Leo Varadkar has announced the extension of the current Covid-19 measures.
Two weeks after Leo Varadkar put in place more restrictive guidelines for Irish citizens in a bid to halt the spread of Covid-19, An Taoiseach has now announced the extension of those measures by an additional three weeks.
At Government Buildings on Good Friday,
An Taoiseach called a press conference where he confirmed the expected extension of the measures, meaning they will be in place until Tuesday, May 5, at the earliest.
"Today's message is that we cannot be complacent and we cannot lose focus," Varadkar said.
"What we're doing is difficult but it is making a difference and we have to keep going.
"We need to persevere and we need to maintain our discipline and resolve.
"The restrictions we introduced two weeks ago were set to expire on Sunday. Today the expert recommendation is to extend them for a further three weeks until Tuesday, May 5. The Government has accepted this recommendation."
Varadkar praised the vast majority of Irish people for heeding the advice of experts in slowing the spread coronavirus.
But while it has slowed considerably, the spread of the virus has not stopped and Varadkar has encouraged people to continue to observe public health guidelines so that we can get past these trying times.
Quoting poet Seamus Heaney on numerous occasions at Friday's press conference, Varadkar reminded people that "if we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere."
