that lockdown and other measures had driven the growth rate of the pandemic "as low as it needs to be" and was "close to zero". 18 april a further 630 cases, together with an additional 148 cases from the backlog of tests at the laboratory in germany, and 41 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 14,758 cases and 571 deaths. chief medical officer, tony holohan, reported that the curve had flattened and that no peak would be coming. he said the lockdown should continue until 5 may and that the government should focus on contact tracing. 21 april – chief medical officer tony holohan announced that 8,377 people had recovered in the community and that 856 people were discharged from hospital as of that date. it was also announced that one previously reported death was no longer classified as related to covid-19. 24 april – a further 577 cases and 37 deaths, and 185 probable deaths were reported, and 2 deaths previously reported were reclassified as unrelated to covid-19, bringing the totals to 18,184 cases and 1,014 deaths. the hpsc defined a probable death as "a death where a lab test had not been done but where a doctor believed a death was associated with current covid-19." the total number of deaths included probable deaths in accordance with advice from the ecdc. 28 april – a further 299 cases were initially reported but the number was corrected to 229 by chief medical officer tony holohan, and 59 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 19,877 cases and 1,159 deaths. 2 previously notified deaths were de-notified. 29 april – chief medical officer tony holohan said "we estimate that as of saturday 25th april 12,222 covid-19 cases (64%) in the community have recovered. 1,164 cases (6%) have been discharged from hospital which gives us a total recovery rate of 70%." 30 april – a further 359 cases and 43 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 20,612 cases and 1,232 deaths. 1 previously notified death was de-notified. may 2020 1 may taoiseach leo varadkar announced the extension of the current restrictions to 18 may at the earliest. a roadmap to easing restrictions in ireland that included five stages was adopted by the government and subsequently published online. 6 may – chief medical officer tony holohan announced that 17,110 had recovered in the community and that 1,399 people had been discharged from hospital as of that date. 13 may – deputy chief medical officer ronan glynn announced that 17,877 people had recovered in the community and 1,593 people had recovered in hospital as of 10 may. 15 may chief medical officer tony holohan announced seven children in ireland had been identified with links to paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a new illness temporarily associated with covid-19. the government confirmed that phase one of easing the covid-19 restrictions would begin on monday 18 may. among the heritage sites reopening under phase one were cong abbey, farmleigh, kilkenny castle, knocknarea, the national botanic gardens and trim castle. 18 may – ireland entered phase one of the government's roadmap of easing covid-19 restrictions. 20 may – deputy chief medical officer ronan glynn announced that 21,060 people have recovered from covid-19 as of 20 may. tony holohan was absent "at short notice". 24 may – transport infrastructure ireland data and aa analysis recorded a traffic increase of 30% over the previous week on the m50 motorway. 27 may – minister for health simon harris announced that 22,089 people had recovered as of 27 may. 31 may – a further 66 cases and 2 deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 24,990 cases and 1,652 deaths. 1 previously notified death and 5 cases were de-notified. june 2020 3 june – chief medical officer tony holohan announced that 22,698 people had recovered as of 31 may. 5 june taoiseach leo varadkar announced a series of changes to the government's roadmap of easing covid-19 restrictions in ireland, which he summed up as: "stay local". the government confirmed that "phase two plus" of easing the covid-19 restrictions would begin on monday 8 june. 8 june – ireland entered "phase two plus" of the government's roadmap of easing covid-19 restrictions. 10 june – deputy chief medical officer ronan glynn announced that 23,213 people had recovered, a rate of 92%. however he said that people who have recovered are experiencing longer term effects including fatigue and decreased exercise capacity. 12 june – taoiseach leo varadkar announced that travel restrictions would remain in place and that nobody should leave ireland for the purpose of tourism or leisure. 17 june – deputy chief medical officer ronan glynn announced that 23,308 people had recovered. 19 june – taoiseach leo varadkar announced a further re-configuration of the government's roadmap of easing covid-19 restrictions with hairdressers, barbers, gyms, cinemas and churches reopening from 29 june. 24 june – it was announced that 23,349 people had recovered as of 21 june, a rate of 92%. 25 june the government confirmed that phase three of easing the covid-19 restrictions would begin on monday 29 june. minister for health simon harris announced that face coverings would be mandatory for passengers on public transport to allow capacity on buses, trains and trams to increase, with sanctions for non-compliance. 29 june ireland entered phase three of the government's roadmap of easing covid-19 restrictions. remaining businesses reopened including all pubs serving food, cafés, restaurants, hotels, hairdressers, beauty salons and tourist attractions. 30 june – a further 11 cases and 1 death were reported, bringing the totals to 25,473 cases and 1,736 deaths. july 2020 2 july – chief medical officer tony holohan announced that he was stepping back from his position to spend time with his family. deputy chief medical officer ronan glynn succeeded him as acting chief medical officer. 7 july – the health service executive (hse) released the covid tracker contact tracing app that uses ens and bluetooth technology to record if a user is in close contact with another user, by exchanging anonymous codes, with over 725,000 downloads within a few hours after its launch. 