Covid 19 Part XXXV-956,720 ROI (5,952 deaths) 452,946 NI (3,002 deaths) (08/01) Read OP

podgeandrodge

We are at a stage that it really has to come down to making personal choices. So those that are elderly/vulnerable have to make decisions according to that, depending on their circumstances. Equally, those that are younger or healthy will want to carry out normal lives as much as possible, which is pretty much where we are, other than irritating covid tests to travel, and masks in shops which perhaps are a bit dubious at this point. (If masks are worn to protect the shop workers, why aren't customers of hospitality having to wear masks to protect the bar staff? Not arguing for this, just saying!

Apothic_Red

I was down in Tullamore over the weekend doing work in a friends apartment.

The balcony overlooks a beer garden that was hopping with a DJ from about 6pm. Felt weird even observing it from afar, it's like my mind was processing witnessing a crime in progress. Gonna take some time to unlearn this reaction.

Ficheall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557866#Comment_118557866

Not really in situations where people who live with them aren't also cocooning, no. In some other situations, of course, they can.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558378#Comment_118558378

Delta is still around but not at any meaningful level. If your daughter is positive it is very likely Omicron. If you're recovered and vaccinated it may have been enough to protect you from infection. You should continue to follow the close contact guidelines for the next few days but you'll probably be fine.

seamus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558378#Comment_118558378

Yes, but only a very small proportion of cases. Spread can be a bit uneven or unpredictable. In my brother's family one kid tested positive on antigen, then two days later everyone else did except the mother. She kept coming back negative on antigens and didn't come up on PCR until 7 days after the original positive. Then her antigens started coming up positive. So it can be really odd. Down to various factors.

CalamariFritti

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558468#Comment_118558468

I don't know what the solution to that may be.

However I do believe that at some point we need to get away from the idea that we can and/or must protect everyone who chooses to cocoon by forever restricting everyone else.

And I also believe with the current risk rates through vaccinations and the milder and now dominant form of omicron surely that point has already been reached. And it appears that even our officials are thinking the same.

The alternative would be waiting for zero covid / full sterile immunity which so far appears to be pie-in-the-sky stuff. We could be waiting for that a long long time or forever even.

I do understand there will be people struggling to accept whatever risk remains but what is the alternative? Numbers suggest that we certainly are now in the area of corona-is-the-flu (or less even). When do the most risk averse think we can stop?

Downlinz

I feel like there's been very poor communication with how much weaker Omicron is to other variants and I suspect it's because it's not politically opportune to ever acknowledge this since they'd rather backslap themselves for the vaccination program and restrictions rather than accept the pandemic has potentially been ended by a factor completely out of their control.

The data currently on deaths and ICU with the omicron variant would suggest there's no significant threat to life to anyone in any sort of age or underlying condition bracket. Nobody should be cocooning or feel like they have to cocoon at present but I'd understand with the fear and anxiety of a much greater threat over the past two years why many would be reluctant to change so quickly.

timmyntc

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/japans-kowa-says-ivermectin-effective-against-omicron-phase-iii-trial-2022-01-31/

The story that just won't die - Japanese trials of ivermectin show an "antiviral effect" against omicron variant

Deeper Blue

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118559117#Comment_118559117

I agree the communication has been very poor, I keep reading things like "It's believed Omicron could be milder" and "Omicron may be less serious than other variants", implying that it's still unknown.

Obviously it is milder so why not say so.

A lot of people will only watch the likes of RTE and if they're reading vague information like the above then no wonder they're confused and concerned about the sudden reopening.

podgeandrodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118559241#Comment_118559241

Japan only has that now 😲 Sure didn't Boards have this scoop a year ago 😂

seamus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118559916#Comment_118559916

said on Monday anti-parasite drug ivermectin showed an "antiviral effect" against Omicron and other variants of coronavirus in joint non-clinical research.

So, non-human trials, i.e. stuff in petri dishes.

We knew this two years ago. It showed some promise in the lab. Outside of the lab, it failed to deliver any benefit at all.

I wonder does Kowa manufacturer Ivermectin.

Edit: Other sources say that they're in Phase 3 trials at the moment. Still no data though, just the words "antiviral effect" without context or elaboration 🤷‍♂️

I wonder is this a badly interpreted statement re-reported as news.

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118560013#Comment_118560013

From press release it sounds like theyre doing human trials, as they talk about safe dosages. Only place I can find translated press release is below:

https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1488143464881549315

Japanese: https://www.kowa.co.jp/news/2022/press220131.pdf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118559861#Comment_118559861

The communication on everything has been dire and the communication betwen Donnolly and Holohan re antigen tests is bizarre, no other words for it.

You would think antigen werent being used by other European countries or the Uk and being used for months to open up safely. They are being discussed as if they are some snake oil product being used by halfwits who just want to go to the pub. The antigen tests were actually being bought by people in an effort to keep themselves and their families safe.

In the correspondence there is great talk about an education campaign to show the public how to use the tests, another opportunity to give RTE more taxpayers money, this was in November 2021 and the only education we ever got re antigen tests was how to use butter to fake results. Surely at all those unending press conferences someone could have demonstrated how to use an antigen test,its not splitting the atom stuff.

