Fórsa has this morning published a special news bulletin for the union’s special needs assistants (SNAs) members with details of a new service which SNAs will provide during the school closure period. Read the full bulletin HERE.

The National Public Health Emergency Team will meet this morning to review the impact of Covid-19. The Government has also asked the team to further consider proposals for childcare supports, for around 7,000 healthcare staff, who have or expect to have difficulties with childcare.

Yesterday, Fórsa raised the lack of childcare support for essential workers directly with An Taoiseach. In a letter to Leo Varadkar, Kevin Callinan said the failure to provide support for critical workers during the Covid crisis was exacerbating staffing problems in the health and care sectors.

Over one million people are now either fully or partially dependent on the State for income support, according to the latest figures from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.  584,000 people are now receiving the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment introduced just over a month ago. The latest figures indicate that 50,000 of those are receiving the €350 payment for the first time this week. 

One in five residents of nursing and other care homes believed to have died of Covid-19 were never tested for the disease, new figures reveal. Nursing and other long-term residential facilities now account for almost 60 per cent of virus-related deaths, according to the figures released by the National Public Health Emergency Team. Meanwhile, the role of the Health Information and Equality Authority  (HIQA) is stepping up a gear. From today, it will issue a checklist to nursing homes around the country to ensure they have the correct measures in place to deal with the virus. HIQA will commence inspections in a week’s time. 

The Examiner reports that almost 150,000 building workers laid off in March could be back at work as early as next month as the Government looks to kickstart the economy.

The dairy sector is warning that the impact of Covid-19 could result in milk prices being paid to farmers falling by as much as 20% this year. It said this would cost the economy the equivalent of 11,000 jobs.

RTÉ reports that Virgin Australia has collapsed, making it the largest carrier yet to buckle under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic, which has ravaged the global airline industry. In an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Virgin said it planned to keep operating flights despite handing the keys to administrators.

Our zen today is brought to you by Dublin Zoo. Although closed to the public, the zoo has stepped up its online offering, and you can check out live feeds of the rhinos, elephants and penguins throughout the day. I'd highly recommend tuning into penguin feeding time at 2.30pm. 

Have a good day folks.