77 more deaths; 401 new cases
687 people have now died from Coronavirus in Ireland – an increase of 77 from yesterday.
While there has been a total of 401 new cases of Coronavirus have been diagnosed in Ireland today.
This is an increase on the 15,611 cases from yesterday and takes the overall total to 15,652.
You can read Alan Hartnett’s piece in full here.
‘Stretched to the limit’ – local Nursing Home pleads for HSE help
The General Manager of Oakdale Nursing Home in Portarlington is making an appeal to former Health Care Workers, Nurses or any Allied Health Care Students who are at home from college to contact Oakdale if they can provide any assistance during the Covid-19 crisis.
Oakdale Nursing Home currently has 50 patients in what is a 58-bed facility.
Speaking today Valerie Moore said: “We are stretched to the limit in trying to maintain a high level of care to our residents.”
You can read the piece in full here.
Electric Picnic and Ploughing in doubt as Simon Harris addresses questions about mass gatherings
Minister for Health Simon Harris has said it is unlikely we will have mass gatherings any time soon, when responding to a question as to whether Electric Picnic can go ahead this year.
“We are going to have to very shortly make a decision on these mass gatherings,” said Minister Harris.
“I think it’s unlikely we are going to see mass gatherings come back any time soon.
“I think we are going to have to keep up our social distancing even if we can lessen some of the restrictions in place as well.”
You can read the piece in full here.
More than one million people now in receipt of State income support
More than one million people in Ireland are receiving some sort of State income support, with half of those in receipt of the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment.
Today, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection issued payments (to be received tomorrow) to 584,000 people in respect of their application for the Covid-19 unemployment payment. Around 50,000 are receiving a payment for the first time.
These payments are in addition to the 212,000 people on the live register and over 46,000 employers have now registered with Revenue for the temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme.
Taoiseach dismisses suggestions that €1 be added to price of pint
Taoiseach Leo Vardakar has dismissed suggestions that €1 be added to the price of a pint after restrictions are lifted and pubs reopen.
It was suggested the price hike might ensure additional revenue for pubs who will have to adhere to social distancing rules.
However, when asked Varadkar about the idea this morning, he said: “We won’t be doing that anyway.”
The idea was floated by an adviser to the Central Bank, Economist Alan Ahearne, who said that supplementary charges – such as €10 on the cost of a meal or €1 on a pint – could help restaurants and pubs post-crisis.
Protesters in Dingle prevent Spanish trawler landing
Protestors in Dingle have prevented the landing of a Spanish-owned trawler at the local port, with fishermen arguing that it poses a risk of spreading Covid-19.
Last night, RTÉ News reported that the small group of fishermen were mounting the blockade at the entrance to Dingle pier.
In recent weeks, there had been similar protests in Dingle and Castletownbere against Europe-registered ships in an attempt to prevent them from landing.
Last night, gardaí were called to try to ensure access to the pier for the trawler.
You can read TheJournal piece in full here.
Worth a read – State working on plan for staged lifting of restrictions
The most read piece on The Irish Times today is in relation to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying that the Government is working on a plan for the staged lifting of restrictions.
“What we’re working on at the moment is a plan that will be ready by the end of April-early May in advance of the May 5th big day if you like,” he said at a press briefing today.
“And what we hope to set out is a step-wise plan which indicates how we would reopen the country in different steps and what are the criteria that would have to be met to move from one stage to the next.”
Mr Varadkar said until that plan was ready, he would prefer not to speculate on what would open first.
You can read the piece in full here.
Competition of the day
25 years ago tomorrow, the first episode of Father Ted aired on TV.
To celebrate, we’re running the #WorldCupOfFatherTedCharacters every day this week.
We’ve narrowed it down to 32 characters but there can only be one winner. Get voting on Round 1 below ? pic.twitter.com/xPLf0x3jzY
— JOE.ie (@JOEdotie) April 20, 2020
This week 25 years ago, Fr Ted started. And it’s one liners and characters survive to this day.
To celebrate, Joe.ie are trying to pick the greatest character ever in their ‘World Cup of Fr Ted Characters’ over on Twitter.
It’ll be fascinating to see who wins. Fr Ted himself? Fr Fintan Stack (played by Brendan Grace)? The brilliant Bishop Len Brennan? Pat Mustard? Mrs Doyle or Fr Fintan Fay? There’s a serious depth of quality there. We’ll be following it every step of the way.
SEE ALSO – Studying during Coronavirus: Scoil Chriost Ri student on prepping for state exams during pandemic
