Government is expected to make a significant announcement around lunch time.
Cabinet is meeting to discuss a potential move to back Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions.
A ban on inter-county travel from St Stephen's Day is among the proposals as well as the closure of restaurants and pubs from Christmas Eve.
Last night, the Chief Medical Officer advised people to stay at home as much as they can and limit their contacts over the coming days to protect elderly and vulnerable relatives.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly says the country is in a very serious situation.
''Our public health doctors, our infectious disease doctors are deeply concerned about how quickly the virus has spread in the last two week and they're deeply concerned about the variant'', he said.
''The Chief Medical Officer wrote to me yesterday and recommended, as has been widely reported, that we move to level 5, so that's what we'll be considering this morning''.
It's expected government will make a significant announcement at 12:30 today.
