"We know that won't be reflected in a fall in case numbers until the first or second week in January."

The number of cases of Covid-19 in Ireland are expected to continue to rise until the new year and it's likely restrictions will be extended after the review on 12 January, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said. The Government reintroduced Level 5 restrictions last week following a rapid increase in case numbers and promised a review of the restrictions on 12 January. Speaking on Morning Ireland on Monday, Varadkar said that he expects to see case numbers continue to climb until the new year and indicated that restrictions will be extended. "The Level 5 restrictions are really only coming into effect over the next couple of days," he said. "We know that won't be reflected in a fall in case numbers until the first or second week in January." He added: “Given that the restrictions are only coming in now, I don’t think we would start to see numbers fall until the first or second week in January, therefore they would not have fallen enough by 12 January [to lower restrictions]." Varadkar said the vaccine would change the situation in Ireland in the future when the most vulnerable in society and healthcare workers could be inoculated. He indicated the importance of "sustainable" restrictions would be in place over the coming months rather than current cycle of regularly imposing and lifting restrictions. "That also needs to be reflected in the kind of restrictions that we put in place because they need to be sustainable for a prolonged period if they're not just for three or four weeks," he said.