Covid Update

A LARGE, real-world test of face masks in Bangladesh shows that masks work to reduce community spread of Covid-19. It also shows that surgical masks are more e ective than cloth face coverings. e study, which was published ahead of peer review, demonstrates the power of careful investigation and offers a host of lessons about mask wearing that will be important worldwide. One key nding of the study, for example, is that wearing a mask doesn’t lead people to abandon social distancing, something public health o cials had feared might happen if masks gave people a false sense of security.

“What we really were able to achieve is to demonstrate that masks are e ective against Covid-19, even under a rigorous and systematic evaluation that was done in the throes of the pandemic,” said Ashley Styczynski, MD, who was an infectious disease fellow at Stanford University when she collaborated on the study with other colleagues at Stanford, Yale, and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a large research and policy nonpro t organisation that currently

Masks DO work, study shows, so wear one!

works in 22 countries.

“And so, I think people who have been holding out on wearing masks because [they] felt like there wasn’t enough evidence for it, we’re hoping this will really help bridge that gap for them,” she said.

It included more than 600 unions — or local governmental districts in Bangladesh — and roughly 340,000 people.

Half of the districts were given cloth or surgical face masks along with continual reminders to wear them properly; the other half were tracked with no intervention. Blood tests of people who developed symptoms during the study veri ed their infections.

Compared to villages that didn’t mask, those in which masks of any type were worn

Signi cant fall in numbers now contacting the virus

THE latest data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre shows a further reduction in the 14-day incidence of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Data compiled up to September 1 puts the 14-day incidence at 491 cases for every 100,000 people.

Under its most recent optimistic projections, Nphet suggested that daily cases numbers could reach 3,000 a day, by the middle of this month.

The latest HPSC report puts the average daily case numbers for the two weeks to 1 September at 1,670.

Nphet also projected up to 700 hospitalisations and 130 patients in ICU by the middle of September.

As of this morning, there were 394 with the virus in hospitals, an increase of 22 on the same time yesterday.

Of these, 59 patients were in intensive care units.

Health Service Executive CEO Paul Reid said that 9,500 people were given vaccines at walk-in vaccination centres over last weekend.

In a post on Twitter, he said that over 50% of those who attended were in the 12 to 15 age group.

More than 6.9 million vaccines have been administered so far and around 89% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, with around 92% partially vaccinated.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said the seventh millionth vaccine dose will be administered this week and the impact of Ireland’s vaccination programme continues to be seen across the population.

He tweeted that the “downward trend in Covid-19 infections is now also very evident in younger age groups”.

Mr Donnelly said that people need to continue to be safe and added that “Covid-19 hasn’t gone away. The 14-day incidence rates for those aged between 35-44 is similar to that of those aged over 85”. had about 9% fewer symptomatic cases of Covid-19. e nding was statistically significant and was unlikely to have occurred by chance alone.

“Somebody could read this study and say, ‘OK, you reduced Covid-19 by 9%. Big deal.’ And what I would respond to that would be that if anything, we think that that is a substantial underestimate,” Styczynski said.

One reason they think they underestimated the e ectiveness of masks is that they only tested people who were having symptoms, so people who had only very mild or asymptomatic infections were missed.

Another reason is that among people who had symptoms, only one third agreed to undergo a blood test. e effect may have been bigger had participation been universal.

Local transmission may have played a role, too. Rates of Covid-19 in Bangladesh were relatively low during the study. Most infections were caused by the B.1.1.7, or Alpha, variant.

Since then, Delta has taken over. Delta is thought to be more transmissible, and some studies have suggested that people infected with Delta shed more viral particles. Masks may be more e ective when more virus is circulating. e investigators also found important di erences by age and by the type of mask. Villages in which surgical masks were worn had 11% fewer Covid-19 cases than villages in which masks were not worn. In villages in which cloth masks were worn, on the other hand, infections were reduced by only 5%.

Local groups urged to seek virus grants

KILKENNY communities and local groups are being invited to apply for grants which can help them ‘Recover Better’ as the country emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic. e Community Foundation for Ireland has re-opened its Covid-19 Recovery Fund in response to research which shows that voluntary, community and charitable groups in Kilkenny and across the country are struggling to meet demand for lifeline supports and services.

According to the Charities Regulator, 74% of charities reported a severe impact on their organisation’s income for 2020. e Wheel, the national association of community and voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises, has published that 82% of charities are very concerned about whether they will have su cient funds to provide their services in 2021. e Community Foundation, which is providing the support from private donations, says its aim is to ensure communities in Kilkenny recover better than the pre-pandemic status quo. To achieve this ambitious goal there are two areas which have been identi ed as needing immediate support.

A total of €580,000 is being made available.

Pandemics not that unlikely, says science

THE pandemic may be the deadliest viral outbreak the world has seen in more than a century but, statistically, such extreme events aren’t that rare, a new study shows. e study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences used a newly assembled record of novel disease outbreaks in the past 400 years to estimate the intensity of those events and the yearly probability of them recurring.

It found the probability of a pandemic with similar impact to Covid-19 is about 2% in any year, meaning that someone born in the year 2000 would have about a 38% chance of experiencing one by now. And that probability is growing.

“ e most important takeaway is that large pandemics are relatively likely,” says William Pan, associate professor of global environmental health at Duke University.

McGuinness attacks as Coveney eats humble pie

COALITION leaders of have been accused of “utterly breaching their promises” by Kilkenny TD John McGuinness in a scathing attack on the Government.

