By Dean Egan.
Today marks one year since Covid-19 restrictions were imposed.
The then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made the announcement from Washington DC
At the time of the announcement the country had recorded 70 cases of Covid-19, while one death had been reported to the Department of Health.
Since then more than 225,000 people have tested positive for the disease, and over 4,500 deaths linked to the virus have happened.
In a briefing, which followed the announcement from Leo Varadkar, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan explained the Government was moving quickly to stop the spread.
The initial two weeks of restrictions imposed which included the closure of schools turned into more restrictive measures which lasted for almost two months.
Meanwhile, the President of Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce says it could take many years for the economy to recover.
Colin Ahern told Beat news that the impact of Covid-19 on local businesses has been detrimental:
"It's going to take a number of years to get back to where we were in 2019"
"Some estimates suggest it could be 2024 or 2025 before we get back to those kinds of levels."
