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IRELAND IS HOPING the enter the first phase of the country’s five-stage process for reopening the country on Monday.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that he is “increasingly confident that” the country can begin easing measures in five days times.
Ireland’s five-stage process is a moveable feast however, with some elements potentially moving faster than others.
Health officials have also cautioned that some eased measures could be reimposed if required. Something which has happened in other countries.
South Korea
Concerns over a second wave of coronavirus have been growing South Korea after a spike of cases were recorded after nightclubs reopened.
The country’s government had felt confident enough to reopen much of its economy after several weeks of seeing cases increase by just a handful each day.
But on Monday, new cases jumped by at least 35 after the outbreak in the nightclubs, which have been temporarily closed down again.
Authorities are combing through credit card and mobile phone records, and security camera footage, to track thousands of people who visited a popular Seoul entertainment district in recent weeks.
The spike forced authorities to delay this week’s planned re-opening of schools.
Germany
Local authorities in Germany re-introduced some restrictions in meat processing plants due to spikes in the virus.
Meat processing plants have caused concern due to numerous clusters in Ireland too.
In Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the regional government said last week that there had been a spike in cases at a slaughterhouse in the district of Coesfeld, where over 150 of the 1,200 employees tested positive for the virus.
The region’s health minister ordered the temporary closure of the slaughterhouse and said employees at all of the state’s meat processing plants would now undergo testing for the novel coronavirus.
The outbreak also meant that district would be forced to postpone by one week the planned reopening of restaurants, tourist spots and fitness studios that was to take place on Monday.
China
Residents of China’s pandemic epicentre of Wuhan queued up across the city to be tested for the coronavirus yesterday after a new cluster of cases sparked a mass screening campaign.
Official figures recorded that more 3,800 people have died from Covid-19 in the city, accounting for the vast majority of fatalities in China.
Quarantine was only fully lifted in early April but locals were given a fresh jolt when several new local infections emerged last weekend. It came after more than a month in which none were reported.
Fearful of a reliving the virus nightmare, officials have launched a drive to conduct nucleic acid tests on the city’s entire population.
Men, women, children and the elderly filed forward to medical workers in head-to-toe white protective suits and plastic face shields, who recorded their personal details before quickly jabbing a swab into the backs of their throats.
- With reporting by PA and © – AFP 2020
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Sounds more like some countries are responding to clusters requiring local containment than reimposing lockdown but good clickbait
@Sinead Mooney: sounds more like reimposing lockdown wasn’t in the headline but reimposing restrictions was and that’s exactly what happened.
Given that this entire outbreak started with a single individual, leading to a global pandemic. It seems naive in the extreme to expect that with hundreds of thousands of people infected world-wide, we can lift restrictions and not expect further outbreaks. People are already ignoring the requirement to stay at home. The weather forecast for next week is very good meaning once phase 1 begins on Monday the country will be out in force and I fully expect a spike in cases in short order and a corresponding spike in deaths to follow from that.
@anthony mcgowan: your right. And I’m expecting another lockdown in a few weeks simply because only a small portion of us got infected. Long way to go yet
@Macca Attack: with immunity not proven it doesn’t really matter how many got infected as they could get infected again. It’s all about keeping the extra strain off the health system.
@anthony mcgowan: So, shall we all sit in a cave and wait? We’ve already lost billions, keeping this way people will die of starvation rather than Covid19.
We need tyo find a balance, we cannot stop everything indefinitely.
Is there any more fear you could pedal at us? Any positive news?
@Luther Cooper: ahh bless you
You must be missing the pub and the shift. This is very real
@Macca Attack: good one. You’re up early. Too much fear under the bed was there? You and the rest of the chicken little keep hiding. See how that works out.
@Luther Cooper: is that you Gemma.
@Macca Attack: ah, that just shows your current frame of mind and mentality. Reading my post asking for positivity and then comparing me to that reptile.
I hope you find some strength and positivity macca I know I have and its very rewarding.
Our country done wonders that past 2 months and avoided catastrophe, we can continue to avoid it by being vigilant and hygenic and positive. Not by perpetual lockdown or restrictive living amd the constant fear thats being perpetuated. Its time for positivity
Have a great weekend sir, I know I will
@Luther Cooper: Fear? Some might consider it simple information – why some people fear knowledge is beyond me – why would you be afraid of restrictions going back into place in some other country?
@Luther Cooper: what are you on lad, your original post couldn’t be any more negative
How refreshing, a handbag fight!
@Stephen McManus:
Stick around…. The hair pulling will start soon!!
@Luther Cooper: Have you seen for yourself to effects of this virus on humans?. I have many times. And it’s people like you that will want special attention if you were unfortunate enough to get it.
Your headline doesn’t reflect the headline. These countries are dealing with localised clusters with proper testing and contact tracing not re-imposing lockdowns.
@Isabel Oliveira: I’d argue that the headline is the headline and therefore definitely does reflect itself. Also, it doesn’t mention lockdown.
Our contact tracing and testing regime is behind the curve and with new cases still above 100 + a day, we are a long way off feeling safe yet. They’ve had ample time to get testing/contract tracing up to scratch. They have failed.
F. K you China…. That is all
@Seosamh Púinse: Don’t let intelligence get in the way of sensational statements.
@Ger Murphy: jog on
Restrictions are going to be on and off like a tap until someone comes up with a cure or vaccine, or until herd immunity kicks in.
Gotta start living again.
@Nioe: can’t depend on herd immunity, it’s not proven to exist with this
Without a vaccine prepare for 2nd wave in August or September. Many of the Asian health officials are already succumbed to it so get strapped in. The fun has barely began
@Tom: ‘The fun has barely began’ what a euphemism to use jesus. How exactly is it going to worse than the initial outbreak of the virus when absolutely no protocols and restrictions in place oh mighty visionary?
This so called government plan, is like a farmer trying to let one sheep out of a field one at a time, ask any farmer, very difficult thing to do, all the sheep want to go at same time, and so now the same applies to all the various groups involved here, all want to be released earlier than planned, big rush to get back in the belief that the worst of this virus is gone, and it is now safe for everybody to return safely. Danger now is all the good work of so many will be completely wasted, And the lives of so many that have died, will also be wasted, by impatience, stupidity, and greed, Better to take our time, and only have one wave to deal with, than rush and end up with more of the same, or worse;
With all these outbreaks at slaughterhouses, do you think this is a sign to become a vegetarian? Me neither.
Dear TheJournal, instead of producing pieces of slanted journalism such as this one, meant to reinforce the perception that draconian measures are justifiable and disguise the fact that we have inept leaders, you could focus on writing about countries that never had a lockdown to begin with.
Even if we took this at face value, shutting down a nightclub or delay school reopening is light years away from what we had to put up with for 7 weeks, and still have to endure for some time to come.
To everyone else, stop excusing the inexcusable by arguing that nobody has a crystal ball. After China, South Korea and Italy had already happened nobody could say “we had no idea what we were dealing with”.
have your say