Coronavirus Part IV - 19 cases in ROI, 7 in NI (as of 7 March) *Read warnings in OP*

Loafing Oaf

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Is there any evidence of an increase in Italians around town today? Seems to be hysteria about nothing.

So how many would have even come here for the rugby anyway?

I think it was supposed to be round 5K. Even if the match was on you'd barely notice them apart from in D4

dublin99

martingriff wrote: »

Most reason they are normally worn in Asian counties well before this was so they do not breath in smog. Smog particles are larger then the virus so the mask would prevent them from passing through. Masks people are wearing may not prevent this.

Also your nose and mouth are not the only entry for the virus

Macau had 10 cases at the beginning of the outbreak and Government made masks available to everyone. They are mandatory on public transport and in casinos. They have not had another case for over one month!

You wont know who might be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic when there are people close to you eg on a bus. A mask will stop you breathing in the droplets if they cough and sneeze. Most importantly, you will not touch your nose or mouth with your hands if you are wearing a mask.

This is a good guide to masks/ respirators and what they can do:

https://fastlifehacks.com/n95-vs-ffp/

cnocbui

Whoops - think I opened a can of worms with that search!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=hazmat+mask&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

GooglePlus

MadYaker wrote: »

Mask supplies have been snapped up by people panic buying them from pharmacies and as a result some hospitals are struggling to get supply. Doctors and nurses really need them. The rest of us don't really unless a family member has it or something.

Also people wearing masks will think the mask protects them and wil forget about hand washing which is more important.

I got mine from a car parts seller. Panel beaters use ffp3s when spraying.

Drumpot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcJDpV-igjs

“This is the most frightening disease I have ever encountered” . “War is an appropriate analogy”. I know some people will state these are scaremongering statements but I believe they are made because countries are being so slow to react retroactively.

I see most experts say “prepare, you can still contain this” and point to China and South Korea as examples of how to manage this. Then I see governments say “yeh yeh, we are thinking about it” while what’s happening in a more troubled country (eg Italy) inevitably happens to their own. It’s actually nearly absolute borderline mass delusion to think that if we just wait and see if we get the same outbreak as Italy we will start to take action....

Martina1991

Martina1991 wrote: »

At nights and weekends hospital laboratories provide an on call service.

The staff on call work in Biochemistry, Microbiology, Haematology and Blood Transfusion departments.

Testing is only performed on specimens from within the hospital.

Testing for COVID19 is only performed by the NVRL. They are only open for routine services Monday to Friday.

I dont know if they are providing testing at the weekends. But they wouldn't be able to fully staff the lab at weekends.
They would have someone on call, like hospitals do.

Have they not got extra staff yet? I thought that place would be running 24/7 by now.

cnocbui

cnocbui wrote: »

Whoops - think I opened a can of worms with that search!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=hazmat+mask&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

reminds me of Breaking Bad

South Korea latest:

cases: 7,041. Fatalities: 46

CFR: 0.65%

Tootsie_1

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51731719

Just FYI

cnocbui

MadYaker wrote: »

Mask supplies have been snapped up by people panic buying them from pharmacies and as a result some hospitals are struggling to get supply. Doctors and nurses really need them. The rest of us don't really unless a family member has it or something.

Also people wearing masks will think the mask protects them and wil forget about hand washing which is more important.

Excuse my disbelief, but I somehow doubt hospitals buy their supplies from the local pharmacy. If hospitals are struggling because of pharmacies re-ordering from the distributor, then I am just gobsmacked, because they should have gobbled up all the supply 3-4 weeks ago.

BarryD2

MadYaker wrote: »

Apart from Italy that hasn't happened in europe. We've been way more turned on to this from the beginning.

Your chain is only as strong as your weakest link and we've been happy to trust that weak link for the past 2-3 weeks. Happy to have people come in from affected areas with no provision other than 'tell us if you feel dodgy' and then we'll try and figure out who you've met in the interim week and more. That's our Achilles heel.

Miike

Martina1991 wrote: »

At nights and weekends hospital laboratories provide an on call service.

The staff on call work in Biochemistry, Microbiology, Haematology and Blood Transfusion departments.

Testing is only performed on specimens from within the hospital.

Testing for COVID19 is only performed by the NVRL. They are only open for routine services Monday to Friday.

