LOCKDOWN in Ireland is unlikely to be lifted in early March as initially expected, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has warned.
Level 5 restrictions are set to be in place until March 5, at which point the Government will review the situation and decide on whether to extend, lower or drop the restrictions altogether.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme, Mr Donnelly said that in all likelihood, lockdown will continue beyond the deadline due to the presence of the UK variant of Covid-19.
He also insisted the Government's focus will still be on the amount of coronavirus cases, rather than how many people have been vaccinated when it comes to deciding whether or not to extend lockdown measures.
"We'll have to lead the public health advice at that point. Things are moving in the right direction in terms of the case numbers.
"But as Dr Holohan said last night, the rate of decrease is slowing and we're watching that very closely."
Minister Donnelly refused to say for sure that lockdown, as it is, will be extended beyond March 5, but all but confirmed the country won't simply be opening the day after.
"As we come to the 5th of March, which is when the measures have been extended to, I think to be honest [the decision] will be less around many people have been vaccinated and more to do with the progress of the disease and how much it has been suppressed in the community.
"It's probably too early to speculate on exactly what will happen in March. What we can say with some certainty is that everything would not be opening from the 6th of March with this UK variant.
"For the next five weeks we've got to focus on two things: Suppressing the virus, and that really means people staying at home.
"[And] we've got to focus on getting the vaccines in and getting them into people's arms as quickly as possible and then start looking at a controlled and careful reopening."
See More: Covid-19, Ireland, Lockdown, Stephen Donnelly
