Follow the latest coronavirus news in Ireland and across the world on the Independent.ie live blog.
Follow the latest coronavirus news in Ireland and across the world on the Independent.ie live blog.
19:40 21/05/2020
It may not be possible for all children to return to school at the same time in September, the head of a primary school teachers’ union has said.
Schools and creches have been closed in Ireland since March.
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) general secretary John Boyle has written to the Department of Education outlining a range of concerns.
Speaking to RTE Morning Ireland, he said teachers have been supporting students for the past eight weeks so they can continue their learning.
“If the public health advice allows for schools to re-open in September then all the proper planning must take place. It is a mammoth task to have the plans in place.
“We have the largest class sizes in Europe, having 30 children in an 80 square metre classroom with one or two adults may not be possible initially in September.
“If we couldn’t have large groups of students sitting in a room doing the Leaving Cert then having lots of children in a classroom was always going to be an issue.”
19:20 21/05/2020
Schools should aim to reopen to key groups of pupils in the third week of August, Northern Ireland’s education minister said.
All children are intended to restart classes on a phased basis, involving a mixture of physical attendance and remote learning, in September if enough progress is made in curbing coronavirus.
Exams for entrance to post-primary schools are due to be held two weeks later this autumn to allow more time for primary teachers to catch up on lost lesson time since the lock down halted teaching in March.
Minister Peter Weir said: “This will not be a return to school as it was prior to Covid, but rather a new normal reflective of social distancing and a medically safe regime.
“For all pupils it will involve a schedule with a mixture of school attendance and remote learning at home.”
19:00 21/05/2020
David Chance
Economic activity in the Eurozone plunged again in May and although the decline was not as steep as in April when the pandemic hit the economy hard, there were few signs that a sharp recovery was in the offing.
Having hit a record low reading of 13.6 in April, the IHS Markit Purchasing Manages Index rose to 30.5 in May.
“The Eurozone saw a further collapse of business activity in May but the survey data at least brought reassuring signs that the downturn likely bottomed out in April,” said Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS.
The index is among the most closely indicators globally and comes out before official data. A reading over 50 indicates an expansion, so the May reading was still well in negative territory thanks to the pandemic lockdowns.
18:40 21/05/2020
Shoe retailer Clarks has said it plans to cut 900 office jobs as part of a major shake-up.
The 195-year-old British firm said it has announced 160 redundancies globally today, including 108 job losses at its headquarters in Street, Somerset.
The retailer said it expects that roughly 700 employees will leave the business over the next 18 months, after creating 200 new roles.
Clarks said the move is intended to help the company operate in a “lean, effective and quick manner”.
18:20 21/05/2020
Mark Zuckerberg has defended Facebook’s record of combating misinformation on the social network during the coronavirus outbreak.
The Facebook founder and chief executive said the platform removed all content which “puts people in imminent risk of physical harm”.
But he argued that freedom of expression was a factor around other content, such as posts around the anti-vaccination movement, which he called a more “sensitive topic” and did not, therefore, need to be completely removed.
Social media and internet companies have come under increased scrutiny during the Covid-19 pandemic, with platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp being criticised for allowing misleading claims to spread.
“We break this (misinformation) into two categories: so there’s harmful misinformation that puts people in imminent risk of physical harm, so things like saying that something is a proven cure for the virus when in fact it isn’t, we will take that down,” Mr Zuckerberg told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
18:00 21/05/2020
Latest data from the HPSC, as of midnight on Tuesday (24,274 cases), reveals:
17:51 21/05/2020
The Department of Health have confirmed that 12 more people have died as a result of the coronavirus.
It brings the total number of fatalities related to the virus in Ireland to 1,583.
They also confirmed that 76 more people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in Ireland to 24,391.
Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “We have experienced 6 consecutive days of under 100 new confirmed cases in Ireland. This is very positive and demonstrates the extent to which the public’s actions have limited the spread of this disease. However, it is only through continued commitment to hand washing, respiratory etiquette and physical distancing that we will remain successful in suppressing the spread of COVID-19 through the community.”
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said; “Most indicators continue to improve, with ICU and hospital admissions, number of cases per day and number of deaths per day continuing to decline. Prevalence of the virus remains low in the community. The reproduction number is well below one, so our task remains to maintain low transmission of the virus.”
