Galway COVID-19, local news and discussion

_Whimsical_

Yyhhuuu wrote: »

There is widespread non-compliance with 2m social distancing. I see it first hand on the ground. This is because people are not afraid. Ireland had become a selfish society. For a great number it's only when it affects them or a loved one that they eventually realize their error by which time it's too late.

Last nights Prime Time was live from the Mater Hospital and one ICU nurse interviewed was asked what she would like to say to people watching at home.
What she said was that when patients arrive in the high dependency unit they can still talk and explained how they got ill.
She said many had exactly they same story, they'd been so careful, wore a mask, had stayed home, but one night there was a knock on the door and it was a son/daughter/sister/brother there wearing no mask and in their head they'd hesitated, wanted to say "maybe you shouldn't come in" or "could you wear a mask", but didn't want to be rude. That one time of letting their guard down was when they were exposed. More than half of those go onto ICU, some don't make it. She said they do say "if I could just have that moment back again to do differently".
In my own life I know one case like this. I've mentioned a friend earlier who infected several family members. One of those is now in ICU.

It's pretty sobering.

Another thing the Drs interviewed said was that as there are much larger numbers sick now they're seeing how the illness behaves in a much broader range of people. They said they are seeing young people with no underlying conditions very seriously ill in ICU in Ireland and also said they have pregnant women in the ICU who are very ill. They said they are expanding on their understanding of the illness and the dangers are for everyone, not just the eldery now.

_Whimsical_

There are now 113 people with the disease at UHG where there are 13 beds available and one ICU bed, and at Portiunucula Hospital, which had just one general bed available at 8pm yesterday, there are nine people with Covid.

https://www.galwaydaily.com/news/covid-19/16-people-with-covid-hospitalised-yesterday-in-galway/

Bobeagleburger

I know one person that picked it up in UHG hospital, and also two sent home from work there as they were close contacts.

It's rampant there.

shenanagans

3086 today total. 604 in Galway.

zell12

604 today, that is some increase! Kinda explains our numbers were artificially low in the last while

amandstu

shenanagans wrote: »

3086 today total. 604 in Galway.

Anyone make sense of that number?

Bobeagleburger

amandstu wrote: »

Anyone make sense of that number?

Id imagine it's backlogged cases. Galway numbers were low in comparison to other counties the last week.

My faith in accurate reporting of numbers has dwindled. Their IT systems must be a total joke. Probably excel sheets.

amandstu

zell12 wrote: »

604 today, that is some increase! Kinda explains our numbers were artificially low in the last while

You mean there may be a backlog involved in those numbers?

thecretinhop

New years eve blowouts. road was insane Busy nye

pjohnson

The ever loving fcuk happened here?

zell12

It's just a backlog of cases to keep up with the rest of the country, expect high Galway figures again tomorrow

Stay at Home people!!!

gordongekko

I hate that supermarkets have taken security off the doors of places. I was in one the other day and 2 people were strolling around with no masks on. Neither looked like someone who'd just forgotten it or would take kindly to be reminded to wear one.

saabsaab

6 wrote: »

I know one person that picked it up in UHG hospital, and also two sent home from work there as they were close contacts.

It's rampant there.

Best not go in there at the moment unless it's an emergency. They cannot keep anyone free from covid in the wards there.

Fitz*

Is the maternity ward separate from the main UHG building?

Mrs OBumble

saabsaab wrote: »

Best not go in there at the moment unless it's an emergency. They cannot keep anyone free from covid in the wards there.

Have you any actual evidence for that claim?

Bobeagleburger

Ask any nurse or doctor in there. It's pretty serious.

Probably the same all over the country tbf.

beardybrewer

Yyhhuuu wrote: »

I think it's ok not to wear a mask outside so long as you keep a distance, and not in a congested setting,perhaps greater than 2m with the SA variant due to heightened viral load. I am sick to death ( pardon the pun) of covidiots constantly not socially distancing on the roads. Joggers are quite dangerous and reckless.

Dr Holohan today made the recommendation to start wearing masks outdoors in light of the current situation.

If we could all respect each other's space I'd really prefer for it not be compulsory when taking exercise outside unless you can't distance . To me I would think a walk on the prom would be smart if everyone masked up including congested spots around Coco and the Creamery.

Bobeagleburger

Fitz* wrote: »

Is the maternity ward separate from the main UHG building?

It's a seperate wing of the main hospital. Not a seperate building.

saabsaab

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Have you any actual evidence for that claim?

Spoke to someone in there. So yes.

what_traffic

beardybrewer wrote: »

Dr Holohan today made the recommendation to start wearing masks outdoors in light of the current situation.

