Leo Varadkar has outlined the five criteria for lifting Covid-19 restrictions

The lifting of Covid-19 restrictions is being discussed in the Dail today with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar outlining five criteria that must be considered.

The Taoiseach said that a roadmap to reopen the country is being developed and will be approved by the Cabinet on Friday. Current restrictions expire on May 5, having being put in place on March 27 and extended by a further three weeks on April 10. Today Varadkar said that changes to restrictions will be made every two to four weeks and that certain restrictions may have to be reintroduced "if it looks like the virus is going to surge back." The five criteria he identified for future decision-making are:

• the progress of the disease;
• healthcare capacity and resilience;
• testing and contact-tracing capacity;
• the ability to shield at risk groups; and
• the risk of secondary morbidity mortality due to the restrictions themselves

The current Covid-19 death toll in Ireland stands at 1,190 after 31 deaths associated with coronavirus were announced yesterday.