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LAST UPDATE | 23 Mar 2020
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER Dr Tony Holohan has said it is “vital” that people comply with public health advice and social distancing as the country works to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Dr Holohan was speaking yesterday evening after a fourth death from Covid-19 was confirmed in Ireland. A further 121 people were confirmed to have contracted coronavirus bringing the total number of cases in the Republic to 906.
It comes as gardaí and emergency services this weekend stressed the importance of social distancing and warned people about congregating in large groups.
Speaking this morning, Health Minister Simon Harris said he’d been informed that recently confirmed Covid-19 cases had “fewer close contacts” than previously diagnosed cases.
Internationally, New Zealand is preparing for a total lockdown later this week as Japan’s prime minister warns that a delay in hosting the Olympics may be “inevitable”.
Here are today’s main Covid-19 points:
On the international front:
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This time next week. We’ll all be in lockdown. It’s the only way to stop the spread of the virus.
@Damien: its strange. We’re getting the #stayhome messages everywhere. Yet thousands including myself are gone in for a weeks work in a non essential workplace.
@Brian Dunne: couldnt agree more.my daughter gone again this week.shes a bundle of nerves afraid she will get virus and pass it to me.no support from employer just turn up for work.
@shirls: same here. have to go to work later. call centre (for hotel chain i obviously cant name). its just ridiculous. and until we get laid off we cant get the govt money
@Brian Dunne: Couldn’t agree more. I’m being told to continue going to work, but by nature of what I do there is no work to be getting on with.. literally sitting in office twiddling thumbs….. I honestly don’t understand why this hasn’t been flagged by the government and health authorities… I would much rather stay at home, stay safe, protect my family and myself…. I’ve been adhering to all of the social distancing rules and it makes me so angry that I’m being forced to put myself in contact with others in work… All of who could be carrying… This is a joke and needs to be addressed by health officials. Because it’s a grey area it’s just getting overlooked….
@alan: at least you have a job to go in to. If your that worried tell them you or a family member are high risk and you want to take unpaid leave. they would hardly refuse you.
@Delboy79: we can take unpaid leave. but if we do this off our own bats we cant apply for the govt pay scheme. i cant understand why our company is paying us to sit around doing little when they could be getting the govt to pay us! in the meantime the anxiety levels here at work are ridiculous. i feel like we are being forced to work with no regard to health
Can’t go into lockdown until we have enough cases. Otherwise it’ll be just as bad the second time around
@Dave O’Keeffe: nonsense
@Damien: The science doesn’t support that. Pushing for lockdown is absurd and will be detrimental to the economy and peoples mental health in general. Especially when the government have allowed flights in and out of the country for weeks. People landing and allowed in without testing! Based on our cases numbers our ‘cases; requiring hospitalization is really low. There are many variants to the Italy situation and saying ‘well be like Italy in a few weeks’ simply isn’t true as you cannot with any degree of accuracy predict the number of cases we will have. Stop the scaremongering! I wish there was a better solution to help the truly vulnerable people rather than shutting down everything in sight which I believe is mostly a political move based on fear.
What happened yesterday was unacceptable. People ignored the government advise to stay at home. The parks and the beach was jam packed yesterday. We will be like Italy in a few days time that we have no place to bury our corpses. We only have 1 minute left before midnight.
@bombacho: just goes to show how many go to the pub each wknd. if the pubs weren’t closed there is no way that many people would have been at any of these places
@alphasully: was thinking that myself earlier. It’s kind of sad that these places are only busy because the pubs and shops are closed, why aren’t these people always out getting fresh air at the weekend!
@alphasully: people who go to the pub would not usually go to the beach instead. They would more than likely be in the off licence and then go home and self isolate with their alcohol. I think.
@Tony O Neill: before this I would have thought the same. seeing the above article and all over social media yesterday I stand behind my original comment. there was nothing to stop them calling to the offie on the way home
@alphasully: nothing to do with it. We have people in this country who just don’t care , no one tells me what I can and can’t do syndrome. If you rock on to a place and see crowds on advice you’d just leave. Not these people. Its like during a red warning these people still go out. It’s the I’ll do what I fuking like generation now. Problem for me is they should have said everyone could die from the virus then people wouldn’t be so laxed.
