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Follow the latest coronavirus news in Ireland and around the world on the Independent.ie live blog.
15.54 05/13/2020
Ross promises additional funds for public transportation to ensure services can continue
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Transport for London expects you to lose more than £ 4 billion in revenue this year due to the coronavirus pandemic (Victoria Jones / PA)
TRANSPORT Minister Shane Ross said additional funds will be provided to public transport companies to ensure that their services can continue despite falling fares due to the coronavirus crisis.
Ross pledged in the Dáil by assuring the public that the transportation network and services “continue to operate safely and effectively, providing vital connectivity for essential workers and essential commerce.”
He was returning to the Dáil after losing his seat in the general election.
Ross has been hiding at home for the past few weeks as he belongs to the age group of over 70.
There are no reevaluations to give nursing home staff and residents authorization
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NHI Executive Director Tadhg Daly. Photo: Frank McGrath
A nursing home that suffered a Covid-19 outbreak was told there are no plans to retest for staff and residents to confirm that the virus is negative.
Last week, the HSE completed the massive tests of 28,000 residents and 30,000 employees in the 577 nursing homes in the state.
He found confirmed or suspected outbreaks of coronavirus in 371 or 64 percent of nursing homes.
In correspondence seen by the Irish Independent, a nursing home operator submitted a list of previously Covid-positive residents and staff to be retested to make sure they no longer had the virus.
15.15 05/13/2020
Grandparents can hug their grandchildren during the summer, says Taoiseach.
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Leo Varadkar. Photo: Brian Lawless / PA
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has said that grandparents can see and hug their grandchildren during the summer as part of the relaxation of the Covid-19 restrictions.
Varadkar said the relaxing orientation for grandparents will not be part of the first phase of the restrictions that will be lifted next week, but will be discussed. He said he was aware that some grandparents had not yet met their newborn grandson.
Taoiseach’s comments raise the possibility that over 70 years may be allowed to do more than is currently envisioned in the roadmap to reopen the country.
“Of course, everyone wants grandparents to be able to hug their grandchildren again, and I know some grandparents who have not yet seen, met and hugged their newborn grandson, and can imagine how they must feel now,” he said.
CLOCK: Woman returns home after battling cancer and coronavirus
A Wexford woman came home with a warm welcome after completing six weeks of cancer treatment and subsequently contracted Covid-19.
Dispute breaks out over claims that “school profile” will be part of Leaving Cert student assessment
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Labor’s Aodhan O Riordain called the government’s handling of the Leaving Cert issue a “slow train wreck” (Aoife Moore / PA)
Pennsylvania
A FILA has emerged over claims that “school profile” will be part of the evaluation of student performance following the cancellation of the Leaving Cert.
Education Minister Joe McHugh has said that school profiling will not be part of the process and called the arguments that disadvantaged students will lose as a “disgrace.”
He was responding to Dáil’s comments from Labor TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who insisted that the school profile is part of the planned system for evaluating students.
Ó Ríordáin said: “Minister with the highest respect, I cannot accept your answer regarding the school profile”.
Questions and Answers: Will I be able to travel abroad this summer, and what is the state of the tourism industry in Europe?
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A woman wears a smart helmet helmet scanner which measures passengers’ body temperatures for possible coronavirus symptoms, at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport on Tuesday (Andrew Medichini / AP)
AP / PA imaging
Europe is slowly moving towards some form of normality. However, the EU is walking a tightrope in its attempts to frame a unified approach across the 27 member states. John Downing explains.
Is there any chance I could go on vacation this summer?
When the coronavirus hit everyone, the EU was slow, disjointed, and confused in its response. The gradual and risky return to normality can show similar confusion and disunity in reverse. That is what the Policy Guiding Commission is determined to avoid.
Brussels has set plans for a gradual restart of some level of travel this summer. Tourism represents 10 percent of the economic output of the EU states and one in eight jobs. It’s not just about dreams of the sun – millions of jobs are up for grabs and the 2020 season can’t be entirely ruled out.
14:00 05/13/2020
The delay in reopening schools would allow families to take a vacation, Dáil said.
Cormac McQuinn
A delay in reopening schools after coronavirus restrictions would allow families to take a vacation in Ireland, Dáil was told.
Fine Gael TD Frank Feighan said the possibility of schools reopening “a little later in September” should be considered to allow families to take a break as the tourism industry, which has been hit hard, reopens.
He said there may be a six or seven week “window of opportunity” for people to take a vacation in Ireland as hospitality businesses reopen later in the summer and in September.
12:15 05/13/2020
HSE warns of the risks of performing CPR during the Covid-19 pandemic
The HSE has warned the public about the risks of performing CPR during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The HSE said that the public, particularly those familiar with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), play a key role in responding to people who collapse in public spaces, and in many cases save lives.
