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QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY BELFAST has said the 166 positive Covid-19 cases at the university is a “concern” and cause of anxiety among staff, students and their families.
It is understood that 166 staff and students have tested positive for Covid-19.
In a statement, Queen’s University said: “The safety and wellbeing of staff and students is the University’s first priority and a range of interventions have been made across campus to minimise the risk of infection.”
Last week, it was reported that 100 students in the university were self-isolating after 30 students tested positive for Covid-19.
The university today said it is liaising daily with the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland to “ensure the university is continuing to apply to correct measures to limit the spread of infection”.
“Although the number of staff and students affected remains a minority, the increase in number of positive cases is a concern and the University fully appreciates that this may cause anxiety for students, staff, and their families,” the statement said.
The university said it is “closely monitoring” the situation and “will not hesitate to apply additional measures to further protect members of our community”.
It added that contact tracing information has shown that people are being infected in social or accommodation settings, not elsewhere on the campus.
“The university continues to emphasise that it is essential for all members of the Queen’s community to follow public health guidelines, including the avoidance of unnecessary travel, to limit further spread,” the statement said.
There were 616 new cases of Covid-19 in NI confirmed in the last 24 hours.
3,630 cases have been reported in the last seven days, bringing the overall total number of cases confirmed in the region to 14,690.
No further deaths have been reported by the NI Department of Health, leaving the toll at 584.
Can we have the bill broken down to show consultant fees, bonus etc.?
Will yeah all grow a pair and don’t pay
How much we pay will be determined by one factor and one factor only: As much they think they think they can get away with charging us.
I got my business bill today €1.92 water charge and €29.50 rent for meter. I asked the girl in water office about this and her answer was”this is Ireland”
Don’t let this happen to households.
Labour n FG will find out how much they ll pay in May for the broken promises and europhile policies..
I give it 10 years before it’s € 1000 annually
If we all say NO now this can all be avoided
I think that no vote needs to be sorted before more money is squandered. Once metering is rolled out and the checks are signed it will be harder to turn back. But remember the property tax. There was a chance to stand against that and it failed (even when it wasn’t officially a tax just a preposterous random charge). Water charges, bin collection, essentially household services should be covered by a fair property tax system. There should be no privatisation in essential services
It won’t be avoided. Firstly the government are bullies, secondly we Irish seem afraid to stand up for ourselves. Instead we moan and moan and moan and that’s all we do. Nothing productive will come from moaning. We need to stand up for ourselves and stop the bullies from doing us up the a*se over and over again.
To be honest roisin I think we were let down by the media badly during the household charge debacle. I feel by and large the public was not supported due to some misguided belief that property tax is the best way to tax the rich. In reality it’s just another way to tax a majority of already struggling homeowners. The same would be the case again for this i think and I’m sure with the bad experience of before probably making people more even apathetic. I think we have it in us to make the changes we want but have been under the comfort zone of democracy we forget the bad that can go with this also. And you are right the government are bullies . In fact some of the statements made during the household charge saga would have got our politicians lynched if it had been in most other countries! I’m actually not against water charges even though my comments might suggest otherwise. I am mostly just against the government, and the continuous mismanagement of public funds. If we had a CEO with some balls half the staff at this company would be long gone. Instead we have enda. Yawn…
We were let down by the media because the government controls them and the banks control the government.
You are way behind the curve Johnny, in my town waste has been privatised for thirteen years, people use it because its cheaper than the co council,we take our waste and recycles to the centre and pay even less again,unionised overmanned state services unfortunatly just cannot compete on price.
I’m with you really Richard. Perhaps you missed the end of my first comment. I am saying (probably badly) that essential services should come under the property tax and should be a service that’s paid for through the tax. not free or state funded but paid for through fair taxation along with water etc. what else is the tax for anyway. i think some english lord still owns the land underneath my gaff i should really be paying the tax to him !
regarding the bins I must say its been a long time since I’ve had the council collecting my bins too. Get the whole lot taken from my door don’t even have to go to recycle centre. 4 bins for all my needs, Great service and relatively cheap IMO. But my bin collectors have competition. If I am unhappy with my water provider however…
A one off charge sounds good Johnny, but would people in Ireland be prepared for a charge similar to the UK where my family there pay 1500 stg per year household charge (around €1800) that covers everything from water and waste to policing and local emergency services,seeing the opposition to any charging for services here,i just could’nt see it working though.
so I assume VAT will be dropping by 4% right? otherwise it would just be a double tax/bondholder tax?
