Is 2021 a write off?

dalyboy

Irish Steve wrote: »

So, let's think about holidays abroad this year?

Flight to Playinthesun, bargain basement price to get as many bums on seats as possible €50
PCR test 3 days before flying €150
2 weeks accomodation lets say to be nice it's €300 because everyone out there is desperate to get people to come there
PCR test 3 days before coming home €150
Flight home €50
PCR test after 5 days of self isolation €150

So, 2 weeks in playinthesun is going to cost somewhere around €850 per person, without any food or drink in that price, but remember that your 2 weeks could actually become nearer 4 weeks because you are having to self isolate when you get home.

Now, let's throw another spanner in the works. 3 Days before you come home, you get tested but fail the PCR test in Playinthesun. Your first problem will be finding any accomodation that will take you having failed the PCR test. Good Luck with that, and likely scenario is that you won't have travel insurance to cover that, as none of the insurance companies will be willing to provide that cover, due to the high risk factor.

If you are lucky, you might be able to change your flight home to a different date without having to pay for it again, but depending on the small print, you might not, and when you do eventually get a clear PCR test, another €150, you're still looking at another 2 weeks in self isolation when you get home.

So, if all goes well, and nothing goes wrong, for a family of 4, a couple of cheap off peak weeks in the sun could well end up costing somewhere north of €4000, and if anything goes wrong with that plan, because Covid is not behaving as expected, the costs could be considerably higher, possibly another €700 per person by the time you get home, depending on how many pass or fail the test before coming home. For the peak period of the summer school holidays, try at least doubling that figure.

Not sure that there will be too many takers on that sort of bargain deal! Not sure how many airlines will even bother offering flights to Playinthesun this year, given the problems that there will be getting people over and back without problems. Getting a PCR test 3 days before flying, and having the result before travelling is not going to be easy as things are at the moment, and that's without significant numbers wanting to travel.

It’s possible it’ll play out like you say however there are some twists and turns that could be applied in reality. It’ll all depend on how successful these vaccine roll outs are both in volume and effectiveness.

Also depends on what individual countries require upon entry (PCR , antigen or neither) that will dictate which countries are popular or not.

eg will Spain mandate 72 hour negative PCR tests upon arrival if Portugal or Italy do not require them. They would loose a fortune in tourism.

Admittedly though it’s all up in the air for this summer alrite. Hate to say , wait and see.

PTH2009

Numbers coming down slowly (deaths not sadly) and seems to be progress in the vaccine roll out but when we hear of some hope we are then told 'current restrictions will be extended'

The government need to grow a pair and look at a new 'living with covid plan' with more meaningful openings esp in the Events Entertainment sector, non essential retail. NPHETs advice should only be health and should not be allowed comment on anything outside of that. All of the Hospitality sector opened up for the summer with less severe restrictions, tourism opened up fully. The return of outdoor concerts/sporting attendances with the aim of resuming indoor shows coming into the Autumn/winter.

Personal responsibility should be the key phrase pushed for 2021

PTH2009

PTH2009 wrote: »

Numbers coming down slowly (deaths not sadly) and seems to be progress in the vaccine roll out but when we hear of some hope we are then told 'current restrictions will be extended'

The government need to grow a pair and look at a new 'living with covid plan' with more meaningful openings esp in the Events Entertainment sector, non essential retail. NPHETs advice should only be health and should not be allowed comment on anything outside of that. All of the Hospitality sector opened up for the summer with less severe restrictions, tourism opened up fully. The return of outdoor concerts/sporting attendances with the aim of resuming indoor shows coming into the Autumn/winter.

Personal responsibility should be the key phrase pushed for 2021

after the mess of xmas,and fallout here....i cant see it happening

But the EU are trying to push the countries to have 70% of adults vaccinated by summer....which hopefully would make a massive difference

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

after the mess of xmas,and fallout here....i cant see it happening

But the EU are trying to push the countries to have 70% of adults vaccinated by summer....which hopefully would make a massive difference

70% will definitely make a difference. I don't know if it will mean large scale events but certainly we won't be in lockdown.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

70% will definitely make a difference. I don't know if it will mean large scale events but certainly we won't be in lockdown.

Its a big ask....hopefully they can do it,im skeptical they will,talking to mates,some issues arising in north already and disappointment surronding a 2nd jab delays



Would love more than anything to be standing on town end in thurles by end of the summer though

joseywhales

Eventually all the stimulus will dry up, therefore it could be worse than 2020. Having said that the medical situation should improve massively.

Away With The Fairies

Just had a concert put off till next year again. I should be getting the vaccine in September which is one of the last groups. But I don't even see September as being reasonable for some normal at this stage. How can promotors sell tickets in advance when they don't know what's happening.

Hellrazer

Deleted User wrote: »

70% will definitely make a difference. I don't know if it will mean large scale events but certainly we won't be in lockdown.

I really hope to get away in August but something is telling me Tony wont be happy until 99.999999999999999% of our population is vaccinated and we`ll still be locked down for the summer.

I really hope it doesnt come to pass though.

