Irish PM says any lifting of restrictions will be over months

When Ireland is able to begin relaxing stay-at-home restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, the measures will be rolled back over a number of months, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Thursday.

"I don't yet know if we'll be able to relax restrictions on May 5, but I do know that if we can at all, it is going to be gradual and happen over a number of months," Varadkar told parliament.

"As we know from Asia, they may even need to be reimposed again as only a scientific breakthrough - a vaccine or an effective antiviral medicine - will truly allow life to go back to being as it was."