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LAST UPDATE | 11 Feb 2020
THE DEPARTMENT OF Health has said that 65 people have been tested for Covid-19 (coronavirus) in Ireland but there have been no confirmed cases.
The HSE’s National Public Health Emergency Team released an update this evening saying that 4,800 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) packs have been distributed to GP out-of-hours services across the country as part of precautions against the virus.
A further 1,200 PPE packs are due to go out to GP practices as well today and the National Ambulance Service has plans in place to deal with a confirmed case.
The World Health Organisation said this afternoon it was officially naming the deadly coronavirus that has killed 1,000 people in China ‘Covid-19′.
Covid-19 is a new strain of coronavirus that is the seventh known type of coronavirus that humans can contract.
The HSE has said that it “remains prepared for a confirmed case of Covid-19″ in Ireland.
“The Irish health system is currently operating a containment strategy in line with global practice, and all our efforts are focused on identifying suspected cases as they arise and initiating measures to prevent onward transmission of the virus,” chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said today.
The National Public Health Emergency Team continues to coordinate response efforts between the Health Service and other Government Departments and Agencies, to ensure a comprehensive response in the event of a confirmed case.
Anyone returning from China in the last 14 days, and experiencing symptoms associated with Covid-19 (coronavirus), is instructed to self- isolate and contact the health service via phone or email.”
All of the 65 suspected cases in Ireland would have come from mainland China and were displaying symptoms, Holohan said.
Holohan told RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke that because of the pressures on hospitals, there could be panic if a case was confirmed in Ireland, to which Holohan responded: “We will be in a position to respond, we think Ireland is well prepared if not better than most countries throughout Europe.”
Meanwhile, recruitment firm Indeed said that one of its staff members who said they were potentially exposed to Covid-19 has tested negative for the illness.
One of the firm’s employees in Singapore told superiors that they might have been exposed to the virus after their family members visited a facility caring for someone with the illness.
Some Indeed employees who visited the Singapore office have recently visited the Dublin and Sydney offices.
A statement from Indeed today said that its Dublin office will remain closed as a precaution.
A spokesperson for the company said: “The health and safety of our employees is Indeed’s chief concern.
“One of Indeed’s employees in Singapore informed us they were potentially exposed to coronavirus after family members visited a facility caring for a coronavirus patient. Today we learned that these family members have tested negative for the virus.
“The welfare of our employee and their family has been our highest priority during this period. Out of an abundance of caution for their health and safety, we asked employees in Singapore to work from home while we awaited the test results.
“As an extra precaution, we also asked employees in Dublin and Sydney to work from home and undertook deep cleaning of the three offices.”
- With reporting by Rónán Duffy
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I genuinely fear for the coronavirus hitting Ireland.. I’m sure people with asmtha and other respiratory conditions share the same fears :(
@Ross: Has Simon Harris or whoever is responsible implemented a contingency plan, just in cade?
@The Equalizer: Coronavirus Cases:
44,789
view by country
Deaths:
1,139
Recovered:
4,529
@Diogenes: in fairness I don’t think any party or individual could have anticipated the threat, nothing to do with irish health care etc.. I just hope now that every politician come together regardless of loyalties and take the coronavirus a bit more serious. Whatever figures are coming from the Chinese government.. Triple or quadruple it! It worse than what’s reported in my opinion
@Diogenes: Yes. Already done. Here’s a link.
https://www.gov.ie/en/news/e58285-the-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/
@Fiona Fitzgerald: Good
@Ross: yep
Great to work from home , anyone can should. Reduces traffic and congestion.
@Stevo The Man On A Mission Returns: Sitting in your underpants watching The Chase with the laptop on the couch
@Stevo The Man On A Mission Returns: yes it is oh duh im a chef who has to cater for the menu changing hipster brigade. Achoo to you
I highly doubt we’re ready if there was an outbreak.
@Stevo The Man On A Mission Returns: It’s okay, we have SF now, all will be grand.
@Maura: childish comment
@MOD: Is it?
@HuffnPuff: That’s all MOD seems to say to everyone
Still, they should be treated with an abundance of caution. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-11/two-japan-evacuees-get-coronavirus-after-first-testing-negative
Crazy company policy, it’s raining in Alaska, let’s all take the week off, just in case we might get the flu.
@The Equalizer: you obviously know nothing about the story that led to them telling their staff to stay at home.
@The Equalizer: they are still working just not in the office
@devils avacado: how so, you can’t catch the virus unless you have been in direct contact, only a few had recently been sent to Singapore, and none of them have shown any signs of the vieus
@The Equalizer: There’s up to a 14 day incubation period during which you may not show symptoms but can spread the disease
@The Equalizer: if you bothered to read the article you would have seen that his family could quite possibly have been in contact with an infected person. The comments took steps to ensure the safety of their employees and you think it’s silly,, i don’t think you are grasping how quickly and easily viruses can be spread.
@devils avacado: *company not comments
@The Equalizer: a company taking the health and welfare of their employees seriously? Wish there were more of them. This is the exact response they should have had.
