Some 340,000 people could be out of work in the retail sector by the end of this week because of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, the head of a lobby group has said. David Fitzsimons, chief executive of Retail Excellence Ireland, predicted that 200,000 could lose their jobs this week because of restrictions linked to the virus. He said this would be in addition to 140,000 who had already lost jobs. DublinTown, a group representing some city centre businesses, on Tuesday said footfall on the capital’s streets was 28 per cent lower during the week of March 9th to 15th than in the same week last year. Mr Fitzsimons called on the Government to introduce drastic measures to support retailers who have had to close because of Covid-19.

Source: The Irish Times March 17, 2020 10:10 UTC