The Times reports this morning that the HSE is planning for Covid-19 cases to peak in the middle of April and aims to have 1,200 critical care beds available across the country to deal with the surge. The arrival yesterday at Dublin airport of the first flight carrying protective equipment worth millions of euros for medical workers is widely reported, while Fine Gael has experienced a record surge in support following its handling of the Covid-19 crisis, according to the latest Business Post/Red C poll.

The Business Post also carried a story yesterday about the prospects for a public service pay agreement in the context of the current crisis. There's a coordinated response from Fórsa, SIPTU and Congress in this piece, which also looks at the continuing calls for social dialogue.

Elsewhere, the Irish Times reports that a team of engineers and specialists in medical devices gathered in Galway are finalising the prototype of an emergency ventilator for use in treating critically-ill Covid-19 patients, while Dr Muiris Houston reports from the coronavirus front line. Martin Wall reports that hospital consultants are to be offered three-month contracts under plans to bring private hospitals into the public health system for the duration of the current coronavirus crisis.

Country musician legend John Prine has been hospitalised in a critical condition after experiencing symptoms of coronavirus. It was our retired colleague Stephen O'Neill who first put Prine on my music radar, so here's a tune as we send our best to every family dealing with this directly today.

Your moment of Zen this morning sees an old tune resurrected on RTE's Instagram, and struck me as a tune worthy of these testing times. Keep an eye out for Daniel Day Lewis.

Have a good week. Stay safe, stay well.