LAST UPDATE | 9 Apr 2020

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

1. #RESTRICTIONS: Concerns have been raised about new restrictions implemented in neonatal intensive care units, with Irish hospitals implementing different restrictions in each unit. In some hospitals, only one parent can visit their baby for a maximum of 15 minutes each day.

2. #COVID-19: Dr Tony Holohan, the country’s Chief Medical Officer, has said the majority of people who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 are recovering well in their own homes and 53 of the 227 patients admitted to ICUs to date have been released. There are now 6,074 confirmed cases in the Republic of Ireland and 235 deaths.

3. JOB LOSSES: Ireland’s Covid-19 welfare supports could cost the government nearly €5 billion in three months, according to the Economic & Social Research Institute. However, the new report adds that the measures announced so far will significantly reduce the severity of job losses for many people. 

4. #DUBLIN: Dublin City Council has asked people to stop dumping items on the street, and instead to use some of the recycling centres that are still open, or else leave the rubbish at home until normal waste services resume. Dumping has increased amid the Covid-19 shutdown.

5. #DÁIL: It will cost €50,000 each day the Dáil sits at Dublin’s Convention Centre and a once-off €110,000 expense to install microphones in the venue, it has been confirmed. An alternative venue to Leinster House had to be sourced in order to maintain social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

6. #POVERTY: Half a billion people could be pushed into poverty by Covid-19, the charity Oxfam has warned in a new report.

7. #CHINA: Aggressive public health measures appear to have halted the first wave of Covid-19 in areas outside Hubei province in China, research suggests.

8. #DEBUNKED: A video called ‘move your cucu’ will not format your phone, despite a Whatsapp message that is being shared, but people have been advised to still be wary of scams.

9. #US: Linda Tripp, the former Pentagon civil servant who recorded conversations with Monica Lewinsky about her relationship with then US President Bill Clinton, has died aged 70.