LAST UPDATE | 18 May 2020

TODAY IS THE day when Covid-19 restrictions will start to loosen slightly in Ireland.

There are now five scenarios where you can leave your home – to go to work if your workplace is open, to go to the shops, to exercise within five kilometres, for medical reasons, or to meet people in groups no bigger than four.

An overview of the changes can be read here.

This evening, health officials confirmed a further four deaths and 88 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. It brings the total number of deaths here to 1,547 and the total number of confirmed cases to 24,200.

Here are today’s Covid-19 main points:

• A further four deaths from Covid-19 and 88 new cases of the virus in Ireland have been confirmed.
• Here is what’s allowed from today as Covid-19 restrictions are eased, and some businesses reopen, as part of Phase One.
• Close contacts of people who are confirmed to have Covid-19 will be tested for the virus twice – on day one and day seven – whether they have symptoms or not.
• Health Minister Simon Harris has said the flu vaccine will be free for children aged between two and 12 this winter. At-risk groups aged from six months to 69 years will also be able to get the vaccine for free.
• Harris has also said the government will be working on more detailed guidance about weddings over the next few weeks, but it is “highly unlikely” 100 people would be allowed at a wedding by July.
• Advice on how to wear a face mask properly can be read here. 
• The government is urging the public to be “disciplined” during the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and advised them “not to stay too long” at public amenities.
• There are 4,000 fewer people receiving the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment this week compared to the same time last week, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has said.
• The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has urged people to be aware of Legionnaires’ disease, which can be caused due to bacterial growth in appliances which have been left untouched due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Ryanair expects to lose €200 million in the first quarter of the year “due to a substantial decline in traffic and pricing” as a result of the pandemic.
• Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has discussed foreign travel restrictions with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
• Transport Minister Shane Ross may further extend the validity period for expired learner permits beyond 30 June, if Covid-19 restrictions continue to prevent driving tests from taking place.
• Compliance with Covid-19 restrictions in Ireland remains high, the latest Savills-Pinergy Energy Monitor indicates. Energy consumption among families is up 12.4% this year, as more people are at home. Consumption amongst professionals is up 13.4%, with the majority of office-based employees now working from home.

Here are today’s international Covid-19 main points:

• More than 4.6 million cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed globally, and over 315,000 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease Control.
• A loss or changed sense of taste or smell will be added to the NHS’s coronavirus symptoms list, weeks after experts first raised concerns that Covid-19 cases are being missed, Press Association reports. 
• A total of 87 Covid-19 deaths over a 24-hour period were confirmed in Spain, the first time in two months that the daily toll has dropped below 100.
• Deaths from Covid-19 were also under 100 in Italy – the lowest since 9 March. 
• Restaurants and churches will reopen in Italy as part of a fresh wave of lockdown easing in Europe, but rising coronavirus death tolls in Brazil, South Africa and other parts of the world showed the worst is likely still to come in many countries.
• Hundreds of thousands of children in New Zealand have returned to school after two months of home education as part of a Covid-19 lockdown.
• Global health leaders are to launch a “lessons learned” review to improve pandemic response and preparedness around the world.