Senior government ministers will meet today to consider closing schools until the end of the month.
The cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 will discuss the proposal before a final decision is made tomorrow.
It comes as 6,110 new cases of the virus were confirmed last night, the highest since the pandemic began, 55 cases in Clare, with 6 further deaths across the country.
The Chief Medical Officer says the country “can’t cope” with the current levels of the disease.
Dr Tony Holohan says it’s posing a risk to keeping schools open.
NPHET says the levels of Covid-19 in the community is now higher than the peak of the first wave last spring.
The 14-day incidence is now 582 per 100 thousand – but it’s estimated to be as high as 800.
It’s due to thousands of new cases which haven’t been reported yet because of an IT system backlog.
Professor Philip Nolan, chair of NPHET’s modelling advisory group, says the levels of the virus are rising rapidly.
