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COVID-19: Every Day Counts (Yes, Including Easter!) 👩‍⚕️ . . 👩‍⚕️As we head into Easter weekend, I wanted to share this reminder. To be honest, at this stage I don’t even know what day it is, but in our pre-pandemic world, Easter weekend was a time for celebration, for family gatherings, for chocolate (obvs), & for social gathering. However, as we’re all acutely aware, our world is very different in 2020 to 2019 & the years preceding it. We ARE in the midst of a global pandemic, & the extent of the impact of that in Ireland is quite literally in our hands. . . 👩‍⚕️You see the news & social media every day. You’ve seen Italy. Spain. France. The USA. The rising case numbers & deaths in the UK, & here. You’ve heard about #flattenthecurve – I think most people get that by now. And I know these are tough times – trust me, I know. The encouraging signs we’ve seen in Ireland of our efforts so far in terms of case numbers, contacts per case reducing & compliance with #stayinghome & #socialdistancing are brilliant – but we CANNOT get complacent now. . . 👩‍⚕️We have to keep our efforts up, be consistent & more compliant than ever before. People are still dying every day from COVID-19 here & across the globe. More people admitted to hospital & ICU every day. The numbers in our daily updates are real people. They are grandparents, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends – they are OUR people. Our loved ones. Our losses. . . 👩‍⚕️Good weather or bad weather, Easter celebration or not, every SINGLE DAY counts. Every time we stay home, wash your hands, practice social distancing, self-isolate if unwell, restrict your movements if advised, cocoon – we SAVE LIVES. How often can we all say that? . . 👩‍⚕️I said this on Sunday on my IG Stories & I’ll say it again – this is my plea for the next 7-10 days to you all. Follow the life-saving public health advice we have been told time & time again. Spread this message. Spread the facts. Stay home. Stay connected. Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Keep safe. Be kind. . . #theirishbalance #COVID19 #stayhome #stopthespread #spreadthefactsnotthevirus
🎧 PODCAST 🎧 COVID-19: Your Questions Answered with Dr. Laura Lenihan and Dr. Cliodhna Ni Bhuachalla 🎧 . . 🎧I think this is one of my favourite Podcast episodes I have recorded to date! In this episode I'm joined by two fellow doctors - Dr. Laura Lenihan, general practitioner and @drlauragp on Instagram, and Dr. Cliodhna Ní Bhuachalla, specialist in Clinical Microbiology and public health doctor, and @c_ni_bhuachalla on Instagram. It's fantastic to have been able to get the three of us together to discuss COVID-19, both broadly and especially in the Irish context as that's where we all work. We are hoping this will be a first Podcast of at least two so do let us know if you wanna see us do another episode 😊 . . 👩‍⚕️In this episode, we decided to address some commonly asked questions from you guys by looking at key areas in relation to COVID-19 - spread/transmission, survival of the virus on surfaces, pregnancy and the key steps we can all take to protect ourselves and our loved ones during this pandemic. . . 👩‍⚕️I want to say a big thank you to both Laura and Cliodhna for giving up their time outside of work to record this episode. Hopefully we will be able to record a Part 2 chat soon! If you tune into this episode please do let us know - tag myself @theirishbalance, Laura @drlauragp and Clíodhna @c_ni_bhuachalla in your Instagram Stories, send us a message, or leave a comment on the Podcast! Don't forget to as always subscribe if you haven't and give the Podcast a bit of love so it reaches more people 💕💕 . . 👩‍⚕️ #theirishbalance #COVID19 #podcast #theirishbalancepodcast #flattenthecurve #stopthespread #spreadthefactsnotthevirus #coronavirus
The Irish Balance Yoga Flow 🧘‍♀️ . . 🧘‍♀️ I am SO EXCITED to bring you guys my very own YOGA flow! Over the past few months I've found I've gotten braver on my yoga mat - moving from YouTube to trying sequences by @yogaru_ireland to just practising myself and seeing where my body takes me in the flow. I reached out to my awesome friend & yoga teacher (and graphic designer!) Ruth Delahunty, creator of Yogaru. Many of you will have seen me share Ruth's sequcnes before! . . 🧘‍♀️ Ruth brought to life the yoga flow I've created and been doing a few times each week for the past few months, especially this year. It feels like a home on my mat when I do it - like a movement comfort blanket. I really wanted to see if I could bring it to you guys to try at home - and thanks to Ruth, I can and have today! . . 🧘‍♀️ I'm no yoga teacher - I'm a doctor who loves yoga, and I found I connected with it at a time in my life when stress was high in & outside of work and I was injured. Yoga for me has always been about what I CAN do, and what it has brought me OFF the mat was more surprising than anything else. It helped me to learn to love, respect & appreciate my body, and to slowwwww down - something we could all do with a bit of these days. . . 🧘‍♀️ There's a short blog post linked to The Irish Balance Yoga Flow on my website which is linked in my Stories & on my Linktree too! You'll find instructions for the sequence there although thanks to Ruth the image explains itself really well 😊 A massive thank you to Ruth for bringing this flow to life - I am so grateful (and she also created my logo too!)💕 . . 🧘‍♀️ Please tag us if you try this yoga flow out - we would love to see it! Happy Sunday to you all - don't forget to wash your hands, keep your distance & stay home! 💕 #theirishbalance #yogaru #yogaflow #yogasequence #yoga
