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Tag Archives: Covid-19

St Anne’s Virtual Community Offers Support for Students

LIKE thousands of schools across the country, St Anne’s Community College in Killaloe remains closed in a bid to limit the spread of the Coronavirus. And while the 500-strong student body are following the new rules of social distancing and staying apart, they are coming together online to keep their spirits up and to avail of support and guidance in these challenging times. School Chaplain Karol Torpey, who lives in Feakle, told The Champion that the school’s social platforms have come to fore in the current crisis. “Our Facebook page, Humans of St Anne’s Community College, is now operating as a virtual chaplain’s office. It’s a way of getting as much support and advice to people as possible and of gauging how people are feeling.” The importance of staying apart in order to protect the vulnerable is one key message that the school has been promoting across its social channels: “We have been working hard to get the message of …

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Retired Bishop of Killaloe Urges People to Reconnect

AMONG those cocooning during the Covid-19 crisis is retired Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, whose advice is to reconnect with those with whom we might have lost touch. The Octogenarian said he is adjusting to the lock-down better than he thought he would, and that his prayers are with people who are finding the current restrictions difficult. “I am keeping a routine and getting up early and taking some exercise,” he outlined. “I watch mass on one of the online services and I celebrate mass privately. I’ll do a couple of hours in the garden. I also find it therapeutic to write about the current situation. I’m very lucky to have a house and garden and I’m thinking about those who are under pressure at this time.” As well as reflecting on the role of the Priesthood, the retired Bishop said he’s also keeping up-to-date with some social activities: “On Wednesdays, I would normally go to the Clarecastle Men’s …

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Ennis Man In New York Highlighting Irish Pride

AN Ennis man living and working in New York, which has seen the largest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the US, has told The Clare Champion, “I can’t imagine life ever going back to normal.” Journalist Colm Flynn has been covering the effects the virus has had on the people of New York for a number of television companies. Just recently he presented a widely acclaimed RTÉ Nationwide special highlighting how the Irish community in New York have been helping each other through the crisis. Speaking to The Clare Champion from New York, Colm describes the atmosphere in the usually bustling metropolis as “extremely eerie”. He says he has been “overwhelmed” with the response to the Nationwide show, revealing the show almost didn’t make it onto our screens. “The situation was getting worse and worse here in New York, and back at home RTÉ of course was so focused on what was happening Ireland there wasn’t too much coverage …

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new assessment unit for Covid-19 patients

A NEW Clinical Assessment Unit is expected be set up in Shannon Health Centre later this week  for Clare patients who are confirmed as Covid-19 positive. As part of the HSE system wide response to Covid 19, this unit will provided a face-to-face clinical assessment for patients following a GP referral. The aim of the units is to divert mildly symptomatic patients who require medical assessment away from the acute hospital system by providing a facility in the community in which the patient can be seen, and clinically assessed by a team of nurses, doctors and physiotherapists. The unit will provide service Monday to Sunday by appointment only from 07.30 to 20.30. The numbers of people waiting for a Covid-19 test in the Mid-West has been slashed from 8,000 to 500 in a week including 77 now in Clare following the introduction of new criteria. Clare family doctors have been advised patients will only qualify for a swab if they …

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Positive Covid-19 Clare cases up to 54

The number of patients in Clare who have tested positive for coronavirus has risen to 54, up four in the past 24 hours, according to figures released by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre this afternoon. Seventeen patients diagnosed with Covid-19 have also died in that time frame bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 137. Of the 17 new deaths, 15 were located in the east, one in the south and one in the west. The patients included four females and 13 males and 13 were reported as having underlying health conditions. There have now been 137 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland and the median age of the deceased is 81. There were also 331 new confirmed cases in the country and there are now 4,604 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland. Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “This week, the National Public Health Emergency Team made a range of recommendations to support …

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Children Urged to Remotely Capture Grandparents’ Memories During Covid Crisis

AN EAST Clare historian is urging children and families to make the most of the current break in our daily routines by documenting the memories and recollections of older generations. While visiting grandparents is banned, as the over-70s cocoon themselves against the Coronavirus, Dr Tomás MacConmara has published an easy-to-use guideline so that children can record phone conversations and learn about life in a by-gone era. The Tuamgraney native believes that now is an ideal time to enhance children’s understanding and appreciation of their grandparent’s lives, and for the older and younger generations to stay connected. “This is an idea I’ve had for a long long time, well before Covid-19,” Dr MacConmara explained. “I’ve always felt there was a tremendous value for younger people to be connected to older generations and tremendous insights that could be achieved from that simple process of talking to and, more importantly, listening to our older people. It was part of our culture for centuries …

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Ballyvaughan doctor warns Covid-19 is highly infectious

COVID-19 is nothing like contracting a bad ‘flu, a local family doctor has warned. Proffessor Liam Glynn has warned the virus is twice as infectious as the ‘flu, results in 20 times more people requiring hospitalisation and kills at least ten times more people. The Professor of General Practice at the Graduate Entry Medical, University of Limerick is producing a daily breakdown of Covid-19 cases and deaths in several countries with Dr Michael O’Callaghan, a Bruff GP who is trained as a software engineer and data analyst. This initiative is a collaboration between the University of Limerick and the Irish College of General Practitioners. Dr Glynn said it was important to provide clear factual information about the incidence of this deadly disease from a trusted source during this crisis. They provide daily figures of new Covid-19 cases, fatalities in different countries like South Korean, Italy, Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom and Ireland, which are posted in a graph on twitter. The …

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Clare Bus Join Covid-19 Crisis Reponse

CLARE Bus is continuing to serve the community of East Clare during the Covid-19 crisis, despite the fact that the National Transport Authority (NTA) has appointed alternative operators to its routes under the Local Link scheme. The Feakle-based service has joined the East Clare Covid-19 Community Response Group, saying its drivers have invaluable local knowledge and are ready to help the public as and when required. Following a dispute over funding levels for the accessible local transport service, and despite intensive negotiations involving four of the constituencies TDs, on Friday last, the NTA unveiled new operators on 12 routes previously served by Clare Bus. Three routes have gone to the company ranked in second place in last year’s tendering process, while nine went to another company on an interim basis for three months. Clare Bus had secured all 12 routes in the NTA procurement process at the end of December but declined to sign contracts until it secured an assurance …

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