Coronavirus: No further deaths and 10 new cases confirmed in the State

There have been no further deaths related to Covid-19 and 10 new cases, according to figures released by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) on Sunday.

There have now been a total of 1,753 Covid -19 related deaths in the State and there have been 25,760 confirmed cases.

In a statement acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn urged people to remain vigilant and said the pripority was reopening of schools and health facilities.

“All it would take for Covid-19 to regain a foothold in our communities is complacency. As the pandemic accelerates around the world, we must remain vigilant here in Ireland. Every day, in our individual actions, we have the power to limit the spread of this virus. Our priority going forward has to be the reopening of schools and resumption of non-Covid-19 healthcare services,” he said.

India’s coronavirus cases surge past one million mark

---

Coronavirus: Ireland has ‘no significant’ herd immunity, study shows

---

Learning online when school is a nine-hour drive away

---

Drug driving: ‘Middle class, middle-aged, in the middle of the day’

---

Figures are being closely watched among policy-makers. On Sunday the Minister for Agriculture said the Government is not scared to make tough calls to prioritise public health as Ireland continues to emerge from lockdown.

Dara Calleary said pushing back the reopening date for all pubs demonstrated that ministers would not baulk at taking unpopular decisions in order to suppress Covid-19.

Mr Calleary’s remarks came ahead of a week when the Government will publish its green list for safe travel and unveil an economic stimulus package aimed at supporting businesses and workers worst hit by the pandemic.

The newly formed coalition, and in particular freshly appointed education minister Norma Foley, are also facing intensifying calls to provide clarity on plans for schools reopening at the end of August.

Mr Calleary, who replaced Barry Cowen as agriculture minister last week following his sacking, said public health would be at the heart of all the Government’s considerations. “We made the tough call on the pubs during the week,” he told RTE’s The Week In Politics.

“We have shown as a government that we will make tough calls, we’re not going to progress the (recovery) roadmap unless it’s safe to do so. “It might be popular to do so, but unless it’s safe and unless public health stands up we cannot do so.”

The July stimulus package, which is due to be published on Tuesday or Wednesday, is set to include a series of measures to boost the economy. It is expected to deliver extensions to the wage subsidy scheme and the waiver on commercial rates. Restart grants for business are likely to be offered, as are low interest loan options. “We have to protect the economy,” Mr Calleary said. “We have to protect those that create jobs. And, yes, there’s a lot of sectors taking a particular hit and I would hope to see them getting a focus in this stimulus package as well.

“But we have shown this week that we will make the hard decisions in relation to public health and that we will protect public health and public health will be at the heart of any decisions in the coming weeks.”

Responding to calls from school leaders for detail on the planned restart of classroom learning, Mr Calleary insisted “huge work” was ongoing. He said ensuring the safe reopening of schools in the autumn was the Government’s “number one priority”.

There were no Covid-19 figures from Northern Ireland on Sunday as it no longer updates its coronavirus statistics at weekends. The most recent available figures, released by the North’s health department on Friday, reported no new coronavirus-related deaths in the preceding 24 hours. Its death total remains at 556. The department also reported 19 new confirmed cases of the virus, taking the total number of positive cases in the North to 5,834. - Additional reporting PA