Galway COVID-19, local news and discussion

JoeA3

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

It's quite shocking how fast this is now spreading. I know someone currently ill. In the run up to her being diagnosed on St Stephens day she had only briefly seen her and her partners siblings individually in the days before Christmas to drop off gifts, didn't stay for tea/drinks etc. From those quick visits all her siblings and their kids are now ill as well as their parents and inlaws parents. So far 20 are ill in the family. And they have no idea about contacts from work/the gym etc yet.

On the flip side you have my 11 year old nephew who had a positive test on the Monday before Xmas. His symptoms were mild. It’s presumed that he picked it up at school but only one other lad (in a class of ~30) is positive. My sister, her husband and the boy’s siblings have all tested negative. Twice.

The contagious element of this is a hard one to understand.

_Whimsical_

JoeA3 wrote: »

On the flip side you have my 11 year old nephew who had a positive test on the Monday before Xmas. His symptoms were mild. It’s presumed that he picked it up at school but only one other lad (in a class of ~30) is positive. My sister, her husband and the boy’s siblings have all tested negative. Twice.

The contagious element of this is a hard one to understand.

I've a feeling it will depend on the variant. I haven't heard of anyone else get sick and infect all around them like that before.

JoeA3

JoeA3 wrote: »

On the flip side you have my 11 year old nephew who had a positive test on the Monday before Xmas. His symptoms were mild. It’s presumed that he picked it up at school but only one other lad (in a class of ~30) is positive. My sister, her husband and the boy’s siblings have all tested negative. Twice.

The contagious element of this is a hard one to understand.

My 3 year old niece tested positive just before Christmas too, after the minders in her creche tested positive and they all had to go for testing. She's asymptomatic.

All her house then had to get tested, the most worrying thing is her granny lives with them. She has 2 other siblings and they're constantly playing together so wasn't looking good.

Thankfully they've all tested negative twice. Other kids in the creche also tested positive and their families then also came back positive.

So I did some amateur (disclaimer!) research into it yesterday. It seems with the tests they run it through multiple amplification cycles to pick up the virus. If a test needs more than 30-35 cycles to pick up the virus it's most likely such a low viral load that it's not contagious. So it's a "weak positive". The HSE are generally doing 40-45 cycles, so very sensitive.

Now you'll see the "casedemic" reSuRcHers copy and paste rubbish around this as proof that it's a government conspiracy as they're not real cases - that's nonsense.

With mass testing you're not testing each person frequently with multiple cycle thresholds to find the level when they're most infectious. It could be someone is a weak positive today but they're only coming into their most infectious few days. So best err on the side of caution as false negatives are far more dangerous.

Even if you did test someone at their peak and they were only positive with a high cycle threshold it's not really a "false positive" either. Covid has been detected, it's just at such low enough levels that the person is probably not going to pass it on.

_Whimsical_

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

I've a feeling it will depend on the variant. I haven't heard of anyone else get sick and infect all around them like that before.

The new variant from the UK has a much higher viral load, passes on much easier. With the rate at which cases are growing I wouldn't be surprised if it's quite prevalent here. I know it's been detected here but haven't heard much more.

ax530

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

It's quite shocking how fast this is now spreading. I know someone currently ill. In the run up to her being diagnosed on St Stephens day she had only briefly seen her and her partners siblings individually in the days before Christmas to drop off gifts, didn't stay for tea/drinks etc. From those quick visits all her siblings and their kids are now ill as well as their parents and inlaws parents. So far 20 are ill in the family. And they have no idea about contacts from work/the gym etc yet.

wow that shocking but a good example to show a quick visit can still transmit. Does she know where she got the virus from in the first place ?

beardybrewer

I've some extended family positive in the states. The mother brought it home and once over the threshold it quickly spread to the children. It tore through the entire family with my brother-in-law having it last. The others recovered quickly enough but he, 50 and in reasonable shape, said it's no joke. Breathlessness lasted for 2 days which has passed but the fatigue continues. Said he is just wiped out and it's like nothing he has ever had before.

Heard on the last Science w/ Luke O'Neill that by Q2 Ireland should have 13 million doses. If true hopefully we can hang on a bit more and get this behind us by this time next year. Going to be a helluva party to make up for it.

