NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

All in, as the five cygnets get back in the water with their mother swan in Naas, County Kildare. RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

• Three people have been arrested and drugs with an estimated street value of €1.1 million has been seized following searches of cars and properties in the North East yesterday. 
• The Department of Health has this evening confirmed a further 24 deaths from Covid-19 along with 107 new cases of the virus in Ireland.
• Groups of four to six people who do not share a household will be allowed to meet outdoors while maintaining social distancing in one of the first steps in Northern Ireland’s road map out of lockdown.
• The Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19 has agreed to invite the Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan and HSE boss Paul Reid to appear next Tuesday.
• French authorities have made an “unprecedented” and “unorthodox” request to view the legal submissions on Ian Bailey’s objections to his extradition there, the High Court has heard. 
• Employment experts have warned that a deluge of workplace disputes could be on its way, which could put pressure on structures like the Workplace Relations Commission.
• A 16-year-old girl is in a serious condition in hospital after being pulled from the sea in Bray, Co Wicklow. 
• Almost 200 incidents have been recorded where Covid-19 emergency powers were invoked by gardaí over the past month. 
• The ISPCA has advised dog groomers that they can provide emergency services for clients whose dogs need urgent grooming to prevent welfare problems.

WORLD

A staff member disinfects the Sanmin residential community in Dongxihu District of Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. Xinhua News Agency / PA Images Xinhua News Agency / PA Images / PA Images

#CHINA Wuhan plans to conduct coronavirus tests on the Chinese city’s entire population after new cases emerged for the first time in weeks in the cradle of the global pandemic, state media has reported. 

#COVID ABROAD Russia has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus infections after reporting another 10,899 new cases today, according to an AFP tally. 

#ON THE RISE The UK’s Office for National Statistics has said more people have died from the coronavirus in the UK than the official national toll suggests, after more care home deaths were linked to the outbreak.

PARTING SHOT

The Eurovision Song Contest will mark what should have been the first semi-final of the competition with a virtual ‘song celebration’ tonight.

Two shows will air on the Eurovision’s YouTube channel from 8pm tonight and Thursday, marking when the contest’s semi-finals were originally due to take place in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Here’s a reminder of what Ireland would have sounded like if the contest went ahead as schedule this year – Lesley Roy was tipped to bring Ireland as close to Eurovision glory as it has been in years. 

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