The top stories you need to read this morning
At Home: Wicklow school closes due to Covid-19 infection rates
Another Irish primary school has been forced to close in-person classes over Covid-19 cases.
According to The Independent, Hollywood NS in Co. Wicklow failed to open on Tuesday.
It is believed online classes will take place until it is safe to return to the classroom.
The news comes after a school in Wexford was forced to close until after the Halloween midterm due to a Covid outbreak.
Families found out about organ incinerations in news
Families affected by the CUMH organ incineration scandal found out about it via RTÉ’s report.
The report which exposed the incineration of multiple baby’s organs was published in September.
Numerous families have since confirmed it was the first they heard of the incinerations.
It is believed 18 families were affected by the hospital’s decision to incinerate organs last year.
5 of the 18 families claim they didn’t know about what happened until RTÉ published the report.
One woman told the publication: “We didn’t have a choice, we didn’t get a say – they just took our baby’s organ and sent it away without us knowing.”
Covid: Highest daily cases since January after 2,399 cases confirmed
2,399 new Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland.
This is the highest daily total since January 21st, 2021.
The stark rise in figures and hospitalisation has caused major concern for both NPHET and the Government.
However, despite the worsening Covid situation in Ireland, the Government confirmed more restrictions would be eased on Friday, October 22nd.
Full return to offices won’t happen until 2022, Tanaiste warns
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has confirmed the return to offices will not happen until early 2022.
Varadkar said employees can return to offices if they wish and once protocols are in place.
However, he stressed that employees who are not comfortable working in the office should be allowed to work from home.
He confirmed, “The full return to offices as we knew them… that will be next spring.”
Celebrity: Strictly’s Adam Peaty and Katya Jones said near-kiss was ‘just acting’
Strictly’s Adam Peaty and Katya Jones have stressed that their near-kiss during Saturday’s show was simply ‘acting’.
The pair were speaking to Zoe Ball on her BBC radio show when they responded to the major speculation surrounding their performance.
The Olympic swimmer stated, “It’s being believable, isn’t it? You don’t want to do a dance like that and not do it justice because you haven’t switched on right at the end. So it’s being believable, and that’s what I think some people get carried away with. But, hey ho, that’s life, isn’t it?”
Jones stressed that one of their aims for that performance was to focus on emotion and acting.
“The judges kept saying we’re not connecting the emotion to the dance, there’s got to be more connection,” Jones added.
