Speedy tests for virus could be used alongside the state’s PCR testing programme as country aims for safer eventual reopening

There are still some clouds on the horizon with the threat of new variants, but there is also hope as health workers report real benefits from the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines

Geriatric specialists say vaccination has reduced the risk hugely, and that leaving the elderly to die alone in homes is ‘inhumane’

Conditions in the Wuhan market may have been an ‘early amplifier’ of the Covid-19 virus. Habitat destruction, the intensification of agriculture, global travel and climate change will be among the main factors in the emergence of even more deadly diseases, experts warn, as ‘we push nature to its limit’

While the vaccine rollout should reduce the number of new Covid-19 cases, the increased transmissibility of the new variant mean progress in suppressing the virus has slowed

HSE considers ending surge capacity arrangements with private hospitals as number of Covid-19 hospitalisations falls

Frustrated doctors snub HSE jobs as talks over the long-promised consultant contract stall

The National Service Plan shows that €200m of the €1.6bn allocated to fighting the pandemic is to be spent on the rollout of vaccinations

Facility will help to establish which vaccines work best for which age groups and if some are more protective than others

Rate of new developments is significantly off the pace required to serve the country’s growing elderly population, property industry experts warn

Almost a year into the pandemic, nations across the EU are still struggling to decide on strategy and jump-start a sluggish vaccine roll-out while the US finally gets its act together

The Covid-19 crisis has laid bare the many shortcomings in our health service, but it’s those at the coalface who understand best what is needed to fix it

Companies must open up their intellectual property rights to enable others to produce vaccines, an Oireachtas committee has been told

In 2016, I was diagnosed with epilepsy, making me one of the 40,000 people in Ireland who suffer from the condition. As I discovered, it can be hard to share the burden of something that defies adequate description

As the national daily number of new coronavirus cases stubbornly refuses to drop below 1,000, many are feeling the strain under the weight of uncertainty

Cancer was the leading cause of death in Ireland last year. Its research must not be obscured under the long shadow of Covid-19

The pharma sector has agreed to delay new negotiations to create certainty during the ongoing pandemic

Critical Care Partners, which has already signed multimillion-euro contracts with two hospitals, claims the algorithm can hugely improve efficiency

Our 14-day incidence has halved in the past ten days and numbers being admitted to ICU has started to slow

Cosmetic specialist Slaine McGrath’s clients have included Sophie Hermann of Made in Chelsea and influencer Louise Thompson