Health – Page 14 – Slugger O'Toole

COVID19 Spread In Both Irelands, the UK and Selected Countries: Both Irelands possibly plateauing for new cases; NI death rate less bad than RoI’s; Global situation: disimprovement:

Philip McGuinness on April 9, 2020, 6:39 am

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The deaths per million curves for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland continue to flatten. New cases appear to have stabilised somewhat.The Republic of Ireland has 71.96% of the island’s population, but 75.58% of the COVID19-related deaths. This divergence has increased in recent days. Is the better performance of the North regarding COVID19-related deaths a function of having the NHS rather than the two-tier system in the South? Simon Coveney seemed to be essentially accepting this when he stated …

John Prine, US folk and country songwriter, dies aged 73 due to Covid-19 complications…

Ron Keegan on April 8, 2020, 12:29 pm

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I have no idea if the name John Prine resonates with many out there is Slugger Land. But it did with the Boss Over here on E Street, we are crushed by the loss of John Prine. John and I were "New Dylans" together in the early 70s and he was never anything but the lovliest guy in the world. A true national treasure and a songwriter for the ages. We send our love and prayers to his family. — …

The Loyal Orange Institution may not be on parade this year, but there is still an important role for us to play in society at large…

Choyaa on April 8, 2020, 7:00 am

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As April arrives to borrow a phrase that’s popular now, the Loyal Orange Institution (LOI) would be ramping up its efforts in preparation for the Twelfth. This year however, the 2020 Twelfth will not go ahead. As things stand and if we are lucky the UK and ROI will hopefully be emerging from the epidemic in July with the lockdown being slowly released, it would be entirely irresponsible to have 17 large scale Twelfth demonstrations across Northern Ireland and an …

New Podcast Series

Paul Gosling on April 7, 2020, 7:11 pm

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A new series of podcasts will be launched in the coming days by the Holywell Trust. The podcasts will feature interviews with experts who consider how we can make progress in government, the economy and society across Northern Ireland. They are a follow-up to the Forward Together podcasts, which remain available on the Holywell Trust website. A transcript of those previous podcasts is also available and will be followed in the near future by a book that brings together …

Never before? The Spanish Flu and COVID 19…

Philip Orr on April 7, 2020, 1:05 pm

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Boris Johnson is not the first British prime minister to fall ill during a pandemic. In September 1918, with the First World War far from over, David Lloyd George succumbed to the Spanish Flu. Johnson is not the only world leader affected by Covid 19 and a century ago, a global range of politicians was also affected by influenza; while still suffering from the aftermath of his severe infection, Lloyd George visited the Paris peace conference in 1919, only to …

What sort of a society does that make us if we feel certain lives are more valuable than others?

Choyaa on April 6, 2020, 6:33 pm

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I have temporarily sidelined two articles I have penned for Slugger to instead discuss the Covid-19 epidemic and how it questions our morality and values. I have always been hugely passionate about history and I sometimes wonder how I would have reacted to wrongdoings of the past if I was in that situation. The persecution of Jews at the hands of the Nazis, the discrimination that many black people faced (unfortunately some still do) and societies treatment of minorities including …

The Plight of the Sole Director during Covid-19…

Jay Burbank on April 6, 2020, 7:49 am

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In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic the government announced unprecedented measures to keep the economy afloat. These are largely rooted in Keynesian and new monetary theory policies. The purpose is to keep money in the businesses that supply our economy with the goods and services demanded by consumers. First, we had money set aside by the exchequer to the tune of £300 billion for loans that would relive larger to medium sized businesses and the SMEs that needed such …

COVID19 Spread In Both Irelands, the UK and Selected Countries: An Improving Picture in Ireland and the World; Not So Good in Great Britain and USA:

Philip McGuinness on April 6, 2020, 7:47 am

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The latest figures show that, despite the divergent public health approach of the UK compared to the WHO recommendations, the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland COVID19 death rates for April 5th are very similar. Northern Ireland has 28.04% of the island’s population, and it has 28.51% of the island’s COVID19-related deaths. Moreover, Northern Ireland’s ‘deaths per million of the population’ and ‘cumulative cases per million of the population’ curves are flattening at a rate similar to the South. And …

A beginners guide to self-isolation…

Lisa Wells on April 5, 2020, 7:30 am

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This is my kickback at the numerous self-important posts on twitter, full of pap, endlessly telling everyone how to work from home, how to structure your day, how to set a timetable for home schooling. Well my online friends, if that’s your shtick look away now. I am particularly well qualified in this area as I’ve been mostly housebound with disability for 5 years. All this has been courtesy of a bite from a tiny tick, the size of a …

Might the BCG Vaccine help protect from Covid-19?

Brian O'Neill on April 4, 2020, 2:01 pm

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I remember nervously queuing up for the BCG jab at school, I also remember how some in the class thought it was very funny to punch people in the arm the rest of the week, ouch! I just had a peek and my BCG scar is still there over 30 years later, but now there might be a reason to praise your school jab. Researchers have noticed a correlation between countries that have TB Vaccination and lower rates of Covid-19 …

A personal brush with CoVid-19….

