Covid And The Rest of Us

[ronandannette]

Can EU-Dis'ers join the conversation?

For the Netherlands, we see the following:
- Last week 1329 new cases.
- R figure 1.4
- Positive test rate: 1.0%
- 20-60 year olds see a steeper increase than other age groups
We had some clusters, a group of students can be traced to a party together, also a bar in the south was a cluster, etc.
In my own home town we have 10 new cases, but they cannot trace it back to one source.

No mandatory masks, except in public transportation. Keep your distance. Reservations for all tourist attractions.

Hi Karin - yes, the whole idea is for the “rest of the world” to weigh in and provide a picture of how it’s going. What kind of measures were originally taken in Holland? Were you locked down and we’re your borders closed? Did each EU nation do their own thing or was there a uniform response? How’s your economy? I hope you and yours have stayed well.

I never knew just how bad media twists things.

They always show a house party or crowded beach here in Toronto. In reality, most people are wearing masks and distancing. I went to an extremely busy Costco yesterday and 100% of people were wearing masks. Most people cross the street when they see other people.

We are a city of 3 million, and yesterday we had our record low of 6 cases.

The problem is it’s so hard to maintain. Once borders and school open up, it will be near impossible to have such low numbers.

How is testing going? Like it or not, the more we test the more cases are confirmed. I just looked it up and we are apparently processing upwards of 6,000 tests per day with a positive rate of about 1.8%. We’ve done over 650,000 tests since March with 10,455 cases now - just a little over 1.5% so our current positive rate is trending higher.

 

[Karin1984]

Hi Karin - yes, the whole idea is for the “rest of the world” to weigh in and provide a picture of how it’s going. What kind of measures were originally taken in Holland? Were you locked down and we’re your borders closed? Did each EU nation do their own thing or was there a uniform response? How’s your economy? I hope you and yours have stayed well.

As well as can be ;-)
Yes, each EU country was sailing it's own course and responses differed a lot from complete lockdowns in Spain, to basically nothing in Sweden.
We didn't close our borders, but Belgium did close their border with NL. Unnecessary travel was discouraged, however people living in NL and working in Belgium or Germany could cross the border.

From mid-March we had a working from home wherever possible, and that is still there. Offices are opening up again, but everyone I know has the option to work at home. No company is requiring their employees to come to work if they can work from home.

All gatherings were forbidden from mid-March as well, no theater, movie theater, gyms. By heart I say these could reopen with 30 people from June 1st and 100 people from July 1st. However, most theaters remained closed as it was not profitable. There were some nice initiaves, I did go see a 1-hour play specifically written about the lockdown and how actors had perceived their last day, with indeed 30 people in the audience, social distances and all. It was surreal, but also very nice to be back in the theater again.

Unnecessary businesses were allowed to remain open, however, many stores closed as no one went out to shop. What we did see that hardware stores, stores that sell furniture etc. did very good business, as everyone was redoing their gardens, fixing things around the house. So what we then needed were restrictions how many people could enter stores at the same time, remind people to not go to these places with the entire family (it's not an excursion!)
Up till now stores still have a limit how many people can enter a store. All stores I go to have screens, most have one-way routes.

Schools closed down, but under public pressure, also from mid-March. With the knowledge we had at the time we saw here that young children didn't get sick (often) therefore the government didn't want to demand schools to close down. However, unions etc. were more concerned and a few days later the government decided to close the schools. The schools reopened for the younger children (<age 12) on May 11th. Schools have a system in place that for example half of each class goes to school 2 days, the other half 2 days and 1 day remote learning for all. Schools are free to decide what works best for them. In June high schools got back in session with a similar system, I believe. Colleges and universities all did remote learning for the remainder of the academic year.

No mandatory masks, except now in public transportation. As less people were travelling by train/bus at the beginning, people could social distance in public transportation. However, since June 1st many measures have been removed or relaxed, more people travelling, caused the need for a mask. Also now, our government is hesitant for mandatory masks, as long as you can keep your distance, it's not necessary.

From mid/end-May theme parks and museums etc. could reopen, but with reduced capacity, reservations required.

How is our economy doing? I think we could do worse. Companies could apply for government support to be able to pay for everyone. But of course not every company made it, and we do see a rise in our unemployment figures, but it's not as bad as in Q1 2014.

