He also said that Level 3 “hasn’t worked”.
Simon Harris has confirmed that new nationwide restrictions will be brought in on Monday.
Speaking on This Week In Politics on Sunday morning, Harris said that a county-by-county approach will not work, and that the government “will act decisively tomorrow”.
Harris made this announcement, despite no longer being Minister for Health and now being Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
He said: “The action will be decisive, and the action will be right across the country, it will be nationwide action. It’s clear now that the virus is at such a level within all our communities, the county-by-county approach will not be sufficient.
“Tomorrow we will have to bring in more restrictions. Level 3 has not worked, in terms of getting the virus to where it needs to get to.”
Harris also spoke about things that happened during the last lockdown, including figures showing that domestic violence increased by 33%.
He said that these things all must be taken into account.
He added: “If we’re asking people to come on board for a difficult few weeks, we have to know where we’re trying to get to, and a common understanding of what that success looks like.”
Minister for Higher Education @SimonHarrisTD says that the Government will take decisive, nationwide action tomorrow to combat #COVID19 #rtetwip pic.twitter.com/MuQZk71lYZ
— The Week in Politics (@rtetwip) October 18, 2020
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