Updated May 18th 2020, 8:59 AM

Source: Shutterstock/Stephanie Frey

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

1. #CORONAVIRUS: Covid-19 restrictions will loosen slightly from today, with hardware stores, garden centres, opticians, and repair shops for cars, bikes and technology opening back up.

2. #TESTING: Close contacts of people who are confirmed to have Covid-19 will be tested for the virus twice – on day one and day 7 – whether they have symptoms or not.

3. #FIGURES: Last night, 10 further deaths and 64 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in Ireland. This brings the total number of deaths to 1,543 and total cases to 24,112.

4. #UNCIVIL WAR POLITICS: A row has errupted between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over contingency plans for another general election.

5. #BALBRIGGAN: A motorcyclist was killed in a single-vehicle crash that happened on the M1 motorway yesterday evening.

6. #PSNI: A murder investigation has been launched after a man was shot in Belfast last night. 

7. #WORLD VIEW: 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 still to come in many countries.

8. #CO-LIVING: An application has been lodged with Dublin City Council for permission for a major new development atop the Jervis Street Shopping Centre that would include 127 co-living spaces.

9. #HEALTH: The Irish Times reports that a quarter of Irish adults are drinking more during the Covid-19 restrictions, according to a survey from alcohol industry group Drinkaware.