• Taoiseach addresses Ireland on St Patrick's Day to warn of coming hardship • Today: 354 cases confirmed in Ireland • Predicted: 15,000 Covid-19 cases in Ireland within 2 weeks

On what he called “A St. Patrick’s Day like no other,” Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar warned the nation that the expanding “crisis will last months and cause enormous economic damage.”

From Ireland's RT'E News:

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the coronavirus emergency is likely to go on well beyond 29 March and could go on for months into the summer. In a special Ministerial Briefing broadcast, he said that "this is the calm before the storm and the surge will come".

His address comes after 69 new cases were confirmed in the Republic, bringing the overall number to 292.

A further ten cases have been confirmed in Northern Ireland, bringing the total there to 62. Overall there are 354 cases on the island of Ireland.

Mr Varadkar said it is believed that there could be 15,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in this country by the end of the month.

Here are the Irish leader's remarks in full, and video.

L'a Fh'eile P'adraig shona daoibh!

This is a Saint Patrick’s Day like no other.

A day that none of us will ever forget.

Today’s children will tell their own children and grandchildren about the national holiday in 2020 that had no parades or parties, but instead saw everyone staying at home to protect each other.

In years to come, let them say of us, when things were at their worst, we were at our best.

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https://boingboing.net/2020/03/17/coronavirus-in-ireland-leo-va.html