Connacht Tribune
No Christmas Day break for Galway’s Covid testers
Covid-19 testing will continue at Galway Airport over Christmas – including for reduced hours this Saturday, Christmas Day – as the health service prepares for a predicted increase in cases of the new Omicron variant.
Breda Crehan-Roche, Chief Officer, Community Healthcare West, said 2021 had been a “very difficult year” but improved testing capacity and the effectiveness of the booster vaccine offered hope for living with Covid in the New Year.
Speaking to the Connacht Tribune on Monday, ahead of new lockdown restrictions on hospitality coming into force, Ms Crehan-Roche said the stricter rules were “unfortunate but yes they are necessary” because of Omicron.
“It’s the spread of it, it’s the volume of it, it’s the amount of people that could be sick. There are a lot of unknowns in relation to Omicron. NPHET and the Government had a difficult call to make but we all have to try and stay safe and take responsibility for our own actions,” she said.
Ms Crehan-Roche said there is concern with how fast Omicron was taking hold.
“It’s spreading like wildfire. It’s now the dominant variant, or will be soon. In two weeks it has increased unbelievably fast. With Christmas now, people are tired and want to be able to relax but you just can’t let your guard down at all with Covid.
“You have to stay alert, you have to ensure that you keep to all the measures we know work – hand-washing, social distancing, keeping two metres and ventilation. We’re quite concerned in relation to the Christmas period which is always a family time and time for catching up. We need people to stay on guard,” she said.
Ms Crehan-Roche said it was a “tough year” for healthcare staff, who are “very tired” after two years working through a pandemic.
“We’ve just come through the fourth wave of Covid and now the new variant, Omicron and all that that entails, is quite a stressful time for everybody.
“But I’m very heartened by the response of staff, and very much recognise and acknowledge their dedication, resilience and commitment. They have been absolutely incredible over the last two years,” she said
Some 360,656 Covid-19 tests were carried out in the HSE West in the year to December 20, with 60% of them in Galway, at the airport, at NUIG, Forster Street in the city, and pop-up test centres in Tuam and Ballinasloe.
In November, some 66,809 tests were carried out at centres in Galway, Roscommon and Mayo and this rose to 72,366 when testing of outbreaks and serial testing of nursing homes and workplaces was included.
“We’ve done incredible work and have made a difference and we have kept people safe – it’s great to be able to say that. People have listened to the advice, they’ve come out and got tested, and the only thing we can be sure about Covid is you just don’t know what’s next,” she said.
Community Healthcare West stood-down school immunisations and developmental clinics last year because staff were diverted to higher priority services like rolling-out vaccinations to long-term care facilities.
Further postponements of routine clinics are expected in the coming months to support Saolta University Healthcare Group roll-out booster vaccines.
But Ms Crehan Roche said there was huge investment in services and it was a “really exciting time” to work in healthcare.
“Even now we’re looking at a fifth wave we have managed to get services back and we’ve managed to increase our services. There has been a huge investment, and it’s a really exciting time in relation to Sláintecare, in relation to supporting people and treating people within the community so people don’t need to go into hospital,” she said.
Ms Crehan Roche said that the booster vaccine provided “light at the end of the tunnel”.
“We know the boosters are working. We recently did serial testing in long-stay care facilities for older people and thankfully there were very few tests coming back positive.
“We have had huge investment in prevention to mitigate spread of infection. It remains to be seen what the learnings are from omicron. Are there new variants, and mutations?
“We just have to be led on that but I know my staff will be there and we will be all hands on deck to provide services. Our staff are incredible, including the voluntary sector, GPs and all the services that are part of the community.
“We’ll be living with some virus for quite a while yet but we’ve made incredible advances in relation to the provision of testing, in relation to vaccines and all these things are measures that will help,” she said.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
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Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