If we could all respect each other's space I'd really prefer for it not be compulsory when taking exercise outside unless you can't distance . To me I would think a walk on the prom would be smart if everyone masked up including congested spots around Coco and the Creamery.

Agree + just walk somewhere else? first lockdown this was more the norm. For many people it was a first to be exploring the local area. Prom would still be very very low risk with the usual stiff breeze but would hope at least we wont have the many who drive to the prom to go for a walk.

Marty1983

I heard there was very limited testing in Galway over Christmas.

The scary thing is they are not testing close contacts, granted about 90% of positive people have no symptoms, imagine what the actual number of infected is.

Storm 10

Apparently these cases are a backlog going back as Galway had low numbers for the last week or so while the rest of the Country was high hopefully the figure will be lower tomorrow

testtech05

Marty1983 wrote: »

I heard there was very limited testing in Galway over Christmas.

The scary thing is they are not testing close contacts, granted about 90% of positive people have no symptoms, imagine what the actual number of infected is.

I'm reluctant to use anecdotal evidence but of the approx 20 cases I am aware off over the duration of the pandemic since last March only 1 person had no symptoms, the rest thankfully all had relatively minor symptoms.

Surely the 90% figure you mentioned can't be accurate?

Although I do agree that the true number of cases at the minute with close contacts not being tested by default must be massive.

shenanagans

Storm 10 wrote: »

Apparently these cases are a backlog going back as Galway had low numbers for the last week or so while the rest of the Country was high hopefully the figure will be lower tomorrow

The media reported on 7th Jan that the backlog of 9000 cases had been resolved. Where are you getting this information that todays numbers are a backlog? Is it a backlog over the last 3-4 days?

Storm 10

shenanagans wrote: »

The media reported on 7th Jan that the backlog of 9000 cases had been resolved. Where are you getting this information that todays numbers are a backlog? Is it a backlog over the last 3-4 days?

One poster in the know on the Covid board posted it that Galway had low cases up to today there is no way we could jump to 604 cases unless it's a backlog

shenanagans

Storm 10 wrote: »

One poster in the know on the Covid board posted it that Galway had low cases up to today there is no way we could jump to 604 cases unless it's a backlog

Hopefully there's a big fall tomorrow in the numbers so. Mayo had big case number today also.

Fitz*

Last Monday was the return to work day for a lot of people in manufacturing etc. Galway is migrant city with people moving from other counties such as Mayo, Roscommon, Clare etc. People were mixing at home for Christmas and returned to Galway. One week later the number is very high. Maybe they are 'real' cases and not a backlog.

Bobeagleburger

shenanagans wrote: »

The media reported on 7th Jan that the backlog of 9000 cases had been resolved. Where are you getting this information that todays numbers are a backlog? Is it a backlog over the last 3-4 days?

From yesterday's briefing.

Prof Nolan told the briefing that for the last four days there have been very few old cases.

He said that there was a backlog which was caught up on and the cases that they are reporting on today, 80% or more of them have had their swabs taken in the preceding three days.

20% of positive swabs were 4 or more days old. It's not exactly accurate reporting.

Personally I suspect the numbers in Galway were probably not accurate the last week. They were one of the lowest 14 day rates. All of a sudden Galway has 20% of the countries total! Not plausible.

kippy

testtech05 wrote: »

I'm reluctant to use anecdotal evidence but of the approx 20 cases I am aware off over the duration of the pandemic since last March only 1 person had no symptoms, the rest thankfully all had relatively minor symptoms.

Surely the 90% figure you mentioned can't be accurate?

Although I do agree that the true number of cases at the minute with close contacts not being tested by default must be massive.

If they had no symptoms how do you/they know that they had the virus? A test result? How many people, who had no symptoms had a test??

I'd also suspect a lot of people who had "minor symptoms" may never have been tested either, thinking they had something else.

WallyGUFC

testtech05 wrote: »

I'm reluctant to use anecdotal evidence but of the approx 20 cases I am aware off over the duration of the pandemic since last March only 1 person had no symptoms, the rest thankfully all had relatively minor symptoms.

Surely the 90% figure you mentioned can't be accurate?

Although I do agree that the true number of cases at the minute with close contacts not being tested by default must be massive.

I've seen it mentioned a few times before that its approx. 80% no symptoms, 15% mild symptoms and 5% with more serious symptoms, many of these needing hospitalisation. I'd be fairly sure the actual number of people who've had it without knowing is multiples of the national case numbers reported.


There is a fella on Twitter tracking the positive swabs vs positive cases daily and other info regarding numbers of beds available, @RiochtConor2. There was a large backlog which was mostly cleared but was not fully cleared on January 7th when they said it was. Even yesterday for example, positive cases = 3086, positive swabs = 2456.