Dublins paddys day parade is gone

GazzaL

Deleted User wrote: »

Dublins paddys day parade is gone

We'll all go abroad for Paddy's Day, because you can be sure that it'll be properly celebrated in other parts of the world. What a shambles this country has become under NPHET's leadership.

michellie

My 11 month old beautiful baby niece died New years day so yes, it's a write off for us anyway.

Happy ****ing new year, I officially hate that saying.

michellie

michellie wrote: »

My 11 month old beautiful baby niece died New years day so yes, it's a write off for us anyway.

Happy ****ing new year, I officially hate that saying.

Jesus.....i hope your family will be ok

W123-80's

I think 2021 is a total write off.

I miss everything and I want life to go back to normal ASAP.

If this vaccine was the golden bullet everyone seems to think it will be you should be able to put a relatively accurate timeline on when we will go back to normal. Even if that timeline didn't allow pubs etc to open until December '21 or even early '22.
For example xx million vaccinated by xx date - reopen schools
xx million vaccinated by xx date reopen hospitality under restrictions
and so on...

The fact that this is not even being discussed in the context of reopening society or in the context of a living with covid19 plan makes me think the sting in the tail is a much less efficacious vaccine than originally hoped for.

I honestly think vaccine efficacy is the elephant in the room.
To be absolutely clear, I am not for a second suggesting the vaccine is dangerous. I will take it as soon as its my turn.
I fear that Pfizer, Oxford etc over the next few months will start telling us that the efficacy is not as high and also dealing with new strains is proving difficult so there is further research, development and testing required.

I think the powers that be also fear this may be the case, hence why we are all in the dark about when we go back to normal. Despite multiple vaccines being approved and administered.
Even if bureaucracy and incompetence slow the vaccine rollout, we should still be able to put a timeline on when things get back to normal. Just make it a really really long timeline!!

For that reason I think 2021 is a write off.

KaneToad

There is loads of things that I don't miss about how things used to be.

I hope his horrendous crisis isn't wasted and that we use the opportunity provided to make permanent changes in how we deal with

Housing
Transport
Remote working
Education
Healthcare

Away With The Fairies

michellie wrote: »

My 11 month old beautiful baby niece died New years day so yes, it's a write off for us anyway.

Happy ****ing new year, I officially hate that saying.

So sorry to hear this

Away With The Fairies

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Dublins paddys day parade is gone

Does anyone know if the taoiseach will still be going off to America for Paddy's Day? Seems unfair cancelling Paddy's Day for a second year if he gets to fly off.

DessieJames

Tony Holohan and his minions appear to be lockdown enthuisasts, but as many have alluded to already i believe you'd see a very different situation if they or any of the government had to try and get by on just over €200 a week, it's not a problem for Holohan on his substantial salary ,but for those who are struggling on the pandemic payment it's a major struggle with rent,bills and food to buy, just how long can people can take this, theres a line you cross and theres no going back,and all because they have made a complete and utter mess of the whole thing since the outset.:mad:

DessieJames

Away With The Fairies wrote: »

Does anyone know if the taoiseach will still be going off to America for Paddy's Day? Seems unfair cancelling Paddy's Day for a second year if he gets to fly off.

There will be absolute uproar id he goes and expects people to stay within 5km and live life as a hermit, the elite seem to do as they please and everyone else has to suck it up.

PTH2009

How can you not be angry

Paddys Day officially cancelled weeks out (I suppose the organisers had to told in advance)
Seems the vaccine roll out could be a lot slower than we were told
Lockdown been extended which will last til April
Schools all over the shop in regards openings
Summer not looking too good either with zero chance of normality returning

Expect a 'big rise' in the numbers tonight too scare us again

****ing shambles

GazzaL

PTH2009 wrote: »

How can you not be angry

Paddys Day officially cancelled weeks out (I suppose the organisers had to told in advance)
Seems the vaccine roll out could be a lot slower than we were told
Lockdown been extended which will last til April
Schools all over the shop in regards openings
Summer not looking too good either with zero chance of normality returning

Expect a 'big rise' in the numbers tonight too scare us again

****ing shambles

It's a joke, but more and more people are seeing it for what it is. You may not see a revolt like in Poland or Italy, but the grey economy will be thriving as a lot of people aren't happy to sit on their hands for the taxable PUP. The country will unofficially reopen before the clowns in Dublin announce it.

Real Donald Trump

PTH2009 wrote: »

How can you not be angry

Paddys Day officially cancelled weeks out (I suppose the organisers had to told in advance)
Seems the vaccine roll out could be a lot slower than we were told
Lockdown been extended which will last til April
Schools all over the shop in regards openings
Summer not looking too good either with zero chance of normality returning

Expect a 'big rise' in the numbers tonight too scare us again

****ing shambles

No end in sight, pretty depressing

growleaves

GazzaL wrote: »

It's a joke, but more and more people are seeing it for what it is. You may not see a revolt like in Poland or Italy, but the grey economy will be thriving as a lot of people aren't happy to sit on their hands for the taxable PUP. The country will unofficially reopen before the clowns in Dublin announce it.

