Right now, it feels like Ireland's public are playing an interminable waiting game – keeping our eyes peeled for any sign of an end to a never-ending lockdown.
Politicians, fingers still freshly burned from a blunder-filled Christmas reopening, are understandably reluctant to go making promises they could struggle to keep.
Amid the tension – between a public desperate for information, and a Government reluctant to hand it out – lie millions of lives and livelihoods put on hold as a result of the pandemic.
It's hard to escape the sense that the public's appetite for a longer lockdown is waning – even with the promise of a safe summer if we can get cases low enough.
So it was dispiriting to see Stephen Donnelly today refuse to give clarity on what the situation might look like after March 5.
The Health Minister's caution isn't misplaced, or misguided – it's just hard to watch a senior Government official decline to tell us when all of this might be over.
In the meantime, the struggle goes on – and so does the quest for accurate, up-to-date information on the pandemic.
If you're in that boat, you're in the right place – we've put it together for you.
Here are five Covid updates you need to know about today.
Drop in cases and deaths as steady – but slow – progress continues
One of the hardest things about this lockdown – implemented amid fears of a more infectious strain of Covid-19 imported from the UK – has been the slowness of the results.
We've not seen numbers fall as quickly as we did after the first two waves, in the spring and autumn of 2020.
This time, after an explosion beyond anything we'd seen previously, numbers have been slow to drop – despite reassuring noises from pubic health bosses that we're doing the right things.
Today, with 778 cases and 17 deaths, did look like an improvement – but it'll feel like another false dawn if we're back up around the 1,000-case mark tomorrow.
'Too early' to know when we'll exit Level Five
Ahead of his appearance on RTE's This Week programme, Stephen Donnelly must have known he'd be asked about the possibility of an end to Ireland's lockdown.
The Health Minister, though, opted against offering any concrete predictions about when (and how) Ireland will exit Level Five.
Officially, the current set of restrictions are due to wrap up at the start of March 5.
But it's been confirmed that we're not going to see any sort of grand reopening on that date – and that we're in for another prolonged lockdown period.
Quizzed on the plan for March and beyond, Mr Donnelly said it's "too early" to say what's in store.
Number of vaccinations to double this week
More than 80,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine will be doled out between tomorrow and next Sunday, according to the HSE's top official.
Paul Reid said today that Ireland has a "very key" few weeks ahead, with more jabs being given to a public desperate for mass vaccination.
This week's number, he said, is "almost double what we have been doing on a weekly basis."
Of those to get the vaccine this week, 13,500 will be over 85, 40,000 will be staff and residents in long-term care facilities and 25,000 will be frontline healthcare workers.
'No fixed date' for schools return
Another major headache amid the third lockdown (for households and health bosses alike) is the schools conundrum.
We're still not sure when they're going to reopen, meaning parents and pupils are still battling to make the best of often-gruelling circumstances at home.
Mr Donnelly said today that there's "no fixed date" for classrooms to reopen, as discussions trundle on between unions and the Department of Education.
Wedding numbers plummet due to Covid-19
It's not exactly the most surprising headline you'll read today, admittedly – but we learned today that the number of couples married in Ireland last year was down majorly on previous years.
Just 8,500 couples were able to tie the knot last year as pandemic-era restrictions kept hotels mostly closed and kicked large gatherings off the agenda.
This year, 451 marriages have taken place so far – down from 581 at the end of January last year.
