COVID-19 UPDATE: Number of deaths falls to lowest since March as Taoiseach says opening schools ‘among safest things’ to do

A further 10 people lost their lives from Covid-19 in the Republic of Ireland in the last 24 hours – the lowest since the end of March –  the HSE said this evening.

The total death toll here is now 1,499 while the number of confirmed cases has now reached 23,401 after another 159 were diagnosed.

Two more people have died with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, taking the official death toll there to 449.

There are also 60 new confirmed cases in the North, bringing the total there to 4,253.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that the emerging evidence suggests that reopening schools and childcare facilities in the coming months is “among the safest things” to do.

“I think there is a lot to learn about the virus and we are learning more about the virus all the time,” Mr Varadkar.

“But if you take for example what HIQA has said today and what Mike Ryan of the World Health Organization said to me and the Minister for Health today… the emerging evidence is that among the safest things that we can do over the next couple of months is to reopen our schools and to reopen our childcare facilities to allow children to return to education and to return to normal life.”