He believes a traditional Christmas could hinder the efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
An Irish immunologist thinks we should celebrate Christmas at the end of January to further reduce the number of Covid 19 cases.
We’re now halfway into Level 5 restrictions with the Chief Medical Officer describing the improvement in the profile of the virus as encouraging.
The country's 14-day incidence rate is down by 51 per cent, when compared with the previous two weeks.
But Associate Professor at Trinity College, Tomás Ryan, believes a traditional Christmas could hinder our progress.
''One way of looking at this would be to delay Christmas until the end of January and have a real Christmas and a real party then'', Mr Ryan said.
''But the issue isn't just about lockdown, lockdown is the last line of defense.
''We've learned now that most of the Covid-19 that's in Ireland today was not a variant that was here before the summer, most of it came from international travel''.
Incidence rate.
Meanwhile, the country's 14-day incidence rate is estimated to be half of its peak on October 25th.
It is now 151 - down from 309 after 270 new cases of the virus were reported yesterday, as well as 16 additional deaths.
Donegal, Limerick and Meath have the highest rates in the country, while Leitrim, Wexford and Wicklow have the lowest.
