Galway Bay fm newsroom - Six new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Galway, bringing the total number to 63.
The latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre shows there are now 2,415 confirmed cases nationwide - that's an increase of almost 300 new cases.
While the death toll now stands at 36, up from 22 yesterday.
The latest 14 patients who have died were from the east of the country.
Dublin has the highest number of cases at 1070, followed by Cork with 184 cases.
Personal protective equipment to arrive in Ireland today
Almost 30 million euro of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers will arrive in Ireland this afternoon.
An Aer Lingus flight from Beijing carrying items like gowns, gloves and masks is due at Dublin Airport later.
They'll be given to healthcare workers, who make up almost a quarter of confirmed cases of Covid-19 so far.
There are now more than 2,400 people with the coronavirus in the Republic and 36 people have died.
Health Minister Simon Harris says the equipment arriving today is badly needed.
Essential workers - the latest
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions says employers are responsible for the delivery of essential services and they must provide safe workplaces.
A list of 16 essential service sectors has been published by the Government on gov.ie.
These include Agriculture and Fishing, Electricity, Gas and Water, Information and Communications and construction projects relevant to the Covid-19 crisis.
ICTU General Secretary, Patricia King says those who are allowed to go to work during the coronavirus crisis must be protected under law.
Fraudsters looking to take advantage of Covid-19 pandemic
Older people are being warned to beware of fradusters during the Covid 19 restrictions.
It was reported earlier this week that people in Co Kerry, wearing boiler suits were calling to homes pretending to be from the HSE, and offering fumigation services.
Meanwhile Europol has warned that criminals carrying out cybercrime attacks on organisations and individuals are using various malware packages to scam people.
Paddy Connolly CEO of Age Action Ireland said no volunteer or legitimate service provider would take offence at being asked for identification at the door.
Around the world
The deputy minister for health in Italy expects a drop in the number of deaths and confirmed coronavirus cases in the next week or ten days.
Italy has seen over 10-thousand deaths since the outbreak began - yesterday was the highest daily toll with 919 deaths.
Speaking to the BBC, Deputy Health Minister, Pi-er-palo Sileri, who also had Covid-19, says the lockdown should help bring that rate down.
In the UK, Boris Johnson has raised the prospect of stricter lockdown measures in a letter that will be sent to every household.
Mr Johnson is continuing to lead his government while self-isolating in the flat above Number 11 Downing Street.
New figures released yesterday, show another 259 people have died in the UK after testing positive for COVID-19 - at least 13 of them had no underlying health problems.
Meanwhile, new powers have come into effect in Northern Ireland to enforce a 'stay at home' order.
The regulations include the ability to force businesses to shut and a crack down on people who leave their homes without a "reasonable excuse".
Businesses that fail to comply can be fined over 5,500 euro with a fine of over 1-thousand euro for people who fail to heed the regulations.
Elsewhere, US President Donald Trump appears to have changed his mind about the possibility of imposing a quarantine on New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Writing on Twitter, he says he's asked for a strong travel advisory to be issued instead.
The number of deaths in New York has risen from 519 to 728, with the number of cases now recorded at 52,318, most of them in New York City.
It's also been confirmed that a child under the age of one had died in Chicago after contracting the virus.
