Mountrath, Co Laois, a small town in lockdown. The Irish government has extended the lockdown in the country by three weeks until May 5 as it tries to keep a lid on the coronavirus pandemic. The current lockdown was due to expire on Sunday, but the country's premier, Leo Varadkar, said the government was accepting the recommendations of experts that it was necessary to "persevere'' with the lockdown. He said the government is "planning carefully'' about how to bring about an end to the country's lockdown so life can return to normal. The truth, he said, is that "nobody knows for certain'' when life will be normal again "or how our lives will be different when it comes.

Source: The Standard April 11, 2020 06:56 UTC