LAST UPDATE | 12 Mar 2020
That’s all for this evening with our liveblog, we’ll be keeping you up to date on developments over the next few hours on the site.
Don’t forget to wash your hands, please.
Some people around the country have been stockpiling things like toilet paper and non-perishables following the announcement of school closures this morning.
Professor Patrick Mallon told TheJournal.ie that people should look at what happened across the world before considering this measure.
“By Monday and Tuesday the supermarkets will be stocked up again and people do need to put a plan in place, but the people who really need to do that are those who have to socially distance themselves the most – older people, for example,” Mallon said.
“We don’t want a scenario where everyone has gone in and stripped the shelves in supermarkets bare and elderly neighbours are left with limited options of what they can buy. It’s time to take a step back and think of other people.”
St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin has said it is seeking expressions of interest from healthcare workers to meet the rising demand in a number of areas following the Covid-19 outbreak.
The hospital said all areas will require support as the situation continues.
Types of staff required are:
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Professor Patrick Mallon, a consultant in infectious diseases at St Vincent’s said some open positions will be immediately filled to meet current plans.
“There is no doubt that we will need to find additional staff judging by the way the situation has evolved in other parts of the world,” he said.
Staff get sick, they get fatigued, unfortunately they come into contact with cases and have to be removed for a period of time for their own safety and the safety of others.
You can read more from this story by Michelle Hennessy here.
The meeting of the Citizens’ Assembly on March 21-22 will no longer take place, the assembly chairperson Catherine Day has confirmed.
There will be an update provided on the resumption of meetings when possible.
Fianna Fáil spokesperson on business, enterprise and innovation Robert Troy and the party’s spokesperson on finance Micheal McGrath have asked for emergency measures to be put in place to help businesses get through Covid-19.
Troy said: “Businesses are facing an unprecedented situation and need to know that they will be able to keep their heads above water.
Additional supports are needed in the form of deferral of VAT and PRSI tax payments where the businesses are experiencing cashflow problems. Banks also need to issue clear guidelines on loan repayment deferrals.
McGrath said viable businesses must be supported “to come through this period”.
The government announced a number of liquidity measures to help businesses affected by the situation today.
The government urged companies “as much as possible” to pay workers who can’t attend work due to Covid-19 illness or self-isolation .
President of the Medical Council Rita Doyle has written to all registered medical practitioners to reassure them of the council’s support and to express her own support for the profession at this time.
In the letter, Doyle writes that “these are extraordinary times”.
“Amidst the increased workload, longer hours, additional pressure and stress, please take the time to care for yourself. Take breaks, eat regularly, and get rest,” Doyle wrote.
“All doctors are on the front-line, and the priority for doctors is to self-protect in order to protect and treat others.”
Across the world in Australia, a message encouraging people to wash their hands appeared in the sky over Sydney in the afternoon.
The unknown skywriter wrote the message at around 3pm Australian time (2am Irish time), visible to a wide area in Sydney.
Lest anyone forget, washing your hands properly and often is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Read more of the HSE’s guidelines for prevention methods on their website.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has confirmed that Ireland will not be impacted by the European travel ban imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Our political correspondent Christina Finn is in Washington DC for the meeting of Trump and Varadkar in the oval office.
Trump said he had to make a tough decision last night, adding “I don’t want people to die”.
It was reported late last night that the US President is suspending all travel between the US and most of the EU for 30 days as he seeks to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The countries from the Schengen Area to which the ban applies, include: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The ban does not apply to US citizens, legal permanent residents and immediate family members of US citizens.
The Irish Prison Service is now requesting that members of the public “carefully consider” any prison visits and exercise precautions advised by the government and the HSE.
Visitors who have flu-like symptoms may be refused entry to prisons for safety and security reasons.
The service stressed it is not putting in visitor restrictions at the moment, but reduced access might be brought in to prevent the spread of the disease.
People are encouraged to check the website for further updates.
The GAA has announced the suspension of all sporting activities for its member organisations until 29 March.
The decision was taken “in line with the government announcements on Covid-19″, the GAA said in a statement this afternoon.
Earlier today the O’Connor Cup and Giles Cup, third-level Ladies football competitions, were cancelled due to a “higher than average” number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the regions of the competing colleges.
You can read more about this in the full story from The42.ie here.
