LAST UPDATE | 9 Mar 2021

EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you all the news you need to know as you start the day.

1. #HSE: The HSE chief is due to tell the Oireachtas Health Committee that all major indicators of Covid-19 are now trending downwards, but Ireland is “not out of the woods yet”.

2. #HOSPITALS: The number of patients in hospital with Covid-19 has fallen below 400 for the first time this year, new figures from the HSE show. 

3. #CABINET: Cabinet is set to approve an extension of paid parent’s leave from two weeks to five weeks after a child’s birth or adoption.

4. #HOUSING: There’s been a significant decline in buy-to-let investors in the housing market with these loans now accounting for less than 1% of mortgages, compared to 20% in 2006, according to new figures.

5. #ROLEX: A Rolex watch worth nearly €8,000 has been left stored in a safe at the Department of the Taoiseach for almost two years despite requests for it to be sold for charity.

6. #ROYALS: The British papers are awash this morning with fallout from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Oprah Winfrey interview, watched by millions across the world.

7. #FLOYD: Jury selection has been delayed in the high-profile trial of the white police officer accused of killing George Floyd.

8. #MASKS: Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to new guidance from health officials.

9. #MYANMAR: Demonstrators in Myanmar’s biggest city came out last night for their first mass protests in defiance of an 8pm curfew.