Kildare, Laois and Offaly have had almost half of the country's COVID-19 cases between them over the past fortnight.
It's now being reported that NPHET has recommended the introduction of localised restrictions in these three counties.
This would include the closure of cafés, restaurants, pubs, cinemas, gyms, theatres and museums as well as a ban on sporting events and non-essential travel, and the limiting of outdoor gatherings.
We were joined by Professor Ruairi Brugha, Professor of Public Health And Epidemiology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and Holly Cairns, Social Democrats agriculture spokesperson and TD for Cork South-West, to discuss whether this would fix the problem of meat plant outbreaks, and how it would affect the rest of the country.