Irish holidaymakers heading to European hotspots warned of ‘mild increase' in Covid
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said it is closely monitoring Covid activity Europe and the emergence of the recently identified Omicron-descendant variant NB.1.8.1. also known as Nimbus.
People may be more at risk of catching the virus because cases in winter were low and they will not have immunity.
The variant is already in Ireland and is regarded as more infectious although it does not cause more severe disease.
The ECDC said it has been associated with a rise in infections in some countries in Asia, including China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
ECDC is tracking five variants currently circulating, including NB.1.8.1, now classified as a 'variant under monitoring' by both ECDC and the World Health Organization (WHO).
It said that while recent weeks have shown a mild increase in SARS-CoV-2 activity from low baseline levels in European countries, respiratory primary care consultation rates remain at or below levels typically observed during this period in past seasons.
Importantly, no significant impact on severe disease indicators – such as hospital admissions, intensive care unit admissions or deaths – has been observed so far.
'SARS-CoV-2 is currently circulating at low levels in the EU/EEA, but its incidence could increase in the coming weeks', said Edoardo Colzani, ECDC Head of Respiratory Viruses.
'We do not anticipate the NB.1.8.1 variant to pose a greater public health risk than other Omicron-descendant variants, nor do we expect a significant impact on vaccine effectiveness against severe disease.
'However, following a winter with low SARS-CoV-2 circulation, population immunity against SARS-CoV-2 may have partly waned – particularly among older adults and other individuals who are at higher risk of severe disease – potentially increasing vulnerability as virus activity rises,' he added.
Covid-19 vaccination coverage in older adults remains suboptimal in several EU/EEA countries, with only one country exceeding 80pc coverage among those 80 years old and above, and seven achieving more than 50pc coverage. ECDC re-affirms that Covid-19 vaccines continue to offer strong protection against severe outcomes.
ECDC said it recommends maintaining timely and continuous, year-round surveillance and reporting of respiratory viruses across the EU/EEA. In case of sustained increases in COVID-19 cases, key recommendations include staying home when ill, practising good respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene, and ensuring appropriate ventilation of indoor spaces.
People with high risk for severe disease – as well as their caregivers and close contacts – should consider using a face mask when in crowded public spaces.
It is important that risk groups, including older adults, keep up to date with their Covid vaccinations as per national recommendations to maintain protection against severe disease
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Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Meet the Cork golfer battling Cystic Fibrosis as he chases his dreams
When Covid-19 forced Cystic Fibrosis sufferer David Howard to cocoon with his father in their Cork home, he would have been hard pressed to imagine a future in which he would be winning one of the most prestigious amateur titles in Ireland. It is a disorder that affects your lungs, digestive system, and other organs, leaving you susceptible to frequent lung infections and breathing difficulties, all of which can naturally make sustained physical exertion challenging. Yet the Currabinny native, 26, wasn't isolating solely to safeguard his own health. He was also doing so to give his brothers greater freedom to leave the house and socialise, within the limits of the restrictions. Howard said: "I had a really rough time during COVID-19. I was cocooning myself, pretty much locking myself into my bedroom. My Dad is also high-risk, so we are all trying to be safe. "My brothers were trying to live their lives a small bit as well, but I was afraid and worried about getting the virus, so I pretty much locked myself into my room for a while. "It wasn't good. I couldn't chat with people or socialise or meet people. I ended up moving in with my girlfriend a couple of weeks before I ended up pretty mentally sick, and I ended up having to go to the hospital for a few weeks, which was also very tough, as people were not able to visit me or anything. "It was tough times all round really, but we got through it in the end." Whereas nowadays newborn babies are screened for Cystic Fibrosis as part of the heel prick test, Howard was not diagnosed with the disorder until he was seven years old. He told: "I went untreated for seven years. "My mother knew for a few years that something wasn't right. She consulted a number of doctors and specialists. They told her that although I had asthma, I was a perfectly healthy child, and I should go out and enjoy my childhood. "We had a long battle to get to the bottom of it, and we finally got the answer in the end when I was seven years old. "It was tough for a while. I would get sick quite often and be in the hospital for six or seven weeks every year. "But you get used to it. I had to take a lot of tablets when I was younger, but now I don't have to take as many as the medication has improved. So it's all looking up now." During the dark days of COVID-19, Howard credits golf and his club, Fota Island, with helping him to re-engage with the social world. "When things started to ease with the restrictions, and people started to get back into golf, Fota were really helpful and accommodating in getting me out on the course. "The pros Kevin Morris and Brian Kelleher, and everyone in general at the club were always very good to me. It was really helpful at a tough time in my life. "Whatever about golf, it was good to get back to socialising and chatting with people. I can't thank Fota