A flight carrying almost €30m in personal protective equipment for healthcare workers will arrive at Dublin Airport today.
The 50-hour round trip to Beijing is being undertaken by Aer Lingus.
The plane is en route from the Chinese capital with masks, gowns and gloves among the items on board.
It is the first of a number of flights delivering over €200m worth of PPE to the country.
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Another 14 people in the east of the country who had been diagnosed with coronavirus have died.
It brings the total number of deaths here to 36.
A further 294 new cases of COVID-19 have also been confirmed in the Republic.
The number of people who have tested positive now stands at 2,415.
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Fine Gael's support has surged due to its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new opinion poll.
The Business Post/Red C poll has the party on 34% - up 13 points.
Sinn Féin is up three to 28%, while Fianna Fail is down four to 18%.
The survey of a thousand voters was conducted online between Friday the 20th and Wednesday of this week.
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US President Donald Trump appears to have changed his mind about the possibility of imposing a quarantine on New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Writing on Twitter, he says he's asked for a strong travel advisory to be issued instead.
The number of deaths in New York has risen from 519 to 728, with the number of cases now recorded at 52,318, most of them in New York City.
It's also been confirmed that a child under the age of one had died in Chicago after contracting the virus.
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Summertime has officially started this morning.
The clocks went forward by one hour at 1am, meaning you have to get up from your bed an hour earlier.
People are being reminded to check they have put the right time on their watches and clocks.
