Galway Bay FM Newsroom – The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 3 additional deaths related to COVID-19.

1 death occurred in March and 1 in January*.

There has been a total of 4,422 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight, Saturday 6th March, the HPSC has been notified of 525 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 223,219** confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today:

• 271 are men / 254 are women
• 74% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 31 years old
• 214 in Dublin, 37 in Meath, 28 in Offaly, 28 in Limerick and 25 in Wicklow and the remaining 193 cases are spread across 19 other counties***.

As of 8am today, 423 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 103 are in ICU. 14 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of March 4^th, 493,873 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

• 346,256 people have received their first dose
• 147,617 people have received their second dose

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community including daily data on Ireland’s COVID-19 Vaccination Programme.

*There is one death where the date of death is under investigation.

**Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 5 confirmed cases. The figure of 223,219 confirmed cases reflects this.

***County data should be considered provisional as the national Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting System (CIDR) is a dynamic system and case details are continually being validated and updated.

Today’s cases, 5-day moving average of new cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 06 March 2021) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

~The 5-day moving average of the number of new cases provides an appropriate indicator of current daily case numbers within a county. It takes account of any validation of cases for previous days and smooths out daily/weekend fluctuations in case numbers.

• 7-day incidence 76.6
• 5-day moving average 520

Galway Bay FM Newsroom – A Galway City East Councillor has said that there must be no outdoor charges for Pubs and restaurants in Galway city that have outdoor furniture for twelve months when they eventually reopen.

Councillor Alan Cheevers believes that the local authority must do everything they can to support businesses to get back on their feet again and said that the government needs to support those businesses that have been seriously affected by Covid over the last twelve months.

Any pub or restaurant in the city that has outdoor furniture on their premises must pay a charge to Galway City council which varies according to the amount of outdoor furniture they have.

Councillor Cheevers said that these charges should be waived and for everything to be done to maintain jobs in this sector

Galway Bay FM Newsroom – GMIT have announced an exciting programme of events to make International Women’s Day on Monday using the theme ‘Choose to challenge’.

International Women’s Day will celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and is a collective day of global celebration and a call for gender equality.

GMIT is marking this special day with a series of virtual events running throughout the day from public talks and seminars to an art exhibition delivered by GMIT staff, students and special guests including a TD.

The series kicks off at 10.30am with a ‘Coffee break with poetry and prose’, where budding and established writers within GMIT will read some of their work. This is followed by a lunchtime seminar from 1 to 2pm where five 10-minute presentations will be given on contemporary and historical themes or figures relating to gender and equality.  The presentations will be delivered by lecturers and academics in the Mayo campus in a forum chaired by GMIT’s Dr John Mulloy.

An art exhibition titled ‘My Space’ will be formally launched online at 2.30pm.  Third year students of the BA in Contemporary Art Practices programme in GMIT Mayo are showcasing their work in progress.  The work will be introduced by art lecturer Hazel Walker and ranges from drawing, painting, print, 3D work, animation, and digital experiments, reflecting themes incorporating personal histories, physical, digital and metaphysical spaces, including domestic challenges encountered in dealing with day-to-day life during the pandemic. 

At 3pm, an online event takes place titled ‘In conversation with’ …. Mayo Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh, Dr Orla Flynnand BA Social Care student Amina Momoh will take part in a discussion about gender equality and challenges women face and overcome in different contexts.

The Galway International Hotel School is also hosting an event: Jacinta Dalton, Head of Department Culinary Arts, in association with Dr Sally McKenna and the Ludgate Hub will host a virtual “Women in Irish Food” event. This will consist of key panel discussions around industry topics and virtual networking parallel sessions for those in food or interested in food. Details will be published via @gmithotel social media on the day.

Mary Nestor, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager at GMIT, says: “We are excited to hold such a broad range of events to mark this important day where the achievements of women are celebrated and given the recognition they deserve.  Challenges related to the pandemic have intensified inequalities for many women and it is important to create a forum to discuss and celebrate women’s contribution to society in a positive and affirmative way.”

Dr Orla Flynn, President of GMIT, says “I am delighted that two of our outstanding women who are exemplary leaders in their respective areas in our institute, Mary Rogers, Head of the GMIT Department of Building & Civil Engineering and Maria Staunton, GMIT Mayo iHub Manager and EMPOWER Coordinator, will feature in this year’s THEA International Women’s Day Digital Campaign, which will be unveiled on THEA’s website and on social media platforms on 8 March”.