Almost €30 million of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers will arrive in Ireland this afternoon.
An Aer Lingus flight from Beijing carrying items like gowns, gloves and masks is due at Dublin Airport later.
They’ll be given to healthcare workers, who make up almost a quarter of confirmed cases of Covid-19 so far.
There are now more than 2,400 people with the coronavirus in the Republic and 36 people have died. Health Minister Simon Harris says the equipment arriving today is badly needed.
Meanwhile, Minister Harris has also confirmed in the last few minutes on his Twitter account that the State has secured Citywest Hotel for use as a health facility during the pandemic.
Some progress – we have secured Citywest Hotel for the use of our health service during #coronavirus #Covid19 pandemic. This provides us with hundreds of isolation rooms & step down facilities. We will do whatever it takes to support our people & keep them well at this tough time
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) March 29, 2020
