There can be no return to a nationwide lockdown. That was the underlying message from the Taoiseach earlier, as he visited Nagle Community College in his home constituency of Cork South-Central. "We want to protect lives, we also want to protect livelihoods," Micheál Martin told reporters after his tour of the classrooms, science labs and computer rooms which have been kitted out with screens in preparation for the return of pupils.
He said the Government is "intervening early enough as numbers are going up, to prevent more significant action later." A second lockdown is something that would be strongly resisted by Cabinet.