Health – Page 15 – Slugger O'Toole

Shining a light into the darkness of the Covid 19 crisis…

Ciaran Ward on March 27, 2020, 2:43 pm

| Readers 2003

We’re now living in unprecedented times, sailing in uncharted waters, travelling rudderless to an unknown destination. Now if you had a quid for every time you or heard this sort of thing over the last couple of weeks you’d no doubt be a multi-millionaire several times over. Ok, slight exaggeration – you’d probably be about £74.50 richer. The weird (or not so weird as the case may be) thing about all this is that for many of us who live …

Day three of #ImagineBelfast’s virtual festival of ideas and politics – finishing at 8pm with an interview with Burned author Sam McBride

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 27, 2020, 10:30 am

| Readers 268

Having sold out two nights of Sam McBride in conversation with William Crawley at the close of the planned week of face-to-face events, the virtual Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics broadcast will finish at 8pm this evening with the author of Burned talking about his impressions of the published RHI Inquiry Report. Before that, from 1pm you can watch talks about economic growth and community banking, a reprise of Lord Patten of Barnes’ recent speech in Belfast when he reminisced about his time in Northern Ireland and his reflections on the Patten report into police reform, thoughts on how COVID-19 has challenged the arts sector and may change political culture, as well as comedy from Stand Up, Speak Out and the Democracy Inspector.

Yeeeoooowww! UK coronavirus mass home testing to be made available ‘within days’…

Brian O'Neill on March 25, 2020, 3:04 pm

| Readers 2022

Some light at the end of the tunnel, and for a change, it is not a train. From The Guardian: Thousands of 15-minute home tests for coronavirus will be delivered by Amazon to people self-isolating with symptoms or will go on sale on the high street within days, according to Public Health England (PHE), in a move that could restore many people’s lives to a semblance of pre-lockdown normality. Prof Sharon Peacock, the director of the national infection service at …

Slugger TV – the ‘Events, dear boy, events’ episode #imaginebelfast

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on March 25, 2020, 3:00 pm

| Readers 77

In our latest episode, Alan Meban talks to Irish News journalist Allison Morris and Imagine! Festival director Peter O’Neill about the political response to COVID-19. Recorded as part of the unexpectedly online Imagine! Festival of Ideas and Politics. How is the new Northern Ireland Executive have reacted to the predictable (such as the publication of the RHI report) and how is the Executive stepping up to collectively address the totally unpredictable COVID-19 crisis. Is the New Decade, New Approach a sign of hope, or will it become New Enemy, Same Bad Habits?

Could Covid 19 have been knocking around for months already?

Brian O'Neill on March 25, 2020, 10:35 am

| Readers 19073

My mum was badly ill back at the start of February. The illness had all the symptoms of Covid 19, the fever, the bad chest etc. Thankfully she pulled through, but it has taken her weeks to get over it. Many of us will have similar stories of unusual seasonal illness that we are now wondering, could it have been Covid 19? When your body fights of a virus it produces antibodies. They are working on a test to detect …

What’s in the Coronavirus Bill?

Sarah Creighton on March 23, 2020, 9:13 am

| Readers 2407

This week the government intends to push its Coronavirus Bill through Parliament. In its “summary of impacts” document, the government states that the bill is “temporary, emergency legislation” which intends to “provide powers needed to respond to the current coronavirus epidemic.” MPs will be expected to grapple with the 300-page bill over the course of a few days. It will, for as long as it is in operation, fundamentally change our way of life. The legislation represents the biggest diminution …

Not So Splendid Self Isolation…

John Mooney on March 19, 2020, 5:32 pm

| Readers 1913

So here I am self-isolating. It is not because of Boris Johnson. More to do with our adult children who are worried about us. We are not yet 70. Self-Isolation is terrible. The whole point of retirement is that it is true freedom. No more bosses. The ultimate lack of freedom is not being allowed out. There is too much news. Like for example, prison officers worry about overcrowding and lack of social distancing in their places of work. A …

Online Teaching – A guide for teachers and parents…

Brian O'Neill on March 19, 2020, 1:27 pm

| Readers 1756

I spent the past few days helping my local school get ready for teaching online. As of yesterday, schools have gotten no official guidance at all on how to do this, they have been left to sort it out themselves. In this post, I will outline how it all works. For schools, you will likely be using Google Classroom . This is free to schools and you will access this via your C2k email address. Login and create a class. …

“No one should be penalised for doing the right thing…”

Mick Fealty on March 16, 2020, 10:20 pm

| Readers 1623

Our propensity to obsess about big stuff means perhaps that we’re not great at taking on the implications of the more important and telling details. One clear message put out by the Prime Minister in London tonight was that: …as we’ve always said is to do it when it is most effective when we think it can make the biggest difference to slowing the spread of the disease reducing the number of victims, reducing the number of fatalities and as …