Orla Dwyer here taking over the liveblog from my colleague Dominic McGrath.
We’ve had a few updates in the past hour or so, including in Northern Ireland where two new cases have been confirmed.
279 tests have been concluded in NI with 20 positive cases identified as of 2pm today.
This is a rise of two more cases since yesterday.
Breaking: St Vincent’s University Hospital has said it is asking for healthcare workers to apply for jobs in the hospital to “meet the rising demand in a number of areas” as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The hospital said it’s looking for full-time or part-time staff – medical, nurses and healtcare assistants, support staff and administrative staff.
Like everyone else in society, farmers are responding too.
IFA President IFA President Tim Cullinan has stressed that the “agricultural community will play its part” to keep the supply chain operating.
He said the organisation will suspend all meetings at branch, county and national level until 29 March.
To return to the subject of food, the Freight Transport Association Ireland has responded to the government’s announcement.
Here’s the key line from Aidan Flynn, general manager of the association: “FTA Ireland are advising the public not to panic as supply chains are operating as normal and there is no need to stockpile foods or other products.”
We are calling on all in the supply chain to continue to work cohesively and constructively together to protect the welfare of our employees, subcontractors and drivers to ensure goods and services are provided and they are not unnecessarily negatively impacted.
The association wants the government to prioritise liquidity funding for all businesses, to provide personal protective equipment as well as hand sanitiser to the businesses who need it.
He also called for a “derogation on working time for drivers”.
All of the above is to ensure, Flynn said, that “important services like home heating oil and delivery of goods can continue unhindered”.
Journalists in Northern Ireland are making a valid point on Twitter at the moment. All along it’s been obvious – and repeatedly stressed by officials – that the coronavirus doesn’t respect borders.
So what does the Department of Health in Northern Ireland do now?
This is from the BBC NI health correspondent.
You’re going to – and might already have – seen photos or heard stories of people rushing to shops in the wake of this announcement.
The government was clear earlier – there is no need to stockpile or panic-buy.
Simon Harris said that he understood that “people in our country are worried and they want to make provisions for themselves, and perhaps vulnerable relatives”.
“We should all continue to buy what we need to provide for ourselves and families and loved ones [but] we shouldn’t stockpile.”
Here’s a full piece on the government’s advice on supply chains and food shopping from my colleague Aoife Barry.
And Ibec, which represents Irish business, has said it supports the government’s measures.
Ibec CEO Danny McCoy said he acknowledged that there would be “severe disruption to enterprise” and asked the government to be “flexible in supporting the cash flow needs of businesses to avoid large scale job losses”.
Employers must do their part to actively support the Delay Phase of Covid-19. Practically for companies, this means the implementation of remote working and flexible working, insofar as possible, and to support employees to operate in the best interests of public health advice in order to limit and slow down the spread of the virus.
The Licensed Vintners Association, which represents Dublin pubs, has got in quickly to ask for clarity for how pubs should respond.
“Following on from the Taoiseach’s statement, there is a lot of confusion amongst publicans across Dublin as to what action they now need to take,” said LVA Chief Executive Donall O’Keeffe.
By their very nature pubs are social hubs where people deliberately congregate close to one another. Implementing a one metre gap between tables for example might be one step that we could take, but that won’t stop people from grouping together or congregating in other parts of the pub, for example at the bar.
As the country responds to the government’s unprecedented announcement earlier, we’ll be bringing you the latest reactions.
In the last few minutes, the Defence Forces said in a statement that it has notified personnel “of the impending change to our force posture and all non-essential activities have been suspended”.
“Our focus now is to maximise our preparedness to respond to requests for assistance from the Civil Authorities. Protecting our personnel is our priority and is key to maintaining our capability to provide support to communities and civil authorities, when requested,” the statement says.
“For operational security reasons, we will not comment on specific dispositions of troops or on internal unit procedures at this time.”
My colleague Orla Dwyer has compiled a guide to what exactly government advice means for workers.
As a reminder, the government announced last week measures for sick pay benefits for Covid-19:
Here’s the full piece.
What does this mean for sporting events? Well, Dublin GAA has already said that it is cancelling all club games and training sessions.
Nationally, decisions will likely be taken today but our colleagues over at The42 have written, Irish sport looks set to be facing a blanket shutdown.