And in another scathing critique of his own party leader, Deputy McGuinness accused Taoiseach Micheál Martin of displaying “the greatest example of poor leadership in government” by consistently allowing himself to be used as a doormat”.

Mr McGuinness made the comments in an interview with the Irish Mail on Sunday amid the deepening fallout over the botched appointment of former minister Katherine Zappone as a UN special envoy.

“We have a Cabinet letting things through on the nod who are not familiar with the detail. Some don’t care. ey are happy to just sit there, nod their heads and keep their jobs,” the Kilkenny TD told the newspaper.

“ is Government graduated from the university of cronyism with high honours. e Government does not act as a government anymore, they are a cabal who have utterly breached their promises to burn the quangos and exile the cronies.”

Since Mr McGuinness’s remarks, Simon Coveney has apologised for his “sloppiness” and causing “a political embarrassment”, over the Katherine Zappone appointment. is followed the news that Ms Zappone, the former children’s minister, thanked Mr Coveney in early March for o ering her a UN role to represent Ireland, over four months before the Taoiseach was informed.

Newly released documents reveal that Ms Zappone had a hand in drawing up the job speci cations before the role was announced and had contacted Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe ahead of her appointment.

Appearing before the Oireachtas Foreign A airs Committee, the Minister of Foreign A airs said he was sorry “for creating the circumstances that require a second hearing in a week, on the same issue of the appointment of a special envoy.”

Up social welfare by €10 a week call

THE Government is being called upon to raise social welfare rates by €10 week by a justice advocacy organisation e call comes from Social Justice Ireland, which is seeking commitment to standardise rates at 27.5% of average earnings over a two year period. e increase would mean the maximum personal rate available would change from €203 to €213 per week in this year’s upcoming budget. e maximum monthly personal rate would then be a total of €888 per month.

A Department of Social Protection report released in August this year found that the total government expenditure on social welfare payments for 2020 was €30.6billion. is was a rise of 46% compared to 2019, which the report stated was “extraordinary”.

Meanwhile, businesses in Kilkenny with reduced turnover as a result of public health restrictions have been encouraged to register for the new Business Resumption Support Scheme (BRSS) by Kilkenny/ Carlow Fine Gael TD John Paul Phelan.

Qualifying businesses will be able to apply to Revenue for a cash payment, representing an advance credit for trading expenses that are deductible for income and/or corporation tax purposes, Deputy Phelan said:

“ e BRSS is a general scheme and is open to any vulnerable but viable business businesses w≠hose turnover remains impacted as a result of public health restrictions, particularly in sectors that were signi cantly impacted throughout the pandemic, even during periods when restrictions were eased.”

Businesses who previously availed of other schemes such and SBASC and the Tourism Business Continuity Scheme for example as well as CRSS will be eligible to apply provided they meet qualifying criteria.

However, businesses eligible for the CRSS on 1 September 2021 will be paid the CRSS and will not be eligible for the BRSS. ey may also be eligible for “restart weeks” under the CRSS.”

Sarah’s death prompts ‘breast aware’ call

FOLLOWING the death Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding at the age of 39 from cancer, e Irish Cancer Society has emphasised once again the importance of women being ‘beret aware’. e pop singer revealed last August that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, which had spread to other parts of her body. e society says being ‘breast aware’ means knowing what is normal for you so that if any unusual change occurs, you will recognise it.

e sooner you notice a change the better, because if cancer is found early, treatment is more likely to be successful. Get into the habit of looking at and feeling your breasts from time to time. is will help you to notice any change if it occurs.

Changes in your breasts to be aware of • A change in size or shape – it may be that one breast has become larger • Changes in the nipple – in direction or shape, pulled in or attened nipple • Changes on or around the nipple – rash, aky or crusted skin • Changes in the skin – dimpling, puckering or redness • ‘Orange peel’ appearance of the skin caused by unusually enlarged pores • Swelling in your armpit or around your collarbone • A lump, any size, or thickening in your breast • Constant pain in one part of your breast or armpit

Look for changes by using

a mirror so that you can see the breasts from di erent angles. An easy way of feeling your breast is with a soapy hand in the bath or shower. Some women prefer to feel for changes while lying down.

It’s important to know what is normal for you. Your breasts will go through many normal changes during your life. For example, they are affected by changes in your hormones during your menstrual cycle, pregnancy and breast-feeding and menopause.

2,000 locals made a clean sweep of 2021!

THE National Spring Clean is Ireland’s o cial anti-litter campaign and in the past 21 years, the initiative has been highlighting the collective responsibility we share in tackling and preventing our national litter problem.

More than 2,000 Kilkenny volunteers have participated in organised clean-ups across 200 locations in the county. Furthermore, National Spring Clean has been a starting point for a large number of groups to organise recurring clean-up events throughout the rest of the year. National Spring Clean 2021’s initiative has been a great opportunity for volunteers to get out again and do their bit for their local environment, contribute to creating a more sustainable community, meet new like-minded people and make a di erence. e National Spring Clean is also an opportunity to act local to tackle a global issue. As a matter of fact, over the last couple of years, the National Spring Clean has also been trying to raise awareness about another crucial issue: the link between litter and climate change – the biggest environmental challenge of our time – and highlight how combined local actions can have a global effect. Our consumption patterns and how we dispose and treat our waste has a substantial impact on the levels of emissions of several greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change.