The lack of communication around masks in bizarre too, so many elderly people wearing cloth masks which are of no benefit to them at all. How hard would it be to run a few adds prmoting a better quality masks,I mean we are only going into a third year of covid at this stage. But no stupid pointless adds about people thanking each other for staying at home,load of utter codswallop.

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118560306#Comment_118560306

Very much wait and see. Quite a few potential hopefuls have been brilliant in petri dishes but failed outside of that.

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118560656#Comment_118560656

Press release claims they're conducting phase 3 trials which would be conducted in humans. Presumably if they have observed an "antiviral effect" this would not be solely in vitro as theyd have enough data from human trials by this stage, otherwise why announce you saw an effect in preclinical trials, but not in phase I, II and III trials?

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118560690#Comment_118560690

It's an extremely vague press release. It could be the Japanese way of drafting such things but as it's an approved and safe drug they can probably go straight to Phase III to work out dosage. Long way to go and it could be yet another false dawn.

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118560717#Comment_118560717

as it's an approved and safe drug they can go straight to Phase III to work out dosage.

oh crap yeah I forgot - they may well have done that

giveitholly

I know it isn't covid related but how come we never hear the trolley numbers like we did pre covid?

yourdeadwright

Just tested positive for Covid, first time i guess it was inevitable at some stage,

I reckon the little one brought it home from school, she was coughing over the weekend and tested positive yesterday, We are the only 2 to not have caught uptothis point and now are the only 2 with it

TheDriver

I wonder who is going to be the first country that will actively promote just ignoring it and treat it like any regular illness? More and more people I know are just getting a light illness and finding the long wait at home unnecessary. Surely that brave decision can't be far away and plenty are currently ignoring it anyways.

nocoverart

I’m probably jinxing it here, but it does have the feeling we could be near the end of the Pandemic phase now. We’re probably still in the paranoid mindset of waiting for another Variant but you couldn’t blame us for that.

on a side note, I gave up the smokes recently and there’s not a hope I’d even tackle that when all this sh1t came in nearly two years ago, so there’s that on a pure selfish level.

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563200#Comment_118563200

Why would you actively promote ignoring a disease? The Danes have largely downgraded it, the UK too and we are not far off. The NPHET/HSE position is that we begin to do the same and our last real measure of disease here is the hospitals.

seamus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563200#Comment_118563200

We're basically there at this stage. As @is_that_so says, we're not going to actively tell people to ignore it, ever, but once we start getting on with life without lettng it dominate every decision, then we're at normality.

I know anything pre-Covid is hard to remember at this stage, but the HSE have always run ad campaigns about 'flu awareness during 'flu season, advising people to get vaccinated, wash hands, use tissues, etc.

So this kind of messaging is going to be with us indefinitely. But everything will go back to normal.

cuttingtimber22

I see that the DFA report was out last night. Clear acknowledgement it was a big mistake - in the greater scheme of things it was not nearly as big a mistake as others made during that time. Sinn Fein want another report - do they want an independent report to say it was a massive mistake? Heads to roll?

ganoga

Weekend-long Canada anti-vax protest riles Ottawa (rte.ie)

A "Freedom Convoy" of trucks joined by thousands of demonstrators brought Ottawa to a virtual standstill for a second day yesterday to protest Canada's vaccine mandates

why is protesting vaccine mandates == anti-vax according to rte? Or there was already an anti-vax protest that the truckers decided to join in with?

seamus

The protest about vaccine mandates on principle is a small part of the protest. The vast majority of those in attendance are anti-vax.

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563719#Comment_118563719

Its the same way all anti-restrictions protests in Ireland were "anti-vax", its a catch all slur for anything vaguely anti-restrictions. Doesnt matter how many jabs you've gotten, you could even have all covid jabs - criticize restrictions and youre an anti-vaxxer. Lazy reporting as usual from RTE

ShadowTech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563758#Comment_118563758

How can you possibly known that? Is it not just as easy to claim the opposite? Is this a fact based on data or your opinion expressed as though it’s a fact?

J6P

624 in hospital

Less than 500 by the weekend looks a possibility

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563893#Comment_118563893

He has no clue but he simply cant accept that people willing to be vaccinated themselves respect the rights of those who choose not to be vaccinated.

He cant accept either that many vaccinated people dont want to show papers to get a cup of tea in Starbucks, these people want the Government to get out of their faces and thats why they join protests against mandatory vaccinations.

At the back of their minds is they took a two dose vaccine that turned into a three and could have turned into a four,five or six dose and at that point they might have refused any more of the vaccine and became an anti vaccer themselves.

We now have a situation where large vaccination centres are still in operation and up to 500,000 doses of the vaccines will expire shortly.

Are these vaccination centres empty and if so why arent they closed down, we have pharmacies and GP surgeries to adminiister vaccines efficiently so why are we wasting money on mass vaccination centres.

While the vaccinations we have are expiring we are continuing to receive up to 100,000 doses every week, these will presumably all expire too as if people are unwilling to be boosted now they most certainly will not be boosted in the summer if the covid cert for travel goes.

These vaccines cannot be donated to the poorer countries after arrival to Ireland as they have to be donated directly from the manyfacturers facilities, why are we accepting vaccines we dont need while poorer countries cant get their hands on vaccines.Maybe some will go to waste in the poorer countries too but some will be used as first doses and surely its better to send them to countries with no vaccines than us taking them while we are binning hundreds and thousands of vaccines we already have.