Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar has rejoined the medical register to help the health service during the coronavirus crisis, AFP quoted a government spokesman as saying on Sunday.

Dr Varadkar “has offered his services to the Health Service Executive for one session a week in areas that are within his scope of practice”, a government spokesman said in a statement.

The Irish Times reported Varadkar — who graduated with a medical degree from Dublin's Trinity University in 2003 — is to work assessing patients over the phone.

The son of a doctor and nurse, Varadkar's partner and his two sisters are also practicing health workers.

There have been a total of 4,994 confirmed cases across the Republic.