At the moment, we are testing more since June 1st, however, you have to go via your GP to get a test. Only those with symptoms get tests, or if you work in healthcare/teaching and other frontline professions. You cannot make an appointment yourself.

 

[elphaba91]

I’m in Melbourne, Australia. We were doing incredibly well, in the single figures (or even once zero) new cases. We were allowed to gather in groups of 20, restaurants, gyms and cinemas were all opened (with limits). Then it all turned to you...know what... We have now had 3 weeks straight of triple digit new cases with a top of 532 cases 3 days ago.

It turned out that the measure that was meant to keep us safe, the hotel quarantine for international arrivals, failed miserably. Unlike other states, our government refused military assistance and contracted the job out to private security companies. The stories that have come out are atrocious - guards with no experience being hired through WhatsApp, PPE not being used, guards taking guests out to get fast food, guards sharing cigarette lighters with guests and even guards sleeping with guests. Those same hotel guards then of course had large family gatherings with no social distancing, resulting in the virus spreading significantly. No other state has experienced this. Perhaps worst of all is that state government officials were notified of potential issues on the very first day of the quarantine, back in March, and did nothing about it.

The other big problem has been that several aged care workers have been infected and have continued going to work. Many are casual workers without sick leave entitlements and working multiple jobs across different facilities. There has been a shocking number of cases and sadly deaths from aged care homes. They have now cancelled all non-urgent surgeries so that hospital nurses can go into these homes and to free up beds so that a few of the homes can be closed entirely.

We have now been back to stage 3 lockdown for 3 weeks (some suburbs for 4 weeks), excluding regional areas. We cannot leave home unless it’s for essential shopping (although a lot more shops have remained open than last time), work or education that can’t be done from home, exercise or for medical care or caregiving. For 8 days now masks have also been compulsory anytime we leave home, which the vast majority have embraced. The other states have also shut their borders to us (which is very difficult for communities on the border).

Fortunately the R number is now around 1 or lower and we have had 2 consecutive days of decent decreases in numbers, so hopefully there is some light ahead. Sadly there will definitely be more deaths though; we have had 92 deaths so far, which is more than the other states combined.

The rest of the country is doing well though, although New South Wales has had a small increase recently, although it so far seems somewhat under control. Other states have virtually eliminated it and are basically back to normal, including crowds at sporting matches (which is nice for all the Victorian teams they are now hosting!).

 

[MommyinHonduras]

@MommyinHonduras - how are you? How are things there? I think of you often. A good friend's daughter is married to a Honduran and living there because he can't get even a Visitor's Visa to come to Canada. We haven't talked in a while but I know she's been heart-sick about the conditions there.

Hey, thanks! Things here have been the same now for months. We are still on red alert lock down. We can still leave our homes one day every two weeks to shop. On the mainland the hospitals were and still are overwhelmed. ICU capacity is only 50 beds in the country And other hospital beds at 1500. So for a country of 10 million, nothing was ready for a virus like sarscov2. Testing is hard, max is about 1500 a day and they are about a month behind last I heard on processing the samples sent. We have about 40000 known positives, and 1200 deaths. On the islands we have less than 200 cases, 5 in the hospital and one death. Lots of crime as lockdown means no jobs and no income for most of the island. Our family is staying home and just trying to stay grateful for what we have and the ways we can help a few others and fight off the funk of almost 140 days of this way. Really hoping for a shift in just about anything to feel like the future is out there and better sooner than later. Also our passports expired this week and it's disheartening to feel stuck even though we have no where to go.

 

[TimC40]

Case numbers are increasing here in France but the virus seems under control. We have no real restrictions now with everywhere open and there are plenty of tourists about from all over Europe. So sad about the US and Florida in particular, we are due to fly to Tampa in a few weeks time but that won't happen.

 

[MamaLema]

Hi Karin - yes, the whole idea is for the “rest of the world” to weigh in and provide a picture of how it’s going. What kind of measures were originally taken in Holland? Were you locked down and we’re your borders closed? Did each EU nation do their own thing or was there a uniform response? How’s your economy? I hope you and yours have stayed well.

