CoVid-19 Part IX - 785 cases ROI (3 deaths) 108 in NI (1 death) (20 March) *Read OP*

My uncle is deteriorating rapidly, from cancer, not COVID19. If he dies in the near future, the family isn’t going to have a funeral because there are quite a few immunocompromised people amongst our ranks. There’s me, my aunt who is 60ish and has a serious autoimmune disease and two of her children, aged early to mid 30s who have a different autoimmune disorder. One of them has it very bad, it almost killed him a few years ago. I’m so sad that we won’t be able to honour my uncle’s life at the time of his passing. But we can’t risk it.

Then, my husband’s aunt is also in the final stages of cancer. Her husband is distraught because the hospital are only allowing him 5 minutes with her a few times a day. They actually set a timer on his visits. I’m not sure why they are doing that. She’s not going to bounce back at this stage. She’s in the final stages of the disease. It seems like they could use their discretion.

I just wanted to share these anecdotes to highlight the human cost. I hope we get a breakthrough of some kind soon: flattening of the curve, an existing medication that might help treat it, a vaccine, anything.

The gender imbalance is striking, anyone know why?