COVID-19: Who Are YOU Staying Home For? 🙋‍♀️ . . 💕 I asked YOU guys this earlier today on my Stories and the answers warmed my heart & made me smile. From family to healthcare workers to essential service workers to the vulnerable to the elderly to our country to the life you're excited for when the worst of this is past us (phew!) - you guys are motivated to stay home for many reasons both similar & different, but ALL so admirable. I think its KEY that we remind ourselves why we #stayhome every single day and especially the further we go into this pandemic. . . 💕 Here's a few reasons why I stay home, & who I'm helping protect by doing so 👇 . . ❤ My family. We might be on different sides of the country but we can WhatsApp video call while #stayinghome - and do Zoom family quizzes which I'm great at coming last in 😂 ❤ My Nana. Enough said 💕 ❤ My housemate, who like me is an essential healthcare worker & a very good friend of mine too. ❤ My fellow healthcare workers, including the amazing friends I have working in the health system, especially on the frontline. We NEED people to stay home so we can go to work for them. ❤ My public health team - showing up day in day out to serve local & national needs. ❤ My community. Every time you stay home, you reduce your social contacts, & you definitely help to save lives. ❤ My country. Cheesy, but true. Now more than ever our actions directly affect the lives of others, especially the vulnerable & elderly members of our society. ❤ Myself. I want to be able to look back on this pandemic & say that I, that we, did EVERYTHING in our control to #stayhome , #stopthespread & #flattenthecurve . . . ❤ Our country, & our essential service workers in particular (healthcare & non-healthcare alike) are working so damn hard around the clock in our efforts against COVID19. They, we, deserve our best at staying home. Never before has such a simple request had the potential to save so many lives. . . 👇 Leave a comment below & tell me why you #stayhome ! #theirishbalance #COVID19
PODCAST 🎧 COVID19 & Minding Your Mental Health with Joe O'Brien @headfirst0 🎧 . . 🎧 Guys I am so delighted to be bringing a second Podcast episode of the week! Today's episode is with Joe O'Brien, trainee health psychologist, researcher, writer & educator, AND of course the creator of the @headfirst0 Instagram platform & Podcast. Joe has been a guest on my Podcast previously chatting about mental health and I really wanted to record an episode with him to discuss taking care of our mental health during this uncertain time. . . 🎧 We covered a lot in this episode - dealing with uncertainty, maintaining boundaries around social media while using it to stay connected, balancing staying up to date with information overload, & focusing on what we CAN do including maintaining routine in our day. I hope you guys enjoy this episode and do tag myself and Joe in your stories if you tune in! You can listen on Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts & Podbean! Enjoy and happy FriYay to you all 💕 Stay safe, stay home, mind your mental health & wash your hands 👏 #theirishbalance #mentalhealth #COVID19
COVID-19: What IS Contact Tracing?👩‍⚕️ . . 👩‍⚕️A post to explain what contact tracing IS, why it’s important & some of the changes to it in Ireland this week 👇 . . 👩‍⚕️A contact is a person who has been in contact with COVID-19 (context dependent). Because COVID19 can be spread from person to person, certain contacts of persons with confirmed COVID19 are at an increased risk of picking up the virus. . . 👩‍⚕️Contacts can be defined as ‘close contacts’ or ‘casual contacts’ depending on certain criteria. Contact tracing is the process of identifying & monitoring contacts to ensure they remain well and do not develop symptoms of COVID19. If they develop symptoms they can be identified & treated quickly! Close contact can mean (rough guide) - spending more than 15 minutes face-to-face contact within 2 metres of an infected person & living in the same house or shared accommodation as an infected person. . . 👏An encouraging sign we have seen in Ireland is that the number of contacts per case has dropped over the past couple of weeks - from 20, to 5, and most recently to 3! That’s absolutely brilliant to see, & means people ARE listening to the public health advice we’ve been given around #selfisolation #socialdistancing & restricting movements. . . 👩‍⚕️A change we have seen this week is that we are now starting contact tracing from 48 hours BEFORE symptom onset of a person diagnosed with COVID19. Previously, we were starting this on the day of symptom onset. This change has arisen from an evidence report published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention & Control (ECDC) on contact tracing on Tuesday - the second update they’ve done. This report stated ‘a case may already be infectious up to 48 hours before onset of symptoms.’ This statement was based on a summary of case reports & modelling data - however, other studies have shown no significant difference in viral load between asymptomatic & presymptomatic patients. Ireland has always aligned with WHO & ECDC COVID19 guidance as new evidence emerges. This change is supported by increased contact tracing capacity here! . . 👩‍⚕️ Help us help you. Stay at home & stay informed. #theirishbalance #COVID19

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