Health service cyberattack
The impact of a cyberattack on the health service has been described as "worse than Covid" by consultants in radiology.
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said he is “not aware” of any other Government agencies that have been hit by the attack aside from the Department of Health.
He told reporters: “There hasn’t been one on my department, or any other body that I’m aware of. But needless to say, we’re doing everything we can to strengthen our security systems.”
Mr Varadkar described it as a “heinous crime”, targeting the sick.
'My bank card is going to hate me'
Shoppers have descended upon stores across the country, as thousands of retailers reopened their doors after almost five months of closure.
Some outlets decided to get creative with their bid to entice the public through their doors. The discount store Dealz was offering rickshaw services up and down Henry Street, with free “pamper packs” offered to shoppers to bring them inside — we have photos here.
Meanwhile, two taxi requests were made each second after the first Saturday night of eased lockdown. Last week was the busiest of the year for taxi app Free Now, with almost two requests every second during its busiest hour in the early hours of Sunday between 1am and 2am.
International travel
When it comes to international travel, Leo Varadkar has said that August is the earliest the country can expect its return.
Mr Varadkar said the EU digital green cert will be in place by June but member states will have six weeks to adopt it.
Although he confirmed that a scaling down of mandatory hotel quarantine is envisaged, Mr Varadkar said some form of quarantine will have to remain in place for areas of concern where vaccinations are not on par with Ireland.
Vaccine choice
People aged in their 40s are set to be given the choice of using the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, but under strict conditions.
The age limit for the two vaccines is being reduced from 50 to 40 years following advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac), HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry has confirmed.
Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan is understood to have endorsed Niac’s recommendation to the Government, and the HSE has now been asked how to operationalise the proposals.
