Gardaí and local councils may be asked to close public places like beaches, parks and caravan parks where social distancing is not being practiced to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The National Public Health Emergency Team is considering the proposals today, Monday.
There have been large gatherings of people at beaches, parks and walking routes throughout the country since Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced stringent measures to deal with the threat of Coronavirus.
These gatherings increased over the weekend due to particularly fine spring weather, prompting fears that some people were inadvertently spreading COVID-19.
Some public places may now be banned to mitigate that threat.
The emergency team is also likely to extend current measures due to be in place until Sunday, March 29. Thus, the restrictions on mass gatherings and the closure of schools will extend into April.
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There have now been 906 cases of Coronavirus in Ireland and four deaths since the first case was diagnosed on February 29.
Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan said that most people in Ireland are contracting COVID-19 from a family member, rather than people in the community.
However, there is a significant backlog of people awaiting a test to see if they have the virus. The Health Service Executive (HSE) said on Sunday that up to 40,000 people are waiting on tests and that the average wait for a test is about five days.
HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid said that 40,000 test kits are being distributed presently and that another 20,000 kits will be available by Wednesday.
The HSE has placed an order for 11 million face masks, 1 million goggles and 400,000 goggles, amid fears that hospitals across the country will run out of protective equipment.
Aer Lingus is to air-freight the order, which amounts to enough supplies for 13 normal years, from China to Ireland shortly.
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