“The Football Association of Ireland will make an announcement on plans for all footballing activities under its jurisdiction after a meeting with Government, Department of Health officials and other national sporting bodies this afternoon,” the Association said in a statement.
From a purely sporting perspective, a blanket shutdown of Irish sport would have significant implications.
You can read the full piece here.
Health minister Simon Harris has just published – as he said he would at the briefing earlier in the interests of transparency – the advice he received from the National Public Health Emergency Team on what measures the government should take.
In other news, limits on mass gatherings also mean that there will be no audiences at RTÉ programmes from tomorrow “until further notice”.
That includes the Late Late Show.
The list of cancellations keep rolling in. Irish music promoter MCD has announced that “all affected shows” will now be postponed.
“MCD productions is currently working with artists and venues to reschedule all dates,” a statement said.
Sinn Féin housing spokesperson says he has written to Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy to raise concerns about renters and those in homelessness.
Here’s our piece from earlier this week on what the concerns of homeless services are around coronavirus.
For anyone worried about government formation talks between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil – they’re not going ahead today.
And, as promised, here’s my colleague Laura Byrne on what exactly is happening with St Patrick’s Day events on 17 March.
What does this all mean for travel?
Earlier, Simon Coveney said that there are currently no plans to “close airports or shut down ferries”.
But government advice regarding travel advice will be updated throughout the day.
“We don’t have any plans to close airports or shutdown ferries but we will be looking at how we can communicate more directly and effectively as people use those services,” Coveney said.
If you want a comprehensive guide to what exactly is going on, give these pieces a read:
More on the restaurants too, which will now face a difficult few weeks and months.
The Restaurants Association of Ireland has urged all businesses to comply with the government advice.
In a statement, Adrian Cummins, the CEO of theRestaurants Association of Ireland, said that “safety of the public is the number one concern right now, and I am appealing to every business owner to step up to the plate in this moment of national solidarity and do the right thing”.
“All indoor gatherings of over 100 people are cancelled by The Restaurants Association of Ireland. We will comply fully with the Taoiseach’s wishes and have cancelled our two upcoming Regional Awards events in Munster and Connaught”, Cummins said.
We will be asking for an emergency meeting with the Taoiseach as soon as he is back in the country, and will be lobbying for the survival of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
Media reporters at the briefing – which is still going on – have been asking about everything from pub gatherings to weddings and stockpiling.
It’s the question about stockpiling that prompted the strongest response from minister Heather Humphries.
She was adamant – people should not rush to the shops and panic: “I met with the retailers, I met with the distributors, and they have assured me that there is sufficient in the supply chain. If people go out and buy products that they don’t need to stockpile them they’re going to cause a problem.”
And here’s a tweet from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on the announcement this morning.
For the record, school closures have not yet been announced in the UK, our nearest neighbour – although there has been much expectation that this could be announced today or in the coming days.
More on the schools closure – probably the decision with the most potential to cause knock-on disruption across the country.
A statement from the Department of Education states:
All pupils and students, from pre-school to third level are urged to practice social distancing, and to minimise physical contact with each other, to help avoid the spread of Covid-19. This should include minimising social contact, avoiding meeting up and keeping physical space between them. Parents and guardians are urged to support their children to maintain this approach.
In order to minimise the impact on teaching and learning, all schools will be asked to continue to plan lessons and, where possible, provide online resources for students or online lessons where schools are equipped to do so. Schools are asked to be conscious of students that may not have access to online facilities and to consider this actively in their response.
Schools are being asked “to prioritise supporting exam classes to continue to prepare for State examinations.
In a statement, education minister – who was also at the briefing this morning – said that all pupils should take their books and learning materials home with them.
Breaking: The entire St Patrick’s Festival in Dublin – not simply the parade and larger events, which was already cancelled – has been called off.
“We are acting in the best interests of public health and safety and in an effort to play our part in the nationwide efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus,” a statement from organisers said.
“While extremely disappointing, our paramount commitment is to the wellbeing of our artists and participants, our audiences and communities and our own Festival team,” the statement adds.
We’ll bring you a piece with more details on this soon.
Meanwhile back in Washington our reporter Christina Finn is bringing us more updates.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will now travel to US Vice-President Mike Pence’s house for breakfast – it’s a meeting that is closed to the media.
After that, Varadkar will have a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump at 10.45am.
As a reminder, the annual St Patrick’s reception has been cancelled.