SeaanUiNeill on April 4, 2020, 9:46 am

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A Single Death is a Tragedy; a Million Deaths is a Statistic. Attributed to Joseph Stalin at the Tehran Conference by the author Anton Antonov-Ovseyenko. When one is writing non-fiction, the books one inevitably buys pile up. Last week an order of new shelves arrived and by Sunday I was ready to put up a few banks of them in the least cluttered part of my library and decant the tall forty inch piles collecting on my stairs and around …

Medical myths in a time of Covid-19…

Terry Maguire on April 4, 2020, 7:00 am

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One aspect of the Covid19 pandemic is the steep rise in associated myths. This is not unusual. In time of crisis we all cling to what we believe and we believe new things more easily; these certainties give us security and hope. Indeed, government in its covid19 messaging is itself controlling our behaviour in what I believe to be a more or less responsible manner. Scaring us into staying home and normalising this behaviour is key to their public health …

The Biopolitics of Covid-19

Seán Brennan on April 2, 2020, 11:23 am

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It’s like that Wizard of Oz moment, when the curtain gets pulled back, and we are confronted with the reality, that systems of social administration and political governance appear to be in want: and political leadership has failed in its primary role, to protect the health of the people. Such is the Potemkin-like nature of many globalised societies now, it’s taken a pandemic to see through this façade, of mediocre management and amateur political leadership driving the global polity. And …

How Covid-19 is affecting the new laws on abortion…

Ulster University on April 2, 2020, 7:34 am

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The COVID19 crisis has brought with it a lot of alarming news, like that of a young woman who tried to take her own life, when refused an abortion at a local hospital, despite abortion now being legal here. She had been unable to travel to England due to flights being cancelled because of the COVID emergency. The feminist websites that have provided abortion pills for over a decade now report that COVID lockdowns in a number of countries mean …

Widespread Covid-19 testing needs to happen NOW!

Soapbox on April 1, 2020, 6:18 pm

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It is imperative that testing is extended to the community at large. The British government was totally at variance in stopping testing, in the first place. WHO recommendations amplified by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghrebreyesus, whose mantra was “Test Test Test “, likened the position the Government took to “fighting a fire blindfold”, or as Prof. Gabriel Scally stated on BBC Radio – “letting it rip”. The absolute tenants of modern epidemiology are absolutely clear, in that gathering the evidence of …

We must co-ordinate Northern and Southern responses to Covid-19…

Claire Donnelly on April 1, 2020, 6:09 pm

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To quote W.Edwards deming “In God we trust, all others bring data”. When I wrote my first article for slugger in February, I did an overview of Covid 19 and how epidemiologically it may be difficult trying to manage an outbreak on an island with two different approaches. This review will review the current public health approaches to managing Covid. There is a lot more evidence about what works, what doesn’t work, and what may work. Epidemiology is a science …

Covid-19: the view from New York City…

Niall NYC on March 30, 2020, 7:20 pm

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A few days ago I did something unprecedented (for me) because we are living in unprecedented times, and I wrote a comment on Slugger. As an ex-pat living outside my hometown of Belfast since 1996 or thereabouts, and a resident of New York City since 2002, I’ve been an avid reader for years but it’s never been in my constitutional makeup to get involved in BTL discussions on any online forum. Whilst it can be enlightening and informative, have-your-say commentary …

COVID19 Spread In Both Irelands, the UK and Selected Countries: Good News Down South; Bad News Up North

Philip McGuinness on March 30, 2020, 8:51 am

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Northern Ireland: Deaths per million curve steepens. New cases getting closer to the Southern new cases. Total cases appears to be doubling roughly every 4 days now. Republic of Ireland: New cases (200) only very slightly above new cases 10 days ago (190). New cases drop: the lowest number of new cases for six days. None of the other countries on these graphs have had a 10-day ‘stasis’ and then returned to steepening behaviour. Could we be on a 6-day …

Covid-19 has struck at the heart of what it is that makes us human..

Natasha Geary on March 29, 2020, 12:11 pm

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Previously unknown terms such as social-distancing and self-isolation are now a painful reality for us all. In order to stop the spread of this disease we have been asked to stay away from all other humans outside our family units; the human touch has become dangerous. My friends aren’t coping well with the ‘new normal.’ My phone is laden with messages. People are freaking out, not just because of co-vid 19, but because they’re alone. They’re used to the presence …

COVID19 Spread In Both Irelands, the UK and Selected Countries: Updated Daily Graphs

Philip McGuinness on March 28, 2020, 2:18 pm

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I am collecting the daily statistics for cases and deaths due to COVID19 on a daily basis for both Irish jurisdictions, the UK, the USA, China, South Korea and Italy. Updated graphs can be seen at http://mysql02.comp.dkit.ie/mcguinnp/covid19/. Graphs show “Deaths per million of the population” (Northern Ireland doing worryingly badly in this regard; Republic of Ireland approaching the Italy curve); “New cases per day” (lack of testing in NI resulting in low figures); “Cumulative cases per million of the population” …