Dublin, Jul 7 (IANS): Restrictions on international travellers to Ireland will remain in place until at least July 20, according to RTE, the national radio and TV broadcaster.

The RTE report on Monday quoted Prime Minister Micheal Martin as saying that a "green list" of countries with virus levels similar to or lower than Ireland will be published by the government on July 20, reports Xinhua news agency.

On July 20,the country is scheduled to move into the fourth phase in lifting the COVID-19 restrictions imposed since the late March.

Following the publication of the green list, the restrictions on visitors from those countries on the list will be eased, Martin told a press briefing held earlier in the day.

The green list will be reviewed on a two-week basis, he added.

Ireland had earlier announced that it plans to allow people from countries on the "green list" to visit the country starting from July 9 without requiring them to practice a 14-day self-isolation.

The postponement of the plan is due to the government's concern that an increase in the imported cases of COVID-19 could lead to a second wave of the disease in the country, said the

Earlier last week, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly told local media that COVID-19 cases related to international travel jumped to 17 per cent of the country's total in the last few weeks from just 2 per cent in the previous few months.