Will explain the #COVID19 plan here.

You'll have different levels/grades.

"Good" or controlled outbreak.
"Severe" or rapidly spreading outbreak.

Based on where your region/county is on that scale, that will dictate the restrictions in place.

@VirginMediaNews

Where your area is on that to scale will be determined by the 14-day incidence rate of #COVID19 cases and factors like hospital and ICU admissions. (The individual case numbers in a county on a given day are not the key factor.)

The plan sets out what restrictions you can expect on any given level across headings like:

How many people are allowed at indoor gatherings?
What businesses should open/close?
How many people can attend sporting events?
What travel restrictions will be in place?

The idea of the plan is to give people are clear idea of

How widely #COVID19 is spreading in their area/county/region/the country.
What restrictions are currently in place.
What restrictions will be in place if things improve/get worse.

The plan will be published after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

International travel is also a key consideration and will feature in the plan.

It's worth remembering that the Government is quite conscious of flagging confidence in their handling of the situation and of growing fatigue with restrictions -> It's seen as something that needs to win back public support and something to rally the public.

Key challenges have been talked about already. The HSE is preparing itself for its toughest winter.

Testing capacity and ability to meet demand will be critical.

Calls have already been made for the plan to be proofed for older people. 6 months of winter is a long time

What about Dublin? Why didn't the Govt put in the household visitor restrictions immediately?

The soundings from Govt is that they didn't want to muddy the water or mix messages. The view is - it'll be part of the plan and discussed fully at Cabinet.

More on the plan and other news bits http://instagram.com/newschambers .