@The Equalizer: they weren’t told “take the week off”
That’s a crazy projection on your part son
Check yo’self
@Jazz Buckler: everyone who can work from home should . Free up the traffic and transport
@The Equalizer: working from home
@The Equalizer: Never worked from home then I take it – I certainly wouldn’t call it time off
@The Equalizer: They’re having the offices cleaned and disinfected – their staff are all working from home this week until each one is deep-cleaned.
What has that got to do with your notions?
They’re probably very organised people – you need to be to work from home. Anyone can concentrate in an office with no distractions and no canvassers ringing the bell.
Why is the media coverage in comparison to the SARS Hysteria so tepid. Even though the Corona by conservative estimates has killed more people in a fraction of the time. With all the videos available online and the current journalistic model of click bait to generate Revenue, why the relative silence?
@Dermot Mc Carthy: Good question. The reason is, experts simulated just such an outbreak scenario and planned in advance for this. One such simulation was called Event 201, whereby an imaginary coronavirus outbreak with remarkably similar parameters to nCoV was simulated.
Part of the plan (Section 7) is to suppress the spread of negative or false information on social media platforms but instead flood it with positive and informative messages. This has now been actioned in the real world as WHO has directed major social media platforms to play ball and they in response have obliged. Event 201 recommended response plan is set out in this document (see section 7): http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/event201/recommendations.html
On 18th of October last, Johns Hopkins University carried out a pandemic exercise called Event 201 tabletop simulation. Not coincidentally, the parallels with nCoV are chilling. The figures presented on the slide at in the linked video at 1:18 are very similar to today’s figures. It shows 35K cases and 1,836 deaths at that particular point in the simulation. Unsurprisingly, the presenter then says “We could be looking at double the number of cases in one week. 16 times as many in a month. That would be of the order of half a million cases and it would continue to rise exponentially. In 3 months, we could be approaching 10 million cases”. That in a nut shell is what we are facing into people. https://youtu.be/AoLw-Q8X174
BTW one month after that again, it’s 160 million cases.
@Paraic: Would you stop with the nonsense. You barely understand what an exponential is and now you are posting about modelling virus transmission dynamics.
Stop with the scaremongering nonsense.
Wonder did they use humans to perform the “deep clean” on the potentially contaminated office?
Surprised it’s not here with our open door policy
@munsterman1: we don’t have an open door policy.
this is a serious virus!! it may already be in Ireland. CHINA tried to conceal it but is failing; we still dont know its ability…its has particular dna… will we ever know where it came from?… livestock or sloppy controls in a P4 lab in wuhan..
be sensible, wash hands, STOP TOUCHING YOUR FACE …dont PANIC!!!!!!
@MrJohne: it doesn’t have DNA!
@ronjondabomb: Err…nothing in there that contradicts what I said earlier! Coronavirus is an RNA virus, not DNA.
@MrJohne: it has RNA not DNA
They said the same when in fact there was 3 cases of AIDS years ago one being VIncent Hanley. Staff in St James Hosp were silenced. That’s something I will never forget. Dept of Health didn’t want public panic.
I’m terrified of it hitting Ireland!…its only a matter of time
@Maggie May: I believe it is in here already. They (HSE and government) just don’t want to create panic yet.
@monika: its not here stop creating hysteria I work in national virus reference laboratory
@Joanne Seitsukulo: I don’t create anything. I said I believe it’s here. It’s my personal belief not creating anything. With respect, but the fact that you work in lab doesn’t prove anything.
Where are the test gone to be tested.and when will results be back…is it possible goods coming from China could carry it.should we ask the Chinese restaurants was any relatives over here at Christmas new year..is there isolation in place in Ireland If a case is confirmed..people will be sick..where will they be nursed.remind us .should we wear gloves or masks..information is scarce.
The virus itself isn’t dangerous for young people however it might lead to respiratory issues.
Coronavirus is a common virus but this one evolved already (mutated) but I strongly doubt that it might kill few millions of people. This would cause a mass stock – money collapse on the market. (Take a look on the China numbers it already did)
..
Coronavirus Cases:
44,789
view by country
Deaths:
1,149
Recovered:
4,529
@The Equalizer: do you actually believe the official data… there only counting registered patients in hospitals
@MrJohne: I don’t trust anything China says
@The Equalizer: there is allot of videos still online of the impact the virus is having. xi declared war on the virus last week(clearly its beating them) there welding doors into high rises to force control(but people are then trapped in appartments sick and healthy). there disinfecting the streets. ..im following people in china/wuhan less videos are now getting out.. if china cant contain this nobody can…
@MrJohne: I am also in contact with friends in China. This regime is probably the best way to stop this spreading,
@The Equalizer: The Chinese health system is a dirty ramshackle chaos mostly geared towards a quick buck (quack procedures to maximize profit) and cosmetic surgery and unaffordable to the majority.Think of the old idea about not going to hospital if you want to stay alive.It didn t improve in my 12 years visiting China.It was laughable stuff- basic drugs for common flu wrongly prescribed.Any figures they are giving are going to be way off mark and they are turning it into a Communist heroic drama which will get people sacrificed while being a man made disaster of neglect caused by the long term suppression of medical professionals.
GP in Cork warned the HSE is not distributing any kinds of masks to them and that GPs are being left to fend for themselves. Masks are widely sold out so if in unlikely case this thing gets more serious, where will people get hold of masks? HSE? Pray it doesn’t take hold.
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