"Incidence is falling but remains high and is currently four times higher than in early December 2020 and 100 times higher than July 2020."
Ireland is "on track" for cases of Covid-19 to reduce to 200-400 a day by March, according to deputy Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn.
In a letter addressed to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, Glynn said that while incidence of the virus is falling across Ireland, it is still "four times higher than in early December 2020 and 100 times higher than July 2020".
"Our model projections show that if we can maintain a reproduction number between 0.5 and 0.9 for the coming weeks, we remain on track to have 200-400 cases per day by 1 March 2021, and 100-300 cases per day by 15 March 2021," the letter reads.
He also said that the British variant is now dominant in Ireland, and that our situation remains fragile as a result.
The letter, which is dated 11 February, states that there are 32 open food production/processing Covid outbreaks – two of which are responsible for more than 100 cases each.
Glynn concluded: "We are maintaining an extraordinary effort but still we have a long way to go."
These projections were released just hours after it was announced that Norma Foley is
planning to reopen schools across the country from 1 March onward, while Ireland may still have 400 new cases per day.
It is understood that students with additional needs and Leaving Certificate students will be the top priority in any return to school.