How is testing going? Like it or not, the more we test the more cases are confirmed. I just looked it up and we are apparently processing upwards of 6,000 tests per day with a positive rate of about 1.8%. We’ve done over 650,000 tests since March with 10,455 cases now - just a little over 1.5% so our current positive rate is trending higher.

Averaging 20, 000 per day in Ontario but I don’t about details of the cities.

 

[ronandannette]

I’m in Melbourne, Australia. We were doing incredibly well, in the single figures (or even once zero) new cases. We were allowed to gather in groups of 20, restaurants, gyms and cinemas were all opened (with limits). Then it all turned to you...know what... We have now had 3 weeks straight of triple digit new cases with a top of 532 cases 3 days ago.

It turned out that the measure that was meant to keep us safe, the hotel quarantine for international arrivals, failed miserably. Unlike other states, our government refused military assistance and contracted the job out to private security companies. The stories that have come out are atrocious - guards with no experience being hired through WhatsApp, PPE not being used, guards taking guests out to get fast food, guards sharing cigarette lighters with guests and even guards sleeping with guests. Those same hotel guards then of course had large family gatherings with no social distancing, resulting in the virus spreading significantly. No other state has experienced this. Perhaps worst of all is that state government officials were notified of potential issues on the very first day of the quarantine, back in March, and did nothing about it.

The other big problem has been that several aged care workers have been infected and have continued going to work. Many are casual workers without sick leave entitlements and working multiple jobs across different facilities. There has been a shocking number of cases and sadly deaths from aged care homes. They have now cancelled all non-urgent surgeries so that hospital nurses can go into these homes and to free up beds so that a few of the homes can be closed entirely.

We have now been back to stage 3 lockdown for 3 weeks (some suburbs for 4 weeks), excluding regional areas. We cannot leave home unless it’s for essential shopping (although a lot more shops have remained open than last time), work or education that can’t be done from home, exercise or for medical care or caregiving. For 8 days now masks have also been compulsory anytime we leave home, which the vast majority have embraced. The other states have also shut their borders to us (which is very difficult for communities on the border).

Fortunately the R number is now around 1 or lower and we have had 2 consecutive days of decent decreases in numbers, so hopefully there is some light ahead. Sadly there will definitely be more deaths though; we have had 92 deaths so far, which is more than the other states combined.

The rest of the country is doing well though, although New South Wales has had a small increase recently, although it so far seems somewhat under control. Other states have virtually eliminated it and are basically back to normal, including crowds at sporting matches (which is nice for all the Victorian teams they are now hosting!).

Wow - that is all extremely interesting and I didn't know much of it at all. Thanks so much for telling us. Most of what we've heard has led to everybody greatly admiring the decisive action taken by Australia and NZ and we were all cheering you when it seemed like such a success. I must say that your account of Covid in seniors facilities is EXACTLY what happened here in Canada and in addition to the tragedy of it all, it's also a something we are collectively extremely ashamed of as a nation. Almost 90% of our deaths have occurred inside seniors' facilities because the protocol was to NOT move residents to hospitals.

Hey, thanks! Things here have been the same now for months. We are still on red alert lock down. We can still leave our homes one day every two weeks to shop. On the mainland the hospitals were and still are overwhelmed. ICU capacity is only 50 beds in the country And other hospital beds at 1500. So for a country of 10 million, nothing was ready for a virus like sarscov2. Testing is hard, max is about 1500 a day and they are about a month behind last I heard on processing the samples sent. We have about 40000 known positives, and 1200 deaths. On the islands we have less than 200 cases, 5 in the hospital and one death. Lots of crime as lockdown means no jobs and no income for most of the island. Our family is staying home and just trying to stay grateful for what we have and the ways we can help a few others and fight off the funk of almost 140 days of this way. Really hoping for a shift in just about anything to feel like the future is out there and better sooner than later. Also our passports expired this week and it's disheartening to feel stuck even though we have no where to go.

