Health « Thurles Information

Covid-19 Update: Wed. 16th Dec. 2020 – 6 Deaths – 431 New Cases.

The Department of Health have confirmed this evening that there have sadly been 6 further deaths caused by the Covid-19 pandemic; leaving the overall death toll, here in the Republic of Ireland, remaining at 2,140.

There are 431 new additional virus cases reported today, leaving the current total number of confirmed cases, since conception in the Irish Republic, at 77,197.

Data last updated for Co. Tipperary, as of Wednesday, December 16th 2020, shows there have been 1,648 cases todate, as per Ireland’s COVID-19 Data Hub; 4 more confirmed in the county since yesterday.

There are 207 coronavirus patients in hospitals, with 30 cases being treated in intensive care units, across the Republic.

Of today’s cases; 134 are in Dublin; 25 in Cavan; 53 in Donegal; 24 in Louth; 22 in Mayo; with the remaining 173 cases located across all remaining counties.

A further 8 people with Covid-19 have died in Northern Ireland, bringing their total there to 1,143. A further 510 new cases of the disease have also been confirmed taking their cumulative total to 59,631.

Everyone is being urged to limit their social interactions between now and Christmas, in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus, particular if they plan to meet with family and friends, who have underlying health conditions, over this Christmas festival period.

All of the European Union’s 27 member countries aim to start Covid-19 vaccinations on the same day, in a sign of unity, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has stated.

Total global cases up to 5.30pm this evening, now stand at almost 73.7 million with global deaths at over 1.66 million.

Please be mindful, this Christmas season that this virus remains a constant danger, especially to vulnerable and older persons.

Please Remember “Hands, Face and Space”.

Covid-19 Update: Tue. 15th Dec. 2020 – 8 Deaths – 329 New Cases.

The Department of Health have confirmed this evening that there have sadly been 8 deaths caused by the Covid-19 pandemic; leaving the overall death toll, here in the Republic of Ireland, remaining at 2,134.

There are 329 new additional virus cases reported today, leaving the current total number of confirmed cases, since conception in the Irish Republic, at 76,776.

Data last updated for Co. Tipperary, as of Tuesday, December 15th 2020, shows there have been 1,644 cases todate, as per Ireland’s COVID-19 Data Hub.

There are 196 coronavirus patients in hospitals, with 31 cases being treated in intensive care units, across the Republic.

Of today’s cases; 86 are in Dublin; 41 in Louth; 34 in Donegal; 25 in Limerick; 17 in Kildare; with the remaining 126 cases located across 20 other counties.

Meanwhile, the new coronavirus variant currently circulating in the United Kingdom has not been detected here in Ireland as yet, according to the director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, Mr Cillian De Gascun,.

Total global cases up to 5.30pm this evening, now stand at over 73.1 million with global deaths at almost 1.63 million.

Please be mindful, this Christmas season that this virus remains a constant danger, especially to vulnerable and older persons.

Please Remember “Hands, Face and Space”.

Ireland’s Water Quality Needs To Be Better Protected

**River Suir at Barry’s Bridge, Thurles, Co. Tipperary**. *Photo: G. Willoughby*

Just over half of Irish surface waters are in a satisfactory condition.
Nutrient concentrations in waters are too high and the trends are going in the wrong direction.
Nitrate concentrations are now increasing in nearly half of our river and groundwater sites.
Phosphate levels are increasing in a quarter of river sites.
Concentrations of nitrate are highest in the south and south east of the country where the main source is agriculture.
Delivering on the key objectives of Ireland’s River Basin Management Plan and targeted action at local water catchment level is key to improving water quality.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today published the Water Quality Indicators Report 2019 which provides an assessment on Ireland’s surface water and groundwater quality.

The main threat to water quality is the presence of too much nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, which come primarily from agriculture and waste water. Over one third of rivers, and a quarter of lakes are failing to meet their environmental quality standards for nutrients. Over one fifth of our groundwater, estuarine and coastal water bodies have high nitrogen concentrations.

Just over half of rivers and lakes are in high or good biological quality. The rivers surveyed in 2019 have shown more improvements than declines overall, which is welcome, however further action is needed to return waters to a satisfactory condition.

Commenting on the assessment, EPA Director Dr Micheál Lehane said:

“Clean, healthy water is essential for our economy, our aquatic wildlife and for our health and well-being. However, this assessment shows that our water environment remains under considerable pressure from human activities. Of most concern is the continued upward trend of nitrate concentrations. The problem is particularly evident in the south and southeast of the country where the main source is agriculture.
We need urgent and effective action to ensure that the decline in water quality is halted and to restore those water bodies that have declined in quality.”

Ms Mary Gurrie (Programme Manager), continued:

“Elevated nutrient concentrations are contributing to pollution in our freshwaters and estuaries and causing difficulties with drinking water standards in some areas. Urgent action is now needed to reduce nutrient inputs from agriculture. Measures need to be targeted at the critical source areas where nitrogen and phosphate problems occur. There is a lot of good work happening at a local level to improve water quality and this needs to be scaled up to deliver the improvements needed.

The River Basin Management Plan, the new Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan and the full implementation of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy offer significant opportunities to achieve improvements in water quality, while delivering multiple benefits for the environment including for climate, air quality and biodiversity.”

The report is available on the EPA website HERE, and the accompanying data used in the water quality assessments are available HERE.

An infographic is also available.

Gardaí Appeal To Parents To Educate Children With Regards To ‘Ghosting’

An Garda Síochána have been made aware of a social media trend circulating online called ‘ghosting’.

This ongoing trend challenges persons to lie on a roadway with a sheet placed over them, in an attempt to stop oncoming traffic. This activity is extremely irresponsible and poses a serious danger to those taking part in the ‘ghosting’ and to unsuspecting motorists.

Gardaí attended an incident in the southern region, in recent days, where a youth received a number of minor injuries while participating in this activity.

Emergency services escorted the youth to hospital where she was treated for injuries sustained to her back, torso and ankle. She remained admitted to hospital for a number of days.

An Garda Síochána are urging people not to engage in this social media trend. Gardaí are particularly appealing to parents to educate their children on the dangers of participating in such activity and to highlight the importance of being visible, while using Irish roads.

Covid-19 Update: Mon. 14th Dec. 2020 – 2 Deaths – 264 New Cases.

The Department of Health have confirmed this evening that there have sadly been 2 deaths caused by the Covid-19 pandemic; leaving the overall death toll, here in the Republic of Ireland, remaining at 2,126.

There are 264 new additional virus cases reported today, leaving the current total number of confirmed cases, since conception in the Irish Republic, at 76,449.

There are 215 coronavirus patients in hospitals, with 33 cases being treated in intensive care units, across the Republic.

Of today’s cases; 79 are in Dublin; 24 in Donegal; 19 in Kerry; 18 in Limerick; 14 each in Kildare and Wexford and the remaining 96 cases located across 16 other counties.

An Taoiseach Mr Micheál Martin has said the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will begin in the week after its expected approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA); latter which is expected to give its decision later this month, on December 29th .

Five coronavirus deaths have been sadly recorded in Northern Ireland, taking their official death toll to 1,129. They also report 419 new cases which takes their cumulative total of positive tests to 58,635.

Total global cases up to 5.30pm this evening, now stand at over 72.3 million with global deaths at almost 1.62 million.

Please be mindful, this Christmas season that this virus remains a constant danger, especially to vulnerable and older persons.

Please Remember “Hands, Face and Space”.