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The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has been informed that a total of four people with COVID-19 have died. There have now been a total 1,547 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland. The number in Clare increased by one today. A total of 315 people in the county have now been diagnosed with Covid-19 As of 11am today the HPSC has been notified of 88 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 24,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread. Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Saturday May 16 (24,036 cases), reveals: · 57% are female and 43% are male · the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years · 3,127 cases (13%) have been hospitalised · Of those hospitalised, 391 cases have been admitted to ICU · 7,615 cases are associated with …

Minister for Health Simon Harris TD has announced his intention extend the influenza vaccine to children without charge. Minister Harris confirmed all of those in the HSE-defined at-risk groups, aged from six months to 69 years inclusive will also be available to access the vaccine without charge. All people aged over 70 already have access without charges. The vaccination will be available to all children aged from two to 12 years inclusive. Work is underway to plan and give effect to this policy and further information will be provided when arrangements have been finalised. Minister Harris said: “A resurgence of COVID-19 during the coming flu season could present a significant challenge to the delivery of healthcare services in the coming winter. “That is why officials from my Department have been working closely with the HSE to put in place an expansion of the seasonal influenza vaccination programme for winter 2020/21. “Flu is a potentially fatal illness and I want to …

A NEW lobby group hopes to distribute another batch of scrubs to a long term residential care facility later this week. Nursing homes in Clare have been the big winners of a new campaign to provide additional supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) thanks to work co-ordinated by a new support group. The Mid-West Hospital Campaign group estimates that hundreds of cotton face masks have been made inside the last seven days by 37 sewers working voluntarily on behalf of this new lobby group. Clare PPE co-ordinator Hilary Tonge confirmed that nurses in St Senan’s Nursing Home in Kilrush received newly- made scrubs on Tuesday. She hopes that the group will have another large batch of scrubs ready to benefit another nursing home later this week. Three health care workers in Ennistymon received scrubs, face masks and hand sanitiser from the group on Tuesday. The group has collected more than €3,000 in financial donations to date and would welcome more …

A majority of Clare Fine Gael councillors support the current proposed national coalition of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, according to the findings of a Clare Champion survey. Councillor Gabriel Keating said efforts should have been made to form a national government made up of a number of political parties last March. Stressing the need for a new government to be elected as quickly as possible, he is a little reluctant to give his full support for a Fianna Fáil (FF), Fine Gael (FG) and Green Party (GP) coalition as he doesn’t think this will be good for rural Ireland. Instead, he supports a coalition of these parties with Labour and a group of rural Independents like Michael McNamara, which he feels would be better able to deal with these challenging times. Councillor Johnny Flynn said he would not vote for any coalition deal with Fine Gael and Sinn Féin as he disagreed with some of their …

THE Leaving Cert is one of the great Irish rites of passage but the class of 2020 will never negotiate it. It may not be ideal but Alan Cunningham, principal of St Caimin’s in Shannon, feels it is probably the least worst option at this stage. “Yeah, the unknown was the disaster for everyone. Taking into account everyone’s wellbeing, keeping them hanging until July 29, when it might not have happened either. They had to come up with some kind of plan and it is what it is now, we can all get on with it and see how it comes out the other end.” Some young people are happy with the idea of predicted grades, but not everyone is, he feels. “There’s a fair mix. You’d have some people delighted with it and some people who would feel they have a better chance on the day, with the paper. Every student has their individual way of looking at it. …

AN ARNACRUSHA-based charity organiser has revealed he is “overwhelmed” by the huge sum raised from a recent charity walk in memory of his mother and sister who died after contracting Motor Neurone Disease. Paraic Conlon initially set a fundraising target of €10,000 for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA). However, the Tulla native managed to raise more than treble this figure by collecting €32,728 following a charity walk in the 12 O’Clock Hills in Kilkishen thanks to tremendous support from a large group of family and friends. “A lot of extra people turned up for the walk and people who did walks later that day gave great donations. It hit a chord with a lot of people. A lot of people in the locality know people who have the disease. “Two days after the walk, I had collected €16,500 and I still had about 50 sponsorship cards to collect. The final amount blew my mind, it was so much. …

LONG planned weddings have had to be cancelled all over the county in recent months, much to the disappointment of those who had been all set to walk down the aisle. Amy Ryan from Quin had been due to marry Tommy Considine from Clooney in August but now those plans have been put on ice. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s not the end of the world but you put a lot of effort into planning it and then it kind of goes up in smoke,” says Amy. The couple have been together for nearly 11 years and she said that calling it off was the right option for them. “It’s gutting for everyone. We looked at what other people had done, getting married and Zoom and all that but we’re a bit traditional.” Prior to a recent address from the Taoiseach, when proposed phases of reopening the country had been laid out, they had still planned to go …

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has been informed that a total of 10 people with COVID-19 have died. There have now been a total 1,497 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of 11am today the HPSC was notified of 159 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 23,401 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. The total in Clare has increased by two to 308 cases. The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread. Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Monday May 11 (23,144 cases), reveals: · 57% are female and 43% are male · the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years · 3,050 cases (13%) have been hospitalised · Of those hospitalised, 389 cases have been admitted to ICU · 6,997 cases are associated with healthcare workers · Dublin has the highest number of cases at …