I dont know if they are providing testing at the weekends. But they wouldn't be able to fully staff the lab at weekends.
They would have someone on call, like hospitals do.

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Have they not got extra staff yet? I thought that place would be running 24/7 by now.

The NVRL is a facility that only does ROUTINE testing Mon-Fri 8am to 6pm however they always have provided an out of hours service and the NVRL lab is open 24/7 365 for urgent tests.

https://nvrl.ucd.ie/outofhours

Cuckoo7

I read, before the virus spread to Europe, some articles about how surgical masks worked if you were sick to not spread the virus. Respirators from ffp2 upwards is what you needed to avoid getting it.Was frankly surprised when a pharmacist told me that both were the same .


I’m convinced the respirators work, but of course you must know how to put them on, take them off and dispose them.
Which could be explained as the washing of hands correct method has been, but of course there’s not stock enough for both the public and the people on the front lines battling this disease.

Volthar

GooglePlus wrote: »

I got mine from a car parts seller. Panel beaters use ffp3s when spraying.

The problem is you are supposed to discard the mask once you've used it and not wear longer than 3-4 hours at the time. ffp3 masks are €17 apiece. You are looking at minimum €50 on masks per day, given there is enough stock left.

cnocbui

Tootsie_1 wrote: »

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51731719

Just FYI

Perhaps Bayer in Germany who invented Paracetamol and Aspirin, could ramp up production or get the old factories going again.

Goldengirl

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

That might be true but the vehemence with which officials say it suggests to me that is not the actual reason

They get quite animated whenever it's brought up.

Like I say a mask can't do any harm. If people want to wear them then so be it.

I think it's because they want people to take on board handwashing properly and often , as the main defence against the virus.
If you have a mask on , it can lull you into a false sense of security , and is only protection if someone with the virus is close to you. It won't protect your hands , and that is important.

amor3

Quote: MadYakerMask supplies have been snapped up by people panic buying them from pharmacies and as a result some hospitals are struggling to get supply. Doctors and nurses really need them. The rest of us don't really unless a family member has it or something.

Also people wearing masks will think the mask protects them and wil forget about hand washing which is more important"


So why do doctors wear them? Have they constantly got infections while operating?

They have to offer some protection to the general joe blogs. I, for one would not begrudge anyone buying some or wearing any.

Tootsie_1

cnocbui wrote: »

Perhaps Bayer in Germany who invented Paracetamol and Aspirin, could ramp up production or get the old factories going again.

I think a lot of excipients could be a problem as well. So hence me telling you all to make sure you have a packet of paracetamol at home for each person in case of temp.

Miike

Miike wrote: »

The NVRL is a facility that only does ROUTINE testing Mon-Fri 8am to 6pm however they always have provided an out of hours service and the NVRL lab is open 24/7 365 for urgent tests.

https://nvrl.ucd.ie/outofhours

Would a suspected Covid19 patient be tested as a matter of urgency?

How many tests can be carried out at the same time? How long does the test take?

Sorry, loadsa questions

MadYaker

cnocbui wrote: »

Excuse my disbelief, but I somehow doubt hospitals buy their supplies from the local pharmacy. If hospitals are struggling because of pharmacies re-ordering from the distributor, then I am just gobsmacked, because they should have gobbled up all the supply 3-4 weeks ago.

People on boards have serious trouble reading. Where in my post did I say that hospitals get their masks from pharmacies? How could that even be vaguely possible??

I'm sure hospitals keep a certain amount of supply but people have been panic buying masks for more than 3 - 4 weeks now and they all come from the same manufacturers. Although that nonsense seems to be dieing down now.

CrankyHaus

cnocbui wrote: »

Excuse my disbelief, but I somehow doubt hospitals buy their supplies from the local pharmacy. If hospitals are struggling because of pharmacies re-ordering from the distributor, then I am just gobsmacked, because they should have gobbled up all the supply 3-4 weeks ago.

I agree. It's more of an issue of short term disruption of supply from increased demand rather than exhaustion of a finite and limited resource. I know a guy who sells these and he was complaining that the hse would only buy the cheapest ones so he's left with a considerable stock. Wouldn't sell online for fear of reputational damage.

cnocbui wrote: »

Perhaps Bayer in Germany who invented Paracetamol and Aspirin, could ramp up production or get the old factories going again.

