Thurles Information

If a person has symptoms that seem like Covid or have a positive antigen test, then there is every possibility that they do have Covid and should follow public health advice accordingly.

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The Department of Health has confirmed 20,554 new cases of Covid-19 her in the Irish Republic over the past 24 hours.

The number of people in the republic’s hospitals with coronavirus has increased to 619, latter figure an increase of 51 based on yesterday reported figures. Of these, 88 are in ICU, which is down five on yesterday’s reported figures.

Increased visitor restrictions and infection control measures have been put in place at University Maternity Hospital Limerick (UMHL), [latter the medical facility serving North Tipperary], following an outbreak of Covid-19 on its inpatient wards. Access to nominated support partners to the UMHL inpatient wards is now strictly limited to a 1 x two-hour slot per day, between the hours of 2:00pm and 8:00pm, according to a statement released by hospital management this morning.

Pharmacies have noted a massive surge in demand for antigen testing, as the HSE’s PCR testing system comes under increasing strain, as it tests between 30,000 to 40,000 people each day. Yesterday, there were no appointments available in any county across the Irish Republic and today no appointments at lunchtime.

The Government’s position on schools reopening remains to date unchanged and same are set to reopen after the Christmas holidays as previously agreed. However the Cabinet are expected to meet on Wednesday and Thursday next; with NPHET holding an emergency meeting before next Thursday; thus their strategy could change.

The Department of Public Health here in our Mid-West region is advising people in North Tipperary, Limerick and Clare to limit social contacts during New Year’s Eve celebrations. Indications are that the number of daily Covid-19 cases have more than doubled on what was confirmed before Christmas.

According to the public press, Mr David Cullinane, (Him of ‘Up the Ra’ fame and less well known as Sinn Féin’s so called party health spokesperson), is still having difficulty with understanding the present governments coronavirus instructions. One wonders what portion of the statement “isolate, observe adherence to social distancing, use face covering, avoid hand shaking”, does he not fully understand.

Meanwhile, residents of the locked-down Chinese city of Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province in central China, are claiming that they are struggling to find sufficient food, despite Beijing insisting today that there were now adequate supplies available to all.

A further 4,701 new cases of coronavirus were also reported in Northern Ireland today; bringing, (including today), the number of positive cases confirmed in the past seven days to a colossal 31,643.
Today, there are 303 patients with Covid-19 in northern hospitals, up from 277 reported on Wednesday. There remain 32 patients with Covid-19 also in northern hospital intensive care units, down 3 compared to yesterday.

Sadly, 3 more Covid-19-related deaths have been reported in Northern Ireland today; bringing their total number of deaths, linked to Covid-19, since the start of the pandemic, to 2,979.

In England, with daily cases having increased to more than 183,000 just today; plans are being prepared to erect Temporary hospitals to deal with a potential overspill of in-patients, as surging Covid-19 cases put the country’s health service on what officials described as a “war footing”.

Time to cancel all plans and celebrate later, rather than celebrate now and grieve later.

The Department of Health has been notified of an additional 9,006 confirmed cases of Covid-19 here in the Irish Republic over the past 24 hours.

There are 521 patients in hospital with Covid-19; same reported number an increase of 60 on the previous day’s total. There are 92 people in ICU with Covid-19, which is up from 91 reported yesterday.

No figures have been publically announced for northern Ireland, since Christmas Eve, December 24th last.

The HSE has stated that almost 1 in every 2 people currently being tested for Covid-19 in the Republic’s communities are now receiving a positive result, and the current demand for testing remains unprecedented. HSE boss, Mr Paul Reid has stated that PCR tests are hard to come by, at the moment, but they are working on increasing capacity as the virus continues to run rife. Mr Reid further stated that if you think that you have Covid, it’s most likely that you do have it and therefore do isolate.

From today, children aged between 5 and 11 years old who have a high-risk health condition, or who live with someone, who themselves are high-risk, can be registered by a parent or guardian to receive a Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. For those who are wary of giving the dose to their children, Clinical trials have shown that this vaccine is highly effective at preventing COVID-19 in children. All vaccines are tested before they are approved for use in Ireland by the European Medicines Agency.

Results of a trial by Israel in administering a fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose to a test group of health workers today; (in what it called the first major study into whether a second round of booster) is being closely watched internationally. Results of same test will be submitted to the Israel’s health ministry in about two weeks, according to a spokesperson for the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv.

Time to cancel now and celebrate later, rather than celebrate now and grieve later.

With no figures available for Northern Ireland at time of going to press, the Department of Health has confirmed at least 10,404 new cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, here in the Irish Republic.

There are 426 people in hospital who have tested positive for the virus, representing a further rise of 48 cases since yesterday and of these, 91 cases are in our ICUs around the country, up 4 on yesterday’s reported figures.

The Department of Health estimates that 83% of cases confirmed can now be attributable to the Omicron variant.

More than 6,000 overseas flights have been cancelled worldwide over the Christmas weekend and over 8,500 thousand more were delayed, as the highly infectious Omicron variant brings holiday distress to many.

Vaccination centres, here in our Republic, will resume service on Monday 27th December.

In Northern Ireland today, new coronavirus restrictions are being introduced to try to combat rising Covid cases.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has yet to announce any further rules for England, but has indicated that he will not hesitate to act after Christmas, if required, amid rising cases of the Omicron variant.

Time to cancel now and celebrate later, rather than celebrate now and grieve later.