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GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
The HSE’s Covid-19 vaccine registration portal opened this morning for people aged 35-39.
In this morning’s lead story, Michelle Hennessy writes that the HSE is expecting to move at a slower pace through this age cohort as there are large volumes of people involved and the vaccination programme will rely on supplies of just two brands of vaccine from next month.
Here’s what readers wanted to know this week.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has set a target of 70% home-ownership in Ireland by the end of this decade, a goal that would require up to 40,000 new homes built every year.
Speaking at the Fine Gael Ard Fhéis yesterday evening, the party’s leader said owning our own homes “is in our DNA” and acknowledged that this “dream is out of reach for far too many”.
John Bercow, the former Conservative MP who became the scourge of Brexiteers as Commons Speaker, says he has switched allegiances to join the Labour Party.
Bercow said he regards the Tories under British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as “reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic”.
Having stepped down as Speaker after 10 years in 2019, he announced yesterday that he joined Labour in recent weeks.
The Delta variant of the coronavirus now accounts for 99% of confirmed and probable cases across the UK – but there have been just 180 cases of the Delta variant identified in Ireland, which accounts for just 5% of sequenced cases.
So how has Ireland managed to keep Delta at bay? Dr Fidelma Fitzpatrick, consultant and senior lecturer in microbiology at the Royal College of Surgeons, believes vaccination and travel measures have been key to keeping levels of this variant low.
Belgium will ban entry to non-EU travellers from Britain in order to limit the spread of the Delta variant that has forced London to delay the lifting of its pandemic curbs.
With Belgium’s restrictions, which already apply to South Africa, India and Brazil, only EU citizens or residents of Belgium will be able to enter the country. Those travellers will still have to meet tight quarantine rules as well as take covid tests before being free to move in Europe.
One man died and another was seriously injured after being struck by a pick-up truck at a Pride parade in Florida last night.
Police say they are keeping an open mind on the motive behind the incident during the Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade in the city north of Fort Lauderdale.
A man in his late teens was taken to St James’ Hospital after an assault in Dublin city centre yesterday evening.
Gardaí said they are investigating an alleged assault that took place near St Stephen’s Green at around 6pm.
Brazil has become the second country after the United States to surpass 500,000 Covid-19 deaths as the South American nation grapples with a third wave of the pandemic.
In large cities, life seems almost back to normal with restaurants, bars and shops open and many people in the streets not wearing face masks. And yet the situation is critical in 19 of Brazil’s 27 states with more than 80% occupancy of intensive care beds – in nine of those states, it’s over 90%.
Northern Ireland first Minister Paul Givan has been told by will have to resign as Stormont leader once the new DUP leader takes over from Edwin Poots, who resigned on Thursday.
The current front runner for the DUP leadership is Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson, who narrowly lost to Poots in last month’s DUP leadership contest. Voting gets underway today.
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The fact an article like this needs to be written is a poor reflection of where our society is at.
@NotMyIreland: Healthcare workers the world over have been wearing masks daily for probably 60 years.
If there were any health concerns, we’d know them by now.
The amount of whinging and bullsh*t from certain people is astounding.
@NotMyIreland: What do you mean by that? What are you implying?
@Lao Tzu: Exactly what it says on the tin. Its a poor reflection on society that an article like this needs to be written. Why? Well its because peices like this only have to be published because of false information spread on social media.
@NotMyIreland: I still don’t understand where you’re coming from, especially regarding social media? What sort of a tin are you referring to?
@Lao Tzu: Can’t help you so.
@NotMyIreland: Ok, but maybe ‘our society’ is where it is because some people like to pontificate and preach on social media/ news platforms without contributing to said society; there’s no point in being a hurler in a ditch unless one likes the sound of their own voice – just a thought.
@Lao Tzu: I understood what he said. Why can’t you.
@Cian Martin: false …. We have been wearing them since MAY 2020…
@Lao Tzu: Pretty sure he is talking about how dumb people have gotten over the last few years. People take what they read on facebook and other social media platforms as fact.
@Emma Fitzpatrick: Then I have serious questions for the surgical staff who operated on me in June 2019…
@Lao Tzu: I understood perfectly what he said. It was simple English. What part exactly confused you.
@Emma Fitzpatrick: Try to keep up he said healthcare workers!
@Sarah Hempenstall: only ever worn whilst surgery has been preformed …i repeat again they have only been worn since may 2020… never outside OT…
@Omar Khayamm: I am a HCW… Duh!!!!
Dress it up how you like. If we knew in March what we know now, we would never have locked down our country and wished away our liberties so easily.
It is a bad disease but it is not the plague we thought it was. We should be rolling back restrictions. Anybody suggesting otherwise is not keeping up with the current information.
@Barry: What is it with you lot and liberties? People didn’t give up their liberties, they made a choice to do something that might help society as a whole.
