"A graduated approach will not have sufficient or timely impact on the trajectory and scale of the disease and will not protect the core priorities."

Tony Holohan has written a letter to the Irish Government saying that at this stage, a graduated approach to dealing with Covid-19 won't work. The letter states that Holohan and NPHET believe that Ireland should be going into Level 5, as opposed to Level 3. It also says that there has been 254 new cases among people aged 65+ in the past week, and that if current trends continue, we can expect to see 1,600-2,300 new cases per day by 7 November. After advising that we go into Level 5, Holohan wrote: "The NPHET is sensitive to the impact that these measures will have on individuals, families, communities, business and organisations. "But it firmly believes that taking this action proactively for four weeks is the only opportunity to get this disease back under control while keeping schools open, keeping health services for non-Covid activity operational and protecting the medically and societally vulnerable." He said that: "A graduated approach will not have sufficient or timely impact on the trajectory and scale of the disease and will not protect the core priorities. A gradual approach would, ultimately, result in Level 5 measures as mitigation." Holohan's letter can be read in full here, and here is what Level 3 entails.