Glad to hear from you. I can just imagine the stress. I don't know about other first-world nations but here we have heard nothing about Covid-related foreign-aid to developing countries. We've all got our own problems to be sure and I wonder what the ultimate outcome will be but based on recent history, Canada's aid to Honduras left something to be desired. Not a lot of straight cash for necessities like food, shelter and medical aid.
https://www.international.gc.ca/wor...ies-priorites/where-ou/honduras.aspx?lang=eng

Case numbers are increasing here in France but the virus seems under control. We have no real restrictions now with everywhere open and there are plenty of tourists about from all over Europe. So sad about the US and Florida in particular, we are due to fly to Tampa in a few weeks time but that won't happen.

I'm a little unclear on what exactly the restrictions are going into the US. Our common land border is still closed but I'm sure I've heard of people flying in. Are they not admitting flights from France or are you not permitted to leave?

 

[TimC40]

Any traveller coming from an EU country has been banned from entering the US since the middle of March even though flights haven't stopped.

 

[momz]

There are as many worldwide deaths in a day to equal 3 jumbo jets crashing.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Ireland checking in
What kind of measures were originally taken ?
On March 12 our Prime Minister addressed the nation and basically put us into lockdown. Schools, public buildings, retail and non essential business were closed. We were only allowed to travel up to 2km from our home, there were Police checkpoints and you had to have a letter from an employer or a hospital appointment.

Were your borders closed?
Technically yes but technically no. We are an island county so the ports and airports remained opened for freight , food etc and for essential travel only. For example hundreds of medical staff came back to Ireland from various countries around the world.

How’s your economy?
The economy sank, as huge amounts of people were furloughed or lost their jobs. The travel, tourism and hospitality sectors are the hardest hit. Ireland relies heavily on tourism, much like the Caribbean nations. The Government created a special Pandemic Unemployment Benefit scheme for the thousands who lost their income overnight. They also created a furlough scheme for employers to keep employees on payroll during the temporary shutdown.

How is testing going?
Anyone who needs a test can get a test and its free. Testing is done by contacting your GP who will then send you to a testing centre. If you are not registered with a GP but feel you need a test, you can ring any GP and they have to send you for testing. Testing is also done at hospitals, if you are admitted for a non Covid reason, such as heart attack or broken bone. Test results have a 24 hour turn around.

We now have a Covid 19 Track and Trace App.
https://covidtracker.gov.ie/Ireland has a population of approx 4.5 million people

Todays Stats from the App
253,583 people have checked in today
99% Feeling OK
1% Some Symptoms

Total Confirmed Cases 25942
Total Deaths 1764
Number Hospitalised 3349
Required ICU 438

How Covid 19 Is Spreading
32% Community Transmission
66% Close Contact
2% Travel Abroad

In the last 24 hour period, there have been 14 new confirmed cases and no deaths.

Irelands RoadMap For Reopening
The Irish Government published a 5 phase roadmap to reopen the country in May.
Many businesses have reopened, but many travel and tourism places are still closed
Bars are only allowed to open if they serve food, and there is a time limit and minimum spend required.
Large gatherings are still not allowed
Schools and colleges are set to reopen for the new academic year end of August / start of September.
Travel bans for no essential international travel are still in place, but there is a list of green countries which do not require 14 days quarantine when returning to Ireland.
Mask wearing is mandatory on all public transport and in retail businesses.
Staycations are being advised by the Irish Government.
Working from home is advised where possible and city and towns have a huge drop in footfall due to the big disappearance of office workers.
Due to bars and clubs still being closed, houseparties are now becoming an issue with confirmed cases rising.

 

[maddiel]

Nova Scotia here. 14th day with no new cases and 0 active cases. We've had 5 cases since the beginning of June, but only one was not a traveled-related infection. We have had a total of about 1060 cases in total with 64 deaths. Our population is about 960K

Masks are currently required on public transit and for hospital visitors and as of this Friday will be required in all public indoor spaces. I'd say we have better than 50% indoor mask compliance already based on stores I've been in. Most businesses are open. People can gather in bubbles of up to 10 without distancing and in larger numbers with distancing, with even larger crowds in it's outdoors or if it's an event being run by a professional. Plans are being made for schools to open in person with fall-back contingencies being included for when outbreaks occur. Local universities are planning for either online or hybrid in the fall, although the hybrid plans seem to be flawed IMO. Nursing homes have cautiously reopened to allow scheduled visits.

