Female Becomes Second Person In The Republic Diagnosed With Covid-19

A second case of Coronavirus has been identified in the Republic.

The Department of Health says it hasn't asked any school to close in connection with the second confirmed case of coronavirus in Ireland.

A primary school in Co. Meath has shut today as a precaution - but wasn't told to do so by health officials and will re-open tomorrow.

Health Minister Simon Harris says the Irish authorities won't shy away from making decisions.

The Italian government is reportedly closing schools and universities across the country until the middle of March - as the number of deaths from coronavirus there rises to 79.

Classes have already been stopped in northern areas where the outbreak is at its worst, while some towns have been quarantined.

There are now more than 2-thousand-500 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Italy.

Two new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Northern Ireland.

It brings to three the number of people in the North who've tested positive for Covid 19.

One of the new cases involves someone who'd recently travelled from Northern Italy.

The other person had recent contact with someone elsewhere in the UK who's tested positive.