Communist countries in the Soviet sphere had an "underground free market" where trade was carried on surreptitiously. That is what we've been reduced to.

Lets face it, even if the vaccine is rolled out and all the restrictions are lifted we could be shut down again at any time - based on "carbon emissions" or something else.

Once people accept the principle that our right to live and work and see our families is a purely technical issue dependent on pseudo-objective statistics then we have given up having any say. Dire.

Mr. Karate

DessieJames wrote: »

Tony Holohan and his minions appear to be lockdown enthuisasts,

10 months into this nonsense and you just came to that conclusion? We can't even re-open for an hour without the wannabe Hitler looking for excuses to lockdown again.

Mr. Karate

DessieJames wrote: »

There will be absolute uproar id he goes and expects people to stay within 5km and live life as a hermit, the elite seem to do as they please and everyone else has to suck it up.

That should have been the cop on last year that this virus wasn't as deadly they played it up to be. The same people from Govt and media fear mongering telling us to stay at home or we'll kill grandma were cheering on the BLM rallies. And ofcourse Golfgate and other instances where our "betters" were found not following their own mandates.

The Irish should have forced re openings and a return to normality then and there.

DessieJames

Mr. Karate wrote: »

10 months into this nonsense and you just came to that conclusion? We can't even re-open for an hour without the wannabe Hitler looking for excuses to lockdown again.

well yeah for thre first few months no one knew but he is definitely a lock down fanatic,dispicable man he is

DessieJames

Mr. Karate wrote: »

That should have been the cop on last year that this virus wasn't as deadly they played it up to be. The same people from Govt and media fear mongering telling us to stay at home or we'll kill grandma were cheering on the BLM rallies. And ofcourse Golfgate and other instances where our "betters" were found not following their own mandates.

The Irish should have forced re openings and a return to normality then and there.

if they keep extending these lock downs then people really will say enough is enough and continue on with their lifes as best they can, this is like living in a dictatorship, lock downs as we have seen do not get rid of the virus, it's kicking the can down the road and at what cost to the ecomomy, peoples livelyhoods and mental health, i believe the actual effects from all these lock downs will have far more serious consequences than covid ever will in the months and years to come.

Le Bruise

Mr. Karate wrote: »

That should have been the cop on last year that this virus wasn't as deadly they played it up to be. The same people from Govt and media fear mongering telling us to stay at home or we'll kill grandma were cheering on the BLM rallies. And ofcourse Golfgate and other instances where our "betters" were found not following their own mandates.

The Irish should have forced re openings and a return to normality then and there.

You are aware of the rise in cases, hospitalisations, ICU numbers and subsequent deaths since we briefly opened up at Christmas? No one wants to lockdown (me especially as half my business relies on crowds gathering)...but unfortunately it's necessary to keep this thing at bay until we can vaccinate enough people and protect ourselves.

Agreed on your 'what's good for the goose' point though. If you're going to ask people to put their lives on hold, have the courtesy to follow your own rules!

Mr. Karate

Le Bruise wrote: »

You are aware of the rise in cases, hospitalisations, ICU numbers and subsequent deaths since we briefly opened up at Christmas? No one wants to lockdown (me especially as half my business relies on crowds gathering)...but unfortunately it's necessary to keep this thing at bay until we can vaccinate enough people and protect ourselves.

Its their own bloody fault for that. What did they expect would happen locking us down/heavily restricting us for 10 months when we finally got some freedom? If people had the confidence that the lockdown would only last for a few weeks [anything over a month is ridiculous] they would have more discipline, but when they don't know when they can see their friends,family again you can't be surprised when people try to do too much in such a short amount of time. Hell, they couldn't even let us enjoy a full day of being out of lockdown without them talking about the next lockdown [this one] like its already a done deal.

Agreed on your 'what's good for the goose' point though. If you're going to ask people to put their lives on hold, have the courtesy to follow your own rules!

Thanks. This has been the most infuriating part of this whole thing [besides the constant extensions when it wasn't needed] The people who keep telling us to sacrifice for the greater good need to start doing it themselves.

douglashyde

If the efficacy of the vaccine is 90% and vaccination doesn't stop transmission (which it likely won't) source, then I don't see a path back to our old normal way of living as Tony & pals will say there's still people at risk even with the vaccination rolled out.

The fact is NPHET have moved the goal posts on this, time and time again; the will of the majority of Irish people is in support of lockdowns - I think due to unfound fear driven by NPHET, the media and a lack of political backbone to question the data.

There needs to be a shift in broad public perception which needs to be led by government. I personally would like to see lobby & interest groups across all fields really pile on the pressure when we're out of our winter respiratory season and hospital numbers get lower.

Van.Bosch

Barbara Tight Ram wrote: »

Covid 0 is the only way out now that'll give us a normal summer. Political will for it isn't there unfortunately.

Say we go for zero Covid, ignore the border for a moment and say we achieve it. What then? We would be in a great position but we would not be able to travel until others did the same?