Sunday, 8 March 2020

DUBLIN- HSE 'CANNOT DISPUTE' FORECAST OF 1.9m MAY BECOME ILL WITH CORONAVIRUS IN IRELAND

The Health Service Executive has said that it cannot dispute projections that 1.9 million people in the Republic of Ireland may fall ill with coronavirus. But it said that the modelling scenario is not completed yet. The vast- majority of Covid-19 cases are mild and people make a full recovery. The risk of catching coronavirus in Ireland is still low to moderate, according to the HSE. It comes after health officials said that the trends in Italy point towards large numbers of cases. As first revealed by the Business Post, senior health officials believe up to 1.9 million people in Ireland could be infected and become sick.
Around 80% of cases of Covid-19 are a mild to moderate illness, close to 14% have severe disease and around 6% are critical. The latest data from the World Health Organization is that Covid-19 has an estimated global mortality rate of 3.4%.
Generally, you need to be 15 minutes or more in the vicinity of an infected person, within 1-2 metres, to be considered at-risk or a close contact. An update on confirmed cases here will be given by the National Public Health Emergency Team later. To date, there have been 19 confirmed cases in the Republic and seven in Northern Ireland. A study in the British Medical Journal last week projected that all Covid-19 cases will hit the NHS over a nine-week period. It said that half of these cases would happen over a three-week period, putting huge pressure on the health services.


Read more:

 https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2020/0308/1120943-covid-19/ 

 https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2020/0309/1121035-cabinet-virus-committee/ 

 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-latest-factbox/factbox-latest-on-the-spread-of-coronavirus-around-the-world-idUSKBN20V0JR 

 https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-usa-official/americans-at-risk-from-coronavirus-may-need-to-avoid-crowds-health-official-warns-idUKKBN20V0NQ 

 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy/alarmed-italy-locks-down-north-to-prevent-spread-of-coronavirus-idUSKBN20V06R 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/live-coronavirus-cases-in-uk-jump-to-273-in-largest-single-day-increase-to-date/ar-BB10U1XA?li=BBoPWjQ&ocid=spartandhp


Live: Latest updates on Covid-19
Quarter of Italians on lockdown as govt approves quarantine'
I'm nervous of it, I really am' - Covid-19 concerns among elderly



Speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme, Chief Executive of the HSE Paul Reid said that modelling work is expected to be completed next week and they will have a clearer picture then. "That piece of work is being led by the National Public Health Emergency Team and is still in progress." He said part of that evidence is coming from China, Italy, France, the UK and other areas that have been exposed to outbreaks of the coronavirus.  It is also reliant on information from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization. He went on to say that the important thing for people to do now is to carry on with a "cleanness and coughing etiquette" while we are in the containment phase.
Mr Reid said "no short steps" will be taken by the HSE to deal with the virus, and said every acute hospital has a plan in place and along with that they are looking at all the high dependency units. He described the virus as "unprecedented territory" because it is novel and also- in terms of the scale and level of attack and the actions they have had to take. 

Separately, Mr Reid said close to 100 staff at Cork University Hospital are now in self-isolation as a result of a case of coronavirus identified in a patient there earlier this week.  Initially when the case was identified, 60 staff were told to self-isolate. Mr Reid said the safety of frontline staff is being addressed and it is about balancing clinical risk and keeping hospital services functioning.  He said any staff returning to work at CUH after isolation will be tested and clinically assessed on a regular basis, possibly twice a day. 

Professor Sam McConkey has said the coronavirus outbreak here requires a "mobilisation" of government to respond to it effectively. Also speaking on This Week, he said it will impact on every government department, every private industry and every citizen "in a very radical way".  He said he believes there needs to be a re-allocation of around 5,000 public health workers to help out with contact tracing. 

He said that is what happened in Wuhan in China and "that is how they controlled it".  He said social distancing is also needed and there needs to be more focus on this. Professor McConkey said a cross-party approach in government is needed to lead us out of this crisis.  Tarik Jasarevic of the World Health Organization echoed this view, saying no government in the world can battle this virus by solely relying on the Ministry of Health.  "It has to be done as an all government approach."

DFA advises Irish citizens not to travel to Italian areas; Meanwhile, Irish citizens are being advised not to travel to certain areas of northern Italy as significant parts of the country have gone into lockdown to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus. 

The Department of Foreign Affairs has advised against travel to the region of Lombardy, and to 14 other provinces that have been placed in isolation. It is also advising against non-essential travel to the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Piedmont, and Le Marche where there have been outbreaks of Covid-19. 

Milan and Venice are among the cities under the containment order.

ENDS:

ALSO READ:


POST THIS LINK ON YOUR PAGE: https://socialjusticenewscomment.blogspot.com/ 


If you or someone you know has been affected by mental health issues you can contact:

·                  Samaritans - 116 123, text 087 2609090 or email jo@samaritans.ie

·                  Pieta House (Suicide & Self-harm) - 1800 247 247 or 01 623 5606

·                  Aware (Depression, Bi-Polar Disorder & Anxiety) - 1800 80 48 48

·                  Grow (Mental Health support & Recovery) - 1890 474 474

·                  Bodywhys (Eating Disorders Associations of Ireland) - 1890 200 444

·                  Childline (for under 18s) - 1800 66 66 66.
at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)