17:40 21/05/2020
The Welsh Government has defended its policy on coronavirus testing in care homes after it was reported to the human rights watchdog.
The Older People’s Commissioner for Wales reported the Welsh Government to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) over delays to testing in care homes.
But Wales’s health minister, Vaughan Gething, said the advice and evidence was that there “wasn’t a value” in testing people who were not symptomatic.
It comes after the EHRC said last week that it was “deeply concerned” about breaches of older people’s human rights across the UK during the pandemic.
The watchdog said it is considering the use of all its powers to protect their rights both now and following the pandemic.
17:20 21/05/2020
Premier Inn owner Whitbread has revealed plans to raise £1 billion through a rights issue, as the vast majority of its hotels and all its restaurants remain shut in the face of coronavirus.
The company said it has furloughed around 27,000 staff on full pay during the crisis.
It said its UK hotels are “ready to open when the Government advises” but said its internal plans assume that hotels will be closed, or run at low occupancy, until September.
Whitbread said it has tested new operational protocols at 39 Premier Inn sites which have remained open in the UK to provide accommodation to NHS staff.
It said the operating model ensures strict social distancing, significantly enhanced hygiene standards and specific staff training which can be rigorously enforced across its hotels.
17:00 21/05/2020
A World Health Organisation official has warned against the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19, following President Donald Trump’s claim on May 19 that he was taking the drug.
Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, noted that health authorities – including the US Food and Drug Administration – have issued warnings about the drug’s potentially lethal side effects. There is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine is effective for treating Covid-19.
Dr Ryan said: «Warnings have been issued by many authorities regarding the potential side effects of the drug, and many countries have limited its use to that of clinical trials, or during clinical trials, or under the supervision of clinicians in a hospital setting. That’s specifically for Covid-19 because of a number of potential side effects that have occurred and could occur.»
16:40 21/05/2020
AstraZeneca has said it has the capacity to manufacture one billion doses of the University of Oxford’s potential Covid-19 vaccine and will begin supply in September.
The pharmaceutical firm said it has secured the first agreements for at least 400 million doses of the vaccine.
It said it aims to conclude further deals in order to expand capacity over the next few months to “ensure the delivery of a globally accessible vaccine”.
On Monday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that if the University of Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate proves successful, then up to 30 million doses for the UK could be available by September.
The Oxford team is currently testing the vaccine candidate in humans.
16:20 21/05/2020
EasyJet is to resume flights from a number of UK airports from June 15.
The low-cost carrier announced that its initial schedule will involve mainly domestic flying in the UK and France.
Further routes will be confirmed “over the coming weeks” as demand increases and coronavirus lockdown measures across Europe are relaxed, the airline said.
UK airports to be served by easyJet from June 15 include Gatwick, Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Belfast.
The only international route from the UK will be between Gatwick and Nice, France.
16:00 21/05/2020
Amy Molloy
A group of Dublin pubs co-owned and run by a former Leinster rugby star have taken High Court action against insurer FBD.
Pressure is mounting on insurance companies from businesses in the hospitality sector as restaurants and pubs prepare “for the big battle ahead” as they look to recover losses suffered due to the coronavirus.
Hyper Trust Ltd, trading as the Leopardstown Inn, is the latest to initiate proceedings.
15:40 21/05/2020
Tanya Sweeney
The Golden Arches. The Hamburglar. McNuggets. Happy Meals. It’s a restaurant so beloved it pretty much has its own instantly recognisable lexicon, and after nine weeks of a McDonald’s-free life, we can now return to its familiar fare.
Well, sort of. Dubliners can enjoy McDonald’s via one of six drive-thru restaurants. Naturally, the fast-food chain was trending on Twitter for much of yesterday. Those lucky enough to be within a chip’s throw of one of the six outlets were proclaiming that it was «like Christmas».
McDonald’s is having a moment, but most of us have been ‘lovin’ it’ for as long as we can remember. All those lovely childhood afternoons spent eating high-salt, high-carb, high-fat food while a giant plastic model of a clown presided over us. All those birthday parties spent chucking paper hats, thick milkshakes and Happy Meal toys at each other.
15:15 21/05/2020
The Health Secretary has been told “time is running out” for the Government to launch its testing and tracing system if a possible second wave of coronavirus is to be avoided.