Are the thousands of people who do pay for their water due a VAT refund also?
not sure but if a direct charge is being introduced that means some central tax should drop otherwise it would just be theft…oh wait
I think there will be a change to income tax, will have to wait a year or two.
Think all you want but no tax breaks for pixie heads. Double tax then add vat its triple tax
I ain’t paying for something that falls from the sky in abundance. We could export drinking water to the world if we managed it correctly. Rain water harvesting is under utilised in this country. Why not invest in this rather than water metres? You could harvest your own rain water and have it collected for treatment or use yourself for toilet flushing or similar. Why do we always have to take in this country.
And if, like last time, people just don’t bother paying what will we do then? The state’s shed is already full of e voting machines; at this rate we’ll have our own circus with all our white elephants.
Faucets circus.
Those e voting machines were scrapped for a pittance after spending €50m on them .
They are still working out how much they can charge to bring in €2 billion + a year. Give it a few years then flog the company to pay off the interest on bailout loans we shouldn’t be paying back in the first place. For the few years that its Irish Water it serves its purpose of giving jobs for the boys.
Yes on bonus and big pay. Did Tierney get a pension from corpo when he was leaving I wonder
Yep vote FG you dumb ass voters. Water charges and household charge what dummies we have left in this country.
It doesn’t matter who was voted in so there’s no need to be mean! All politicians are the same in this country and yes I’m tarring them all with the same brush.!!
My comment was out of frustration at how we are been treated and how we aee been brainwashed by continous FG spin.
Very frustrating also to see support on the up for FG.
This country has no appetite for change
Yes most in this country are the same and not competent enough to do the jobs but worst of all they lie to be elected and never deliver on promises made
Couldn’t agree more with your comment that this country has no appetite for change. It actually sums up all my frustrations with the last couple of years and the people who have been voted into power. I just have to wonder who would be different?? Who would help instead of cripple??
We’ll be destined for a political status quo for many years in Ireland. At one point I was moving toward SF, in fact I voted for McGuinness in the presidential election, but in the aftermath and handling of various controversies by SF leadership over the last few years I’ve moved away again.
Declan. It’s nice to think that voting makes changes but in reality it doesn’t change things like this once they are set on motion. It that bloody democracy comfort zone thing again…
Of course apparently if you do not use enough water you will be charged more. Excellent logic there Irish water….
and this after enda informs the country last sunday on the radio we would know before the local and european elections………………
I already pay water charges and have done for 5 years
Won’t be paying this tax, it’s illegal along with their other taxes which they try to enforce through their fictions of law…if we all don’t pay, what are they going to do??? Mass civil disobedience is our only way to fight back peacefully,
John Do I agree with you. Take myself, I live in UK..but have a small house in Ireland which I inherited from Mother RIP. I only use it a few times a year..how do I fare out ? Anybody know. ?
Initially FG lied & stated that a water charge was being introduced to somehow focus the population on the merits of water preservation – don’t waste it and if you do it will cost you. Then it was – the money is needed to upgrade our infrastructure to save water from leaky pipes etc. Irish water will in time be sold to a private interest group ( practically is already) and they will literally turn the screw for your money or turn the tap off. FG are a disgrace as are we for not fighting back.
Want to get the local elections out of the way…timed nicely to give people a full 3 months to forget about the local elections
Thought bell enda said the pricing structure would be known before the may elections…more lies!
Not even a transfer.
Bell enda, classic!
I think he said a few months. The energy regulator is the one deciding on pricing, not the government.
And the energy regulator has signed off on massive increases year in year out across the board. Worrying times.
Being forsed to pay for everything now its become like the states soon they make you have to pay to get any medical care at all gready money grabbing wasters
Not going to pay until fluoride is removed from the water supply. Why should we pay for a resource that is toxic and illegal? Why the Irish government insist on adding this poison unnecessarily, against the rules and laws of the EU baffles me. We are on our own in Europe adding fluoride into the water. Check this video out. ( I am not a tree hugger, but am a parent and this worries me greatly since I started reading up on it) http://youtu.be/7aTfyo0Xz_c
#water
Wait for it……..
TL:DR
We only have to pay water charges for the month of August!!!!
I sincerely hope all current and ex government ministers who have done bad over the years choke on their pints in the Dail chamber! You have more money in this country of you don’t work!!
How can they expect us to pay for contaminated water…get your water tested by an independant water quality testing company and avoid the water bills…
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