Public Health Alert 🚨

We are recording 998 COVID-19 cases in the Mid-West region over the past 14 days, more than a third of which were recorded since Friday.

Over the past two weeks, there have been 624 cases in Limerick, 188 in Clare, and 186 in North Tipperary 🧵 Between August 13 and August 15, there have been 221 COVID-19 cases reported in Limerick, 79 in North Tipperary, and 40 in Clare.

Public Health Alert 🚨

The Department of Public Health Mid-West can confirm that there have been 57 COVID-19 cases in the Kilmallock area in County Limerick since the start of the community outbreak in mid-July 2021 (1/5) On July 28, Public Health Mid-West confirmed a complex community outbreak linked to social activity in hospitality with onward transmission in multiple settings, including households and workplaces in Kilmallock and its environs (2/5)

Public Health Alert 🚨

We are urging people in the Ennis area in Clare to be extra vigilant and to avail of free COVID-19 testing if they are experiencing symptoms or feel they have been exposed to risk in the past 14 days (1/7) Public Health Mid-West can confirm a steady increase in COVID-19 cases in Clare in the past 14 days, with 164 cases detected in the same period. This day last month, there were 79 cases detected in Clare in a 14-day period (2/7)

Examples of poor ventilation in workplaces 💨

In one outbreak, while kitchen staff were distanced, they weren't wearing masks in a poorly-ventilated space with a pedestal fan. The poor ventilation and the fan were major factors in this situation. All kitchen staff were infected

https://twitter.com/PublicHealthMW/status/1404768829083955214

We have recorded a number of workplace outbreaks connected to car-pooling and shared transport. In one incident, a number of workers were sharing a vehicle and were not wearing masks and the windows were closed. All occupants were infected.

Mechanical ventilation should be reviewed by a professional to ensure they provide optimal ventilation and are operating well. Make sure to ask them to disable demand-control ventilation controls which reduce air supply based on temperature or occupancy
#SafeWorkStopsCovid

https://twitter.com/PublicHealthMW/status/1404413186800066571

Whichever type of ventilation is used, it is important that
the room is not occupied by a greater number of people
than adequate ventilation can be provided for. Maximum
occupancy of rooms should be set and not exceeded.

We are currently investigating COVID-19 situations in 50 workplaces in the Mid-West, involving 141 cases and an estimated 324 close contacts #SafeWorkStopsCovid A workplace situation is when we are notified of at least one COVID-19 case that is linked to a workplace, requiring further investigation and risk assessment. All data is provisional and subject to change as some situations will require no further investigation

Examples of workplace situations 😷

In one outbreak, all staff were masked at all times until they took them off during a short boardroom meeting. One person was presymptomatic (no symptoms yet but developed them later). Everyone in room was infected #SafeWorkStopsCovid (1/4)

https://twitter.com/PublicHealthMW/status/1402266878907760640

On a number of occasions, we have recorded outbreaks in large office settings where staff wear masks when together but remove them when at their desks. When in the office and in the same room as colleagues, you should wear your mask at all times (2/4)