There will be a special cabinet meeting immediately after this press briefing.
There’s a lot to go over and we’ll be bringing you soon a comprehensive list of the guidance from the government and what it all means.
Simon Coveney today told reporters that the government didn’t have all the answers yet and there are a “thousand questions” for it to answer.
Simon Harris said something similar and acknowledged it would be difficult. “People can feel powerless at this time,” Harris said. “There is a collective challenge we’re asking people to rise to.”
Dr Tony Holohan is saying that he believes the application of today’s measures will give Ireland the greatest chance of responding to new cases.
Holohan didn’t get out much more detail – the briefing today seems mostly to be stressing the reasons behind these measures and their seriousness.
But he said that there would also new measures for long-term care and mental health facilities, prisons and also homeless shelters.
Meetings will continue in the coming weeks between public health officials, Holohan stressed.
From our reporter Hayley Halpin, who is at the briefing at government buildings, Harris was clear:
There is no easy way when it comes to Covid-19 and there are no shortcuts.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan is speaking now.
Health minister Simon Harris is speaking now.
Ireland has officially moved to the delay phase.
He is urging people to reduce social contact as much as possible, especially older people.
All museums, galleries and tourism sites should close, the government is now advising – that’s a new detail Taoiseach Leo Varadkar didn’t mention.
Simon Coveney is issuing a frank message.
These measures, he said, “will disrupt every day connectivity, a connectivity that makes us who we really are”.
“The next days and weeks will be difficult,” he said.
“This is a phase we have been planning for for some time. These are the right measures, at the right time, based on the best public health advice,” Coveney said.
Tánaiste Simon Coveney, Health Minister Simon Harris and chief medical officer Tony Holohan are speaking at government buildings now.
We’ll bring you the latest on what they say.
What does this mean for other organisations that aren’t schools, colleges or in the public sector? That all remains to be seen.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, only a few metres from the White House, did not take questions but you can expect some more information and guidance to filter out over the coming few hours.
His exact words were that “restaurants, cafes and other businesses can stay open”, but there is likely to be concerns from employers, already worried, about who will actually want to visit them.
Restaurants and cafes and other businesses can stay open but they should look at ways to implement advice on social distancing and people should reduce their social interactions as much as possible, according to the Taoiseach.
More pressingly, we don’t know how childcare is going to be handled. With children all sent home from schools until at least the 29 March, the exact arrangements for parents aren’t completely clear yet.
This liveblog is going to keep running, bringing you the latest reaction as the country prepares for an unprecedented shutdown.
Stay with us for the the updates, reaction and the answers to what all this means for you.
For now, here’s more on what exactly Leo Varadkar said today. Speaking to reporters for around two minutes, he said there will be more cases and more people will get sick and “unfortunately we must face the tragic reality that some people will die”.
He said we have “not witnessed a pandemic of this nature in living history and we are in uncharted territory”.
We have to work now to have the greatest impact on the spread, he said.
“Above all, we all need to look out for each other,” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said. “We will prevail.”
Here’s a piece – that will be updated – from my colleague Sean Murray.
The decision applies to all schools and third-level institutions. It will also apply to other public facilities. All these measures will take effect from 6pm today until 29 March.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was clear today that these measures were the government’s “duty” to protect vulnerable people. He said we haven’t seen something like this “in living memory”.
Leo Varadkar has made his announcement. Here are the major details.
We’ll bring you more as we get it.
The latest we know from Washington, courtesy of our reporter Christina Finn:
Firstly, Ireland’s Ambassador to the US Dan Mulhall has just gone into Blair House, from where Leo Varadkar is set to make his statement.
And secondly, perhaps less dramatically, hand sanitizer is being passed around the media pen.
Away from Ireland, the European Centre for Disease Control has issued new advice that recommends staying at home and avoiding mass gatherings.
The ECDC has been a major source of guidance on coronavirus policy-making for European governments during the Covid-19 crisis.
As expected, things are running a little late. Around the world, the response to Covid-19 has been ramping up and we expect the taoiseach to announce a major update on our response here.
As a reminder, there are now 43 cases in Ireland. There are 18 cases in Northern Ireland, bringing the total on the island of Ireland to 61. Ireland recorded its first death yesterday.
We’re all waiting on what Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will say. Our reporter Christina Finn is in Washington, where the he will be addressing the media.
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