15 more deaths from Covid-19, 139 additional cases

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Fifteen more people died from Covid-19 in Ireland, bringing the total deaths to 1,467.

A further 139 cases of the coronavirus have also been diagnosed in the Republic, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 23,135.

Today’s data from the Health Protection Surveillance Center, until midnight on Saturday, May 9 (22,894 cases), show that 57% of cases are women and 43% are men.

The median age of confirmed cases is 49 years.

Of the confirmed cases, 2,998 cases (13%) have been hospitalized. Of the hospitalized, 383 cases have been admitted to intensive care.

Of the total number, 6,834 cases are associated with health workers.

Dublin has the highest number of cases with 11,175 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,331 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,232 cases (5%).

Medical director Dr. Tony Holohan said there is cause for concern because people believe the worst of the coronavirus is behind.

He said new research showed that 43% of people believe we have overcome the worst and said this causes a challenge to spread the message.

Dr. Holohan said that if we make a mistake at this stage as we ease the constraints, then we could face as great a challenge as the challenge we’ve had in the past two months.

He said he understands anticipation and a desire to see progress in things like store openings and normal life, but will continue to give advice based on public health needs.

In Northern Ireland, three more people died as a result of the coronavirus, bringing the official number of deaths from the Health Department to 438.

There are also 30 new Covid-19 cases in the region, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 4,149.

Ministers in Northern Ireland intend to publish their plan to exit the shutdown tomorrow, Prime Minister Arlene Foster said.

She said restrictions on outdoor activities would be eased sooner than indoors.

The DUP leader told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster program that the position of when to reopen schools has not yet been decided, but suggested it could be in late August or early September.

Mrs Foster said: “We examined our medical evidence here in Northern Ireland and decided that, for the public health of the people of Northern Ireland, we proceeded to reimplement those regulations (coronaviruses) and at the same time look at a roadmap for our destiny to the new normal.

“I don’t think there is any surprise at all that we are trying to make sure that plan comes to light, hopefully tomorrow if they sign us.”

About 80% of Covid-19 cases will be mild to moderate disease, about 14% have severe disease, and about 6% are critical.

In general, you should be 15 minutes or closer to and less than two meters from an infected person to be considered at risk or close contact.

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In the Republic, BreastCheck did not perform mammograms last month and there was a 96% reduction in samples sent to CervicalCheck laboratories for analysis, following the decision to stop both cancer screening programs due to Covid-19.

Opposition parties have warned that the temporary suspension could have long-term consequences, and have called for a comprehensive recovery program.

Figures obtained by RTÉ News show that BreastCheck did not perform mammograms in April this year, compared to 13,763 in the same month last year.

CervicalCheck labs received 937 samples for analysis in April this year, compared to 21,037 in April 2019.

The Health Service Executive said that the reduced number of tests received is due to the fact that cervical screening in the community stopped on March 30.

The BreastCheck program was halted on March 16.

However, the HSE said that hundreds of symptomatic women, and women who had previously been recommended for follow-up evaluations, continued to be treated under the BreastCheck program.

Most favor remote work after restrictions are easier: survey

New research suggests that employees have enthusiastically embraced remote work arrangements in recent weeks.

The study, published by NUI Galway and the Western Development Commission, examines the experiences of those who have been working from home, since public health restrictions were first introduced in March.

More than 7,000 people participated in the study, which was conducted through an online questionnaire in late April and early May.

Half of all respondents had never worked from home before the pandemic, and a significant majority expressed the opinion that they would like to continue remote arrangements when the crisis is over.

Meanwhile, the number of people receiving Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) has decreased slightly for the first time since it was launched on March 16.

589,000 people will be paid € 350 this week, a decrease of 9,000 compared to last week.

However, part of the decline is believed to be due to employers re-hiring workers to take advantage of the Government’s Temporary Wage Subsidy System (TWSS).

This week’s PUP payments will cost € 206.3 million, and 8,700 will be paid for the first time.

These payments add to the 214,700 people in the live registry who receive the ‘standard’ job search benefit of € 203 per week in late April.

Between PUP and Jobseeker beneficiaries, 803,700 people now depend entirely on the State for their income.



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