The Taoiseach has announced that the Covid-19 restrictions will be extended for a further three weeks until Tuesday 5 May.

Leo Varadkar made the announcement this afternoon following a meeting of the National Public Health Emergency team today.

He thanked the Irish people for their forbearance and sacrifice, in the effort to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Mr Varadkar said that because the vast majority of people have heeded the advice, the spread of the virus has been disrupted.

He said the spread has been slowed but it has not been stopped, adding that too many people had died and that "many more will die and many more will get sick before this is over".

The Taoiseach said "people are wondering when life will get back to normal. We are working toward that, planning carefully, so we get there safely. No one knows for certain when that will be, or how our lives will be different. All we can do is take one day at a time".

He asked people to choose solidarity over self interest.

Mr Varadkar said that every sacrifice we make is helping to save lives and making sure our health service isn't overwhelmed.

He said it is hoped to unwind the measures after the three week extension, but he said that depended on what the position is then.

He said they wouldn't be eased in one go, that it would have to be done bit by bit, adding that they may have to be reimposed, depending on the number of cases.

"However, every callout has the potential to put additional pressure on SAR services and other front-line emergency services as well as potentially exposing them to Covid-19."

Arrangements are in place for Coast Guard services including helicopters and volunteer coast guard units to assist the HSE, gardaí and local authorities in provision of community support and other logistical support.

Gerard O'Flynn from the Coast Guard implored the public to stay at home.

Mr O'Flynn said: "Please stay home to stay safe. We need our people to stay healthy during this emergency to enable us to support the national action plan".

Asked about claims of people coming into the country, the Taoiseach said the number of people coming in by ferry is really minimal and the number coming in on flights is down 95%.

He said many of those who are coming in are Irish citizens returning home.

Mr Varadkar said the Government are keeping this under review, pointing to difficulties with imported cases reported in China.

The Minister for Health Simon Harris said the last two weeks had been extremely hard but people were doing this to save lives. He said those two weeks had "made a real and meaningful difference".

Mr Harris said a few weeks ago the average number of people a Covid-19 patient had contact with was 20 and this number had been reduced to 2.

A previous infection rate of 33% a day was now below 10%, he said, adding "we have to get it lower again."

A person with the virus typically infected about 34 people before the restrictions were imposed and that figure was no approaching 1 but needed to be lowered further, he said.

"You are making it happen, you are flattening the curve and helping to protect front line workers," the Minister said.