The Chief Medical Officer says international travel will be one of the biggest Covid 19 risks in the run-up to Christmas.
Dr Tony Holohan has urged people to avoid non essential travel - and that includes Irish people abroad flying home for Christmas.
NPHET is hopeful all counties can move out of Level 5 restrictions on December 1st based on the current trends.
But Dr Holohan has raised concerns about the risk of international travel in the weeks ahead.
"That will be one of the most significant risks for us if we make the progress that we hope we can continue to make, and we find ourselves at the beginning of December with a much improved situation, even from where we are at the moment.
"If we do, one of the biggest risks in that will be the reimportation of disease through international travel."
