Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said that the removal of Covid-19 restrictions will go ahead on October 22nd unless there was "compelling evidence" not to do so.

Speaking on RTÉ radio's News at One, Mr Coveney said that the Government would listen to advice from the experts before finalising any decision

Responding to concerns about rising positivity rates, the Minister said that the chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan, senior Nphet members and civil servants were assessing the situation in hospitals, ICUs and in the community.

Hospital Report

“It is clear that this pandemic is not over. We still have a lot of Covid in the community”.

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While the successful vaccination programme had provided a high level of protection, it did not mean that people could let down their guard, he warned.

It comes as a further 1,466 cases of Covid-19 was recorded in the State on Tuesday as health officials warned of a rising number of people with the virus being admitted in a serious condition to hospital.

As of 8am on Tuesday, 402 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, of which 73 were in intensive care.

The HSE revealed the positivity rate for Covid-19 in the community had risen to 10 per cent, with counties Kerry and Waterford reporting rates of up to 15 per cent and a rate of 13 per cent in the border counties Monaghan and Donegal. The positivity rate measures the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that return positive.