and the people there enough." After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and his health began to stabilise, Howard, a qualified mechanic, returned to his work at an Audi garage. But at the same time, his confidence in his golfing ability started to build. "I played a lot of pitch and putt when I was younger and got to a high level doing that, and then I joined Fota Island, and I really enjoyed the game. I suppose I got good quite quickly without taking it too seriously. "Oftentimes, I would only play on weekends and be quite hungover, but I was still able to shoot a few under par. So I started to wonder what I could do if I gave the game some proper time and effort. "I was working nine to five, and I would drive straight to Fota in the evenings and be there until ten o'clock at night. I put in a lot of hours, and they were long days, but it was enjoyable. "I started to get some decent results, so the practice was paying off, and then I was wondering how good I could get at this game if I gave it all my time." Howard decided to take the plunge and pack in the day job in pursuit of his golfing dreams. But his expectations ahead of the East of Ireland Championship at Baltray weren't high. Though he had finished in the top ten in the Irish Men's Amateur Open in May at Seapoint, a course that neighbours and closely resembles Baltray, he had been playing poorly, largely due to health issues flaring up. "I decided to try an event on the Clutch Tour, which is a feeder professional tour for the European Tour, to see how I stacked up against the pros. "But I wasn't feeling great, and by the time I got to the UK to play the tournament, I wanted to pull out of it. The thing was, though, that I had already spent all of this money on getting there and entering the tournament. "I didn't play well, and to be honest, when I turned up for the East, I did not have any big expectations." Local hope Gerard Dunne set a blistering pace after the first round of action at Baltray, carding an eight-under-par 64. But Howard's three-under-par round of 69 got him into a nice rhythm, and in windy, testing conditions, level-par second and third rounds of 72 saw him go out in the final group on Sunday, two shots off the lead. Howard then caught fire at the start of the final round. "I think I had three eagle putts on the second, third and fourth holes within twenty feet. I was four under through six holes, which was a nice way to start off the round, and then I made four bogeys in a row around the turn. "So I was kind of bleeding a bit at that point, but I just tried to stabilise things and make a few pars, which I managed to do on the 11th, and then I had a nice birdie on the 12th and 14th holes, and I started to see a few putts going in." While there are scoreboards aplenty at televised professional tournaments, amateur golfers often need to rely on the crowd to find out where they stand. But by the time Howard stepped on the 18th tee, with his father caddying for him, he knew that a birdie down the par five would likely be enough to lift the title. "I was doing my stats from the tournament the other day, and I couldn't believe I hit it about 345 yards off the last. It's an intimidating drive. There are bunkers down the left and out of bounds down the right, but I just hit it as hard as I could. It left me a five iron that I held up against the breeze, and I was able to two-putt to get it done." Howard is downplaying what were two sensational shots into the last that had a host of local golfing legends, including Des Smyth, Declan Branigan, Mark Gannon and Barry Reddan, purring. "I had a few drinks with Des [Smyth] and the members after it all, and he was great. We talked about all things golf. Everyone was really nice to me." Howard is still coming to terms with the fact that he has joined a roll of honour in winning the East, which includes the likes of Darren Clarke and the great amateur Joe Carr. "I don't think it has really sunk in yet. I was walking through the house the other day and saw the trophy in the hallway, and I just couldn't get my head around it. It is still surreal to see my name amongst all those great golfers." The 26-year-old is in Kent this weekend to play a pre-qualifier at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club for the Amateur Championship. If he qualifies for the Amateur Championship, he will then have a chance of winning a golden ticket to play in The Open and the US Open, and by tradition, an invitation to play in the Masters Tournament. Howard, along with several other Irish amateurs competing this weekend, will not be treating it as a holiday. But you also get the sense from listening to the Corkman that he, of all people, is acutely aware of the bigger picture. "My Dad bought a camper van at the end of last year. I'm using it to save on costs. I am playing a lot of championships this year, and it's very expensive, as I found out last year. So we are driving to all the championships together. "We drove to Rosslare to get the ferry to Pembroke, and then we drove seven hours across the country to Royal Cinque Ports in Kent. It has been a nice trip, and I appreciate my Dad doing this with me. It's been great having him along for the journey, to share these moments together." It feels significant that the vast majority of novelists have stayed clear of writing about COVID-19. Perhaps it is too obvious, sensational or large a topic. It may also still be too raw, unprocessed and emotional. Where words fail, though, images often succeed. The image of David and John Howard, the father and son who had to put their lives on hold during COVID-19, driving a campervan hundreds of miles across the breadth of England is a stirring one. Howard says it is a money thing, which seems credible. But given all he has been through, you also get the feeling that the campervan was born out of an unconscious desire to experience the freedom of the road, to see the world, to appreciate the good times.
