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Connacht Tribune

Guide to Christmas Level 5 lockdown restrictions

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The Government has announced that the country will move to Level 5 restrictions from Christmas Eve until January 12, following a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases.

According to a spokesperson, the Government has considered a number of factors in arriving at this decision, including NPHET concerns at the rapid increase in Covid-19 case numbers over recent days, the nature of social interaction likely to take place over the Christmas period involving mixing between younger and older people and the risk that this could lead to a wave of infection with a higher risk age profile.

It is understood that the number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Republic which will be announced in the daily update this evening will be more than 900.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government was acting quickly and aggressively and proceeding on the assumption that the new variant of Covid-19 is already in Ireland.

“We’ve lost many friends and neighbours to this disease, and many others didn’t get the goodbye they deserved because of the restrictions that the disease required.

“As a country and as a community of people working together, we have managed to sustain one of the lowest rates of Covid mortality in all of Europe. And we want to keep it that way.

“The hope is real. There is light at the end of this tunnel. Vaccines are on the way.

“The one thing which remains absolutely consistent about this virus is that it is potentially deadly and if it is left to spread unchecked it will reach the most vulnerable and they will pay a heavy price,” the Taoiseach said. “Unfortunately in the last week we have seen extraordinary growth in the spread of the virus.

“This is the same pattern that we have seen in the UK and across Europe. Just this morning figures suggest that we may now be seeing a daily growth rate of approximately 10%. This is very obviously a source of serious concern. It is simply not sustainable.

“While we do not yet have firm evidence that the new more virulent strain of the Covid virus is in our country, the rate of growth over the last week tells me that the safest and most responsible thing to do is to proceed on the assumption that it is already here,” the Taoiseach said.

Level 5 will be introduced with the following adjustments:

  • non-essential retail may remain open. The retail sector will be requested to defer January sales events
  • gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools may remain open for individual training only
  • outdoor golf and tennis are permitted
  • hotels may only open for essential non-social and non-tourist purposes except for guests who already have a booking and are due to check in up to and including 26 December
  • you must remain within your county (as opposed to within 5km of your home) apart from travel for work, education or other essential purposes
  • non-contact training in pods of up to 15 may take place outdoors
  • no matches/events should take place except for professional and elite sports and horse racing and greyhound racing behind closed doors

The specific arrangements for the Christmas period are:

From 3pm on 24 December:

restaurants and pubs operating as restaurants will close

hotels may provide food and bar services to guests only after that point

Social/Family Gatherings

(For those who are part of a support bubble, the bubble counts as one household).

Up to and including 26 December: visits from up to 2 other households will be permitted

Up to and including 31 December: visits from one other household will be permitted

From 1 January: no visitors are permitted in private homes/gardens (except for essential family reasons such as providing care to children, elderly or vulnerable people, or as part of a support bubble)

Travel

travel outside your county will continue to be permitted up to and including 26 December. Those away from their place of residence after that period will be permitted to return to their place of residence

Religious services

Christmas religious services may take place, but will move online after 25 December when places of worship may remain open for private prayer

Weddings

Up to and including 2 January 2020: weddings can have up to 25 guests

From 3 January: weddings can have up to 6 guests

Travel from UK

The government has also agreed that the current restrictions on travel from Britain to Ireland should remain in place until at least 31 December, but kept under constant review in the light of unfolding information and circumstances.

The general Level 5 restrictions are as follows:

  • hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs are open for those with essential non-social and non-tourist purposes
  • nightclubs, discos and casinos remain closed
  • personal services must close
  • people should continue to work from home unless essential for work which is an essential health, social care or other essential service and cannot be done from home
  • public transport capacity should be restricted at 25%
  • outdoor playgrounds, play areas and parks to remain open
  • Long-term residential care facilities visiting: suspended, aside from critical and compassionate circumstances
  • childcare services, early learning and schools remain open
  • higher, further and adult education should remain primarily online
  • museums, galleries, libraries and other cultural attractions are closed

Connacht Tribune

West has lower cancer survival rates than rest

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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.

Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.

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Connacht Tribune

Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents

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Galway's Aaron Niland is chased by Cillian O'Callaghan of Cork during Saturday's All-Ireland Minor Hurling semi-final at Semple Stadium. Photo: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile.

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 IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety

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Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche

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.

 

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