An appeal to party leaders to take action against Covid 19…

Claire Donnelly on March 16, 2020, 7:00 am

| Readers 2428

Dear Party Leaders, I am sure this is a stressful time for all involved in making major decisions. I have had a lot of experience in the past preparing for outbreaks. I learnt a lot from these experiences. The pace of information flow is rapid and changes almost daily. Decisions change over time depending on new information. I want to make a scientific argument why we can no longer continue to follow the UK mathematical model and resultant public health …

Schools closed for 4 months?, Pensioners to be confined to their homes? The latest in the battle against Covid-19…

Brian O'Neill on March 15, 2020, 8:58 am

| Readers 3099

I am sure I am not the only parent who got a shiver down their spine when they head the news that Arlene Foster says the schools might be closed for 4 months. It is bad enough trying to keep them entertained during the weekend never mind for 4 months. The problem I see with this strategy is who normally minds the kids when they are off school? The Grandparents – exactly the people we are most concerned about. If …

How poor handwashing is increasing the spread of Coronavirus…

Ulster University on March 12, 2020, 12:15 pm

| Readers 1368

Aaron Lawson is Environmental Health Researcher and Teaching Fellow at Ulster University. You can follow him on Twitter. Handwashing is one of the most important factors in preventing the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and other diseases. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak which originated in Wuhan, China has now spread to more than 40 countries, and infected more than 80,000 people worldwide. It has also caused a number of deaths, mainly amongst those living and working at the centre of the outbreak, …

Ireland to ‘shut down’ from 6pm tonight to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Will Northern Ireland follow?

Brian O'Neill on March 12, 2020, 12:04 pm

| Readers 5858

RTÉ News reports on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar pulling out all the stops to halt the spread of Covid-19 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the country’s schools, colleges and childcare facilities are to close in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. From 6pm today, schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close. In relation to cultural institutions, indoor gatherings of more than 100 people will not be permitted and a maximum outdoor gathering of 500 people will be allowed. The restrictions will stay in …

Dispatches from the front-lines of the Coronavirus panic…

Terry Maguire on March 7, 2020, 7:00 am

| Readers 1645

On TV News last week we learned that N. Ireland had its first victim of the new plague that is Covid-19. This novel coronavirus that started off life in a pangolin sold as an exotic food from a fish-market in Wuhan, China, had finally reached these shores on a Thursday night. I don’t think the media fully appreciate the sheer panic they unleased in a public, in its infinite ignorance, already very worried indeed. A local radio host dedicated his …

Ahead of the Stormont budget, should the Executive be rethinking its priorities?

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on March 6, 2020, 9:45 pm

| Readers 1372

With the first budget of the newly reconstituted Northern Ireland Executive expected shortly, there will be an opportunity to consider whether public resources are being directed appropriately to deal with Northern Ireland’s priorities for the decade to come. The table above shows UK public spending per person in each UK region for various expenditure categories for the 2018-19 fiscal year, in both monetary terms and expressed as a percentage of the UK average. For example, health spending in Northern Ireland …

Pandemics come and go; but smoking, air pollution and poverty are ever present…

Brian O'Neill on March 5, 2020, 12:33 pm

| Readers 1282

The always excellent Dr Phil Hammond gives a much-needed sense of perspective on the Coronavirus outbreak in his latest MD column for Private Eye. Click the image below to enlarge it to read the text, read all 3 images. https://twitter.com/Cymroid/status/1235246441523634178?s=20 They estimate there are around 8.8m early deaths a year worldwide caused by outdoor air pollution alone. Locally in Belfast poor air quality has been linked to 178 deaths in a single year. Last December the air pollution in Letterkenny …

Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales rank amongst the lowest countries in the developed world for the number of intensive care beds

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on March 4, 2020, 5:39 pm

| Readers 58475

The response to the Covid-19 coronavirus has raised questions regarding the capability of health systems to deal with an influx of patients requiring intensive care. It is estimated that one in seven of those who get Covid-19 will require hospital treatment, and out of those one in five will require ICU care. A widespread outbreak of Covid-19 would therefore put an unprecedented strain on intensive care facilities across the world. The chart above shows the number of ICU beds per …

An expert view on Covid 19, the new Coronavirus…

Soapbox on March 4, 2020, 7:12 am

| Readers 3258

The majority of experts internationally believe that Covid 19 will continue to be transmitted and countries will see outbreaks. What isn’t known is when and how it will evolve in different regions, and how other factors such as climate may influence the outbreak. Information is coming out from China at a rapid rate and we are fortunate to benefit from studies and research undertaken by the Chinese health authorities. They are to be commended for their rapid response and sharing …

Most of us have already had a Coronavirus at some stage, so stay calm…

Brian O'Neill on March 3, 2020, 1:05 pm

| Readers 7727

I was trying to see how long we could go without writing about the Coronavirus. But it is such a hot topic we had to crack and give you a chance to air your views. It does seem like every media outlet is doing their best to scare the absolute be-Jesus out of us. Every front page screams doom, and every phone-in show competes to terrify us. For the best coverage on the issue, listen to this week’s David McWilliams …