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More than a million people are receiving some form of state aid, said Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty.
The Department issued pandemic default payments to 584,000 people on Monday. Around 50,000 people receive a payment for the first time.
These payments add to the 212,000 people on the live registry and more than 46,000 employers have registered with the Revenue Commissioners for the temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme.
Speaking on Monday, Doherty described the situation as “unparalleled in our nation’s history.”
“Between our Covid-19 unemployment payment, those on the live registry and workers who benefit from the wage subsidy scheme, more than a million people receive some form of state income support, a situation unparalleled in the history of our nation.
“This is a temporary health emergency and many sectors of the economy will be able to reignite relatively quickly once the danger has passed.
“However, some sectors will take longer to recover than others and we will also have a challenge with youth employment, as many young people who might have expected to have entered an optimistic job market will now face a much more complex environment.
“Understanding this, my Department is already planning the post-pandemic environment and considering the best measures to help each worker return to the workforce as quickly as possible.”
Personal protection equipment
Meanwhile, the public has been warned about companies selling face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) online with claims that it has been donated to hospitals and meets healthcare standards.
The issue had been brought up by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (JPAC), where vendors advertise PPE online as a hospital standard without “any basis,” Liz Canavan, assistant secretary-general of the Taoiseach Department said Monday.
“Some online merchants appear to be informing consumers that the personal protection products they sell have been donated to hospitals and other healthcare providers, in many cases it is unclear whether these donated products are suitable for healthcare settings,” he said at a daily press conference. .
“When you walk in to see these products, there is a claim that they are being used in hospitals or donated to hospitals to give them a quality badge, but there is no basis for it,” he said.
Some 584,000 people have claimed weekly unemployment payments for a pandemic of € 350, an increase of more than 50,000 people compared to the same period last week, the report was heard.
The Government has said that hardware stores should not be open to the general public during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking at Monday’s press conference, Ms. Canavan said: “We want to clear up the confusion that has arisen regarding hardware stores. Under current restrictions, hardware stores should not be open to the general public.
“They are only open for emergencies and deliveries as set out in the updated list of retail services as set out in gov.ie, which remains unchanged,” he said.
The number of deaths and confirmed cases reported in the Republic on Sunday showed a slight decrease in recent days. Another 39 people died from Covid-19, while there were 493 other confirmed cases of the virus. There have now been 610 Covid-19 related deaths in the state, while the number of confirmed cases is 15,251.
High compliance
The senior official said An Garda Síochána continued to report “continued high-level compliance” with current restrictions on non-essential movements.
Revenue has confirmed that a zero VAT rate would apply to the supply of PPE to hospitals, nursing homes and doctors’ offices, Canavan said.
This lower VAT rate would be in effect until July 21, 21, and would apply to items such as PPE, hand sanitizer, medical ventilators, and oxygen tanks.
The government understood that there was “a lot of speculation” about possible loosening of the restrictions and frustration with measures such as cocoon for the elderly, Canavan said.
However, he emphasized again that any change in the level of restrictions on May 5 would depend on the behavior of the virus.
The four-month extensions for driver’s licenses and learning permits that expire during the pandemic would apply from the expiration date.
Appointments from the National Automobile Testing Service due March 20 or later also spanned four months, while test dates for commercial vehicles were delayed three months, Canavan said.
The incorporation of the government’s temporary wage subsidy scheme “continues to grow” and to date € 321 million had been paid under the massive economic support scheme, he said.
“We are aware that there may be some situations where a recipient in the family of one parent is no longer receiving child support, because the other parent has lost his job due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Canavan said. .
Liz Canavan, deputy secretary of the Taoiseach Department, during a media report on coronavirus last week. Photography: Collins
Parents alone in this situation were advised to contact their local Intreo office and the Department of Social Protection would “review” their family parental benefit over a 12-week period to account for loss of maintenance, she said.
Health Minister Simon Harris said Sunday night that he feared an air of complacency was “infiltrating” in relation to Ireland’s battle with Covid-19, which should be rejected.
“We are making really good progress … but progress is fragile. We are in a very delicate moment and it would not take much to reverse it, “he said.
Meanwhile, new research from King’s College London warns that Ireland may have to cope with repeated waves of Covid-19 epidemics until a large enough proportion of the population becomes infected to provide possible collective immunity.
At best, there may be three more cycles of infection before 60 percent of the population has the virus, which is considered enough to provide potential immunity to the herd, according to modeling analysis led by an Irish scientist .
The President of the Irish Intensive Care Society, Dr Catherine Motherway, warned that until a vaccine is found, people will have to be “very careful how we live.”
Dr. Motherway told RTÉ Today radio on Séan O’Rourke on Monday that it was unlikely that the virus could be suppressed, reinforcing the need for a vaccine and “some form of treatment.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think this is a three-month phenomenon, I think for at least a year we will see Covid-19 in our population … and if the numbers start to rise above a level that we can face, then the restrictions will have to be re-imposed, ”said Dr. Motherway.
The Health Service Executive said Sunday that it has removed the backlog of people waiting for Covid-19 tests. He said 27 laboratories, including one in Germany, now process 10,000 test results a day.
Over the weekend, 4,000 nursing home employees and residents were evaluated as part of an increased HSE response to escalating cases and deaths in the sector. According to HSE, the number of outbreaks or suspected outbreaks in long-term care facilities is now 248.
Harris will speak to his European counterparts by conference call later Monday to share updates on how efforts to combat the virus are going through the European Union.
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