Tag Archives: social distancing

From top: Bedrooms of direct provision centres in Cork City; Roscrea, Co Tipperary; Swords; Miltown Malbay, Co Clare; Cahersiveen, Co Kerry; Newbridge, Co Kildare; tweet from the Kinsale Road Accommodation Centre in Cork City and a tweet from Graham Clifford, of The Sanctuary Runners

Various refugee and asylum seeker support groups have been calling on the Department of Justice to move people deemed to be the “most vulnerable” out of direct provision centres because of Covid-19.

It comes as asylum seekers, some of whom are healthcare workers, say the Government’s direction for people to maintain “social distancing”, “self-isolation” and “cocooning” is impossible at centres where, in most cases, several people share single rooms.

It also follows councils and the Government spending money on information campaigns about social distancing in public places and on facilities such as Dublin Bus.

Last week it was reported that residents in a direct-provision centre in the west of Ireland were informed a person in their building had tested positive for Covid-19.

Further to this, the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) write:

“Disgraceful but not surprising that the Department of Justice and Equality refused to provide self-contained units for asylum seekers.

Dublin Region Homeless Executive said it would source self-contained units for people in emergency accommodation so that they can observe social distancing. We hope other service providers for homeless people do the same.

The handling of Covid-19 in Direct Provision shows us once more than the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers should be taken away from the Department of Justice and Equality. Direct Provision operators will always put profits above everything.

Solidarity with people in overcrowded accommodation at this time.”

Meanwhile, MASI has posted the following video from the Grand Hotel Direct Provision Centre in Wicklow where a “self-isolation” room is being set up…

Thud.

A petition calling on the Department of Justice to move people deemed to be “at risk” of Covid-19 out of direct provision can be signed here.

Previously: No Room To Isolate

Don’t worry.

We will…

…A distance of approximately three feet (give or take).

Fight!

Health Minister Simon Harris speaking to Bryan Dobson on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland

This morning.

Further to repeated calls from politicians and health experts for people to maintain “social distancing” of two metres, and suggestions that further restrictions on people’s movement will be put in place on account of the coronavirus, Health Minister Simon Harris told Bryan Dobson on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland:

“We did see, over the course of this weekend see scenes of large gatherings, the one in Glendalough perhaps might have been the one that most people were talking about.

“I’m very pleased that the council stepped in there and said ‘look, we can’t properly socially distance here, we’re shutting down the car park, we’re shutting down the food premises. That’s the sort of decisive action that needs to be taken…

“To be very clear to everybody in Ireland today, you need to abide by the social distancing, that means there should be two metres between you and other people.

“If you can’t do that, you shouldn’t be operating. Tomorrow the National Public Health Emergency team will meet. We’ve been very clear, myself and the Taoiseach, we won’t be making decisions based on kind of Twitter trends or political populism, we’ll follow the public health advice.

“Tomorrow Tony Holohon’s team will consider if there are further recommendations to be made to Government and I quite frankly expect that it’s likely we’re going to be receiving further recommendations from them…

“…we know that the two metres needs to be abided by and perhaps we know that there are some places where that hasn’t been possible to happen. So perhaps greater guidance in relation to playgrounds and public spaces could be useful as well and perhaps greater supports and guidance for businesses too…”

Meanwhile…

Alternatively…

Paul Cullen, in today’s The Irish Times, reports that 40,000 people across Ireland are waiting for a coronavirus test.

Mr Cullen reports:

The HSE is now acknowledging people are waiting an average of four to five days to get tested; add in at least another two days for the swabbed sample to be processed and results reported back to the patients, and that gives an average delay of a week.

This is bad news for a system allegedly following the World Health Organisation advice to “test, test, test”. It is also of concern that it has taken so long for the system to admit to the delays, after journalists were last week being fobbed off with non-specific answers to their questions.

…The real problem is that the delays in testing are causing knock-on delays in contact tracing, the other essential element in the two-pronged approach used by Asian countries to successfully tackle their epidemics.

…The weekend has been dominated by discourse about a minority of people not observing social distancing rules. In reality, we are more likely to need a lockdown as a result of misfiring testing and contract tracing systems than because people chose to take walks on beaches and in parks.

Coronavirus: Delays in testing and tracing are the real problem (Paul Cullen, The Irish Times)

At the Dublin Bus depot in Ringsend, Dublin

Martin Wall, in The Irish Times, reports:

A transport union wants capacity on buses and trains to be significantly reduced to provide more space between passengers during the coronavirus outbreak.

The National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) said there should be a major scaling back on the numbers permitted to travel on individual buses and trains to keep in line with “social distancing” recommendations put forward by public health experts.

HSE advice in respect of the outbreak is that people should “maintain social distancing, ie leave at least 1m (3ft) distance between yourself and other people, particularly those who are coughing, sneezing”.

Coronavirus: Transport union calls for bus and train capacity reduction (Martin Wall, The Irish Times)

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