Or GSK in Waterford.

s7ryf3925pivug

Saw a pic of a hand sanitizer stall at the Milk Market in Limerick.

Either an enterprising guy who made his own effective stuff selling it at a reasonable price
or a profiteering bastard who bulk bought a huge amount to control supply.

Only flaw is that the Milk Market gets densely packed with people, so the people going there right now are not terribly concerned.

05eaftqbrs9jlh

The Echo has interviewed six people in Cork. Only the lad from China who lives near the hospital appears to actually know how serious this is. Everyone else is still spouting party lines.

I’m not too worried, I generally wash my hands anyway. It is just one of those things, Sars 2003 and now you have more people travelling so it gets around faster. This will be cured eventually and then there will be something else, it’s the way nature works. My folks were meant to be travelling to Northen Italy in three months, they are not sure now.

Ava: There is talk of the college closing, we got an out of the blue email on Thursday about online assistance available through the college. It’s early days and I think that is an overreaction.

I hope they were only able to speak to these individuals because people who are appropriately concerned have limited their movements so weren't out and about looking to be unnecessarily interacting with strangers.

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

I think it was supposed to be round 5K. Even if the match was on you'd barely notice them apart from in D4

Not necessarily true, if you look on EarthCam in Temple Bar, you can see many people with backpacks all afternoon. Last night the place was packed with groups of 5-6 lads. No way of knowing for sure which groups were Italian but it was worryingly busy considering one person is all it takes.

Darc19

cnocbui wrote: »

Excuse my disbelief, but I somehow doubt hospitals buy their supplies from the local pharmacy. If hospitals are struggling because of pharmacies re-ordering from the distributor, then I am just gobsmacked, because they should have gobbled up all the supply 3-4 weeks ago.

Hospitals have no shortage of masks or any other protective equipment.

The HSE WERE proactive weeks ago and ensured a plentiful supply was in situ

It's more fake bullsh1t from morons on fakebook and the click bait "journalist" who generally tend not to be interested in the true story if it gets in the way of hysteria

Miike

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Would a suspected Covid19 patient be tested as a matter of urgency?

How many tests can be carried out at the same time? How long does the test take?

Sorry, loadsa questions

COVID19 tests are a matter of supreme urgency as things currently stand. Results expected within 4-6 hours. I have no idea how many tests they can carry out synchronously but the number would be high and when local hospital labs get setup and calibrated for testing that increases massively.

owlbethere

amor3 wrote: »

Quote: MadYakerMask supplies have been snapped up by people panic buying them from pharmacies and as a result some hospitals are struggling to get supply. Doctors and nurses really need them. The rest of us don't really unless a family member has it or something.

Also people wearing masks will think the mask protects them and wil forget about hand washing which is more important"


So why do doctors wear them? Have they constantly got infections while operating?

They have to offer some protection to the general joe blogs. I, for one would not begrudge anyone buying some or wearing any.

A patient is usually vulnerable/weaker. Docs wear mask to reduce viral/bacterial transmission/load on the patient

Timberrrrrrrr

I'm.back from morrisons and it's worse than I thought, sold out of cheesecake AND my favourite morello cherry pie. Ti's gonna be a long weekend if I can't source some tomorrow.

Professor Moriarty

Darc19 wrote: »

Hospitals have no shortage of masks or any other protective equipment.

The HSE WERE proactive weeks ago and ensured a plentiful supply was in situ

It's more fake bullsh1t from morons on fakebook and the click bait "journalist" who generally tend not to be interested in the true story if it gets in the way of hysteria

Reported. It's against the charter to say anything positive about the HSE.

Away With The Fairies

Goldengirl wrote: »

I think it's because they want people to take on board handwashing properly and often , as the main defence against the virus.
If you have a mask on , it can lull you into a false sense of security , and is only protection if someone with the virus is close to you. It won't protect your hands , and that is important.

How will somebody know if the person next to them is infected or not? I'm pulling out the sewing machine and making my own.

Martina1991

Strawberry Milkshake wrote:

Have they not got extra staff yet? I thought that place would be running 24/7 by now.

There is a shortage of Medical Scientists nationwide. Most hospitals find it hard to recruit staff. I would imagine its the same for the NVRL.

Number of staff and a lot of funding to provide the service are the biggest obstacles to testing.