Tag Archives: Covid-19

CLARE’S Sinn Féin TD has called on all Republicans in the county to privately reflect on the sacrifices of Irish people during and after the 1916 Rising, particularly in light of those being made today in the fight against Covid-19. It comes as the party was forced to cancel all public events to mark the anniversary of the Rising, due to the ongoing Coronavirus lock-down. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne said that Sinn Féin in Clare will privately remember the 1916 Easter Rising and she called on others to do likewise. “Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sinn Féin moved immediately to cancel all of its public events scheduled for Clare,” the Kilrush resident noted. “These events have included a delay in the opening of my Ennis Constituency office, Sinn Féin public meetings and functions, internal party meetings and also all events planned this weekend to Commemorate the 1916 Rising. The Annual Easter Sunday Commemoration at Drumcliffe Cemetery is also cancelled.” Deputy Wynne added that …

CLARE’S County Dog Warden is urging dog owners to keep their pets on a lead while out walking to maintain social distancing during the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. Frankie Coote explains that friendly dogs maybe inclined to go up to people if not leashed, meaning their owners have to break social distancing to retrieve them. “It might not be the law to have certain dogs on leads, but it’s my advice at the moment. I see them in Lees Road and I’m trying to stay my distance and advise them. But a friendly dog is going to run over to children, and he won’t come back so either the children are picking him up or you have to go over to get him. In fairness I would say maybe 80% of people are keeping them on leads which is a great thing.” Meanwhile a spate of pigeon deaths in the Ennis area is believed to have been caused by an outbreak …

  AN emotional appeal has been made by a number of community leaders for those intending to travel to Clare holiday homes for Easter to cancel their plans. Despite the signing into law of stringent new Garda powers to enforce the Covid-19 lock-down, concerns remain that many have flocked to the West in recent days. The Director of Nursing at St Theresa’s Nursing Home in Kilrush told The Champion that the increase in visitors has been noticeable, and said the situation is a great risk to aging communities are already living in fear. “The risk they are bringing is not just to us in the Nursing Home and protection agencies but also to the many ageing communities in West Clare,” Yvonne Moroney said. “This is the same area they love to visit year after year, but it will not be the same if the infection was to catch on in our small communities. Many people are worried about what people …

NURSING home operators in Clare have spoken of their fears after a dramatic rise in the number of Covid-19 clusters in such settings nationally. Some have revealed that they have had to introduce infection control procedures and cover the rising cost of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) themselves, while waiting for the recently-announced government supports to come on stream. Figures published on Wednesday by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) showed a total of 86 clusters at nursing homes across the country. The data, which was collected up to midnight on Sunday, shows three of these are in the Midwest and ten in the West, with the majority in the East of the country. “Clearly, nursing homes look after very immunocompromised people,” said Dr Billy O’Connell of Miltown Malbay. “An outbreak of Covid-19 could have terrible consequences.” While he welcomed the new Department of Health fund for PPE, training, advice and staff-testing, as well as the support of Health Information and …

A second Qatar Airways cargo plane carrying vital medical equipment from China landed at Shannon Airport yesterday afternoon. The cargo was the second consignment to arrive in Shannon in under a week. Among the medical equipment on board were ICU ventilators, masks and thermometers for distribution to frontline workers around Ireland in the fight against COVID-19. This follows a delivery of ICU ventilators and hospital beds which arrived in Shannon on a Qatar plane on April 3. Qatar Airways is one of the world’s largest cargo operators and has an extensive network of more than 160 destinations using both freight and passenger flights. The airline resumed flights to China at the end of last month to support the global supply chain, which includes the transportation of urgent medical relief aid, essential to the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Commenting on this latest consignment Mary Considine, CEO Shannon Group, which operates Shannon Airport said: “As an essential service our airport …

A YOUNG Ennis man faces an uncertain few days as he waits to find out if he can leave a Vietnamese quarantine facility, where he has been kept for almost a fortnight. Darragh Collins, from Shanaway Road in Ennis, has been teaching English in the country for the last two years. He attended St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Buddha Bar in Ho Chi Min which were deemed to be linked to a Coronavirus cluster. Days after the event, health authorities arrived at his apartment and took him on a quarantine bus to the Hoc Mon University campus, 17km away. “People were quite agitated about the situation, especially on the way to the centre,” Darragh told The Champion. “I wasn’t tested until the second day. I feel fine and have tested negative, but the information is that we will be here for 14 days and may need a second negative test before we can leave.” Darragh now faces an anxious wait …

Five hundred additional cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed which represents the largest number of confirmed cases in a single day since the outbreak began. The total number of people with Coronavirus now stands at 6,574. The number of positive cases also increased in Clare, up by two to a total of 68. A further 28 people have died from the virus in the country, there have been a total of 263 casualties in the Republic from COVID-19 and a combined 345 on the island of Ireland. Of the 263 deaths, 72% (187 cases) died in a hospital environment. Thirty people died in intensive care units, accounting for 11% of cases and of the deaths 22 were in the east and two in the north west, sought and west. The median age of today’s reported deaths is 84 and 19 people were reported as having underlying health conditions.    On a positive note, the number of individuals contracting the virus …

A collaboration between University of Limerick and UL Hospitals Group has seen the design and capacity created to manufacture 100,000 face visors for HSE front-line staff. The Rapid Innovation Unit at UL, an SFI Confirm Centre funded 3D printing activity that works in collaboration with University Hospital Limerick, mobilised a team to innovate immediate solutions in response to the COVID 19 crisis. The unit has previous experience in rapid design and 3D printing of medical devices in response to clinical requests. Following a request from Professor Paul Burke, Chief Academic Officer at UL Hospitals Group and Vice Dean of Health Sciences at UL, academics and clinicians at the Rapid Innovation Unit at UL worked to design and manufacture novel solutions where doctors had identified potential shortages of equipment should COVID-19 cases surge. In less than two weeks, the team designed solutions to three critical clinical challenges facing clinicians due to the pandemic. These include capacity to manufacture 100,000 face visors …