Harris: We may not yet have seen Covid-19 peak, as number of confirmed cases nears 10,000

Simon Harris has said that he is conscious that our country is making progress during the coronavirus crisis.

In his Easter message, the Minister for Health acknowledged that the country is slowing down the number of people being infected with Covid-19.

Fourteen more people have died from Covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the Republic to 334.

The total number of cases now stands at 9,655 - including the total from German laboratories.

Simon Harris says even though Irish people are making great efforts, families are losing loved ones:

"I'm also conscious that no matter how difficult the sacrifices we're making, in terms of putting off seeing family and friends, as challenging as that is, it is absolutely completely and utterly insignificant compared to the families today in our country that are grieving the loss of their loved ones," he said.

The comments come as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said Ireland faces some of its “darkest days” in the coming weeks as coronavirus deaths continue to mount.

“The number of hospitalisations and, sadly, the number of deaths continues to rise. So we cannot lose focus. We cannot lessen our efforts. In fact, we need to redouble them for the next few weeks,” he said.

It’s more important than ever that we persevere. It’s possible that we haven’t seen the peak yet.

"When it comes, perhaps later this month, we will experience some of our darkest days. So we need to maintain our discipline and resolve in the knowledge that better days are to come.”

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