Anthony Staines, professor of health systems at DCU, said schools had no affect on yesterday's 217 confirmed Covid-19 cases, the highest in three months.
Prof Staines said "the effect won't be visible for five to ten days but the more transmission there is in the community, the harder it is to keep the schools open and I thin it's a very high priority for all of us to keep schools open and to keep them working uninterrupted."
Dublin was the worst hit county with a total of 103 cases. Elsewhere there were five cases in Kildare, 17 in Limerick, 17 in Tipperary, seven in Waterford, seven in Wicklow, six in Clare, five in Louth and the remaining 30 were located in Carlow, Cavan, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kilkenny, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Westmeath and Wexford.
Acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn says while the number of cases is substantial, the five day moving average remains relatively stable at 115 cases per day.
Prof Staines also said health officials need to communicate better with younger people about the dangers of Covid-19.
They don't get this.
"I don't think in any way maliciously or malevolently, but out of genuine failure to understand what's going on, because the messages haven't really been targeted at them [young people]. They don't get his," he said.
"There is certainly a cohort of people who really don't read newspapers and don't listen to radio very much. We have to figure out ways of reaching them where they are, that's a practical issue for NPHET and for the Government to overcome over the next few days."
