Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Sam Roberts & Paul Moore

Covid-19 Ireland cases today update as 631 new infections and 47 more deaths confirmed

A total of 631 more people in Ireland have tested positive for coronavirus, while 47 further deaths have been confirmed.

14 of these deaths occurred in March, 18 occurred in February and 15 occurred in January.

It brings the number of infections here to 224,588 since the pandemic began.

Of today's new infections, 247 were reported in Dublin, 50 in Kildare, 44 in Meath, 41 in Cork, 32 in Limerick and the remaining 217 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

The latest figures were released by the Department of Health this evening.

It comes after Tànaiste Leo Varadkar said that some "modest easing" of the current lockdown restrictions will be introduced for April and May.

The Fine Gael leader said that the construction industry will be allowed to operate with more freedom, while an easing of the 5km travel restrictions is also expected to be announced.

Gardai operate a Covid 19 Checkpoint at the entrance to Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport (Collins Agency, Dublin)

During an interview with RTE News At One, Varadkar also spoke about vaccine targets being missed, supply issues and stated that the government are "not in control of production and delivery" of the vaccines.

"The vaccine programme is going as fast as it possibly can. As soon as the vaccine arrives, it's usually in people's arms within a week - sometimes three days," he said.

When asked about the easing of lockdown restrictions, Varadkar provided some hope for certain sectors.

"What we made very clear in the plan is that we would review the situation in the run-up to April 5. We said that the only kind of restrictions that we could see being eased in April would be construction, the 5km rule and allow some more activities outdoors.

"That remains the case. Even if the number of vaccines is slightly behind schedule, we're making very good progress in terms of suppressing the virus," he said.

Micheal Martin gives positive update on vaccines and their impact on outbreaks and infection rates

Varadkar added that he believes the delay in vaccine supply will not prevent Ireland from easing restrictions and that "we only intended to do some very modest easing anyway."

When asked about the potential of shops like Penneys reopening, the Tànaiste said: "Click and collect is something that could be considered for April" and that "the reopening of non-essential stores is something that's further down the line."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.