coronavirus – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

As pressure mounts over the delay on UK testing, potential solutions seem neglected by the UK government. Peston asks: Why did Michael Gove lie?

Brian Walker on March 31, 2020, 8:52 pm

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This post is lengthy but I make no apologies. Scroll through it if you will. I concentrate on the vexed issue of “test, test test.” First a caveat. We must accept that western countries were much less prepared than eastern countries for another plague because they unlike the east they were barely affected by SARS . Nevertheless this fails to explain the still mystifying reasons why the UK in particular has failed to mobilise the resources that are actually available. …

How are we really doing compared to the south and GB? The public health and economic positions of coronavirus for Northern Ireland need more searching inquiry

Brian Walker on March 31, 2020, 2:14 pm

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North -south differences of approach to Covid 19 are hampering the chances of saving lives, according to an epidemiologist Prof Gabriel Scally. He brings apparent authority to differences which have been aired politically but not as far as I’ve seen among other experts. These differences should surely be resolved at a north-south ministerial meeting today. Scally writes in the Irish News.. The advice to someone in Lifford with symptoms of the disease is to self-isolate for a minimum of 14 …

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 …

Varadkar is having a good crisis. This it seems, is not the time to object.

Brian Walker on March 29, 2020, 11:57 am

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The Republic are doing things a little differently: joining an EU initiative to procure much needed ventilators, sending an Aer Lingus plane to China for hospital workers’ PPE; the Gardai Commissioner calling for people in the streets to produce IDs, off licences to stay open in contrast with GB. The North at first followed the GB rules but has now fallen into line with the south. The consequences if the northern ban remained in force if a hard Prohibition border …

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” …

Boris’s Bonkers Brexit Breathing Bet…

Brian O'Neill on March 26, 2020, 6:50 pm

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So the UK g0vernment needs tens of thousands of ventilators so the obvious solution is to turn to er a vacuum cleaner company??? That’s what the UK Government think anyway with their plan to get Dyson to make 10,000 ventilators. Of course in times of crisis, we need creative solutions, but where this story gets weird is the UK Government refused several offers from Ventilator manufacturers and suppliers. From the Guardian: Several small suppliers of ventilators have said the government …

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

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

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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 …

Could Covid 19 have been knocking around for months already?

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

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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

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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 …

Is there a spirit of the Troubles that could help see us through Covid 19?

Brian Walker on March 20, 2020, 2:09 pm

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Some people have been invoking “the Blitz spirit” to cope with the “war” against coronavirus. Is there a Troubles spirit that might help too? Perhaps. In the early 70s the threat of the no warning bomb was the terrifying norm. People skirted around incidents and shopkeepers called in council workers and the glaziers, (a highly profitable trade), to clear up the mess. It helped that a chief constable’s certificate rather than insurance became the norm for claiming compensation. Once town …

School closures imminent?

Brian Walker on March 18, 2020, 2:18 pm

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Schools in Wales and Scotland to close on Friday. Nicola Sturgeon says she can’t guarantee Scottish schools will reopen before the summer. General closure including England and Northern Ireland must surely be imminent. Boris Johnson is due to hold a Cobra on issue of school closures this afternoon. Issues to be discussed include: * What happens to children of key workers in NHS and social care and those needed to keep supermarkets open? What happens to vulnerable children?” Jeffery Donaldson …

Hold it a minute. Who’s actually in charge here?

Brian Walker on March 15, 2020, 12:47 pm

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Who actually is in charge of Covid 19 measures in Northern Ireland? Just asking. The mainstream media don’t seem that interested. Health is devolved but national emergencies are reserved to Westminster. Arlene Foster looks ahead to closing schools for 16 weeks (Why hit on 16? Why not 20 or 25? Are contingency plans for education ready to roll out? ) Michelle O’Neill with her reflexive approach to crisis thinks they should follow Dublin’s example and be closed already. Does this …

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

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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

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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

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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

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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 …

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

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

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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 …