Coronavirus moves closer to Limerick

THE Covid-19 coronavirus has moved closer to Limerick, with four confirmed cases in Co Clare.

Two males and two females from the Banner tested positive for the virus last night.

They are currently in hospital. The patients are all associated with travel from the same affected area in northern Italy.

It brings to nine the number of cases of the viral disease on this island – six in the Republic, and three in the North.

One of the latest victims of the virus is a child at a national school in north Clare. As a precaution, the school is closed from today for the next fortnight.

It will re-open after St Patrick’s Day, with public health doctors set to contact parents on an individual basis.

Confirmation ceremonies have been cancelled at the school.