The Big 6 - Wednesday 18th November

Every evening at 6 O Clock WLR brings you the 6 biggest stories of the day

There have been 1,057 outbreaks of Covid clusters over the past week according to new figures. 10 of the outbreaks are in school settings, 20 in workplaces (including 4 in The South East) but the majority of the 1,057 new outbreaks are in private homes.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) have sparked much debate following their call for “serious consideration” to be given to closing schools for the Christmas break on December 18. On todays Deise Today Damien Tiernan spoke to the unions assistant general secretary Seamus Lahart. Listen back here.

Surveying works by National Broadband Ireland in several areas of Waterford are well underway. The company is investing €59m to develop a high speed fibre network in the county, as part of the Government’s National Broadband Plan to address the country’s digital divide.

Dublin Zoo has warned that it may have to close permanently because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. A campaign called "Save Dublin Zoo" was launched today and has already raised a half a million euro. Taoiseach Michael Martin tweeted his support for the Zoo earlier.

In his weekly tech slot on The Big Breakfast Blaa, Wayne Brown told Mary & Ollie about Petflix Club, an online facility for pet owners.

Listen back here.

Little Mix singer Jesy Nelson has announced that she is taking some time off from the band for private medical reasons. Nelson has spoken out in the past about being trolled by bullies and has missed a number of performances by the band in recent weeks. Her publicist made the announcement on Twitter earlier today.