different households can meet indoors.
Meanwhile, NPHET is recommending new restrictions be introduced before the end of the year, with the Government due to consider the advice on Tuesday.
Speaking on Breakfast Briefing with Shane Beatty, Dr Motherway said it is understandable that the rise in coronavirus cases is a worry for public health officials.
She said: "To be fair to Cabinet, they will have to give businesses warning about what they're about to do.
"But equally, everyone in this country knows what to do.
"People need to listen now to the guidance and not wait for restrictions and orders that are going to come from on high.
"We can all wash our hands, we can all keep our distance, we can all do what we need to do."
She added that if there is an "unmitigated transmission" of the virus, this will lead to rising case numbers and deaths and an increase in the R number.
With just one week until Christmas Day, Dr Motherway said "we've always known that as people move more the cases will rise".
She said: "I can understand why NPHET are worried, everybody would be worried about those numbers.
"We know that these cases, if we keep meeting each other, they will rise and rise and deaths will follow, hospital admissions will follow.
Hospitals will "respond to what is thrown at them", she added, but what we need to do is adhere to public health guidelines.
"We all have to plan a very different Christmas if we don't want to see disease and death in the country.
Dr Motherway said ICUs in Ireland are "resilient" and "ready" should there be a surge in admissions in the coming weeks.
She said: "The ICUs are as ready as they can be for what will be thrown at them.
"But if we look north of the border or in Europe, we know that unmitigated transmission of this virus will overwhelm any healthcare system."
