Relaxation of Restrictions, Part XII *Read OP For Mod Warnings*

Quags

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118544405#Comment_118544405

This is now the sad state some people will have, we have all being battered the last 2 years with Covid Ads, Daily Figures, Media were only short of reporting you would die if you stepped outside and seen another human. The mental health of this country was never looked after and many will need that support soon I think

Penfailed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545697#Comment_118545697

Good news...although the yellow stickers didn't bother me in the slightest, it's a sign that things are going the right way.

freshpopcorn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545697#Comment_118545697

They got rid of them in my one to and the stupid traffic lights thing but to fair they rarely used it.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118543717#Comment_118543717

This is very true, scientific fact is all these people will reason with, show them the science that the virus no longer gets transmitted through handshakes, hugging, or handling cash and we will breakthrough to them

We know masks help so I can see that one taking much longer to catch on

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545697#Comment_118545697

Those stickers were mainly for social distancing which is no longer a requirement. My local Tesco did the same but the signs about wearing masks are still up as they are required, sign of the times changing

SodiumCooled

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545193#Comment_118545193

There is a large gap between the amount received in subsidies and the money coming in when fully open and running, the insurance should be making up at least some of this gap.

Think of it like income protection for a person. If you have none you get illness benefit if out sick, barely enough (or not enough) to survive. If you have income protection you still get the illness benefit but you get another large proportion of your salary paid by the insurance bringing you up to a fairly good percentage of your overall income. Insurance companies get away with far too much, we need to see them challenged and defeated far more often, they are making a fortune off the backs of ordinary people and will do anything to get out of their obligations.

Blut2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545919#Comment_118545919

I'm as against restrictions as anyone but to be honest every winter the HSE should really run quite intensive "if you're sick, stay at home, don't go to work/socialise" campaigns like that commercial but with a slightly better framing. It would really help limit the spread of all infectious diseases, not just covid.

Pre-covid it was far too socially acceptable in Ireland to be on the bus, in a pub, in the office or elsewhere and have people around you coughing and sneezing away very obviously sick but "powering through".

DLink

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546327#Comment_118546327

That is all well and good, but until employers start paying sick pay, people will keep going in to work. Special allowances are being made for covid right now, but once it fades away, old employer habits will return.

MilkyToast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546327#Comment_118546327

It's just not feasible to have people out of work every time they get a cold. They last 1-2 weeks. Parents of young children would barely be in work at all when their children start school. Fine if they want to make recommendations about diet, vitamins, hand washing and not coughing directly in people's faces, but we also understand very little about pathogens, immunity and the human body, in the grand scheme of things.

It's been less than a decade since scientists discovered that the immune response caused by exposure to pathogens in childhood may cause beneficial epigenetic changes in the body that prevent or ameliorate some inflammatory diseases, so it's worth investigating whether we'd be doing more harm than good for the sake of a few days of discomfort before we sterilise the world.

DLink

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546517#Comment_118546517

The 5 minute rule never hurt anybody..... unless it's toast that lands butter side down on carpet ☠️🤣

MilkyToast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546686#Comment_118546686

DUDE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE FIVE SECONDS OMG

DLink

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546724#Comment_118546724

Oh...... 🤣

Blut2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546442#Comment_118546442

The vast majority of white collar employers offer sick pay, I've never worked in a job that didn't have it. Employees just regularly choose not to use it to try to earn brownie points, or because managers pressure them not to.

Thats obviously not every field of work, but normalizing the shaming of sick people coming to the work place starting in white collar roles would eventually filter downwards. Approx 40% of the working population are ABC1 social class (ie white collar workers), so even having it just for these people in the meantime would also make a big impact on the spread of sickness every winter.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546517#Comment_118546517

What on earth sort of cold are you getting that lasts 2 weeks? Anyone whos not immunocompromised is usually only symptomatic and infectious for a few days. Most people also only catch them a couple times a year at worst. Its perfectly feasible for them to take a few days off sick each time.

"but we also understand very little about pathogens, immunity and the human body," -- this is absolute nonsense. We know very well how infectious diseases spread from person to person. We know the number one way to prevent this from happening, by an absolute mile, is by having sick people isolate at home when they're most infectious (ie symptomatic).

It really shouldn't be a remotely controversial stance to say "if you're noticeably sick you shouldn't be in work, for your own sake and those around you. Just stay at home for a few days". Nobody - the individual who suffers working while sick, the people around them who get infected, the health services who get overloaded, or the tax payer who pays for the health services - wins in a society where going to work sick is normal.

noraos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118546158#Comment_118546158

Thank you for explaining.

