Category: Old Donegal

18 to 29 year olds who previously received the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least 90 days ago may now book an appointment online to get a booster vaccine at the Letterkenny Vaccination Centre.

Appointments are available for Monday afternoon next, January 3rd from 1.30pm to 3.30, with the online booking system is being updated regularly to include additional dates.

Appointments are also available for people aged 30 and older who are eligible for a booster vaccine.

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Statement in full –

Book a booster appointment now available at Letterkenny Vaccination Centre for 18 to 29 year olds who previously received Janssen

31 December 2021

 People aged 18 to 29 who had a single dose Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine at least 90 days ago may now book an appointment online to get a booster vaccine at the Letterkenny Vaccination Centre.

 To book an appointment for a booster vaccination go to hse.ie and search ‘book booster’ or click here:

https://www2.hse.ie/screening-and-vaccinations/covid-19-vaccine/get-the-vaccine/booster-booking/

 Book a booster at Letterkenny Vaccination Centre for people aged 18 to 29 who had a single dose Janssen vaccine:

·         Monday 03 January – 1.30pm to 3.30pm

 The online appointment booking system is being updated regularly to include additional dates.

 There are also booster appointments available to book on hse.ie for people aged 30 and older who are eligible for a booster vaccine.

 If you have had COVID-19, you can get your booster dose vaccine 3 months after your positive test result.

300,000 PCR tests are now being carried out here every week.

That’s in excess of 5 percent of the population, and is three times more than were being carried out this time last year.

Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan says if you’re a close contact of a positive case but continue to get negative antigen tests for more than 48 hours you don’t need a PCR test………………

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There have been 38 work-related deaths in 2021.

New Health and Safety Authority figures show that’s a drop of 30 per cent from 54 last year.

It’s the lowest level of deaths in the workplace since records began, in a year where work was significantly disrupted by Covid 19 in several sectors.

Two of this year’s work related deaths were in Donegal, with three in Sligo.

A man in his 20s has died following a road traffic collision at Ard Baithin, St Johnson.

The man was the driver of one of two cars involved in the crash at 9.15 last night .

He was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital, where he later passed away.

The road is currently closed as Garda Forensic Collision Investigators conduct a technical examination of the scene. Local diversions are in place.

Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward. Any road users who were travelling in the area at the time and who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Letterkenny Garda Station on 074 916 7100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

The government has cut back on professional Covid-19 testing for most people under forty amid record rates of infection with the virus.

A new record case load of 20,554 was set last night — prompting the Chief Medical Officer to urge people not to mix with other households indoors this New Year’s Eve.

Until Christmas Eve, the threshold of 10-thousand Covid-19 infections in a single day had never been crossed.

But new records have been set and broken four times since then.

The Chief Medical officer says Omicron now accounts for 90% of infections here and hospital admissions are “not sustainable”.

He’s urging people not to mix indoors with people from other households this New Year’s.

People between four and 39 with Covid symptoms won’t now be sent for a PCR test unless they have a positive antigen result.

Dr Denis McAuley of the Irish Medical Organisation says it will help speed up testing, as such people are deemed to be low risk………

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The Infectious Diseases Society says sending someone for a PCR test for confirmation “duplicates effort for little gain at significant cost to the public purse”.

The expert doctors’ group says the public should be allowed to report themselves as Covid-positive based on an antigen test alone.

Some people won’t have to self-isolate as long going forward.

People aged 13 and up who’ve had a booster vaccine or a breakthrough infection after their first two may leave self-isolation after seven days rather than ten.

It’s not clear how many of the more than 100-thousand people who’ve been infected in the last ten days will be affected by that advice though.

Gardaí and emergency services are currently at the scene of a road traffic collision on the main road between Carrigans and St Johnston. (R236)

The crash occurred close to Ard Baithin just before 10pm on Thursday evening. The road is closed and local diversions are in place.h

The road is expected to remain closed until tomorrow (Friday) afternoon.

No further details are available.

 

Listen back to the Main Evening News, Sport, Farming news & Obituaries here:

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Management at Letterkenny University Hospital have confirmed a Covid-19 outbreak at the facility.

Coupled with outbreak onsite, attendances at the hospital are currently very high.

In a statement, Management say that the situation has been exacerbated by the rising Covid-19 cases in the community along with a Covid-19 outbreak on the site.

In light of the significant impact this is having, the hospital is postponing a number of elective procedures in order to redeploy staff to support essential emergency care.

Patients are being contacted directly if their procedure is being postponed.

All day surgeries due to take place tomorrow and next week have been postponed.

All routine inpatient surgeries scheduled for next week have also been postponed.

Time sensitive, urgent cases will proceed when it is safe to do them. The situation is being kept under constant review.

Out-patient services, ambulatory gynaecology, endoscopy and other non-theatre day cases will proceed.

The hospital regrets that patients are having their procedures postponed and would like to apologise for the delays.

Letterkenny University Hospital is also advising that people presenting to the Emergency Department are currently experiencing long waiting times.

The hospital has seen a significant increase in patients presenting to the hospital and many of these patients are very sick and need to be admitted to the hospital for treatment. In addition the hospital is caring for an increasing number of patients with COVID-19.

Given the volume of patients attending the Emergency Department, the hospital is asking the public to contact their GP during normal surgery hours or the NoWDOC GP Out of Hours service in the first instance if their health problem is not urgent.

The hospital is committed to treating everyone who presents at the ED; people are seen and treated strictly in order of medical priority.

As part of the hospital’s COVID-19 measures, patients should wait in the ED alone to help maintain social distancing. A companion will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances. This is to minimise the risk of infection and to keep everyone safe.

Patients are asked to please wear a face covering/mask when in the ED and to comply with any COVID-19 screening processes.

 

17 new apprenticeship programmes will be made available in 2022.

They involve courses in the likes of agriculture, engineering and construction.

The government’s aiming to have 10,000 people signed up to the programme by 2025.

Minister of State for Skills and Further Education, Niall Collins, says it’s good news for young people.

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There’s been a 12 per cent increase in the number of incidents dealt with by the Coast Guard this year.

It responded to just under 3 thousand – with April and July the busiest months.

The service says it provided help in 474 cases where a loss of life or long-term injury was avoided.

A total of 68 drownings were recorded this year – a decrease of 7 on last year.