In light of the current pandemic and the possibility that the person who has collapsed may have Covid-19, the HSE said there is an element of risk, adding that CPR must be managed in a new way.
“A person whose heart has stopped is unlikely to survive if CPR is not administered prior to the arrival of the ambulance service,” said a HSE spokeswoman.
“It is a personal choice if you decide to administer CPR.”
11:15 05/13/2020
Face masks should be worn, Nphet recommends
The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has advised that facial masks that are not a medical standard should be worn, government official Liz Canavan said.
In a Covid-19 briefing today, Ms. Canavan said evidence has shown that properly used facial coatings can decrease the risk of transmission.
She said guidance will be given on how people could get facial covers.
“Nphet has said that if he sees a role for non-medical standard facial coatings in community settings, work is ongoing around practical communications guidance on the nature of facial coatings and how people can make them for themselves”.
She said more than 53,600 employers are now registered with earnings for the temporary wage subsidy scheme, and almost 460,000 employees have received at least one payment under the scheme.
The revenue generated payments worth 908 million euros to employers under the scheme.
Canavan added that Gardai has invoked the Covid-19 regulations 192 times, including “arrests and incidents without arrest, where details of name and address were taken to consult with the DPP on the decision to issue charges and arrests remains the latest resource”.
10:50 05/13/2020
Children Are Not Contributing Substantially to the Spread of Covid-19, HIQA Study Finds
Children are not significant contributors to the spread of Covid-19, according to research by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
The summaries published today by HIQA investigate the international evidence on the immunity and spread of the virus by children.
Research has shown that children do not contribute substantially to the spread of Covid-19, however transmission is high among adults 25 years of age and older.
10:40 05/13/2020
Employers have difficulty recruiting workers due to pandemic unemployment payments – Taoiseach
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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar addressing the media at a Covid-19 Government press conference in government buildings.
Pic Steve Humphreys
March 24, 2020
Pic Steve Humphreys
March 24, 2020
The government’s temporary wage subsidy scheme will extend for a longer period than the pandemic unemployment payment, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said.
Varadkar said “there are examples of people who are really getting more” than the 350 euros a week from the Covid-19 Pademic Unemployment Payment (PUP) government.
He said employers are having a hard time recruiting as a result.
The unemployed will continue to receive the PUP after June, but Varadkar said he “can’t say exactly” how long it will extend.
He said the government plans to extend the temporary wage subsidy scheme to encourage employers to face those who were fired due to the impact the health crisis has had on the economy.
9:20 05/13/2020
The UK economy contracted a record 5.8pc in March when Covid hit
The British economy slowed to a record 5.8pc in March from February when the coronavirus crisis intensified and the government ordered the closure of much of the country to stop the spread of the virus, official data showed on Wednesday.
In the first three months of the year, gross domestic product contracted by 2 percent in the last three months of 2019, the Office for National Statistics said.
That was the biggest quarter-on-quarter drop since late 2008, during the depths of the financial crisis, though slightly smaller than the average forecast of 2.5pc in a Reuters poll of economists.
It was also a smaller drop than a 3.8pc GDP drop in the eurozone in the January-March period, although several countries in the single currency area began their blockades before Britain.
7:10 05/13/2020
Buyers are told to wear homemade face masks
Reports Philip Ryan and Eilish O’Regan
Travelers and shoppers will be advised to wear homemade face masks under new advice from health chiefs.
This week, the government will tell the public to use homemade face covers on public transportation and in supermarkets as the process of easing Covid-19 restrictions begins.
People will be urged to cover their faces instead of wearing medical masks that health workers fighting the virus could wear on the front line.
However, it will not be mandatory to cover your face while in public and no new laws will be introduced to ensure that people follow the advice.
7:10 05/13/2020
A significant number of people brought viruses from abroad
Eilish O’Regan Reports
A small but significant number of people who became infected with the coronavirus abroad are among those who tested positive, the figures reveal.
So far they represent 351 cases of the disease and in the last six weeks some 183 people who got the infection from Ireland were found to have the infection after being tested here.
Foreign transmission was the main source of infection in the early days of the virus’s spread here when people returned from ski vacations in Italy and Austria in March.
It turned out that Gardaí must have powers to control passengers arriving in Ireland from abroad under new restrictions that the Government is considering.
07:00 05/13/2020
Holohan Warns Against Vacation Booking Despite Airline Move
Eilish O’Regan Reports
People should not book summer travel abroad in July despite airline plans to resume some flight schedules, said medical director Dr. Tony Holohan.
He got wet on any nonessential summer getaway and said the country is not ready to go on vacation.
Dr. Holohan was questioned after Ryanair announced that he will restart 40pc of his normal flight schedule from July 1.
He replied that he would not comment on Ryanair, but said: “We are discouraging all non-essential travel.
“I don’t imagine the position has changed in that time period.”
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