The Taoiseach has announced Covid-19 restrictions will be extended for a further three weeks until Tuesday, May 5th.
It follows recommendations by the country's top health officials.
There are now over 6,500 confirmed cases in the Republic with 230 admissions to ICUs.
263 people have died.
Leo Varadkar said "we have to keep going" and "persevere" and what we're doing is difficult but it's working.
He said it's the Government's "fervent hope" that they can ease the restrictions bit by bit after three weeks, but he said he cannot guarantee that.
The Education Minister, Joe McHugh, confirmed that schools will remain closed.
He said the Government will only take the decision to reopen schools when public health advice says it is safe to do so.
The Junior Cert exams will not go ahead; they'll be will be placed by school-based tests in the autumn.
The Leaving Cert exams will be postponed until the last week of July or early August.
The new Leaving Cert timetable will be released in early June.
