Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
NEW YORK’S CORONAVIRUS death toll has topped 10,000 and the worldwide number of confirmed cases is closing in on two million as discussion moves to easing lockdown restrictions.
The brunt of the disease has been felt most heavily in New York, Italy, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, but grim projections of a virus that would spread with equal ferocity to other corners of America and the world have not yet materialised.
In Ireland, there are now 10,647 confirmed cases and 365 people have died here.
An online dashboard that tracks the global number of confirmed coronavirus cases, maintained by Johns Hopkins University, showed the number of cases passing 2,000,000 in the early hours today but the site was later adjusted to show 1.9 million cases worldwide, with the reasons for the change not immediately clear.
When it passes the 2 million mark, it’ll mean the number of cases have doubled worldwide in less than two weeks.
Many parts of the world have had heavy restrictions on freedom of movement to combat Covid-19, and officials around the world are worried that halting quarantine and social-distancing measures could easily undo the hard-earned progress.
However, there were signs countries were looking in that direction.
Spain permitted some workers to return to their jobs, while a hard-hit region of Italy loosened its lockdown restrictions.
Governors on both coasts of the US announced that they would join forces to come up with a coordinated reopening at some point, setting the stage for a potential conflict with US president Donald Trump, who asserted that he is the ultimate decision-maker for determining how and when to reopen.
In the US, about half of the more than 22,000 deaths reported are in the New York metropolitan area.
Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins’ tracking maps showed a dense patchwork of coronavirus cases along the Northeast corridor, as well as significant outbreaks corresponding to other major metropolitan areas – though nothing on the scale of what New York has endured.
Dr Sebastian Johnston, a professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London, said it appeared that Covid-19 had peaked in much of Europe, including France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK.
He was worried the virus might now start to take off in countries across Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia.
South Korea today reported its 13th day in a row with fewer than 100 confirmed cases of the virus, as infections continued to wane in the worst-hit city of Daegu and nearby towns.
Hot spots may yet emerge as states lift stay-at-home orders, said Dr Christopher Murray, director of the University of Washington institute that created widely cited projections of virus-related deaths.
He pointed to states where the number of Covid-19 cases is still climbing, such as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida.
He said: “Don’t consider relaxing social distancing in the near term.
“You need to stay the course.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
GREAT IDEA.
Once they’re aware all these projects in Ireland will come in 100% OVER budget and late
And who is going to do the work?
We don’t have enough builders to build desperately needed houses as it is without syphoning off more of them for retrofitting.
I’m not suggesting climate change isn’t real but unfortunately homelessness is a greater crisis at the moment.
All grants for retrofitting should be paused for at least a decade.
@P.J. Nolan: you are on here every day claiming there isn’t builders. I’ve had to set you straight about 5 times now. Also people who are retrofitting insulation will be completely different to the ones building housing, it’s not done by insulation companies it’s done by the dry lining or carpentry crews and the externals by either the brick layers or cladding crews. And even then it’s usually the labourers or apprentices doing it
@Martin Mongan:
And as I have asked you before, if there is no shortage why do SF say it will at least 10 years to sort out the housing crisis?
They are right, it will, at least.
@P.J. Nolan: because it takes time to build something….? Do you think we just click our fingers and houses pop up? Do you understand the processes you have to go through to even just buy the land, nevermind the design and planning stage. Ground works alone can take more then a year depending on the size
@P.J. Nolan: well Intel’s big job is slowly wrapping up so that’ll free up workers
@Martin Mongan: well we have 100k of Ukrainians and at least 12k/ year of IPAS applicants all on the scratcher. Maybe if we trained them they might build a few.
@Thomas Hayes: they’d have to legally allowed work first
They couldn’t give a flying retrofit about the homeless or those with homes for that matter.Those that rely on fossil fuel will continue to be taxed and penalised.
@Patrick Presley: Who is they?
Trust in the EU machine being eroded fast across eu citizens. Changing times indeed.
@Mike 100: Is it? Source? Or just a warm fuzzy feeling in your pants?
How do you retrofit a tent for homeless people who can’t afford a roof over their heads because rental prices are too high or people who look at an empty fridge for the same reason?
The dynamics of society are volatile as ideologues chase conceptual rainbows of climate change modelling and act out solutions that have nothing to do with planetary climate.
The emergence of the maga crowd in the USA is no accident in reaction to an equally vacuous and pretentious group that dominates an educational, cultural and social-political clique.
26 years is plenty of time for this plan to go nowhere, as happens with a lot of these grandiose, long-term schemes. That means, of course, that large sums of money will inevitably change hands in the meantime, with several fortunes no doubt being made. Most of those involved will have long retired or passed away by 2050. Ciarán Cuffe will be 87. There’ll be no one left around to explain how the plan just sort of petered out with very little to show for it. That’s assuming there’s still an EU in 26 years, and I would have some doubts in that regard. Times and attitudes change, and no treaty lasts forever…
The biggest issue is energy generation. Increase the use of nuclear power and close down coal generation. This is the main cause of emissions. Once our energy generation is carbon neutral then run the transport system of it and over half emmisons will dissappear. But no. It will be taxes and restrictions on individuals instead .
better make it 2 trillion cos once it comes to Ireland everything will be 100%+ over budget
Looking forward to learning more about this at the upcoming ZEB Summit
I’ll send them on my address for the retrofit seeing it’s like a half way house here anyway !!
Green building plan .
Held shares in 6 oil companies.
That does not sound like a green plan to me .
Green party are full of bull.
have your say