@bombacho: Could you please provide me with a link to an Irish government website that advises people to stay at home? On the HSE website it advises people to take care of their mental health by getting out and walking. Don’t know what government you are talking about, but it certainly isn’t the Irish government.
@alphasully: or play sport or bring kids to sport. Still no excuse for it
@Alex Haarrwood: You’re ignorant. Why would the government closed schools, closed restaurants pubs etc. banned social gatherings.
@bombacho: ah ok, so the answer is no, no you can’t provide me a link to a HSE website that advises people to stay at home. Have a good day sir.
@Alex Haarrwood: no but anyone with an ounce of cop on would avoid crowds and adhere to social distancing at the very least. As i see it we have 2 choices, we can either carry on doing what we are doing and keep the virus going or we can have a lock down. Prolonging this benefits nobody.
@Derek Lyster: social distancing means 2m and no unessecary contact.
Social distancing does NOT mean stay in your house.
The amount of posters with their fake nonsense suggesting we have been told we are not allowed to leave the house.
Pictures of cars in a car park does not mean people were in contact. I assume the vast majority got out of their cars and went for a nice walk at a safe distance, did not stop at coffee dock and did not touch handrails.
@Alex Haarrwood: Do you really need to be told that the best way to avoid contracting or spreading this virus is to stay at home ? People with your attitude are the biggest threat to the rest of us right now. Cop on, stay home.
@Cliff Burnby: I was just correcting a comment which I saw to be false, that’s all. Apologies if my attitude has upset you. People are still entitled to go out for walks as long as they practice social distancing.
@bombacho: because you can’t social distance yourself in those situations.
Leo himself encouraged people to get out for walks especially for mental health.
Lough key forest park encourages people on its website to come and use its 350 hector park but to adhere to social distance.
Not leaving your home at all is lockdown not social distancing.
Some people really need to cop on, it’s a national emergency, not a national holiday.
I live in Spain and we’re on total lockdown here. Looking on social media, I am constantly seeing people out hiking, at the beach, just out and about like it’s a never ending St Stephen’s Day. One post I saw yesterday was from the Papal Cross in the Phoenix Park – you wouldn’t see as many people there on a fine summer’s day.
Irish people have an amazing way of saying “but….” despite medical and government advice to stay the hell inside. When you can only leave the house to walk 50m to let the dog out, or go to the shop to buy food, there will still be Irish people getting out and about for non-essential reasons, because “but shur ya have to get out”.
Enjoy the freedom while ye have it… lockdown is a whole different matter and really hammers home how serious this virus is. Message to the Irish at home: THIS IS NOT AN EXTENDED EASTER HOLIDAY!!
@Rachel: the penny will drop soon in Ireland
@Rachel: government advice in Ireland is NOT that we all have to stay in our houses (yet)
Current advice is social distancing, the VAST majority are doing this. Our towns are like ghost towns today.
@john doe: government advise everywhere was not to stay indoors until It was. then it was too late. Ireland is not exceptional in any regard.
@Quiggers: we can’t stay at home until enough people are infected.
@Dave O’Keeffe: People still don’t get it, we can’t stop this, only slow it and it will eventually die out. It will be left to a certain point and then complete lockdown to slow it when even more are infected.
We’re working off previous countries statistics. Italy messed up big time but they also kiss each other on both cheeks as a greeting so there is a cultural issue there too which added to the spread.
@Quiggers: not soon enough
@Laughable: yes, we are trying to slow it but we also need enough to get infected so that it’ll have a much tougher time taking hold next time around
@john doe: Really??…. The caravan parks and holidays homes and beaches and parks in Donegal are jam packed all weekend with folk from Derry and the North thinking the summer holidays have come early.
From day 1 I knew this Coronavirus thing was a communist plot.
