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Follow the latest coronavirus news in Ireland and around the world on the Independent.ie live blog.
12/05/05/2020
The business minister formally announces the Safe Return to Work Protocol, which will see temperature testing, no handshake and intensive cleaning policies
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Business Minister Heather Humphreys (Photocall Ireland / PA)
Business Minister Heather Humphreys formally announced the Safe Return to Work Protocol this afternoon, which will see temperature testing, no handshakes and intensive cleaning policies.
The plans were developed in a “collaborative effort” by the Business Department in conjunction with the Irish Trade Union Congress, the Ibec employers’ group and the Federation of the Construction Industry.
The protocol is mandatory and is seen as the “minimal effort” that employers must implement before they reopen.
The Department of Health and HSE were also involved and the Health and Safety Authority will enforce the rules.
The measures should be implemented in companies, offices and construction sites.
“The protocol is mandatory and the HSA will be in charge of its supervision and implementation,” said the minister in the government buildings.
“This document establishes the minimum measures required in each workplace.”
“We all want companies to reopen and people to return to work,” added the minister.
“We all want Ireland back to work, but it has to happen safely.”
The HSA will appoint inspectors to work “collaboratively” with employers to make improvements if necessary and will order the closure of workplaces if they are not implemented.
Employers will be asked to develop a Covid-19 business response plan prior to reopening that addresses risk and their response to virus infections in the workplace.
The protocol also states that employees who will return to work will need additional support for stress caused by financial reasons, the death of a family member, or difficulties with personal relationships.
They will also need to complete a pre-return form to indicate that they have not been in contact with the virus.
Employers will then have to designate a core worker representative, who will be responsible for ensuring that staff “strictly adhere” to health measures.
There should also be induction training for all workers on public health guidance, how the workplace is organized to address risk, and any other relevant industry advice.
The protocol calls for the implementation of a no handshake policy, as well as temperature tests of social distancing, hand sanitizer and tissue supply.
The use of face covers is said to be “not a substitute” for other hygiene measures.
According to the protocol, remote work should be encouraged and free office space should be used as isolation areas for staff with virus symptoms.
Strict cleaning measures must also be implemented: Frequently touched surfaces, such as countertops, must be “visibly clean” at all times and must be cleaned “at least twice a day.” Disinfection wipes or products, paper towels and wastebaskets and bags should also be provided so that employees keep their own workspaces clean.
Work areas, especially common areas and restrooms, should also be cleaned at least twice a day and whenever facilities are visibly dirty.
PPE must be selected based on worker hazard and provided by employers.
Per protocols, staff displaying coronavirus symptoms during the workday will be directed to this isolation area designated by a manager.
A distance of two meters should be kept, since transportation is arranged for the worker to go home or receive medical attention and should avoid public transportation.
Records of working groups should be established to follow up on contacts and a risk assessment should be made of any incident.
Plastic sneeze guards should also be placed in workplaces where two-meter separation social distancing is not possible.
Some aspects of the protocol will vary from different workplaces, but the document sets out “general principles” that must be followed.
11.30 09/05/2020
“If they hadn’t given us permission to go to work, I don’t think I would be alive.”
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Fight: Taiwo Ayinde, who lives in a Mayo direct supply center, said it broke her heart to see how scared her customers had felt. Photo: Keith Heneghan
Photo: Keith Heneghan / Phocus
When Taiwo Ayinde came home from work, her children knew that he should stay away from her.
Ms. Ayinde, who is from Nigeria and lives in a direct supply center in Ballyhaunis, worked as a caregiver at home.
After arriving home, he took off his uniform and put it directly in the washing machine. Then he would go to the bathroom to wash “from head to toe.” “Then I could hug my children,” he said.
Ms. Ayinde is one of the 160 health workers who live in direct provision.
‘Expect litigation for chaos: it can’t be done fairly’
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Doubts: Marie Cormican, from Mount Sackville High School, Chapelizod, Dublin. Photo: Gerry Mooney
Students give mixed opinions on the decision to cancel the Leaving Cert in favor of predictive grading by teachers
Among his main concerns is the fairness of the marking system.
A Dublin Leaving Cert student says she doesn’t think the Irish education system has the ability to predict grades fairly.
Castleknock teenager Marie Cormican (18 years old) is a candidate to leave the certificate at Mount Sackville High School, Chapelizod, Dublin.
She said: “I have read a litany of open letters and editorials announcing the ‘justice’ of such a method.
10.27 09/05/2020
Special isolation areas for staff with coronavirus symptoms between protocols to reopen workplaces
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Positivo: “Working from home with and around children can be done well” Stock Image
EMPLOYERS shall have special isolation areas for personnel displaying coronavirus symptoms under new protocols to reopen workplaces.
The government will launch tomorrow its Safety Protocol for return to work that includes a series of measures that must be implemented in companies, offices and construction sites.
Among the measures expected to be in the plan are the policies of no handshake and the installation of plastic sneeze protectors in workplaces where social separation of two meters is not possible.
