Latest news and measures on Coronavirus - Ireland

odyssey06

Registered User
Messages
4,194
Ireland:
Measures will remain in place until Sunday 19 April - this is "not a lockdown".
All non-essential retail outlets are being told to close, with restaurants and cafes told to close unless they can offer a take-away option. Supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open. There will be no restrictions on the amount of times a person can leave their home a day but these are being limited to groups of four people.
All theatres, clubs, gyms/leisure centres, hairdressers, betting shops, marts, markets, casinos, bingo halls, libraries and similar outlets are to close.
All sporting events are cancelled, including those behind closed doors. All playgrounds and holiday/caravan parks to close.
All hotels are to limit occupancy to essential non-social and non-tourist reasons.
Social gatherings of no more than four people are allowed (more allowed if from the same household)

The government is to increase the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Support payment for people who have been laid off due to the virus from €203 to €350. The payment will also apply to the self-employed who are affected by Covid-19. An emergency wage subsidy scheme under which the Government will pay 70% of a worker’s salary up to a cap of €410 per week net – equivalent to the after-tax income of a worker on around €40,000.

Varadkar said private hospitals “will act effectively as public hospitals” for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said: “Private hospitals have agreed to do this on a not-for-profit basis.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
New rules have been introduced for Covid-19 testing, which means patients will need to meet revised criteria to qualify in future.
Patients will have to display two major symptoms - a fever and either a cough or shortness of breath - and fall into a priority group in order to be tested.
These are close contacts of a confirmed case, healthcare staff and vulnerable groups.
All patients who have not yet been swabbed, and who do not have an appointment for a test date, will not now be tested and will be required to reengage with their GP.
The Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish College of GPs said they were seeking clarification from the health service regarding patients who have been given a test date, but who have not yet been tested.

HSE information on groups considered at risk:
 
Last edited:
Parents will not have to pay their provider for childcare they are not receiving.
Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has confirmed the Department of Children and Youth Affairs is to pay childcare providers with a proportion of staff costs during the closure period during the coronavirus crisis.
This is on the condition that providers do not charge parents for a service they can not provide.
 
Ireland:
1819 cases (+255)
19 deaths (+10) - the median age among those is 79.
Over 40 patients in ICU.
 
Last edited:
Ireland:
1819 cases (+255)
19 deaths (+10) - the median age among those is 79.
Over 40 patients in ICU.
Do you know if that is 40 in total have been admitted or 40 currently in ICU. Sorry I know this is news thread, but if would be good to clarify.
 
RTE say that there were 47 'brought to ICU' as of Midnight 24th March. Looks like the figure of 40+ given at the press conference yesterday evening was those currently in ICU, as the equivalent figure was 39 the day before.
 
Ok, we've now reached lockdown stage... unclear of how any of this will be enforced but:

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that from midnight tonight and for a two-week period, everybody must stay at home, except in specific circumstances.
Speaking at a press conference, he said that the circumstances include leaving the house for work only when the work is "essential work, social care or other essential service that cannot be done from home."
People are also allowed to leave their home to buy food or household goods, attend medical appointments and vital family reasons.
Mr Varadkar also said that people can leave their home for brief physical exercise, but only within 2km of their home.
He announced that during the two week period, all public or private gatherings are prohibited.
 
puzzled i know people who are more than 2 km they are at least 5km from local shops are they still allowed to go to shops will they need special permission ? same goes for work not essential but company is still going?
 
71 in intensive care as of this morning 27th March, and increasing 5 fold per week. cf. 9pm RTE news.
 
Last edited:
what does shielding mean as opposed cocooning (thanks frank for above)

They appear to be referring to the same thing, at least on RTE:
Shielding or cocooning will be introduced for all those 70 years of age and specified categories of people who are extremely vulnerable to Covid-19

I guess shielding refers to the actions taken by others to protect the vulnerable \ cocooning is the action taken by the vulnerable.
 
Pharmacists will be permitted to dispense medicines outside of the current period of validity with an existing prescription in line with the pharmacists clinical judgement
 
puzzled i know people who are more than 2 km they are at least 5km from local shops are they still allowed to go to shops will they need special permission ? same goes for work not essential but company is still going?
We all need to read and understand it in the spirit it is made.

Except for essential travel we are to keep within 2km

Food shopping, pharmacy are both essential. Some work is essential
 
Ireland:
14 further deaths as 2,415 coronavirus cases confirmed in Ireland.
There have now been 36 COVID-19 related deaths in the Republic of Ireland.
 
The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, has said the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS), the National Car Testing Service (NCT) and the Commercial Vehicle Testing System are suspended until further notice.
 
A figure of 88 in intensive care was given at the HSE press conference this morning. When asked if there were others in intensive care with different issues it was clarified that there was, the figure of 88 only related to those who have Covid.

There are a further 167 critical care beds available at the moment, not including the private hospitals with more to come on stream. No hospitals have reached capacity yet but Dublin hospitals under most pressure.

Attendance at and admissions from EDs significantly down on this time last year but people who are sick and need care urged to attend.
 
Ireland:
2,615 cases (+200)
46 deaths (+10)
The median age of today’s deaths is 77. Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan expressed his condolences to the family and friends of all patients who have died as a result of Covid-19.

  • 564 cases (26%) have been hospitalised;
  • of those hospitalised, 77 cases have been admitted to ICU;
  • 506 cases are associated with healthcare workers;
  • Dublin has the highest number of cases at 1,233 (56% of all cases) followed by Cork with 208 cases (9%);
  • of those for whom transmission status is known, community transmission accounts for 51%, close contact accounts for 24%, travel abroad accounts for 25%.
 
Back
Top