LAST UPDATE | 17 Jun 2020

THREE MORE COVID-19 deaths have been confirmed in Ireland this evening. 

It means that the number of people with the coronavirus who have died here is 1,710. 

The National Public Health Emergency Team has also said that a further eight cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed, brining the total in this country to 25,341.

Internationally, Beijing has closed schools and cancelled over 1,200 flights amid a new outbreak of the virus there. 

Here are today’s Covid-19 main points:

• Health officials have confirmed that a further three people with Covid-19 have died in this country. 
• Minister for Health Simon Harris has said the virus reproductive rate currently stands at 0.7.
• Pubs will be expected to serve “substantial meals” that cost at least €9 if they are to reopen on 29 June, Fáilte Ireland has said. 
• Restaurants and pubs may be allowed to reduce the two-metre social distancing rule to one metre when they reopen if the length of a customer’s stay is restricted to 90 minutes, it has emerged. 
• More than four years’ worth of welfare claims were processed in just five weeks after strict lockdown measures were introduced across Ireland, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has said. 
• Phase three of the easing of Covid-19 restrictions is set to begin on 29 June, meaning the next week will prove crucial in determining whether Ireland has reached that target. 
• Up to 5,000 people could meet in outdoor gatherings from September if the Covid-19 virus stays suppressed, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.
• Spending on air  travel has more than doubled in the last week according to figures from Bank of Ireland despite Government advice remaining that non-essential travel abroad should be avoided. 

Here are today’s international Covid-19 main points:

• Beijing has closed schools again and urged its residents to not leave the city as authorities scramble to contain a “severe” new coronavirus outbreak. Over 1,200 flights in and out of the city have been cancelled.
• New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ordered the military to oversee the country’s border controls after two people with Covid-19 left quarantine.
• Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is taking a £15,300 (10%, about €17,000) pay cut and has called on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to bail out local authorities facing funding black holes as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. 
• A special disinfection tunnel has been installed in the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin outside Moscow and two more in the Kremlin.
• Banking giant HSBC is to resume its plan to cut around 35,000 jobs worldwide after putting the redundancy programme on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, PA reports.