LAST UPDATE | 12 Apr 2020

HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE confirmed that 14 more people have died from Covid-19 in Ireland.

Figures released by the Department of Health this evening show that there have also been 727 more confirmed cases of the coronavirus here.

It means that 334 have now died from the virus in Ireland, while there are also 9,655 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the country. 

Here are today’s Covid-19 main points:

• There are 14 new reported deaths related to Covid-19, and a further 727 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed this evening.
• There are now 130 clusters of Covid-19 in nursing homes across the country. A cluster is defined as three or more cases at a particular location/site within a 72-hour period.
• A further 11 people have died in Northern Ireland bringing the death toll there to 118. There are now 1,806 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.
• Lifting restrictions must be done carefully to avoid a potentially “very dangerous” second wave of Covid-19 cases here, according to NPHET’s Professor Philip Nolan.
• Last night, people around the country lit candles for the sick and frontline workers.
• Restrictions remain in place this Easter weekend, with gardaí manning checkpoints around the country to ensure people aren’t flouting the restrictions on movement during the crisis.
• Over 45,000 mortgage payment breaks have been granted by Ireland’s five main banks since the crisis started, representing approximately 5% of all mortgages in the country. 
• From pregnancy to isolation, the advice to HSE staff has changed significantly since January.
• President Michael D Higgins led a special 1916 commemoration today through a televised event at midday.
• In an Easter message posted on Twitter, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that Ireland will face some of its darkest days in the weeks ahead.
• Some Irish Erasmus students still have to pay rent abroad despite not living there.
• Sinn Féin has criticised the NI Health Minister’s “unilateral” request for the British army’s help to battle coronavirus.
• Stena Line has emphasised that it is asking people to adhere to government guidelines and only travel for essential reasons, and not leisure, after criticism from MMA fighter Conor McGregor.
• The Port of Cork has said it has completed a full schedule of deliveries this week as part of ongoing efforts to keep supply chains moving during the crisis.
• A ceremony to mark the 104th anniversary of The Easter Rising took place on a deserted O’Connell Street in Dublin.
• Patients in a self-isolation facility received Easter eggs from the HSE.

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

• Boris Johnson has been discharged from St Thomas’ Hospital to continue his recovery from coronavirus at Chequers.
• The death toll in the UK is now at 10,612 after a further 737 deaths.
• The US has recorded 1,920 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. The university also said the death toll has passed 20,000 in the US.
• However, the government’s top infectious diseases expert said today that the US may be ready to start gradually reopening next month.
• The death toll in France has risen by 635 to 13,832.
• Pope Francis’ Easter mass was livestreamed today to a world largely in lockdown, as he offered prayers for those sick from coronavirus around the world. 
• The daily death toll in Spain rose again – after three days of the numbers falling – with a further 619 deaths raising the total to 16,972.
• Canada has introduced a new wage subsidy programme – such as those in place in Ireland and the UK – which will pay 75% of a worker’s wages during the pandemic.
• More than 100 Australians and New Zealanders landed in Melbourne today after two weeks stranded aboard a virus-infected cruise ship off Uruguay.
• The Goodies star Tim Brooke-Taylor has died aged 79 after contracting Covid-19.
• An Iraqi couple enlisted the help of local police to wed despite the curfew in place.