Gradual easing of restrictions from 12th April

Lockdown will begin to ease gradually from 12th April as the travel limit is extended to allow people travel within their county.

Two households will then be able to meet outdoors for social and recreational purposes, and the construction industry will start to return to work, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said this evening.

Construction which will begin on 12th of March will include construction of houses and childcare facilities.

Senior GAA county and other high performance sports training can begin from 19th April

From 26th April, 25 rather than 10 mourners can attend a funeral, under 18 training can resume and fully vaccinated people can meet indoors.

Outdoor sport training for children, golf and tennis can begin and outdoor attractions such as zoos can also reopen.

From 4th May, the phased return of non essential retail, starting with click and collect and outdoor retail such as garden centres will begin.

Museums, galleries and libraries will reopen in May and there will be a staggered return of personal services such as hairdressers, and a phased return of church services

Towards the end of May and depending on progress, the government will look at the re-opening of hotels, B&Bs and guest houses.

Speaking at Government Buildings, Micheál Martin said the new  B117 variant is more transmissible and significantly more dangerous.

He said the reality is “if it is given any space at all, it spreads very quickly and the consequences are terrible.”

“All across Europe health services are at crisis point and countries and regions are re-introducing restrictions.”

He said we can avoid this if we move forward sensibly and safely.

Mr Martin said more than 800,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered,. By the middle of April, all over 70s will have their first dose. He said six million doses should be administered by the end of July.

He said the public health advice is clear, vaccination will radically reduce mortality when those over 70 and the medically vulnerable are fully protected and it will further reduce infection, hospitalisation and mortality as younger age groups are vaccinated.

Meanwhile, a further 14 people have died with Covid-19 in Ireland and another 368 new cases of the virus have been confirmed, 26 of them in Meath

Twelve of the deaths occurred in March, one in February, and one in January.

The latest update from the Department of Health brings the total number of cases to 235,444 and the number of people who have died to 4,681.

Of today’s cases:

181 are men and 182 are women

67 per cent are under 45

The median age is 34

127 are in Dublin, 34 in Kildare, 26 in Meath, 21 in Limerick, 19 in Offaly and the remaining 141 cases are spread across 18 other counties.

At 8am today, 310 patients with Covid-19 were in hospital, with 67 in ICU. 29 additional hospitalisations were made in the last 24 hours.