BREAKING: Schools, colleges and public facilities to shut from 6pm

Schools, colleges and other public facilities are set to close from 6pm today.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the measures in Washington DC on Thursday morning.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced a series of measures, including the temporary closure of schools, colleges and childcare facilities, to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak | Read more: https://t.co/jr7d4agqCK pic.twitter.com/x1dBuGtaIQ

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 12, 2020

During a press conference in Dublin this morning chief medical officer Tony Holohan said there has been 'a significant increase' in the number of cases and there have been 'a number of ICU admissions'.

The figures regarding new cases will be released this evening about 5.30pm, he said.

Regarding fears over visitors returning from Cheltenham, Mr Holohan said this issue would be reviewed over the coming days.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said it was important to point out that workplaces were not being treated as 'mass gatherings' and so they were not recommending that large workforces need to close at 6pm today. However, he did point out that there were now guidelines in place for workplaces, including asking employees to work from home where possible, and also the staggering of break times.

• The Department of Health has announced this evening that there have been 27 new cases detected in the Republic of Ireland in the last 24 hours.