Tag Archives: Covid-19

There have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today. The total number of COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland is 1,606. As of today the HPSC has been notified of 59 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 24,698 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 23 May (24,593 cases), reveals: · 57% are female and 43% are male · the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years · 3,225 cases (13%) have been hospitalised · Of those hospitalised, 394 cases have been admitted to ICU · 7,842 cases are associated with healthcare workers · Dublin has the highest number of cases at 11,876 (48% of all cases) followed by Cork with 1,438 cases (6%) and then Kildare with 1,390 …

Since the call for people to sign up to support the community response to Covid-19 in Clare went out in March, 386 people from across the county have registered to volunteer through the I-VOL app, Clare TD Joe Carey has said. Deputy Carey said: “Volunteers in Clare have been directly linked by the local Volunteer Centres to local organisations responding to Covid-19, conducting a wide range of very important work, from delivering food and medicines to older people who are self-isolating, to volunteering in Covid test centres. “There are also many more volunteers on the ground, helping out family, friends and neighbours. The response to the Covid crisis shows once again what a fantastic resource we have in our volunteers and the wonderful community spirit that prevails here in Clare even during these challenging times,” he stated. Deputy Carey added: “We have always depended greatly on the cohort of volunteers that give so generously of their time and energy year …

SUDDENLY money has become very scarce for many people and hard choices are having to be made in a lot of households. Ciara (not her real name) is a full-time carer living in Ennis, while her partner has now been put out of work, leaving them very reliant on the Mid West Simon Food Bank. She has been through hard times quite often in the course of her life, often having accessed services from Simon in the past, and the charity have helped her with various issues. “I live with my partner who did work, and the Foodbank is very good since the work stopped. Now the work is cut back and he didn’t qualify for the €350 because he wasn’t working in March or February. He’s back on the JobSeekers now so it’s very handy with the Foodbank, it used to be once every two weeks but now it’s once a month. Things I don’t use I’d pass onto …

AFTER a 50-day shut-down, hill-walkers have been able to return to one of the county’s premier amenities at the 12 O’Clock Hills. The facility was closed in March to help with efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19, even before official public health guidelines kicked in. Last Monday, the operators welcomed walkers living within five kilometres of the facility and issued new guidelines to ensure social distancing. Chairperson of the 12 O’Clock Hills committee, Patsy Neville said the co-operation of the public had been greatly appreciated during the lock-down. “We had a tremendous response,” he said. “For once, we were delighted that people stayed away. We’re delighted now to welcome people back. Once we announced the re-opening, we had 7,000 views on our social media, so there is a huge demand to get back hill-walking.” Mr Neville also advised that those intending to use the facility would take a little extra time to make themselves aware of new guidelines. “It’s …

THERE is a feeling that the country has the Covid-19 tiger by the tail already but Marty Morrissey is calling on everyone to keep their guard up now, to avoid squandering a very good response to the crisis. “I think we need to be very careful. On my travels in the last couple of days I’ve seen lots of young people gathering at corners. I’d be worried. Whatever chance we have, we really need to be careful coming out of lockdown. “I think there’s a danger we’ll say ‘ah we’re grand now’ and we’re not. In most countries, there’s been a second wave and the second wave is often worse. So, I would urge people to really abide by the rules,” he told The Clare Champion on Monday. “It’s easy to forget a lot of people have died from this and a lot of people are sick from it. I think it needs to be re-emphasised, I’d be worried about …

BUSINESSES in Ballina and Killaloe have re-opened on a limited basis as they come to terms with operating new social distancing guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic. McKeogh’s Hardware, Ballina, closed for two weeks at the end of March when the national lockdown was announced. Fred McInerney of McKeogh’s recalled they operated on a call-and-collect basis for a number of weeks before they re-opened fully on Monday. Mr McInerney said the area of the store was mapped out before the lockdown and acknowledged most people are adhering to social distancing guidelines. Gloves and hand sanitiser are provided in the store and perspex screens are provided for staff. He said there was a big demand for paint during the call and collect period and now the demand has switched to outdoors with large numbers requesting DIY to complete repair jobs and decking. The Lakeside Hotel is planning to re-open from July 20 with restrictions for social distancing. It is expected their leisure …

AN Ennis primary school has been taking homeschooling to another level, keeping connected to students by launching its own online channel. Like all schools across the country, Holy Family Ennis has been deeply impacted by the arrival of Covid-19. A group of teachers at the school came together to formulate an online learning plan to support their students and from this, Progress TV was born. Co-ordinator and fifth class teacher, Darryl Eade explains, “Social media was inundated with homemade videos when the lockdown began. There were cooks, fitness instructors, health experts and musicians posting recordings from their living rooms. We wondered could a few of us record some simple educational lessons and present them in a fun and light-hearted way. Our hope was that the students would be naturally motivated to engage with each activity. We assembled a team and got started on episode one.” Progress TV has grown into a weekly video classroom with staff from Holy Family Senior …

BROADCASTER and author Rachael English is still on the radio regularly but hasn’t been into RTÉ for over two months. “I think the last time I was in the building was on March 18. Ever since then, I have a little box that uses the wifi and it came from Radio Sport. They ordinarily are the users, it even has a link to Croke Park on it, they’re unlikely to be able to use that for a while,” the Shannon woman says. Presenting Morning Ireland to hundreds of thousands of listeners isn’t the kind of thing one normally does from home but Rachael has got into the habit of it. “It takes a little bit of getting used to, but a lot less than I thought it would. It was a great relief there for a few weeks that it was possible to do it like that. There was one day that the wifi went down, not during the programme …