Tag Archives: Covid-19

ENGAGING in industrial action at the region’s main emergency care facility is “ill-advised” and a step too far, a local doctor has warned. INMO members at UHL commenced a ballot for industrial action on Wednesday over the alleged refusal of hospital management to attend talks at the Workplace Relations Commission. The INMO represents over 1,000 nurses on site who are frustrated at the approach to date by management to resolving the persistent high nurse vacancy rates and other related issues. Among nurses’ concerns are the risks to patients, overcrowding in a COVID-19 environment and excessive workloads arising due to unfilled funded nursing posts in wards, emergency department and theatres. Dr Michael Harty has called on Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to immediately intervene to prevent any threatened withdrawal of labour at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). “Minister Donnelly needs to take the understaffing issue very seriously. He was very strong on this issue when he was opposition spokesman on health. “I can …

THE government is being warned that more people will die from delayed and missed cancer diagnoses, than from Covid-19, unless funding for oncology treatment and screening is properly supported over the course of the pandemic. Medical card campaigner John Wall, who himself has Stage IV cancer, was reacting to a briefing from The Department of Health outlining reduced services, as well as major increase in waiting lists. “Obviously, the pandemic is absolutely catastrophic,” he said. “But, the fact is that more people are dying every day of the week from cancer than from Covid-19. Covid cases must be dealt with in conjunction with oncology services. There is no doubt but that those delivering health services are doing their very best, but the reality is that people are already going undiagnosed and cancers are being missed, and that before you factor in the impact of Covid-19. I see, every day, the issues that people are having when they don’t get a …

THE Creamery Bar and Restaurant has closed temporarily after a person working there was diagnosed with Covid-19. Last Thursday afternoon it posted a message on Facebook saying “The Creamery is presently closed as a precaution due to one member of staff testing positive for Covid-19. “As we are a small team many of our staff have been in contact with that one staff member and now are on restricted movements for 14 days. We don’t have a back up staff to man The Creamery so we will voluntarily be closed for that period of time. “We are working with the HSE and a contact trace log has been prepared and all close contacts will be identified and contacted by the HSE with the appropriate information going forward.” “Under the current government guidelines you should monitor for any Covid-19 symptoms and should they develop then you should follow those guidelines, self isolate and contact your doctor.” The statement also thanked all …

EAST Clare has been affected far more than West Clare by Covid-19, according to a newly updated map with details of the level of infection in each electoral division, provided by the State. The figures take account of all confirmed cases up until August 12. For confidentiality reasons, no precise figures are provided for Electoral Divisions where fewer than five cases have been recorded. In Clare a very large number of the electoral districts are in the fewer than five category, and this is particularly true for the west of the county. Even in Kilrush, the largest population centre, the figure for both the rural and urban electoral divisions is below five. An exception in the west of the county is Miltwon Malbay, where there were nine confirmed cases from a population of 1,633. This gives a comparative figure of 551.13 per 100k. However in the east of the county there have been far more areas where multiple cases were …

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been informed that two people with Covid-19 in Ireland have died while there have been 54 confirmed additional cases, including some in Clare. Before today’s announcement, 439 persons have tested positive for the virus in the county. Officials have been notified of the 54 cases in the past 24 hours and the break-down of these new cases is -Dublin (19), Kildare (8) and Tipperary (5) with the remaining 22 in Clare, Carlow, Donegal, Kerry, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Waterford and Wexford. There has now been a total of 1,775 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland while the total number of confirmed cases has risen to 27,547. Of the cases notified today 24 are men / 29 are women, 67% are under 45 years of age, 27 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case and eight cases have been identified as community transmission Acting …

AN Outbreak Control Team has been established at University Hospital Limerick after one patient and one member of staff on Ward 3B tested positive for Covid-19 this Tuesday ( August 19). Contact tracing and testing is currently underway and all appropriate infection prevention and control measures are being followed in line with the national HPSC guidance. A number of staff from the ward at the centre of what we believe to be a localised outbreak have been identified as contacts. They have been asked to stay off work and to self-isolate in line with national guidance.  Initial testing of all patient contacts is complete and has not identified further cases. Initial testing of all staff contacts is expected to be complete tomorrow. All patients on the ward in question have been informed of the outbreak. Noreen Spillane, Chief Operations Officer, UL Hospitals Group, said: “Hospitals have been preparing for these situations for many months and we have now established an …

CLARE is among the counties to report positive Covid-19 cases today (Sunday, August 16). There have been 66 new cases nationally. There have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). There has now been a total of 1,774 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight Saturday, August 15, the HPSC has been notified of 66 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 27,257 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today; • 34 are men / 29 are women • 67% are under 45 years of age • 12 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case • 3 cases have been identified as community transmission • The remainder of these cases are still under investigation • 21 in Kildare, 16 in Dublin, 6 in Limerick, and the rest of the 23 cases are in Clare, Donegal, Laois, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, …

AN EMOTIONAL appeal has been issued by the father of a young Shannon girl with Cystic Fibrosis, as the county’s rate of Covid-19 spiked sharply this week. Kieran McCarthy, dad of 12-year-old Aoibheann, and a member of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland (CFI) is urging people not to become complacent about their safety and that of others, especially the most vulnerable. He said that in recent days, he has seen “crazy things,” that are very upsetting to his family and to others at risk. He told The Champion he believes the change in government has led to confusion over the safety message, and called for more to be done to convince younger people of the need to protect their families and the wider community. “Some people don’t understand because they have never had to experience illness or loss,” he said. “Some people are oblivious. Nine out of ten teens don’t understand hardship and loss. What they don’t realise is that it will …