Back in March, Nova Scotia mandated anyone (except essential workers) arriving from out of province to quarantine for 14 days. In early July, NS/NB/PEI and NFLD formed the "Atlantic Bubble" - people from the Atlantic provinces can travel between provinces without quarantining, although they may have to fill out a form containing their contact info and attesting that they haven't recently traveled anywhere else. There is speculation that the quarantine requirement for people coming from other provinces may be dropped soon, but there is a lot of concern about that potential decision as well. There is a lot of frustration with people who enter the province and don't follow the quarantine requirements or who aren't truthful in providing their information.

Testing is running about 400-600 a day, which is less than half of our capacity. Anyone with any COVID symptom can be tested and the results come within a day or two. Testing on spec is not happening, although I suspect that the testing requirements are so loose that anyone who really wants a test can get one. Testing for antibodies/prior infection is not available.

As a province, we have been preoccupied by the fallout from the mass shooting that happened here in April and for which a public inquiry was finally announced yesterday.

My husband and I are planning to drive our younger daughter back to school in Ottawa in August. Certainly different planning this trip than the typical trips we would take to drive her back to school. Hoping to get to see our older daughter while we are there. At this point, we expect to have to quarantine on our return, although that may change.

M.

 

[Kitty 34]

Very interesting thread.....glad you started it Ronandannette and thank you, DISers from other countries chiming in.

 

[maddiel]

I must say that your account of Covid in seniors facilities is EXACTLY what happened here in Canada and in addition to the tragedy of it all, it's also a something we are collectively extremely ashamed of as a nation. Almost 90% of our deaths have occurred inside seniors' facilities because the protocol was to NOT move residents to hospitals.

There are a lot of reasons why we in Canada need to look at how we take care of seniors and what changes should be made going forward and I think a national inquiry is the way to do that.

Most of cases of Covid in our province were related to the residents and staff at one large seniors home. A wing was set up inside the complex for patients. Some people questioned then why they weren't being moved to the hospital instead and the reasons were twofold. For one thing, frail elderly patients don't do well when moved. The second is that the residents had in many cases filed DNR orders, and that influenced way they died. I read an interesting article in our local paper back in May"

Of the institution's more than 485 residents, she said, all but 20 had signed do-not-resuscitate orders, instructing medical professionals not to restart their heart or restore breathing if they experience cardiac or respiratory arrest.

She had a little more to say in this regard.

As the pandemic bore down upon Nova Scotia, Northwood had extensive individual planning discussions with residents' families “so that people understood the potential outcomes.”

And here to me is the amazing thing. With the possibility of death looming — rather than some theoretical possibility — not one family altered its DNR orders.

When I told all of this to Dr. Robert Green, I thought that I could hear him let out a whistle across the phone line.

“That is remarkable,” said the professor in the departments of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care at Dalhousie University. “Very, very impressive.”

Northwood's numbers, in Green's view, are praiseworthy for two very important reasons.

The first is a question of who, when it is time, determines how a person should die.

“At the end of the day each citizen has the right to decide what is appropriate and what they want in their life,” he said Wednesday.

From the critical health-care provider's point of view, having a clear understanding of what a patient wants is also invaluable.

Often, he said, critical-care providers “can be put in a position where we are doing a lot of interventions when we don't think they will be successful.”

Lots of mistakes were made in Canada, But I think in the end we will find out that the decisions over many years to offload senior care to private providers and/or not investing in better, less crowded facilities for those who need them as well as the shorter term mistake of directing almost all PPE to hospital staff at the expense of senior caretakers will turn out to be much bigger factors than the choice to transport or not.

M.

 

[ronandannette]

Ireland checking in
What kind of measures were originally taken ?
On March 12 our Prime Minister addressed the nation and basically put us into lockdown. Schools, public buildings, retail and non essential business were closed. We were only allowed to travel up to 2km from our home, there were Police checkpoints and you had to have a letter from an employer or a hospital appointment.

Were your borders closed?
Technically yes but technically no. We are an island county so the ports and airports remained opened for freight , food etc and for essential travel only. For example hundreds of medical staff came back to Ireland from various countries around the world.

How’s your economy?
The economy sank, as huge amounts of people were furloughed or lost their jobs. The travel, tourism and hospitality sectors are the hardest hit. Ireland relies heavily on tourism, much like the Caribbean nations. The Government created a special Pandemic Unemployment Benefit scheme for the thousands who lost their income overnight. They also created a furlough scheme for employers to keep employees on payroll during the temporary shutdown.

