LAST UPDATE | 19 May 2020

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

1. #USA: Donald Trump has said he is considering cutting US funding from the WHO over its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, hours after revealing that he’s been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, as a preventative against the coronavirus.

2. #CORONAVIRUS: Department of Health secretary general Jim Breslin will appear before a special Oireachtas Committee on Covid-19 today, where he will tell TDs that Ireland will remain in the acute emergency phase of the Covid-19 crisis for some time.

3. #EU RECOVERY PLAN: The European Central Bank has hailed a proposed €500 billion Franco-German EU coronavirus recovery plan as a needed show of solidarity at a time when the economy is on its knees.

4. #MEAT PLANTS: Concerns have been raised about criticism of migrant workers at meat plants who are not able to adhere to social distancing guidance at home due to their sometimes cramped living arrangements.

5. #COVID TREATMENT: A Chinese laboratory has been developing a drug it believes has the power to bring the coronavirus pandemic to a halt. 

6. #THE LANCET STUDY: Medical practitioners worldwide should monitor Covid-19 patients for the development of psychiatric symptoms, according to a new study.

7. #OPW: As Phase One of Ireland’s lifting of restrictions begins this week, parks, beaches and heritage sites are reopening – including the Botanic Gardens and Trim Castle.

8. #MORTGAGES: The Irish Examiner reports that banks and some councils are preventing people in receipt of the State’s Covid-19 wage subsidy from drawing down their mortgages.

9. #COVID-19: The latest figures from the Department of Health show that a total of 1,547 people have died from Covid-19 and the total number of confirmed cases is 24,200.