There's a warning that reopening society too soon will lead to Covid-19 cases going "out of control".
The HSE's Chief Clinical Officer says the virus needs to be suppressed much further - otherwise, there could be a repeat of what happened in December.
It comes as there is speculation lockdown measures may stay in place until late April or May.
Dr Colm Henry says the country needs to maintain its compliance with restrictions:
''I don't think any of us, anybody here today wants to see a repeat of what happened in December where we go from such a rapidly improving position to one where cases are out of control. We've uncontrolled community transmission - and then we see a huge surge of activity into our hospitals.''