How is testing going?
Anyone who needs a test can get a test and its free. Testing is done by contacting your GP who will then send you to a testing centre. If you are not registered with a GP but feel you need a test, you can ring any GP and they have to send you for testing. Testing is also done at hospitals, if you are admitted for a non Covid reason, such as heart attack or broken bone. Test results have a 24 hour turn around.

We now have a Covid 19 Track and Trace App.
https://covidtracker.gov.ie/Ireland has a population of approx 4.5 million people

Todays Stats from the App
253,583 people have checked in today
99% Feeling OK
1% Some Symptoms

Total Confirmed Cases 25942
Total Deaths 1764
Number Hospitalised 3349
Required ICU 438

How Covid 19 Is Spreading
32% Community Transmission
66% Close Contact
2% Travel Abroad

In the last 24 hour period, there have been 14 new confirmed cases and no deaths.

Irelands RoadMap For Reopening
The Irish Government published a 5 phase roadmap to reopen the country in May.
Many businesses have reopened, but many travel and tourism places are still closed
Bars are only allowed to open if they serve food, and there is a time limit and minimum spend required.
Large gatherings are still not allowed
Schools and colleges are set to reopen for the new academic year end of August / start of September.
Travel bans for no essential international travel are still in place, but there is a list of green countries which do not require 14 days quarantine when returning to Ireland.
Mask wearing is mandatory on all public transport and in retail businesses.
Staycations are being advised by the Irish Government.
Working from home is advised where possible and city and towns have a huge drop in footfall due to the big disappearance of office workers.
Due to bars and clubs still being closed, houseparties are now becoming an issue with confirmed cases rising.

Thanks for all of this - although I didn't know it previously, your population is almost the same as ours here in Alberta (4.3 million). I can't help comparing the numbers. As of today we've diagnosed 10,603 cases (a little less than half of yours) and have had 190 deaths, almost 90% fewer. I'm fascinated as to why. The cases, I guess, could be attributed to how much more dense your population is but do you have any insight into why your mortality rate was so high?

I hope you and yours stay well. We had an epic trip planned for May that would have put us in Dublin and Cobh - hopefully we'll get there someday.

Very interesting thread.....glad you started it Ronandannette and thank you, DISers from other countries chiming in.

Hi Kitty. I hope we haven't deterred any American DIS'ers from participating in the thread - that wasn't the intention. It's just that the other threads are so long now and the issues so complex in ways we can't really imagine, our comments mostly get lost. Please feel free to let us know the situation in your "little corner" too.

There are a lot of reasons why we in Canada need to look at how we take care of seniors and what changes should be made going forward and I think a national inquiry is the way to do that.

Most of cases of Covid in our province were related to the residents and staff at one large seniors home. A wing was set up inside the complex for patients. Some people questioned then why they weren't being moved to the hospital instead and the reasons were twofold. For one thing, frail elderly patients don't do well when moved. The second is that the residents had in many cases filed DNR orders, and that influenced way they died. I read an interesting article in our local paper back in May"



Lots of mistakes were made in Canada, But I think in the end we will find out that the decisions over many years to offload senior care to private providers and/or not investing in better, less crowded facilities for those who need them as well as the shorter term mistake of directing almost all PPE to hospital staff at the expense of senior caretakers will turn out to be much bigger factors than the choice to transport or not.

M.

I completely agree. I think many don't understand the issue of DNR's in assisted-living/extended-care facilities and what impact it has. Then again, who could have ever predicted something like this? Godspeed all the seniors that suffered and died afraid and alone and let's hope we use this as a catalyst for an overhaul of the entire system.

 

[RamblingMad]

Just saw this.

 

[penn19]

Ireland checking in
What kind of measures were originally taken ?
On March 12 our Prime Minister addressed the nation and basically put us into lockdown. Schools, public buildings, retail and non essential business were closed. We were only allowed to travel up to 2km from our home, there were Police checkpoints and you had to have a letter from an employer or a hospital appointment.

