Thurles Information

It is with anger that we learn, that two of Ireland’s most senior public health officials, namely Chief medical officer Dr. Tony Holohan and his deputy Dr. Ronan Glynn, have each received abusive phone calls, which members of the present Irish government has described as “sickening” and “appalling”.

Both prominent and important public figures in Ireland’s response to the coronavirus pandemic were reportedly targeted on Friday night last.

Separately, Mr Fergal Bowers, latter a healthcare journalist with the Irish national broadcaster RTÉ, had released a recording of a strange menacing call from a female sounding voice; (Do Listen Here), which he received in the early hours of Saturday morning last, following which he stated he was alerting the relevant authorities.

Irish Gardaí are understood to now be investigating all phone calls, with a spokesperson stating “a number of reports of menacing phone calls have been reported, and these matters will be fully investigated”.

The calls to Dr. Holohan and Dr. Glynn have been correctly, strongly condemned by Ireland’s Health Minister Mr Stephen Donnelly and his predecessor Mr Simon Harris.

Mr Donnelly has tweeted; “It is absolutely appalling that public health doctors advising Government would be targeted with abuse for doing their jobs in the middle of a pandemic. They have worked relentlessly throughout Covid and have difficult jobs to do. They deserve our respect and support.”

His cabinet college Mr Simon Harris, latter who worked closely with the public health team from the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, tweeted; “Our public health officials have been working around the clock for well over a year now to keep us safe & provide us with the best possible expert advice. Sickened to hear of abusive calls being directed at them & their families”.

The new virus surge caused by the Delta variant is now well under way here within the Irish Republic. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tony Holohan has stated that the cases of Covid-19 are increasing in 22 out of 26 counties, as the Department of Health confirms 1,377 additional cases.

The Department of Health has further confirmed that there are now 78 people in hospitals with 22 of those in intensive care units (ICU’s).

An Taoiseach Mr Micheal Martin, has firmly stated that the way people behave, as our controls begin to end, will be crucial in determining the path of the pandemic over the coming months. How we behave over the next few weeks will have a material difference.

The 14-day incidence rate in the local electoral areas of Tipperary, (in the 14 days between Jun 29th, 2021 and Jul 12th 2021) reads as follows:-
6 cases in Thurles, 6 in Roscrea – Templemore, 13 in Nenagh, 12 in Newport, 25 in Cashel-Tipperary, 5 in Cahir, 16 in Clonmel and 0 in Carrick-on-Suir.

In Northern Ireland, 1,400 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the past 24 hours, along with, sadly, 2 further coronavirus-related deaths. The Southern Health Trust, in Northern Ireland, which manages healthcare in much of counties Down and Armagh, announced yesterday evening that hospital visitors would be suspended until further notice, with exceptions only made for end of life visiting.

Ireland is entering a new phase of the pandemic involving dramatically rising cases, with a total of 2,777 cases confirmed on the whole island of Ireland.

Meanwhile, so called opposition party TD’s have voted against legislation, which will allow for the introduction of only vaccinated persons being permitted to enter the indoor hospitality sectors, stating it was “discriminatory”.

Discrimination of course occurs only when persons are being treated less favourably, i.e. because of their gender, civil status, family status, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins).

To attempt to prevent citizens from contacting a killer disease must surely be seen to actually trivialise the true meaning of the word ‘discrimination’.
I now greatly fear that if pubs and restaurants (because of greed), do not behave correctly, it will affect not just the reopening of schools, but also reverse the decision to reopen this same hospitality sector down the line.
With Government and so called opposition politicians now on holidays, probably best not for them not to travel far, as they may be needed very shortly to reverse some of the reopening decisions undertaken following pressure from various agencies, all of whom saw health & safety as secondary to material wealth.

Meanwhile, Barcelona and other cities in Spain’s north eastern Catalonia region will impose a night-time curfew, same starting this weekend to fight a surge in virus cases, after the measure has been granted full court approval. This curfew is intended to discourage social gatherings on beaches and in parks, thus curbing a spike in cases of this new highly-contagious Delta variant, especially among unvaccinated young people.

Sydney in Australia also has ordered a shutdown of all building sites; have banned non-essential retail and threatened fines on employers who make staff come into the office, as new Covid-19 cases keep rising three weeks into a citywide lock-down. Do we wish to return to all of that?

If you’re out and about this weekend, please remember to maintain 2 metres (6.5 feet) of a distance from each other; wear face covering, and maintain good hand hygiene to prevent the further spreading of this disease .

By today, more than 1.3 million emails and letters containing the EU Digital Covid Certificate have now been issued to people who have been fully vaccinated; as the Dáil passed Government legislation on the reopening of indoor hospitality. This now passed legislation is accepted by the majority of Irish citizens as being both a sensible and a balanced approach by our government.

An Tánaiste Mr Leo Varadkar has stated that the Government is targeting Monday July 26th as the date for the reopening of indoor hospitality, when those fully vaccinated persons will be able to go indoors to pubs and restaurants. Mr Varadkar also warned that presently there were “reasons for real concerns and caution” as Delta variant contamination begins to surge.

The Irish Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tony Holohan has advised parents that it would be safer not to bring children into indoor dining settings, warning that this scenario he regards as “responsible public health advice”, in the case of those not yet vaccinated.

Speaking at a National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) briefing, Dr. Holohan stated that for those who wish to venture out with their children, “dining outdoors is still possible”.

Primarily, with 5% of Covid cases now involving fully vaccinated people, it is and will remain all about trusting people, while carefully checking the odds, before deciding to do what is right.

Today the Department of Health has reported 994 new cases of Covid-19 here in our republic. There are 80 patients hospitalised with the disease; of which 22 patients are in ICU, (two more than yesterday). Our death toll remains at 5,018.

Some 70% of the adult population have had at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine while just 60% of adult persons are now fully vaccinated.

Over 20,000 Covid tests are being conducted each day, with more travel cases identified, with persons coming from holiday destinations including Spain, Portugal and the UK.

Alas, another 1,083 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Northern Ireland as of this Thursday afternoon, compared to 636 cases in the previous 24-hour period.

This brings the total number of cases on our emerald isle to 2,077 confirmed cases.

Please do continue to wear your face coverings and to socially distance. The latter has proven to have significantly limited the spread of COVID-19 in the past. Stay Safe.