The Government has been warned that lifting restrictions too early could cause another wave of Covid-19 lasting into the summer.
Ministers were also told by public health officials that the State has not vaccinated enough people to take risks when it comes to easing lockdown.
The Cabinet coronavirus committee met for more than four hours on Monday and heard presentations from the HSE, the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) and the high-level vaccine taskforce.
Sources told The Irish Times that the mood in the meeting was “grim”, with those present told that while Covid-19 cases are stable now, altering public health measures could change this.
A Government source told the Times there was a view emerging that there is nowhere near enough people vaccinated in Ireland to take risks.
Ministers were told that if the State lost control of the disease now there could be a substantial wave of infections until the middle of the summer, whereas a cautious approach for the next four to eight weeks could cut the risk by between 50 and 70 per cent.
Ministers were told by the HSE that it would struggle to cope with another wave of disease if it hit.
Cabinet meeting
The Cabinet will meet today to discuss potentially easing restrictions on a gradual and phased basis, potentially week-by-week or fortnight-by-fortnight.
While talks were ongoing on Monday night, some in Government believe the Coalition has little room for manoeuvre and will have to heed warnings by Nphet.
If they do so, immediate reopening of the construction sector would be endangered, sources say.
The Taoiseach is to make an announcement following the Cabinet meeting.
There was one further Covid-related death reported on Monday.
Another 539 cases of the virus were also confirmed in the last 24-hour reporting period.
As of Tuesday morning, 331 coronavirus patients were in hospital, of whom 70 were in intensive care units.
There were 19 additional hospital admissions in the previous 24 hours.
The latest figures released by the HSE show a total of 786,569 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the Republic as of March 26th.
Of these, 567,023 were first doses and 219,546 were second doses.