Were your borders closed?
Technically yes but technically no. We are an island county so the ports and airports remained opened for freight , food etc and for essential travel only. For example hundreds of medical staff came back to Ireland from various countries around the world.

How’s your economy?
The economy sank, as huge amounts of people were furloughed or lost their jobs. The travel, tourism and hospitality sectors are the hardest hit. Ireland relies heavily on tourism, much like the Caribbean nations. The Government created a special Pandemic Unemployment Benefit scheme for the thousands who lost their income overnight. They also created a furlough scheme for employers to keep employees on payroll during the temporary shutdown.

How is testing going?
Anyone who needs a test can get a test and its free. Testing is done by contacting your GP who will then send you to a testing centre. If you are not registered with a GP but feel you need a test, you can ring any GP and they have to send you for testing. Testing is also done at hospitals, if you are admitted for a non Covid reason, such as heart attack or broken bone. Test results have a 24 hour turn around.

We now have a Covid 19 Track and Trace App.
https://covidtracker.gov.ie/Ireland has a population of approx 4.5 million people

Todays Stats from the App
253,583 people have checked in today
99% Feeling OK
1% Some Symptoms

Total Confirmed Cases 25942
Total Deaths 1764
Number Hospitalised 3349
Required ICU 438

How Covid 19 Is Spreading
32% Community Transmission
66% Close Contact
2% Travel Abroad

In the last 24 hour period, there have been 14 new confirmed cases and no deaths.

Irelands RoadMap For Reopening
The Irish Government published a 5 phase roadmap to reopen the country in May.
Many businesses have reopened, but many travel and tourism places are still closed
Bars are only allowed to open if they serve food, and there is a time limit and minimum spend required.
Large gatherings are still not allowed
Schools and colleges are set to reopen for the new academic year end of August / start of September.
Travel bans for no essential international travel are still in place, but there is a list of green countries which do not require 14 days quarantine when returning to Ireland.
Mask wearing is mandatory on all public transport and in retail businesses.
Staycations are being advised by the Irish Government.
Working from home is advised where possible and city and towns have a huge drop in footfall due to the big disappearance of office workers.
Due to bars and clubs still being closed, houseparties are now becoming an issue with confirmed cases rising.

My “peeps” are from Ireland. Good to know all that you are doing. Great to hear.

 

[kyton]

Like Elphaba, I’m in Australia however a different state - 2hrs north of Sydney. Sydney has suffered quite a few new cases (yesterday was 18 in NSW, of which 16 were from an initial infection from a Victorian visitor a couple of weeks ago). NSW was doing brilliantly until the unfortunate happenings started in Victoria a few weeks ago.

Australia as a whole is faring pretty well - our borders remain closed to everyone other then returning citizens who have to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense for 14 days (or longer if they return a positive test).

Queensland is shut to Victorians as well all residents of Sydney - they are doing the best they can to restrict the infection however 2 idiot teens just lied on a declaration and tracked the infection back into the state so fingers crossed their state doesn’t start suffering again.

 

[elphaba91]

Wow - that is all extremely interesting and I didn't know much of it at all. Thanks so much for telling us. Most of what we've heard has led to everybody greatly admiring the decisive action taken by Australia and NZ and we were all cheering you when it seemed like such a success. I must say that your account of Covid in seniors facilities is EXACTLY what happened here in Canada and in addition to the tragedy of it all, it's also a something we are collectively extremely ashamed of as a nation. Almost 90% of our deaths have occurred inside seniors' facilities because the protocol was to NOT move residents to hospitals.

I believe that was also the policy here until extremely recently (like, yesterday!), although I'm not sure why as we still have sufficient hospital and ICU capacity.

Unfortunately there are certain areas that blind Freddy could have seen would be problematic - casual workers particularly in places like the aged care sector and abattoirs who don't have any sick leave, people living in high density government housing - and sure enough, that is where the problems have arisen.

Today we have had our worst day on record on all fronts - 723 new cases and 13 deaths.

Like Elphaba, I’m in Australia however a different state - 2hrs north of Sydney. Sydney has suffered quite a few new cases (yesterday was 18 in NSW, of which 16 were from an initial infection from a Victorian visitor a couple of weeks ago). NSW was doing brilliantly until the unfortunate happenings started in Victoria a few weeks ago.

