We're not yet over worst of virus, say health bosses
Health bosses are concerned by the growing number of people who think that Ireland is over the worst of Covid-19, warning instead that the worst might be yet to come.
With the numbers of confirmed cases and deaths slowing in recent days, a Department of Health survey found that 43% of the Irish public now feel that the worst of the pandemic has been and gone.
“There is still a challenge for us in getting the message across of the risk of a second spike in cases both in terms of public health but also in terms of the impact on the health services if we get this wrong,” Dr Tony Holohan, the chief medical officer, said.
That 43% is a high percentage of people who believe that this is over and that the work is done. That is a cause for concern,” he said.
Just 17% of those surveyed said that the worst of the coronavirus crisis is still yet to come.
Meanwhile, the latest briefing by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) revealed that 15 people have died from the virus leading to an overall death toll to date of 1,467.
A further 139 new confirmed cases meanwhile means that incidences of the disease in an Irish context now number 23,135. However, that number is the lowest seen since last Thursday, and represents a return to the low levels of positive test results last seen in late March.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s figure of 236 new cases, which appeared to represent a resurgence of sorts on the part of the illness, had been incorrectly reported, Dr Holohan said.
He added that, as things stand, he is “hopeful” of delivering a positive recommendation to the Government regarding the pending first relaxation of restrictions on May 18.
Meanwhile, more than one third of children with special needs are not getting proper educational support since the closure of schools, according to a new survey.
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Parents have also complained about the lack of access to suitable educational materials and no clarity of what is expected from them, the poll for Inclusion Ireland has found.
It also found some children have had hardly any contact from their school since March 12 when they closed. Nearly four in five parents said their child is not motivated to learn at home, while more than half said returning to school will be difficult.
Among the supports that parents feel are most needed for their children are speech therapy (43%), occupational therapy (40%) and behavioural psychologist (40%).
One mother who featured anonymously in the report she has had no contact from her son’s school since the lockdown even though she has actively sought it out.
“The only people in his life apart from immediate family are educators and health professionals and it would be very important to see those people from a human point of view apart from learning. He hasn’t seen sight nor sound from anybody in the school. It’s appalling on his behalf in terms of his needs. And parents are not equipped to deal with the stress that comes from the withdrawal of supports," the mother said.
CEO of Inclusion Ireland, Enda Egan, said home education is not working well for most families who have a child with an intellectual disability or autism: “There are huge barriers to educating at home for parents, who are not teachers in most cases. Some parents state that their child presents with behaviours that can be a challenge or have poor attention skills that require the support of a skilled teacher and not a parent.”
The survey also found that just over 10% of children have no access to any technology at all for schoolwork.
Other organisations have reported mixed results in terms of educational services for children with disabilities. Adam Harris, CEO of the As I Am autism charity said the quality of engagement from schools for children is a postcode lottery.