Originated in China, medical professionals holding pictures of Castro, and Eamon Ryan has seized all south facing window sills for his Great Salad Harvest.
day 10 of the lockdown here in Spain(20 more to go at least). will be tough to watch the Irish car crash play out. all the countries governments In Europe Italy Spain etc all acted with the backing and advise of medical experts and look where we are. at least we are 10 days closer to resolving this mess than you are. people will only take social distancing seriously once they have been lockdowned
Some people really aren’t adhering to social distance guidelines at all. I’ve just witnessed some construction workers waiting to enter a Londis and standing right beside each other without a care in the world. Ridiculous! >:(
If/when lockdown comes it will drastically reduce the spread of the virus. Am all for that.
What I just cannot get my head around is when or how the lockdown will be lifted. We cannot remain ‘in virtual hiding’ forever and the virus is for sure here to stay.
So what comes after lockdown? What is the planned phase following lockdown?
@Stephen: when we hit a certain number of infections. Let hope the numbers don’t rise as they predicted. I’m almost recovered from it after 10 or more days, still likely a carrier though.
can i still go for a jog in the evenings? im keeping away from others (cross the other side of street when i meet someone)
@MrJohne: NO……..you can only go for a jog between the hours of 6am and 8am.
@Ray Ridge: lol
@MrJohne: I dont see the harm in that, im still walking in the evenings i see three people sporadically at the most, maybe nobody. Never have i been so grateful to live in the country.
I saw 3 gardai shoulder to shoulder yesterday walking down Harcourt Street. Is that allowed.
@rockmast: Never mind 3……. What about the 300 new gardai at their ceremony standing shoulder to shoulder last week…….
@Ray Ridge: No they weren’t. There was a huge gap between each one.
@Laughable: Not at the beginning of the ceremony …..they were shoulder to shoulder. Had a gap between then later alright.
@Laughable: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/0319/1124252-coronavirus-garda/
There you go sir…..I might not have got A1 in higher level mathematics but I know what 2 metres looks like.
@rockmast: Gardai are sitting beside each other in cars for 12hrs as well. They can’t physically distance. Maybe you should be giving them a little gratitude, they can’t stay home.
@Paul: I was going to say the same…they take the risk and are probably more like “family” as they spend as much time together as with their actual family these days.
Social distancing isn’t happening. People are too thick to do it.
@Rob Devine: cast majority are doing it, there will always be the fools. The army and Guards can deal with them when the time comes, I suspect that will be soon enough. Maybe not though, hope that the numbers don’t rise.
Bring in the army..
The Government appears to be loosing traction and goodwill with their ongoing reticence to impose stricter guidelines to protect the majority from the idiot minority. Hearing more and more of people taking action into their own hands and opting to largely self-isolate as a precaution. Time for our government to implement societal controls as a matter of urgency and not excuse the minorities anti-social and deadly actions.
6 Feet apart or 6 Feet under.
How come people can not get the message to social distancing how thick are people and as for the geniuses who went to Cheltenham and travelled abroad during this epidemic I’m very very surprised or am I !!!
Misinformation from governments around the world about has serious it is, Let’s be honest here we’re all doomed
A drive-thru McDonalds in Co. Cork had at least 17 cars in the queue at 4:15pm this afternoon. People wanted one last Big Mac…I chose NOT to join the queue much to the disappointment of my son. He will enjoy it when they open back up. No burger is worth a potential 20-30 minute wait!
I read very interesting study in regards to stopping not just this, but any epidemic. Lockdowns, closing borders, social distancing will not stop it if:
1. there aren’t enough tests done that would detect active cases
2. active cases are not separated from general population until come back virus negative (these may be hotels and other places where ppl can be placed with minimum comfort and cared for, for the duration of the infection)
Obviously severe cases will need to be hospitalised, but self-isolation will not work. Why?
1. a lot of ppl simply ignore it
2. you will be still infecting your family and anyone who comes with the visit.
3. it is not possible to control everyone in self-isolation to make sure they actually isolate
Detection and forced isolation is only real way to stop it.
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