LAST UPDATE | 19 May 2020

THE SECRETARY GENERAL at the Department of Health will tell an Oireachtas Committee this morning that the Covid-19 crisis could last for years.

Jim Breslin will also warn that Ireland will remain in an acute emergency phase of the crisis for some time, and that the response will have to be sustained for the foreseeable future.

Health Minister Simon Harris, meanwhile, has told Newstalk that the “wearing of masks is going to be a way of life in this country for some time”, and defended the government’s decision not to issue stronger advice in relation to them.

The warning comes despite health officials confirming four new deaths from Covid-19 last night, the lowest figure since March.

On the international front, Donald Trump’s war of words with the World Health Organisation has continued to make headlines for the wrong reasons.

During a briefing last night, Trump threatened to permanently end US funding for WHO over what he perceives as its inadequate response to the pandemic.

Here are today’s Covid-19 main points:

• The secretary general at the Department of Health will tell an Oireachtas Committee this morning that the Covid-19 crisis could last for years.
• Health Minister Simon Harris told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny that indoor gatherings with people outside your household are “dangerous”, and could cause “big problems”.
• The living conditions of migrant workers at meat plants where Covid-19 has broken out in clusters should be considered before they are criticised for breaking the rules, the migrant and refugee rights centre Nasc has warned.
• Health officials has confirmed a further 16 deaths of patients diagnosed with Covid-19 and 51 new cases of the disease in Ireland. This follows the continued drop in confirmed cases, which was at 88 yesterday. 
• The Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has said officials will consider adding the loss of sense of taste, smell or both as a symptom of Covid-19 here.
• The Chinese ambassador to Ireland He Xiangdong has told Newstalk Breakfast that the country is open to an investigation into the origin of Covid-19, but warned it must not be politically motivated.
• Bord Iascaigh Mhara has launched a temporary voluntary fleet tie-up scheme, co funded by the government and the European Commission, designed to assist in adjusting the supply of fish during the Covid-19 crisis.
• A survey of more than 2,000 charities in Ireland has revealed more than half are facing financial uncertainty or difficulties as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Irish experts have offered a warning about the lack of evidence to support the use of anti-inflammatory drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19, following comments by US President Donald Trump. 
• As Brexit unfolds to the backdrop of the Covid-19 crisis, UK cabinet minister Michael Gove said that the government will shortly publish a “framework document on how we intend to implement the protocol in order to ensure that we have unfettered access for goods from Northern Ireland into Great Britain and we preserve the gains from the peace process”. 

Here are today’s international Covid-19 points:

• Donald Trump has said he is considering permanently cutting US funding from the World Health Organisation over its response to the pandemic.
• Earlier, Trump revealed that he is taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that has divided experts over its suitability for fighting the coronavirus.
• France and Germany have proposed a €500 billion fund to finance the recovery of the European Union’s economy from the devastation wrought by the crisis.
• A Chinese laboratory has been developing a drug that it believes has the power to bring the pandemic to a halt by shortening the recovery time for patients and offering short-term immunity from the virus.
• A new study by Lancet Psychiatry has found that medical practitioners should monitor Covid-19 patients for the development of psychiatric symptoms after they are treated.
• The UK government has was “not something we recommend doing” regarding Donald Trump’s comments on hydroxychloroquine.