Tag Archives: Covid-19

“FEAR and despair” is impacting Clare publicans’ mental health as the closure of pubs and uncertainty over their re-opening continues, Clare Vintners Federation of Ireland chairman Darragh McAllister told a meeting this week. The meeting of the Clare branch held at the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis saw six of Clare’s Oireachtas members hear the concerns of the county’s publicans. The meeting comes a week after it was announced that the re-opening of pubs that don’t serve food been delayed until August 31 at the earliest. In attendance were Cathal Crowe TD, Michael McNamara TD, Violet Ann Wynne TD, Joe Carey TD and senators Timmy Dooley and Martin Conway and Mayor of Clare, Mary Howard with apologies from senator Róisín Garvey. At the meeting, which was limited to 50 attendees as per Covid-19 regulations, Mr McAllister, welcomed the presence of the Oireachtas members. In a wide-ranging address detailing the current state of the trade, Mr McAllister highlighted the many false …

A TOTAL of 200 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed nationally today (Saturday, August 15). Clare is among the counties where new cases have been reported, however the worst affected county is Dublin, with 56 cases. There have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. There has now been a total of 1,774 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight Friday, August 14, the HPSC has been notified of 200 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 27,191* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.  Of the cases notified today; 103 are men / 96 are women 68% are under 45 years of age 68 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case 25 cases have been identified as community transmission 56 in Dublin, 81 in Kildare, 13 in Tipperary, 8 in Limerick, 6 Laois, 6 in Galway, 5 in Kilkenny, 5 in Meath and the rest …

THE wearing of face coverings become “part of the new normal” for shoppers in Ennis with most agreeing it makes them feel safer, according to CEO of Ennis Chamber Margaret O’Brien. On Monday regulations making face coverings mandatory in shops and other indoor public settings came into force. Similar to the regulations requiring people to wear masks on public transport, those in breach of the rules can be fined up to €2,500 or face six months imprisonment. Members of Ennis Chamber have welcomed the move, Ms O’Brien tells us. “Feedback from Ennis Chamber members is largely positive.  Staff in most shops were already wearing masks and have become used to them.” She continued, “So far there haven’t been any incidents reported of customers refusing to mask up, although some have needed to be reminded. Public sentiment has changed considerably in recent weeks around the wearing of facemasks, they have become part of the new normal. Most agree that the wearing of …

AN ENNIS doctor is urging people with any symptoms of respiratory, or other infections, to see their GP and get tested for Covid-19, if advised to do so. Dr Máire Finn of Ennis Medical said people are presenting with a range of different symptoms and that there is a growing list of signs of Covid-19, as the scientific and health communities learn more about the disease. “Our knowledge of the symptoms is developing all the time,” Dr Finn said. “At first, we were aware of a very defined set. We have since seen people coming in with urinary symptoms and gastro-intestinal symptoms which have been linked to Covid-19. We’ve even seen an appendicitis case, where the Covid test came back positive. It’s difficult to tell if that was coincidental or if the appendicitis was triggered by the virus. Right now, we’re looking at any infective symptoms as potential indicators. As GPs, we will triage people and assess who needs to …

WE REALLY need a break. The last four and a half months, since the pandemic was declared, have taken a huge toll. With the possible exception of the Emmy-nominated actor, Paul Mescal – a man with West Clare ties, and for whom the last year has seen his star rise and rise – most of us would prefer to write off 2020. We have suffered grief and loss. We are struggling with terrible uncertainty about the future. Every single one of us has made heroic sacrifices and now fatigue is setting in. We are battle-weary. The sun is shining (occasionally) and there’s a lot of steam to be let off after our spring-time lockdown. Wouldn’t it be great to forget about everything, just for a while? It would be a big relief to pretend that Covid-19 never happened. That it isn’t happening. That it’s okay to go back to our old familiar ways – our cosy chats in close contact …

THE latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) today (Friday, August 14) show nine newly confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Clare. There have been a further 5 in Limerick and the national total for today, nationally, is 67. There have been no new deaths reported to the There has now been a total of 1,774 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight Thursday (August 13), the HPSC has been notified of 67 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 26,995* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today; 35 are men / 32 are women 70% are under 45 years of age 38 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case 16 cases have been identified as community transmission 18 in Dublin, 17 in Kildare, 9 in Clare, 5 in Limerick, and the rest of the 18 cases are in Carlow, Cork, Donegal, Laois, …

FIVE new cases of Covid-19 are among a total of 92 confirmed today (Thursday, August 13) by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). Eight cases have been confirmed in Limerick. There have been no new deaths reported. There has now been a total of 1,774 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of midnight Wednesday August 12, the HPSC has been notified of 92 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 26,929 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Of the cases notified today; • 43 are men / 48 are women • 72% are under 45 years of age • 43 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case • 12 cases have been identified as community transmission • 24 in Dublin, 24 in Kildare, 8 in Limerick, 6 in Carlow, 6 in Kilkenny, 5 in Meath, 5 in Clare, and remaining 14 cases are in Cork, Donegal, Kerry, Laois, Louth, …

MUNSTER Rugby said this afternoon (Thursday, August 13), they have been assisting an Academy player within the wider training squad who has tested positive for Covid-19. A statement said that, “As a precautionary measure the squad and Academy did not train today at the HPC and Thomond Park”. The club said the individual concerned immediately self-isolated on development of symptoms on Sunday last, and that HSE have been contacted and the contact tracing process has commenced. “In taking all precautions, Munster Rugby have immediately identified five Academy players and one senior player as potential close contacts from social and household settings and the six players have already commenced self-isolating,” their statement said. “The province will await further guidance from the HSE in this regard.” The senior squad will return to the HPC on Monday to complete the third phase of the IRFU’s routine PCR testing and resume preparations for the Guinness PRO14 encounter against Leinster. Test results will be released …