Things aren’t as bad as we thought it could get, because of the actions taken.
@Barry: it’s a bad disease. Say it again and again. A very bad disease, and the reason it’s not a plague is because of the lockdown.
@Barry: so the fact the spread of the disease has been slowed everyplace that had a lockdown is just a coincidence
@Barry: another tedious “patriot” know all expert.
@Pablo: you lot?
“Made a choice to do something” and “gave up your liberties” are essentially the same thing said different ways.
We made great sacrifices willingly, thinking a plague was about to land on our shores. Our sarcrafices either paid off or it was never going to be a plague ( doesn’t really matter ). Either way the dark days are behind us and we have a right to expect restriction rollbacks. We also have a right to question why they aren’t happening.
@Cian Martin: we have to keep saying that…… over and over. The alternative is that we we over reacted, our efforts were in vain, we shortened the lives of 1000s needlessly, saddled our kids with tremendous debt. And that doesn’t bare repeating.
@bmul: it hasn’t.
@Ian Breathnach: “Barry” probably IS Gemma O’Doherty! Or her co conspiracy nut Waters trying to get back on Twitter….
@Barry: Blissful ignorance is forgivable, but willful ignorance…?
@Colm O’Leary: you miss the irony of comment..
@Colm O’Leary: for what it is worth. I strongly dislike the former and occasionally agree with the latter. It is very telling that they have been invoked several times as a way of not responding to my post.
Remember the old adage ‘don’t feed the trolls’. Your replies to these animals give them oxygen
@All Aboard To China: I feed mostly off beer. But i am not trolling. I feel very strongly for the barman, barbers and events staff etc of our country. As well as the people of Kildare/Laois/Offaly now. This is so unnecessary.
@John: Maybe you’re trying to present yourself as a clever person, but you’re failing – don’t misuse words or quotes until you understand what it is you’re trying to say.
@Barry: that’s like saying wear seat belts to avoid being killed in car crashes, and then when the numbers of people killed in car crashes go down, questioning why we are wearing seat belts when the numbers of people killed are so low
@Cian Martin: sweeden invalidates that viewpoint.
@Cian Martin: You have been well and truly fallen for the propaganda.
@Masses are awakening: Sweden has worse levels of debt and economic damage than other Scandinavian countries that went into lockdown.
@Vladimir Macro: whats this propaganda and agenda some people are talking about and who has it? Two words that are being tossed around and i’m yet to get an explanation
@Barry: Restriction Rollbacks: a while ago I couldn’t go further than 2km from my home in Cork. On Monday I am going to a hotel in Mayo. Is that a good enough example of a rollback for you?
@Barry: The dead don’t care about their liberties.
Facebook is a disease and people who use it spread their BS.
@RogersRabbit: sadly for us all, an axe has been mercilessly spliced thru the hunk of a well worn and slightly rotted wood of our society. There are 2 halves now, and many splinters. No man can undo this. There are medium that can. There is evil that will.
I heard if you wear two masks at the same time you’ll get pluralsy……
@Augustus hoop: Hahaha, very clever :)
@Augustus hoop: hahaha, wit of the week award!
I suppose the following are all conspiracy nuts too!
”With numbers diminishing very quickly in Sweden, we see no point in wearing a face mask in Sweden, not even on public transport.” Anders Tegnell – State epidemiologist. – July 24th.
“By all means people can wear masks but they can’t say it’s an evidence-based decision…” – Professor Carl Heneghan, epidemiologist at Oxford universitie’s center for evidence based medicine – July 12th.
“From a medical point of view, there is no evidence of a medical effect of wearing face masks, so we decided not to impose a national obligation,” said Dutch Medical Care Minister Tamara van Ark. – July 29th.
@RRJ Whelan: 2days ago Anders tegnell said if we see problems again we will look at face masks.
The Dutch government including Tamara van ark have since said face coverings will be revisited if cases go up .
@RRJ Whelan: Sweden has 4 times the case numbers and 4 times the death rate and they have twice the population of Ireland. Yeah…. they’re doing soooooooooooo well. How do you explain those stats? Sweden has allowed their citizens to die. Its shameful.
@bmul: @bmul: And he also countered it with..
“One reason is that the evidence base for using masks in society is still very weak. Even if more and more countries are now enforcing them in different ways …”
Tamara van Ark said the Dutch May look at it again but maintained her position that the evidence right now is not there, hence no mandatory masks in shops in Holland.
@RRJ Whelan: so they did both say IF cases go up they will look as face covering again ?? That’s a yes what ever way you want to spin it .
@Ian Breathnach: where are you getting such BS stats from? Sweden and Ireland have almost the same death rates by age demographics. According to the CSO, 92% of all deaths are over 65 yr olds, similar in Sweden. As of July 10th Ireland had 238 deaths per 100K over 65 yr olds, Sweden had 248.
