Prospect of restaurants reopening for indoor dining becoming less likely

An immunovirology expert says it's looking less and less likely that indoor dining will reopen on July 5th.

NPHET will meet next week to discuss the risk posed by the delta variant before making recommendations about the reopening to Government. The variant now accounts for an estimated 20 per cent of cases here, with the HSE warning that figure is likely to increase.

Professor of Immunovirology at UCC Liam Fanning says based on NPHET's cautious approach in the past, he's not optimistic about dining indoors next month.