10 july – new taoiseach micheál martin confirmed that the wearing of face coverings on public transport would be compulsory from monday 13 july. 15 july taoiseach micheál martin announced that phase four of easing covid-19 restrictions would not go ahead on 20 july and is postponed to 10 august. following a cabinet meeting at dublin castle, the government announced five key priority areas: face coverings must be worn in all shops and shopping centres. retail staff would also be required to wear them unless there is a partition in place or there is social distancing of 2 metres between them and customers. pubs, hotel bars, nightclubs and casinos would remain closed until 10 august. pubs currently serving food can remain open. social visits to people's homes should be limited to a maximum of ten people from no more than four different households. current restrictions of 50 people in indoor gatherings, 200 at outdoor gatherings would be extended until 10 august. 19 july – a green list for safe travel, due to be published by the government on 20 july, was postponed due to ongoing negotiations in brussels, where the taoiseach was attending an eu summit. people coming into ireland from countries on the list would not be required to quarantine for a 14-day period, as arrivals from countries not on the list would be. 20 july – acting chief medical officer ronan glynn said that public health officials are now seeing outbreaks on construction sites, in fast food outlets and supermarkets. 21 july the health information and quality authority revealed that half of nursing homes inspected by the authority were not following proper infection prevention and control regulations. following a cabinet meeting at dublin castle, the government agreed to add 15 countries to a green list from which people could travel to without having to restrict their movements for 14 days upon arriving in ireland, and would be reviewed on a fortnightly basis. 23 july – the government launched a €7.4 billion july jobs stimulus package of 50 measures to boost economic recovery and get people back to work, with the covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment and the temporary covid-19 wage subsidy scheme extended until april 2021. 27 july – the government announced a €376 million support package and roadmap to reopen all schools in ireland at the end of august which included additional teachers and special needs assistants, personal protective equipment and stepped-up cleaning regimes. 30 july a large increase of cases was caused by an outbreak at a dog food factory in naas, kildare and in cases associated with the construction industry. acting chief medical officer ronan glynn announced that 24,000 people had recovered. 31 july a further 38 cases and no deaths were reported, bringing the totals to 26,065 cases and 1,763 deaths. acting chief medical officer ronan glynn announced that mass testing had taken place in relation to a number of known outbreaks. august 2020 3 august – two groups representing publicans announced that they were calling for a compensation package for their members if pubs were not allowed to reopen on 10 august. 4 august – following a cabinet meeting at dublin castle, the government announced six key priority areas: phase four of easing covid-19 restrictions would not go ahead on 10 august. pubs, bars, hotel bars, nightclubs and casinos would remain closed. restaurants and pubs serving food would have to close by 11pm, but takeaways and deliveries could remain open after that time. face coverings would be mandatory in all shops and shopping centres from 10 august. five countries were removed from the green list of countries that were safe to travel to. current restrictions of 50 people in indoor gatherings, 200 at outdoor gatherings would remain in place. 6 august – following a significant number of cases confirmed, acting chief medical officer ronan glynn made an appeal to people in laois, kildare and offaly to take particular attention if they were symptomatic, and double down on health measures. 7 august taoiseach micheál martin announced a series of measures for counties kildare, laois and offaly following significant increases of covid-19 cases in the three counties, which would come into effect from midnight and would remain in place for two weeks. measures include: residents of the three counties would not be permitted to travel outside of their counties except for in limited circumstances including to travel to and from work. restaurants, cafés, pubs serving food, cinemas, gyms, theatres, museums, galleries, bingo halls, casinos, betting shops, leisure centres and other indoor recreational and cultural outlets would be closed. all retail outlets may remain open but with strict adherence to public health guidelines, including the wearing of face coverings. all indoor gatherings would be restricted to 6 people and outdoor gatherings restricted to 15 people. 10 august – face coverings were made mandatory in all shops, shopping centres, libraries, cinemas, museums, nail salons, hairdressers, dry cleaners, betting stores, tattooists and travel agents, with fines of up to €2,500 or a prison sentence of six months to people who do not comply. 15 august – acting chief medical officer ronan glynn announced that ireland was having multiple clusters with secondary spread of disease and rising numbers of cases in many parts of the country. 16 august – the licensed vintners association called for a dublin pub to be shut down after videos emerged on social media of customers and staff not adhering to covid-19 guidelines. 18 august – following a cabinet meeting at government buildings, the government announced six new measures because of the growing number of confirmed cases, which would remain in place until at least 13 september: all outdoor events would be limited to 15 people all indoor events would be limited to 6 people, except for religious services, weddings and businesses, such as shops and restaurants gardaí would be given new powers to enforce rules around social gatherings in restaurants and bars serving food, and in private homes restaurants and cafés could remain open with closing times of 11.30pm people would be advised to work from home and to avoid using public transport, unless absolutely necessary sports events and matches would revert to behind closed doors with strict avoidance