The plans were developed by the Business Department in conjunction with the Irish Trade Union Congress, the Ibec employers’ group and the Federation of the Construction Industry.
LOOK: Man City players help fight the virus
The Premier League soccer club Manchester City presents a video detailing how they have helped in the battle the city faces during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Big Read: Hiqa moves to perform in nursing homes, but could the watchdog have barked earlier to help prevent more deaths?
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Testing ongoing at St. Joseph’s nursing home at Listowel Community Hospital last week, with a special tent set up by the Civil Defense off-site as part of the operation
Last week, as the death toll in nursing homes approached the 800 mark, the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) went to verify settings to detect an outbreak .
In doing so, the agency, which oversees the safety and quality of Ireland’s health and social care systems, said it wants “to support nursing homes to prepare for an outbreak and put in place appropriate contingency plans to make in front of them. “
For some, the move to carry out risk assessments, more than a month after the regulator was informed of their first case, is more than a little late.
“The support in terms of preparedness would ideally have happened much earlier,” said Tadgh Daly, CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI).
09.25 09/20/2020
€ 1.5m raised for Pieta House Sunrise Appeal after Darkness into Light was canceled due to virus
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On behalf of Electric Ireland, Darkness Into Light Ambassador and former Kilkenny pitcher Tommy Walsh is encouraging the public to join in, while staying apart by rising at 5:30 am on May 9 to watch the sunrise and show solidarity. with those affected by suicide. . Photo: INPHO / James Crombie
© INPHO / James Crombie
Thousands of people participated in the Pieta House Sunrise Appeal this morning at 5.30am after the annual Darkness Into Light fundraiser was canceled due to the pandemic.
The organization lost approximately 6.5 million euros in revenue due to the cancellation and had to cut wages by up to 30 percent, in addition to announcing 28 layoffs.
However, the annual DIL event was replaced this year with an Appeal of Dawn, where the public was asked to get up at 5.30 this morning, watch the sunrise from their homes, and donate.
So far, the public has raised € 1.5m after an appeal on the Late Late Show last night. This includes a € 100,000 donation from Electric Ireland.
08.10 05/09/2020
Italy exceeds 30,000 deaths as fears about new rules rise
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Common battle: A woman rides a bicycle past the Colosseum in Rome yesterday, as authorities announced that the number of coronavirus deaths in Italy now exceeds 30,000. Photo: Getty Images
AFP via Getty Images
Italy has become the first country in the European Union to record more than 30,000 coronavirus deaths.
The Ministry of Health registered 243 deaths yesterday, bringing the total of the deceased in the country to 30,201.
Italy was the first country in Europe with a major Covid-19 outbreak.
Authorities said many more are likely to have died of the infection at home or in nursing homes without being diagnosed.
The spy agency says Kim’s absence was due to fears of the virus, not heart surgery.
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On the show: Kim Jong-un at a fertilizer plant north of Pyongyang, in this image released by the North Korean Central News Agency. Photo: KCNA / via Reuters
via REUTERS
There are no signs that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un underwent heart surgery when he disappeared from state media for three weeks, but he cut public activity due to concerns about the coronavirus, South Korean lawmakers informed by his agency said. espionage.
Kim attended the completion of a fertilizer plant, North Korea’s official media said on Saturday, the first report of its public appearance since April 11.
His absence sparked a lot of speculation about his health and whereabouts, and a South Korean media reported that Kim was recovering from a cardiovascular procedure, while CNN said US officials were monitoring intelligence that he was “in serious danger” after surgery.
Covid’s cruel plan for a better world
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Working from home: John’s wife Vivian
Summer is here, the days are hot, and I’m outside laying sheep wire on our farm on the hill with my father. Fencing, that ancient act, is nothing new to us, but at the time of the coronavirus it has become something strange and novel. As we work, we must keep our distance from each other as strangers.
The construction of this fence has come to symbolize our new life.
Our latex gloves are snug and firm as we secure the wire to the fence posts. Our 100 sheep have been cheeky in their attacks on the sweet grass of the front fields in recent times and have traversed the old cable. The wire of the sheep will give them manners, we joke.
Eight weeks have passed since the country began to close, and although many things in the world have changed, the ancient practice of agriculture continues. We, the people of the earth, have found ourselves challenged and defended.
Abandoning Cert’s chaos hits plans to reopen schools
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Decision: Education Minister Joe McHugh announces the postponement of this year’s Leaving Certificate exams. Photo: Leon Farrell
The final phase of the Government’s roadmap for the reopening of Ireland says that educational institutions may open “in phases at the beginning of the 2020-21 academic year.”
Sources emphasize the word “phased”, adding that schools will have to change how they work and that will have a side effect on parents needing to return to work.
Already, under radical changes to this year’s Leaving Cert, exams scheduled for the end of July and August are definitely inactive.
Instead, schools will calculate the scores they think their students would have achieved if tests had passed normally in June.
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