Happy new year's all.

mjp

Brother woke stephens morning after a feed of Irish coffees with severe stiffness in back and sickness and nausea. He booked in for a test but we were sure it was down to all the drink. Low and behold tested positive following day. Mother is also positive with father and sister only after showing symptoms yesterday on day 5 but awaiting results. None of them more severe than a regular flu but afraid if the worst is still to come. Luckily our close contacts was only ourselves who visited xmas Eve and other siblings.

Mrs OBumble

mjp wrote: »

None of them more severe than a regular flu .

So in bed for a fortnight, aching so badly that death seemed like a better alternative? Because that's how bad a "regular flu" is.

zell12

89 cases today
1620 nationally, Galway third worst in country
https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1344679018596093952?s=20

_Whimsical_

ax530 wrote: »

wow that shocking but a good example to show a quick visit can still transmit. Does she know where she got the virus from in the first place ?

No she has no idea where she got it. Could only think that Dunnes was very packed the Monday before Christmas and she felt uncomfortably close to people so wondered if it was that - but she really has no clue.
She has had a few days in hospital with it. It wasn't just a severe flu unfortunately.

Gadgetman496

HSE confirms close contacts without symptoms will no longer be referred for testing as system overwhelmed.

1641

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

So in bed for a fortnight, aching so badly that death seemed like a better alternative? Because that's how bad a "regular flu" is.

Not how it "is" - for some how it can be and maybe how it was for you.



The symptoms and impact of "regular flu" vary widely - including up to fatality. But for the majority the impact is milder and recovery usually takes about a week. Check out the HSE or any reputable medical website.

Gadgetman496

Gadgetman496 wrote: »

HSE confirms close contacts without symptoms will no longer be referred for testing as system overwhelmed.

That's a disgrace, this has been around for almost a year and we still don't have a system for testing and tracing that can scale.

They have about 4000 positive tests they haven't processed and reported yet from the last few days, they're coming in quicker than they can process them.

kippy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That's a disgrace, this has been around for almost a year and we still don't have a system for testing and tracing that can scale.

They have about 4000 positive tests they haven't processed and reported yet from the last few days, they're coming in quicker than they can process them.

What's disgraceful about it...... Every system has a breaking point and one as complex as this is certainly not as scalable as some automated ones can be.
This is exactly why restrictions are needed....to ensure the systems in place can handle the numbers.

kippy

kippy wrote: »

What's disgraceful about it......

The numbers have increased but we should be prepared for the current levels. Very quick to reach breaking point again.

StonedRaider

I don't understand how people are surprised by the current infection rate/lockdown etc.
From what I've seen since early December, the public behaved like this thing didn't exist. Shop street/Quay street/Cross street/Spanish arch area like any normal day and night. Wedged.
Tesco's,Lidl, Dunnes wedged and people coming up behind me reaching over grabbing stuff.
I said it on social media and a few forums that I'd expect a full lockdown by the 6th/7th January....not far off. No one else to blame but ourselves

serfboard

StonedRaider wrote: »

I don't understand how people are surprised by the current infection rate/lockdown etc.
From what I've seen since early December, the public behaved like this thing didn't exist. Shop street/Quay street/Cross street/Spanish arch area like any normal day and night. Wedged.
Tesco's,Lidl, Dunnes wedged and people coming up behind me reaching over grabbing stuff.
I said it on social media and a few forums that I'd expect a full lockdown by the 6th/7th January....not far off. No one else to blame but ourselves

Agree with this.

A friend of mine proposed food & pints in town before Christmas. There were going to be five different households meeting up in a gastropub for a number of hours.

I told him I wouldn't go and was surprised that he proposed it - and also knew that he wasn't the only one organising such meetups.

kippy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The numbers have increased but we should be prepared for the current levels. Very quick to reach breaking point again.

How do you prepare?

They've gone from 1200 to 1700 in days and will most likely hit 2000 at some point for a few days with each one of those people now averaging 5 or 6 contacts that's at least 10000 calls a day every day and all that goes with it (follow up calls, data logging, time on calls etc etc)
This really is why the aim is to keep the numbers down rather than manage high numbers....

kippy

kippy wrote: »

This really is why the aim is to keep the numbers down rather than manage high numbers....

That's fair, I think they should have clearer known limits at which they can handle certain levels of testing and tracing. At the moment they seem to go until they get in a flap and hit breaking point. Reporting figures knowing they're incomplete as they haven't processed others in time.

