The Health Minister says any wearing of facemasks will be advisory and not mandatory.
The National Public Health Emergency Team is meeting to consider what advice to give to the public surrounding their use.
The latest figures show 529 people are in hospital with confirmed Covid 19 while 69 of those patients are being treated in ICU. There are now over 23,000 confirmed cases and 1,467 people have lost their lives to the virus.
Senior health officials have been meeting to discuss the use of face masks in public to contain the spread of the virus. Simon Harris has said today that he believes any such use will be advisory and not compulsory.
However, some people feel that this doesn’t go far enough and it should be mandatory to wear masks in public- like it is in other countries like France.
The Health Minister says we’ll know more about what’s happening with face masks later. Meanwhile, Simon Harris also says he’s very hopeful the phased re-opening of the country will begin next week as planned.