Antigen tests and travel
The chief medical officer has said there is no evidence or studies on the use of rapid antigen testing for the reopening of international travel.
Dr Tony Holohan also urged caution around the use of antigen tests to give the green light to restart activities, warning that it “poses several risks”.
Dr Holohan told the Oireachtas Transport Committee this afternoon that tests cannot be rolled out on the basis of people thinking they are a good idea without scientific evidence.
Nora Quoirin
The mother of Nora Quoirin, a French-Irish teenager whose body was found near a Malaysian jungle resort, has welcomed the decision by a court to overturn an inquest verdict of “misadventure” in her death.
Meabh Quoirin said it was the “only reasonable” outcome after it was changed to an open verdict today.
The 15-year-old London schoolgirl was discovered dead nine days after she went missing from an eco-resort in the south-east Asian state in August 2019.
House prices still rising
The cost of houses and apartments in Ireland was up 4.5 per cent nationally in the year to April, according to the Central Statistics Office.
It represents a year-on-year increase, with residential property prices seeing a rise of under one per cent (0.7 per cent) over the same period last year.
Covid variants
Limerick public health officials monitoring the spread of Covid-19 in the city and county have said they are “concerned” at the emergence of variants of concern of the virus locally.
Up to 20 cases of the Delta variant first identified in India, the Gamma variant first identified in Brazil and the Beta variant first identified in South Africa have been detected in the mid-west region.
Electric Picnic new dates
Electric Picnic will go ahead later than originally planned this year, in order to allow Ireland’s vaccine rollout to progress.
The music festival’s organisers said this afternoon they were “confident” the festival could take place in 2021, after its cancellation in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The festival will now take place from September 24th to 26th, rather than the originally scheduled dates of September 3rd to 5th.