RTÉ News
7 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Safeguarding concerns in the spotlight after RTÉ exposé
On Thursday, families of nursing home residents and those in disability services protested outside Leinster House in pouring rain. One by one, daughters, sons, nephews and nieces, mothers and fathers addressed those gathered about abuse and neglect of their loved ones in care, including in nursing homes. The event was organised by Care Champions. It is an independent advocacy group which was established when nursing home deaths and visiting restrictions were to the fore during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, a small team led by Majella Beatty has been fighting for the rights of so many families nationwide who feel they have no one else to turn to for support and empathy. For years, concerns have centered around safeguarding in nursing homes. Since the transmission of the RTÉ Investigates programme, Care Champions has been inundated. When he watched the programme, Minister for Older People Kieran O'Donnell rang Health Service Executive CEO Bernard Gloster to ask that the HSE put safeguarding teams into the two nursing homes in question. However, families claim they were told by local HSE safeguarding teams that they could not go in and assess private nursing homes under current legislation. In a statement, the HSE said that while safeguarding and protection teams do not have a legal right of entry to private nursing homes without the owners' permission, under the current statutory framework, they can and do, when required, enter private nursing homes with the owner's consent to respond to allegations of abuse and harm to residents and work with providers. Which led to the question, are safeguarding teams in the homes as requested by the minister, or not? The Department of Health said that the HSE had confirmed that the directors of nursing from both local HSE Community Support Teams had been onsite in the nursing homes and "are continuing to engage with them". Almost two weeks from the transmission of the programme, Majella Beatty says the families of residents feel abandoned. The HSE said that Department of Health policy "will provide legislative underpinning to strengthen governance across all parts of the health and social care system, including private nursing homes". That policy, due to be published this year, has moved at snail's pace in the last number of years and in the meantime, there have been repeated calls for adult safeguarding legislation following the Brandon case, the Grace case and the Emily case, to name but a few. Many are astonished that it has not been dealt with more urgently, considering the proliferation of private nursing homes in Ireland. As the older population increased in the 1990s, so too did the privatisation of nursing home care, with approximately 80% of beds now privately owned. In 2005, undercover filming by RTÉ's Prime Time resulted in the establishment of the regulator, the Health Information and Quality Authority. There has been much criticism of the watchdog in the wake of the latest RTÉ Investigates programme and it has been invited before an Oireachtas Committee to provide answers. In this case, there is a body to be held to account, but there is growing concern about the privatisation of other forms of care, including the care of children and those who are in disability services - some of the most vulnerable in society. During the week, there was a briefing on the issue organised by The Wheel, which represents charities and community organisations. It expressed concern over the increase in people with disabilities receiving essential care from profit-driven providers while voluntary service providers decreased. In April, the independent think-tank Social Justice Ireland pointed out that the Government continues to look to the market and engage private enterprise to provide the public services that should be part of "a basic floor" that everyone in the State should expect. "They do this notwithstanding continuous evidence that it is more expensive and less effective. "The rationale given is that the private sector can provide more, faster and cheaper, but again and again, this is not borne out in the evidence," it stated. The National Association of Voluntary Residential Childcare and Aftercare providers CRAVA have also been vocal about children in the care of the state being sent to 'privates'. It has pointed to the "phenomenon" of growing privatisation in residential childcare in other jurisdictions, including the UK, where it has been sharply criticised by the Children's Commissioner and the Markets and Competition Authority as the primary cause of the increasing dysfunction in children's social care in England. CRAVA has said that the dominance of private for-profit provision is viewed as being directly responsible for spiralling costs and poorer outcomes for children in