It would be more reassuring to the public if they said "We are now receiving an average of over 1500 positive cases per day so we're moving from the maintenance of low numbers to the testing of only symptomatic cases. We'll resume full contact tracing when daily cases settle back under 1500".

kippy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That's fair, I think they should have clearer known limits at which they can handle certain levels of testing and tracing. At the moment they seem to go until they get in a flap and hit breaking point. Reporting figures knowing they're incomplete as they haven't processed others in time.

It would be more reassuring to the public if they said "We are now receiving an average of over 1500 positive cases per day so we're moving from the maintenance of low numbers to the testing of only symptomatic cases. We'll resume full contact tracing when daily cases settle back under 1500".

Personally I don't that that would be of any benefit to anyone.
Keep the numbers down. That's the key.

kippy

kippy wrote: »

Keep the numbers down. That's the key.

No ****

kippy wrote: »

Personally I don't that that would be of any benefit to anyone.

The messaging is important, to at least give the illusion that they've some control on the situation. The message today was there are other cases from the last few days, might be duplicates or old, we're not sure.

Messaging around the 5 levels are unclear too since they started picking and mixing.

kippy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

No ****



The messaging is important, to at least give the illusion that they've some control on the situation. The message today was there are other cases from the last few days, might be duplicates or old, we're not sure.

Messaging around the 5 levels are unclear too since they started picking and mixing.

The messages are straightforward.
Wash hands, keep your distance, wear masks....keep your contacts low.
Human behaviour is the vector for this virus.
Everything else is literally just tweaking things to keep certain sectors and the economy ticking over.

They've essentially lost control of the situation in the past week or so. People need to know that....and thats an important message in itself.
Messaging in itself is difficult as you cannot assume that four plus million people get the same messages.

Mrs OBumble

1641 wrote: »

Not how it "is" - for some how it can be and maybe how it was for you.

The symptoms and impact of "regular flu" vary widely - including up to fatality. But for the majority the impact is milder and recovery usually takes about a week. Check out the HSE or any reputable medical website.

Any doctor I've ever seen had been very clear: if your symptoms are mild, then yes you've got a virus, but no, it's not influenza.

I'll stick to medical advice from doctors, rather than websites.

Bobeagleburger

Had the flu twice.

First time in late teens, sick for two weeks, in bed for a week of that. Lost over a stone.

2nd time wasn't as bad. In bed for 4 days. Again lost a substantial amount of weight. This was 3 years ago.

It's nasty.

Bobeagleburger

[Deleted User] wrote: »

No ****



The messaging is important, to at least give the illusion that they've some control on the situation. The message today was there are other cases from the last few days, might be duplicates or old, we're not sure.

Messaging around the 5 levels are unclear too since they started picking and mixing.

4000 cases not reported. The testing system is creaking.

We are probably averaging about 3000 cases a day now.

1641

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Any doctor I've ever seen had been very clear: if your symptoms are mild, then yes you've got a virus, but no, it's not influenza.

I'll stick to medical advice from doctors, rather than websites.

NEPHT and public health need to change their advice to the public so : Don't trust reputable medical websites. Speak to Mrs OBumble or "any doctor Mrs. OBumble ever had".


And what you declared in your earlier post is simply incorrect as a generalisation- "So in bed for a fortnight, aching so badly that death seemed like a better alternative? Because that's how bad a "regular flu" is."



By the way, Mrs. O, I had "real Flu" years ago, medically confirmed. A very nasty any body-shattering dose. However, recovery was fairly rapid. Furthermore, there are many variations depending on many factors.Have another chat with a reputable doctor.

zell12

Connacht Rugby confirm 'a number of players' test positive for Covid-19
The individuals in question have not been identified

ax530

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That's a disgrace, this has been around for almost a year and we still don't have a system for testing and tracing that can scale.

They have about 4000 positive tests they haven't processed and reported yet from the last few days, they're coming in quicker than they can process them.

NI & UK have never tested close contact s just those with symptoms. So long as close contacts are isolating they will not pass on virus then if they develop symptoms can request a test from GP .

Contact tracing great when keeping track of where virus is stop it but when we in L5 and everyone basically isolating not as important.

_Whimsical_

180 cases

zell12

180 cases in Galway today
big spike in Mayo too to 104
https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1345078476378931204?s=20