The Government should not impose a national lockdown if the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise.
That's according to the World Health Organisation which says the measure should only be used in extreme circumstances.
The WHO's Special Envoy on Covid-19 Dr David Nabarro said the organisation "really do not want lockdown to be used as a means of dealing with COVID unless things are really bad.
"Sometimes lockdown can be useful to give you time when you're working out what to do.
"What we're encouraging all countries to do is to build up their capacity to defend against this virus which means picking up cases quickly and responding locally with very targeted measures."
A new system that will see each county rated on a scale of 1 to 5, based on the handle it has on the virus, is set to be unveiled by Government next week.
Further restrictions on visits to households in Dublin may also be brought in, while pubs in the Capital may not be allowed to reopen alongside the rest of the country on September 21st.
The WHO's Special Envoy on Covid-19 Dr David Nabarro, says the new county-by-county system is a good approach.
Dr Nabarro said: "I love this system that you're developing in Ireland because you're really breaking it down to the county level and that's what we're encouraging everywhere.
"You are developing a graded system so if things are bad you can move to level five and then you can come out of it as quickly as possible.