residential care and aftercare. Many children are being placed in residential care centres, often hundreds of kilometres from their own family, community, social networks and left more open to exploitation. There are similar concerns about residential care for children with disabilities in Ireland, which has been working on an emergency basis for many years. Many of the protesters outside Leinster House on Thursday, some of whom were very raw from the RTÉ Investigates programme, spoke about their loved ones being "warehoused". They spoke of their helplessness in witnessing what they did on screen and yet two weeks on they continue to feel helpless. The families want transparency, they want safeguarding reviews completed on their loved ones, and for the HSE to take over the home or that residents will be moved into an HSE-run home with one-to-one care. A former staff member who worked in one of the homes featured in the RTÉ Investigates programme wrote to Care Champions following its transmission. The letter, seen by RTÉ News, began by describing the hope, excitement and enthusiasm for their work with the residents. However, that staff member left, unable any longer to deal with inexperienced colleagues, overwork and poor management. Covid-19 and Leas Cross were failures and should have ignited far more action by the Government, which will point to initiatives like Healthy Age Friendly homes which provides support packages to people to remain at home, but this is not possible for everyone. Therefore, policymakers need to think about what care looks like in Ireland. It should look like "warehousing", nor should it be solely about shareholders. It should be about offering a quality of life which includes physical health, psychological support, a level of independence, social relationships, and a relationship with the environment, with sufficient staff to offer support and care.
Irish Independent
20 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Irish holidaymakers heading to European hotspots warned of ‘mild increase' in Covid
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said it is closely monitoring Covid activity Europe and the emergence of the recently identified Omicron-descendant variant NB.1.8.1. also known as Nimbus. People may be more at risk of catching the virus because cases in winter were low and they will not have immunity. The variant is already in Ireland and is regarded as more infectious although it does not cause more severe disease. The ECDC said it has been associated with a rise in infections in some countries in Asia, including China, Hong Kong and Singapore. ECDC is tracking five variants currently circulating, including NB.1.8.1, now classified as a 'variant under monitoring' by both ECDC and the World Health Organization (WHO). It said that while recent weeks have shown a mild increase in SARS-CoV-2 activity from low baseline levels in European countries, respiratory primary care consultation rates remain at or below levels typically observed during this period in past seasons. Importantly, no significant impact on severe disease indicators – such as hospital admissions, intensive care unit admissions or deaths – has been observed so far. 'SARS-CoV-2 is currently circulating at low levels in the EU/EEA, but its incidence could increase in the coming weeks', said Edoardo Colzani, ECDC Head of Respiratory Viruses. 'We do not anticipate the NB.1.8.1 variant to pose a greater public health risk than other Omicron-descendant variants, nor do we expect a significant impact on vaccine effectiveness against severe disease. 'However, following a winter with low SARS-CoV-2 circulation, population immunity against SARS-CoV-2 may have partly waned – particularly among older adults and other individuals who are at higher risk of severe disease – potentially increasing vulnerability as virus activity rises,' he added. Covid-19 vaccination coverage in older adults remains suboptimal in several EU/EEA countries, with only one country exceeding 80pc coverage among those 80 years old and above, and seven achieving more than 50pc coverage. ECDC re-affirms that Covid-19 vaccines continue to offer strong protection against severe outcomes. ECDC said it recommends maintaining timely and continuous, year-round surveillance and reporting of respiratory viruses across the EU/EEA. In case of sustained increases in COVID-19 cases, key recommendations include staying home when ill, practising good respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene, and ensuring appropriate ventilation of indoor spaces. People with high risk for severe disease – as well as their caregivers and close contacts – should consider using a face mask when in crowded public spaces. It is important that risk groups, including older adults, keep up to date with their Covid vaccinations as per national recommendations to maintain protection against severe disease
