THE NUMBER OF people in hospital with Covid-19 on Monday night fell to the lowest level since New Year’s Eve.

There were 494 patients in hospital at 8pm on Monday, the first time this number has fallen below 500 so far in 2021. It has also fallen significantly since a peak of 2,020 cases in mid-January.

Last night a further 359 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Ireland, representing the lowest number of cases reported on a single day since mid-December. 

On 23 February, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced the government’s new Living with Covid-19 plan and confirmed that the current public health restrictions will remain in place until 5 April, when a further review will be carried out.

Ahead of the unveiling of the plan, Minister Michael McGrath told RTÉ’s News at One that “there can be no fourth wave coming to Ireland”, adding that “what we are doing now, we need to make sure that we are doing for the last time”. 

In the North, Stormont’s First Minister Arlene Foster last night vowed that Northern Ireland must never return to lockdown after a cautious plan to ease restrictions was published.

So, today we want to know… Do you think this will be Ireland’s last Level 5 lockdown?