Ireland extends lockdown by three weeks

Leo Varadkar told the public that 'nobody knows' when things will go back to normal.

Ireland’s Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has extended the country’s coronavirus lockdown by three weeks, citing expert advice.

The Irish premier said at a briefing on Good Friday that restrictions currently in place across Ireland would not lifted until at least Tuesday 5 May. He told the public that ‘nobody knows’ when things will go back to normal.

‘I know many of us would like to know when things will go back to normal and life will be as it was. We are working towards that time and we’re planning carefully, so that we get there safely.

‘The truth is nobody knows when that will be or how our lives will be different when it comes. All we can do for now is to take one day at a time. To think of others and to choose hope and solidarity over self-interest and fear.’

He added that the public’s ‘decisions will save lives’.

There have been more than 8,000 cases of coronavirus in Ireland and 287 recorded deaths.

The UK Government has yet to say when or how it will lift the coronavirus lockdown.

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