Covid ICU numbers
The number of patients in intensive care units (ICU) has tripled in the last few weeks, the president of the Intensive Care Society of Ireland has said.
Dr Colman O’Loughlin warned that ICU capacity is limited and beds occupied by Covid patients will put pressure on cardiac, cancer and vascular care.
Dr O’Loughlin told RTÉ radio's News at One that the three main groups of Covid patients being admitted to ICU are: unvaccinated (mainly younger patients); vaccinated people with immuno-compromised conditions and vaccinated patients who nonetheless contracted the disease.
He said 60 per cent of those in ICU were not vaccinated.
School Covid cases
Over 46,000 children contracted Covid-19 between March 2020 and July 2021 according to a report by the HSE.
4 per cent of children in the State under that age of 18 tested positive for the virus during that period, 17 per cent of the overall number of cases recorded.
Since the first reopening of schools in August 2020, 832 outbreaks associated with staff and students have been reported, representing 3,650 cases. 90 per cent of outbreaks resulted in less than 10 confirmed cases.
As reported by The Irish Times, during the last academic year, 18 schools were forced to exclude all staff and students to allow Covid testing to be carried out and where outbreaks were confirmed. The report said these outbreaks were "usually of small-scale (2-3 subsequent cases) with usually friendship groups testing positive amongst both pupils and staff".
It was also found that adult-to-adult, adult-to-child or child-to-child transmission was more common than child-to-adult transmission.
Number of Irish evacuations from Afghanistan rises to 10
Ten Irish people have been now been evacuated from Afghanistan, the Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed.
Thirsty six Irish citizens and their family members are still waiting to leave the country.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the department remains “in close contact” with these individuals.
“The situation remains volatile and access to the airport continues to be a problem. Work continues on options for evacuation, the department is in ongoing contact with EU and other partners on the ground in Kabul,” the spokesperson said.
“There are also a small number of Irish citizens who are working for UN and international organisations and currently plan to stay in Afghanistan.”
School bullying report
A new report on bullying in Irish schools has recommended the introduction of an online safety commissioner and a national database to report bullying incidents and the steps being taken to address them.
The Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science today published its report on School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health.
In the report, the Committee makes a total of 28 recommendations, including 10 key recommendations, which Members believe can be implemented without delay and could have a transformative impact on the whole school community.
