Tag Archives: Covid-19

GARDAÍ are appealing for continued public compliance with travel restrictions as part of Covid-19 public health guidelines. This week saw a ramped up presence of Gardaí on arterial routes across the country, including those into West and North Clare. Alongside permanent checkpoints which had been in place since Easter, Gardaí have increased the presence of rolling check-points as Operation Fanacht intensified between Tuesday last until the end of the May Bank Holiday. The operation will also see Gardaí conduct high visibility patrols at major tourist locations, parks and natural beauty spots. At any one time, there will be over 2,500 Gardaí involved in checkpoints or high visibility patrolling. Clare Crime Prevention Officer, Sergeant Tríona Brooks said people were once again being asked to say in their primary residence and not to travel to holiday homes. “If you are found to be travelling to a holiday home or secondary residence you will be turned back,” she said. “In particular, we would …

UL Hospitals Group has introduced a skin temperature monitoring system at University Hospital Limerick in an intensification of efforts to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infection among patients and staff at the region’s main acute hospital. The system has been generously donated to the hospital by Adare Manor and the McManus family. One detection point is already operational just beyond the hospital’s entrance lobby, and this will soon be complemented by further detection units in areas of high footfall. Dr Sarah O’Connell, Infectious Diseases Consultant and Clinical Lead for COVID-19 at UL Hospitals Group, said: “This is an additional measure we have taken to try to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 at UHL, and we would like to thank all those involved in the introduction of this project.” The skin temperature monitoring system is a safe, non-invasive thermal imaging process that has been calibrated to detect temperatures greater than 37.5 degrees Celsius. High temperature may be a sign of fever, which is a common symptom of Covid-19, and the system will help identify …

Two months after the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed, Clare now has a total of 229 positive cases.. However, despite a rise of 17 cases in the latest figures, Clare still remains one of the counties with the lowest incidences of the virus. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre revealed today that a total of 59 people with Covid-19 have died, of which 45 were laboratory confirmed. There have now been a total of 1,159 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of 11am Tuesday,, the HPSC has been notified of 229 new confirmed cases of the virus bringing to 19,877 the total number of confirmed cases 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. As of midnight Monday last, 153,054 tests have been carried out. Over the past week, 41,470 tests were carried out and of these 5,335 were positive, giving a …

With three further positive cases, Clare now has a total of 212 confirmed Covid-19 cases. However, Clare still remains one of the counties with the lowest incidences of the virus at 1.1%. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre announced this evening that a further 18 people have died from Covid-19. There have now been a total of 1,102 related deaths in Ireland from the virus. As of 11am today, the HPSC has been notified of 386 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, bringing the overall tally of confirmed cases to 19,648 confirmed 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, Saturday 25th April (19,095 cases), reveals:  * 57% are female and 42% are male * the median age of confirmed cases is 49 years * 2,625 cases (14%) have been hospitalised * Of those hospitalised, 353 cases …

A Clare Councillor ,who is still recovering from contracting Covid-19, has described the virus as “horrific” for patients who are forced to self-isolate away from family members. In an extensive interview with the Clare Champion, Councillor Ann Norton admitted she is still exhausted and can only do household chore for about 30 to 45 minutes before she falls asleep. “At one stage, I could do something for 15 minutes and could sleep for 20 hours. Now I can do something for 45 minutes. I am trying every day to do a bit more every day,” she admitted. The Clare Crusaders’ Clinic managing director is still baffled about where she could have picked up the highly contagious virus, having taken all the necessary precautions of infection control measures in her home, wearing gloves and a mask. “I would hate to hear of anyone getting Covid-19. It is horrific. It is so hard. I am so used to being able to think …

“AS a mainly rural people, we’ve always had a tradition of going to funerals to provide support and show sympathy, Covid-19 has forced us to make massive changes to that custom,” said Ennis-based undertaker, Cyril Cusack, commenting on one of the most challenging aspects of all of the current public health guidelines limiting gatherings and movement in the face of the Coronavirus. Reposals, hand-shakes and books of condolence have all been ruled out for the time being and the traditional funeral drawing huge number of mourners is a sight we are unlikely to see for some time. Detailed guidelines from the Health Service Executive (HSE) to funeral directors outline how social distancing must be implemented, meaning only private ceremonies for immediate family and friends are allowed. Despite the restrictions, Mr Cusack said families are handling the situation with dignity and grace at an extremely challenging time. “First of all, families have to deal with their shock and sometimes anger when …

Concern about the availability of personal protective equipment for nursing homes in Clare has been expressed by Dr Michael Harty. Dr Harty said some nursing homes felt abandoned as they had instituted strict visitor restrictions on March 6 even before the lockdown. He understands most of the nursing homes in Clare are free from Covid-19 following the provision of very effective protection measures to ensure residents are safe. “One nursing home told me they spend €10,000 purchasing their own PPE because they weren’t able to get a sufficient supply from the HSE. He recalled there was an expectation there would be a huge surge in the number of people requiring hospital treatment with a substantial number requiring admission to intensive care who may need ventilation. “The emphasis was placed on that aspect of care from the beginning. The social distancing and lockdown measures that have been introduced has made a huge difference to the numbers of people requiring hospitalisation and …

THERE has been a very good response to the Covid-19 crisis locally, according to Niamh O’Callaghan of the Love Shannon group. One of the few problems she identified is a tendency for young people to still come together, breaching the social distancing requirements. “Kids need to do a lot more, but that’s probably the same in every town in the country. We need to find something for kids to do, they’re bored off their heads. In this weather computer games aren’t necessarily going to kids. It isn’t kids in primary school but young teens, they’re hanging around together and they were causing quite a nuisance in the nighttime,” she said. However most people have done what has been required in the battle to limit the spread of the deadly disease. “In general it has been amazing and the place has been dead. Really, really dead.” Niamh said there have been street parties in certain areas, but with the residents staying …