LAST UPDATE | 17 Sep 2020

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

1. #CORONAVIRUS: Health officials warned that deaths and hospitalisations from Covid-19 will see an “exponential growth” if the virus continues to spread at its current rate. 

2. #JUSTICE: The maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder is to increase to life imprisonment under new government plans.  

3. #NORTHERN IRELAND: US presidential candidate Joe Biden has said Northern Ireland must not be a “casualty” of Brexit. 

4. #VACCINE: US President Donald Trump has claimed a Covid-19 vaccine will begin distribution next month. 

5. #PUP: New Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) bands come into effect today. 

6. #BREXIT: The pandemic means a hard Brexit could impact the Irish economy worse than previously feared, a study has said.  

7. #PUBS: Gardaí have reported 16 breaches of Covid-19 regulations in licensed premises in the past week. 

8. #HURRICANE SALLY: At least one person has died after Hurricane Sally lumbered ashore near the Florida-Alabama line in the United States yesterday. 

9. #GAMING:  Sony’s eagerly awaited PlayStation 5 will launch in November.