Australia as a whole is faring pretty well - our borders remain closed to everyone other then returning citizens who have to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense for 14 days (or longer if they return a positive test).

Queensland is shut to Victorians as well all residents of Sydney - they are doing the best they can to restrict the infection however 2 idiot teens just lied on a declaration and tracked the infection back into the state so fingers crossed their state doesn’t start suffering again.

Yes, I absolutely must stress that as a whole Australia is doing incredibly well, apart from my state! It's like the Spice Girls...everyone's doing their best, but Victoria's ruining it! I hope that the other states continue to do well; primarily so that there aren't needless deaths, but also because it will mean more resources to back Victoria up both medically and economically.

 

[ronandannette]

I believe that was also the policy here until extremely recently (like, yesterday!), although I'm not sure why as we still have sufficient hospital and ICU capacity.

Unfortunately there are certain areas that blind Freddy could have seen would be problematic - casual workers particularly in places like the aged care sector and abattoirs who don't have any sick leave, people living in high density government housing - and sure enough, that is where the problems have arisen.

Today we have had our worst day on record on all fronts - 723 new cases and 13 deaths.



Yes, I absolutely must stress that as a whole Australia is doing incredibly well, apart from my state! It's like the Spice Girls...everyone's doing their best, but Victoria's ruining it! I hope that the other states continue to do well; primarily so that there aren't needless deaths, but also because it will mean more resources to back Victoria up both medically and economically.

As @maddiel mentioned up-thread, the reason here is that when elders enter assisted-living and/or extended care facilities, most of them (or whoever has their powers-of-attorney) sign a DNR order. This generally means that whatever befalls them is treated with comfort measures only and acute care in an ICU level facility wouldn't even be contemplated.

Another HUGE issue was that the seniors' facilities were completely locked-down very early on which meant absolutely NO visitors and no one to observe the conditions or advocate for their loved ones. On top of already hideous conditions, add in the fact that care givers began to contract Covid at mind-blowing rates and became incapacitated. Many of those that were well were either so afraid or so burnt-out that they stopped reporting for duty. At one extremely dark point the Canadian military actually had to be deployed to seniors' facilities in Quebec just to have the unfortunate souls provided with even the most basic of care.

Another interesting thing is that after seniors' facilities, the second most common source of community spread was - wait for it - meat packing plants. Just like you mentioned. But to create a perfect storm, here in Alberta many meat packers are located in remote "company towns" where there really is no other work - except for health care. Many, many households would have one or more people working at the packers and one or more people working as care-givers (particularly in seniors' homes). You can just imagine how the virus passed back and forth amongst them all.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Thanks for all of this - although I didn't know it previously, your population is almost the same as ours here in Alberta (4.3 million). I can't help comparing the numbers. As of today we've diagnosed 10,603 cases (a little less than half of yours) and have had 190 deaths, almost 90% fewer. I'm fascinated as to why. The cases, I guess, could be attributed to how much more dense your population is but do you have any insight into why your mortality rate was so high?

I hope you and yours stay well. We had an epic trip planned for May that would have put us in Dublin and Cobh - hopefully we'll get there someday.

In Ireland its probably due to population density. We have 26 counties but very uneven population spread. Dublin has approx 1.3 million people in a small land area (115 square kilometres (44 sq mi) and over 12,000 confirmed cases while many rural counties with a bigger land area have less than 300 confirmed cases. The counties near Dublin, the commuter areas have higher numbers than counties further from Dublin.

We also have a large number of deaths in care homes which has caused a big controversy and the Government is being questioned over decisions made in the first few weeks of the pandemic.

I just checked the land sizes
According to Wikipedia
Alberta is 660,000 square kilometres (250,000 sq mi)
Ireland is 84,421 km2 (32,595 sq mi)

So even though our population is approx the same, Ireland has a much smaller land area.

Dublin is 115 square kilometres (44 sq mi)
Calgary is 848 km2 (327 sq mi)

So again, the two cities have approx the same population but Dublin is far smaller.

Thanks for asking, I'm doing fine, the travel ban is the hardest for us, as my sister and her family live in The UK. My mum usually goes over about every 6 weeks but we have no idea when travel to UK will restart. My 5 year niece is missing her nana