This was among the strangest of many strange weeks during the pandemic. As journalists returned to the familiarity of the Department of Health briefing room, after a very long break, there was a grand sense of déjà vu in abundance.
No one wanted to be there and no one expected to be back, including the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan, had only returned from a break abroad three days earlier.
He was landing into a changed environment quite different to before he left. Everyone had expected NPHET to be disbanded in its current form by now, but events have changed that.