AlekSmart

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545973#Comment_118545973

Sad thing is the "Science" has long ago been clear as to formite spread,ie: surface touching.

It was ALWAYS low-risk...ALWAYS.

However it kept a new line in business for the scary disinfectionists and elbow rubbers to promote.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/science-and-research/surface-transmission.html

The principal mode by which people are infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus. It is possible for people to be infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects (fomites), but the risk is generally considered to be low.

Penfailed

Called in for a takeaway on the way home from work this evening...screen at the counter gone! Progress!

SJFly

I agree with previous posters, one remnant of COVID restrictions I'd like to stay when this blows over, is not coming in to work when you are clearly sick and infectious (provided they get sick pay).

I remember a former boss boasting to a load of us that he had never in his career taken a sick day. How once he was so sick with the flu he had to physically drag himself up the stairs to his desk. I asked him how many people he infected with that nasty bug, and how many person days were probably lost due to his "bravery". It didn't go down well.

Mecanudo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118545937#Comment_118545937

Aren't you a true proverbial hero of the day!

You show them! 🙄

speckle

I love the delicious irony of this

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SZUO1L8KcJ0

:)

ceadaoin.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118547596#Comment_118547596

Uh oh, no one tell Neil Young

speckle

Think he sold his rights to a hedgefund or something similiar a while back ;)

DLink

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118547017#Comment_118547017

Well, all I can tell you is that I work for a company that doesn't give sick pay, so if you're sick, you come in unless your leg is hanging off.

Wasn't it also a scandal or a moment of outrage when all this covid **** kicked off, and the meat plants were riddled with "de virus" because sick employees came into work as they wouldn't get paid otherwise?

Unpaid sick leave is still a thing in Ireland.

Penfailed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118548549#Comment_118548549

It shouldn't be though.

c montgomery

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118542273#Comment_118542273

Never needed a driving licence to travel abroad

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118548601#Comment_118548601

And you don't need a passport to drive a car?

CalamariFritti

Lads I can clear this up for ye.

Going abroad - passport.

Driving a car - driving license.

MilkyToast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118547017#Comment_118547017

What on earth sort of cold are you getting that lasts 2 weeks?

I typed 1-2 weeks because I meant 1-2 weeks, not because I meant that every cold lasts 2 weeks. The average cold lasts 7-10 days. It's normal for a kid to have 8 or more colds per year and an adult to have 2-5 or more. These are not difficult facts to find, even if you happen, as I do, to be someone who very seldom gets sick and/or only usually has a very short course of disease. A cold is infectious from a few days before symptoms start until all symptoms are gone. Assuming that the cold encompasses a weekend, you're talking about a minimum of 10 days average absence for adults and 40 for kids. That's more than 20% of kids' school time, FYI. Minimum.

"but we also understand very little about pathogens, immunity and the human body," -- this is absolute nonsense.

It's not; you simply misunderstood the point I was making. That's okay. I'll try again.

We've known for a while that some infections can trigger autoimmunity and other issues, either immediately or later down the line. We've recently (last decade) discovered that there seems to be some mechanism by which certain infections, particularly in childhood, can make autoimmunity less likely in adulthood.

We barely understand these things, and they are far more complex to investigate than "how infectious disease spreads", the bones of which can be understood by the average five-year-old. Because we don't understand them well, it is impossible to say whether the net effect of significantly reducing the overall number of infectious diseases a person's immune system deals with over their lifetime, and especially in childhood, will be positive or negative. There is little point in eliminating colds, for example, if you then end up with way more sickly people who ultimately require more time off work and have a generally reduced standard of living, for the sake of drastically reducing the incidence of the common cold.

It really shouldn't be a remotely controversial stance to say "if you're noticeably sick you shouldn't be in work, for your own sake and those around you. Just stay at home for a few days".

It is controversial for the reasons outlined above.

shesty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118547017#Comment_118547017

If you have kids - especially small ones -colds last 1-2 weeks.Runny nose, bit cranky and miserable, then often a cough.Cough is the last symptom to appear usually.At least 2 weeks and believe me you notice when you are counting if you are up for several nights on end with a child, or keeping an eye for it potentially being covid and wondering should they go to school.

Chances are that adult colds may appear to last less long because we have them like that as kids.

mcsean2163

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118549115#Comment_118549115

Whooping cough is three months of an annoying cough. We thought it would never end😅

AsTheQuoFlies

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118548549#Comment_118548549

A lot of workers simply do not have the option of taking a sick day, as you said. If you're struggling to get by and have the misfortune to develop a cold, 60 Euro to a GP and the prospect of no paid sick leave can make a world of difference.