Ireland faces “some of its darkest days”, Taoiseach warns

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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that Ireland will face some of its darkest days in the coming weeks, as it struggles to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

In a video message posted on Twitter, Varadkar said the country is preparing to reach its Covid-19 peak later this month.

“The number of hospitalizations and unfortunately the number of deaths continues to rise,” he said.

“Then we cannot lose focus. We cannot decrease our efforts. In fact, we must redouble them in the coming weeks.

“It is more important than ever that we persevere. We may not have seen the peak yet.

“When it arrives, perhaps later this month, we will experience some of our darkest days. Therefore, we must maintain our discipline and resolve knowing that better days will come. ”

Wishing the public a Happy Easter, he added: “This is a special time of year when we remember some of the major turning points recorded in our national history: the Easter Rising, becoming a Republic, the Good Friday Agreement.

“For many of us, Easter is a special time on the Christian calendar, marking the resurrection, the Good News, and what it means to the world.

“This Easter we reached another crucial point in our history: our fight against Covid-19. Thank you for listening to the advice of our experts, for interrupting the spread of the virus, protecting the most vulnerable, protecting our health service and ensuring that the staff working on it have not been overwhelmed so far.

(PA graphics)

“Your action is making a difference. The spread of the virus is slowing down.

“So today, whether we have faith or not, let’s remember the Easter message, a message of suffering and sacrifice followed by rebirth and renewal, and above all a message of hope when winter turns into spring.

“When this emergency is over, we will mourn the dead, we will comfort the afflicted and we will be together again.

“We will reawaken the sleeping giant that is our economy, our people will return to work and our businesses will reopen, and taking what we have learned, we will build a better society at the end of this, a great society for great people.”

On Saturday, health officials confirmed 553 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, the largest increase since the outbreak began.

The Health Department also said that another 286 older cases of Covid-19 have been reported by a laboratory in Germany.

Yesterday, Health Minister Simon Harris said he expected the delay in testing to be eliminated by the end of next week.

He said 25,000 to 30,000 tests were sent to Germany, with more than half of the tests returned and the rest pending return this week.

There are 8,928 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, and 33 other people have died, bringing the total to 320.

Of the 33 deaths, 25 had an underlying health condition. Thirty were in the east and three in the west. There were 14 women and 19 men with a mean age of 82 years.

The analysis of the Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC) shows that as of Thursday, when there were 7,787 cases, approximately 45% were men and 54% women.

On Friday, the government extended its current restrictions for another three weeks, until May 5.

    The latest operating restrictions as of Friday, March 27 require everyone to stay home, only to:

  • Buy essential foods and household items;
  • Attend medical appointments, pick up medications or other health products;
  • Attention to children, the elderly or other vulnerable people: this excludes family social visits;
  • Exercise outdoors: 2 km from your home and only with members of your home, keeping a distance of 2 meters between you and other people
  • Travel to work if you provide an essential service: be sure to practice social distancing



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