Same old ridiculous claims about Sweden. They got it right – accept it. Infections and death rates plummeting, no lockdown, no school closures, no masks and no mass hysteria.
@bmul: And they both said the evidence is not there to support wearing them. That’s a no, whatever way you want to spin it.
@RRJ Whelan: but Sweden have said they got it wrong, swedens front line have said they got it wrong, compare Sweden to the other counties in its region and its the worst so far.
@bmul: The more testing being done will naturally show more cases, particularly with the asymptomatic/ mild cases; all it proves is that fewer people are dying as a result of Covid-19.
Cases do not equate with deaths – why can’t people understand that?
Especially with the propaganda being fed by news/ social media networks such as case results and actual death figures being conflated! It’s totally bizarre how this and the previous government have manipulated people into submission to the point whereby 3 counties now have lockdown imposed on them – nearly 6 months later! It’s so controlling and authoritarian it’s very disturbing to observe and to be a part of. There were so many measures and decisions which could’ve been taken 6 months ago, but now, essentially we’re in lockdown again due to the inefficiency of every single government department/ quango/ minister/ TD/ Co Councillor! More to the point, none of these measures affect any of the above because they are on salaries – increased salaries in some cases – but the rest of us have to shut up and put up?
What is the matter with us – is it really post-colonial oppression? Have we lost our will to fight? Have we lost our voices? John Hume died recently and he fought for human rights and civil liberties, it’s ironic that the civil liberties he fought for were denied to him at his own burial; he was intelligent and sensitive enough to know that the only way to change politics is to get involved in politics.
We need to change politics in Ireland because the only people the system suits are the politicians and the civil servants which breast-feed them.
@RRJ Whelan:
Where are you getting your numbers from. Ireland has 1700 deaths, Sweden 5,700. That is 570 per million compared to Ireland at 350 per million. A big difference.
@David Shaw: age……..they have a much older demographic.
@Daniel Roche: they said they got it wrong in relation to moving old folks into homes where many died, same as Ireland. Dont be trying to mislead people.
Legionnaires disease is due to a bacteria in water which is breath in and NOT ingested. Surgery ward and lab people wear mask for hours every day of the year and don’t catch pleuresy more often than those who never wear masks. The number of stupidities you can read is properly astonishing! “
@Andre le Flohic: surgeons work in oxygen enriched controlled environments to counter the hypoxia. Do some research.
@Masses are awakening: that’s wrong. Operating theatres are not oxygen enriched. Besides, what about all the doctors and nurses who wear masks outside an operating theatre?
Wear a mask and stop posting on journal.ie.
Maybe if the journal turned comments off on Covid articles, it would help to curve the spread of misinformation. Seems to me like there are lots of people who prefer to believe this is all a conspiracy.
@Mango mango: Seems to me there is an irrational fear of questions being asked! We are led to believe that posing a question is now dangerous for public health, but I would suggest the only time a question is ‘dangerous’ is when it may actually uncover a hidden truth. Let all voices speak openly, and the truth shall be seen, suppress all questions and the truth will remain interspersed with lies in the long grass. Shutting down debate is about authoritarianism and nothing else!Questions are the heartbeat of all philosophy, science, and knowledge and every human being has valid questions to pose!
Put the mask on your head people…. please save yourself……
Get over yourself and wear a mask!!!
This may be seen as toxic.
Sorry.
@Sue Kelly: totally not toxic sue and well said. Absolutely no reason to apologise. I am actually sorry you said sorry if you get me.
@Sue Kelly:
Look at it this way….. If the advice to wear masks was displayed in 20 foot flashing letters on the side of Liberty Hall, a vast majority of the clowns out there wouldn’t take any notice…. They know it all….
Go to youtube and watch Vernon Coleman instead of watching RTE… You will soon see that this is a scam. Survival rate is 99.74 % and all the brainwashed sheep talking about increased cases…. We should celebrate increased cases once nobody is dying as it means the disease is weakening and herd immunity is growing.
@Masses are awakening: very underrated comment.
@Masses are awakening: you mean Vernon Coleman who wrote the article “Aids-hoax of the Century”? That Vernon Coleman? Reliable source alright.
@B Condún: say what you like about Jim Corr but the facts are that he has to have seen his sisters naked at least once when they were on tour so i’ll gladly listen to all his tripe in the hope that one day he reveals some details
To stop legionnaires run your water for at least an hour before you start using it to flush out any water that may be residual in the pipes!i know there’s a ‘restriction’ but to stay safe do it
To stop legionnaires run your water for at least an hour before you start using it to flush out any water that may be residual in the pipes!i know there’s a ‘restriction’ but to stay safe do it
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