Tag Archives: social distancing

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe (right) and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath at the Convention Centre, Dublin on Tuesday

TDs have been given a “severe rebuke” for failing to comply with Covid-19 guidelines and rules and, in some instances, abusing compliance staff in Leinster House and the Convention Centre.

The official specifically cited a picture published in Wednesday’s newspapers of Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath ascending the Convention Centre escalator ahead of their Budget day speeches without wearing face coverings.

A private meeting of the Dáil’s business committee heard what was described as a “damning” briefing from an Oireachtas’s director of compliance on Thursday on the poor level of adherence to rules like social distancing and wearing masks in parliament.

TDs given ‘severe rebuke’ over failing to comply with Covid rules (Independent.ie)

Meanwhile…

President of the High Court Justice Mary irvine

Last night.

In a strongly worded letter, Ms Justice Mary Irvine says she has received several complaints about lawyers not adhering to guidelines.

…Justice Irvine has taken “odd as it may sound” to walking the corridors of the Four Courts each day this week to see for herself what is happening.

“Regrettably, on almost every occasion I have come across pockets of practitioners talking/consulting in very close proximity to each other. I would even go so far as to say that there are more practitioners offending than complying with their social distancing obligations,” the judge said.

Lawyers failing to social distance get ‘public scandal’ warning from senior judge (Independent.ie)

RollingNews

Gardaí are investigating reports that dozens of teenagers met for a prearranged fight in Co Cork on Saturday night in breach of the Covid-19 regulations.

Videos posted on social media show up to 60 people – all believed to be minors – fighting in groups in a wooded area near Mount Oval Village in Rochestown.

Gardaí are understood to be investigating if the fight was prearranged between pupils attending a Cork city school and a group from east Cork who travelled for the confrontation.

Gardaí investigate reports of fight involving up to 60 youths in Cork (irish Examiner)

Calls for parents to ‘step up’ after Mount Oval mass teenage brawl (Irish Examiner)

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile…

Landing A1.

Via MIT Technology Review:

A workplace monitoring tool issues an alert when anyone is less than six feet apart.  Amazon is also using similar software to monitor the distances between their warehouse staff.

Good  times.

Machine learning could check if you’re social distancing properly at work (MIT Technology Review)

RTÉ’s Health Correspondent Fergal Bowers 

This morning.

On RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, host Bryan Dobson spoke to RTÉs Health Correspondent Fergal Bowers about the latest Covid-19 developments.

In relation to the current movement restrictions which are set to be in place until May 5, Mr Bowers said:

“There’s no specific date in May, or otherwise, when restrictions will be lifted, or what restrictions will be lifted.

“We simply do not know so it is very uncertain at this point and people shouldn’t be expecting a lifting or a wide lifting of restrictions anytime in the near future I think, I’d say, given the briefings we had yesterday.

“And Covid-19 is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. I mean that means for the years ahead it will be there in the community somewhere, moving as influenza is but obviously Covid-19 poses a different threat, an unparalleled threat.

“And so social distancing will continue until a vaccine is available. And a vaccine won’t be available, certainly you would think, for a year or more.

“There may be some restrictions but only where the evidence points to that and also when the system has the capacity for rapid, speedy testing of people and follow-up contract tracing quickly, that’s crucial.

“So what will be looking at? We’ll be looking at, in order for any restrictions to be lifted, you’d want the infection rate out there to be down below one, so that’s where one person is infecting less than another person. So it’s not spreading in the community. You’d also want to see admissions to intensive care down.

“You’d want to think about what activity could be safely resumed, where social distancing can be exercised and what’s working in other countries. That will be crucial.”

Listen back in full here

Previously: Locking Down Our Civil Liberties