Not all public bodies waited until early March to start planning for Covid-19. In Irish Water/Ervia, they started testing in late January and early February on how they would cope if they had to work remotely during an outbreak in Ireland:

Their crisis management team started making preparations in late January and were officially "stood up" on February 3 according to records that have been released under FOI:

Since then, staff have been given regular updates and advice on working from home. Here's their suggestions for managers on remote working and understanding that all staff have different responsibilities:

These updates began on January 24 when staff were advised the "pandemic response plan" was in place and that preliminary steps were already being taken to ensure Ervia/Irish Water was ready for the challenges that lay ahead:

Staff have also been encouraged to "limit social media use" and keep a healthy level of skepticism for what they read online. They should make sure to take their breaks to disconnect, and do their best to take care of their physical/mental health:

Extract from the official advice that issued after the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed at a school in Dublin:

In mid-March, they confirmed to employees that five members of staff had tested positive. None of them had visited a work site while another group were self-isolating. This was the last update that provided individual staff numbers in this way:

Records obtained via @RightToKnowIE and published here in the public interest. For more on what we do, visit http://www.righttoknow.ie