Coronavirus: 28 Deaths Recorded Today

There are now almost 800 confirmed cases in the midlands.

Latest updates:

28 more people with Covid-19 have died in the Republic.

The death toll related to the disease now stands at 794.

936 new cases have been detected in the past 24 hours, with the total number of positive tests standing at 17,607.

There are now 792 confirmed cases in the midlands.

The figure stands at 395 in Westmeath, up nine from yesterday.

In Offaly, it's now 205, up seven.

And Laois has 192 confirmed cases, a jump of five from yesterday.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan has more detail on the 332 people who have been admitted to ICUs:

Traffic:

Transport Infrastructure Ireland is reporting no significant change in traffic volumes since restrictions were brought in.

Surveys have been carried out on all major routes around the country with no major change since the travel restrictions were introduced last month.

It comes despite reports of more traffic on the roads in recent days.

Conor Faughnan from the AA says their breakdown services have seen an increase in demand in the last two weeks:

Thank you @SimonHarrisTD for launching our new expanded Helpline Service! The ASI's National Helpline is now offering a new free call-back service which offers people with dementia and their carers a 1:1 session with a Dementia Nurse or DA during #Covid19#Dementiasupports pic.twitter.com/hg9eOfESbh

— The Alzheimer Society of Ireland (@alzheimersocirl) April 23, 2020

Complacency:

Complacency is the new enemy in containing the spread of the Coronavirus, according to the Taoiseach. 

The Dáil is debating the government's response to COVID-19 this afternoon. 

There's been calls for more transparency in the decision making process from the government.

Leo Varadkar has said restrictions can only be unwound in the coming weeks if people stick to the rules:

Crime:

For the first time ever, zero burglaries were recorded on a single day in Dublin, last Friday.

The Irish Independent reports that the coronavirus pandemic seems to be having an impact on crime across the country.

The number of offences recorded in every crime category has seen a steady drop since the movement restrictions were introduced.

EU:

EU leaders are taking part in a video conference later aimed at agreeing an economic plan in response to Covid 19.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is taking part, and will call for a stronger financial response and a sharing of debt by member states.

A 540 billion euro support package agreed by Finance Ministers is due to be signed off today.

Shopping:

The body representing food safety says there's no need to wash or disinfect items from your shopping basket when you return home, but you should wash your hands after you receive a takeaway to the door. 

Safefood says while there is some evidence that coronavirus can survive on hard surfaces, the risk from handling food packaging is very low and there is no evidence that the disease can be transmitted in this way. 

Safefood also advises that people wash their hands before and after handling the packaging from takeaway deliveries, which have spiked significantly since the outbreak of the pandemic. 

Local Figures:

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the Midlands now stands at 769

Westmeath has 386 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, up 9 from Tuesday. 

Offaly seen a rise of three cases to 198, while in Laois the number of Covid-19 patients increased by 8, from 177 to 185. 

Rent:

Leo Varadkar has said a cap on rents and a ban on evictions may be extended beyond the end of June. 

The measures were put in place in response to the Coronavirus crisis a number of weeks ago.

But charity Threshold says they should be extended as people will be in financial difficulty all through the summer.

Leo Varadkar says no decision has been made - but it will be considered:

Restrictions:

Older people who are cocooning are expected to be allowed to exercise outdoors when the government begins to lift restrictions next month.

Designated times for older people to visit parks and other amenities is also under consideration according to the Irish Independent.

It's also expected that the ban on non essential travel will be eased slightly to allow people go beyond 2 kilometres from their home.

New Modelling:

A clearer picture will be known later on how rapidly Covid-19 is spreading across the country. 

Fresh modelling is to be released by the National Public Health Emergency Team, which will assess how the virus is reproducing, and the impact of the current restrictions in place.

The death toll from Covid-19 has risen to 769, after 49 more people with the virus died, while the number of confirmed cases stands at 16,671. 

Latest figures:

49 more deaths related to Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Republic.

The death toll from the disease now stands at 769.

631 new cases have been detected today, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 16,671.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan has more details on people who have been treated in ICU: