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

bloopy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438458#Comment_118438458

It is not about health anymore though.

Just some sort of punishment now.

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438474#Comment_118438474

Governments don't want to bring in people who have a higher chance of getting severely sick from COVID, there's also a lot of countries are still managing cases (it's going to be very tough for places like China and New Zealand to get back to travelling normally).

It will be interesting if other vaccines (e.g. flu) start getting included, e.g. Spain is having a flu outbreak, flu vaccine required before travelling to that destination, or the converse, Thailand has a yellow fever outbreak, all travellers from Thailand arriving into the country must have that vaccine.

bloopy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438503#Comment_118438503

Everyone on the plane can catch or transmit covid no matter their vaccination status.

Unvaccinated people on the plane will be entering the country anyway with a test.

They do not prevent transmission, they do not stop people who may get severely sick from entering the country.

Covid will spread and be introduced by air travel anyway, with or without the covid passport.

They serve no purpose from a health control point of view.

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438530#Comment_118438530

The unvaccinated are much more likely to suffer severe disease and be hospitalised and go to ICU.

namloc1980

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438458#Comment_118438458

So it's about punishing people rather than being a health measure. Very much like Macron's thinking in France.

bloopy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438534#Comment_118438534

Yet will still be on the plane and be at risk from vaccinated people who can still spread the disease.

It does not stop them coming into the country, it does not lesson the risk of them catching the disease on the plane, it does not stop spread of the disease on the plane.

They serve no purpose other than punishment for non compliance.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118437848#Comment_118437848

Since hospitality was allowed to reopen in England on the 12th of April they haven't had any time limitations, beer gardens were opening at a minute past midnight on those nights for example

I'd like to see something similar here but instead we get the ridiculous line "the current restrictions are having an effect"

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438542#Comment_118438542

Well a) vaccines still reduce transmission, seems to work better with the older deadlier variants, less effective with Omicron which also seems to be less deadly and b) we'll likely see it turn into a vaccinated/recovered cert at some point, a negative test doesn't count for much anymore (and they've dropped that requirement for the vaccinated/recovered already).

B2021M

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438583#Comment_118438583

Yes. I find it extraordinary how people don't ask more questions about how things are so different between the two countries. The easy slogan that 'Boris is a clown' is trotted out and then we can't be seen to do anything that he might have done.

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438605#Comment_118438605

It's an identity politics thing. Zilch to do with covid. Can't be seen to be doing anything like England these days.

cannonballTaffyOjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438458#Comment_118438458

Haven't they dropped the testing requirment ?

B2021M

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438613#Comment_118438613

Exactly. It extends to a lot of other areas too.

bloopy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438591#Comment_118438591

The only method to ensure that there is no transmission on planes or introduction of disease onto the country is if everyone is tested before boarding.

Even the requirement for testing of the unvaccinated is for within 72 hours of the flight. The virus can be caught and spread in the meantime but they will still be allowed on the plane and into the country.

The covid passports for air travel are redundant. They make no difference to disease control. They make no difference to disease introduction.

They are a punishment for non-compliance. Nothing more.

The only way they could ever have worked is if the vaccines actually stopped infection and transmission of covid 19.

What has happened over Christmas has put paid to that idea.

Blut2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438534#Comment_118438534

An unvaccinated 20 year old is at far less risk of suffering severe disease and being hospitilised and going to ICU than a fully vaccinated 75 year old.

If preventing tourists from using our hospital capacity is the concern then statistically we would be far better off banning the entry of all 70+ year olds, not having rules based on vaccination status.

But thats not the real reason the rule is in place, is it? Its entirely down to pressure people to get vaccinated.

bucketybuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438036#Comment_118438036

There is no logical reason whatsoever to drag the arse out of this for months on end.

Unfortunately this country has shown that it will happily sit with its thumb up its ass when the NPHET government play them for suckers with regards to lifting restrictions. We saw that very clearly last July when they announced a re-opening date that was over 3 months away. That announcement never made sense and should have been pulled apart quickly, but all we got was acceptance and submission.

It will happen again, they will throw a few crumbs and people will cheer at getting 11pm closing or some other crap, all the while pretending not to notice that they are being made fools of yet again.

Dempo1

Well well , updated covid cert just arrived In my inbox 😏

Marty Bird

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118437763#Comment_118437763

not a chance they will ever go the whiff of quango is unbearable, minister for PPE, minister for pandemic response not chance the ones in power will let this huge opportunity go without making a load of cushy number jobs.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438605#Comment_118438605

I mean they are correct - he is a clown, is he more or less of a clown than our double act of Micheal, Leo and sleepy is the real question

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438628#Comment_118438628

The unvaccinated run a much higher risk of requiring hospitalisation or ICU care. If countries are having to deal with a disproportionate number of their own citizens due to that, then I can see why they would not want to further add to it by allowing more unvaccinated entry

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438759#Comment_118438759

Mine arrived around 3am apparently. Not that I'm asked for it much anyway

Sooner the media makes the next logical leap from the tone of their coverage over the last week or so, and starts questioning the validity of current restrictions, the sooner we might all be able to close this theatre and get back to normal.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438772#Comment_118438772

He's a clown because he does something different primarily. He actually supports Brexit too (how could anyone want to leave the cozy happy EU family??)

Unfortunately though he does come out with and do some stupid stuff which allows his detractors to dismiss everything else he says/does too.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438798#Comment_118438798

Discussion on children's vaccination on Saturday with Katie hannon , now, seems registration levels low

Dempo1

Mother of God, 26,122 new cases that we actually know about 😳

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438810#Comment_118438810

And rightly so (low registration levels)

I completely get why parents would be keen to not be rushing to get their young children injected with something that they don't need anyway in most cases and where there are questions (as others have posted) around the potential effect on their development.

The only reason to get it done is if they're actually at genuine risk, or to make the parents themselves feel safer.

Dempo1

You wonder wether to laugh or cry , Government determined to keep school opened and yet Dail closed for business for 4 weeks. Businesses, Health services, Public transport , An Post struggling to function and Zero leadership at political level, its astonishing really .

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438833#Comment_118438833

I always felt take up would be low , I'm not a parent and not qualified to understand reasons for hesitancy , I can appreciate its a tough decision whatever side of the argument people are on 🤔

stephenjmcd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438847#Comment_118438847

Tbh I'm not sure what that's got to do with anything. The Dail always has had a stupidly long series of breaks, but that doesn't mean that government just stops working nor would the Dail being in session resolve those issues either. Cabinet can meet at any time & the sec gens of the departments can activate a derogation

bloopy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438793#Comment_118438793

Unvaccinated can enter anyway with a negative pcr. They can catch covid on the plane from vaccinated people who can contract and transmit covid. They can contract covid in the intervening time between test and boarding.

The passes for air travel do nothing from an infection control point of view.

They are nothing more than punishment for those who refused to comply.

You can dress them up all you like. They are useless from a health point of view. The have no point other than to inconvenience the non compliant and give (some) of the compliant a nice feeling of superiority.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438860#Comment_118438860

Fair point I suppose , I just feel it extraordinary, the Dail is also a platform for opposition questions , debate, constituency representation etc , all we are hearing at the moment is Government and NPHET narratives on what's going on (IMO)

deholleboom

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118438666#Comment_118438666

My dark mind would agree with you. However, i do think this time it IS different due to Omicron vs Delta. It looks like the infections, hospital admissions and numbers in hospital will go down rapidly after tye peak in 10-14 days time. Together with the mildness of Omicron i do think the patience of the general public is wearing off. Even within Nphet there is optimism. To counter my own argument i think it is fair to say that the issues due to people not showing up to work because of both Omicron infection and isolation rules might drag the so called staggered approach out for longer than is reasonable, like you mentioned. But in the end i think there will be enough pushback within government parties for a different approach this time. What that exactly entails is anyone's guess but i would say the first thing to go is isolation for close contacts, then a shorter isolation period for those with Omicron infection, then raising the 8pm closure time to 11pm for restaurants while keeping them for wet pubs, no music or other entertaiment until spring/summer. And in any case keep the Covid certs and linkeage to boosters as a way of selling the lifting of those restrictions. Non boosted and/or non vaccinated still fecked, the 'price of freedom' idea. As a musician i try not to feed my dark mind but it still looks like no night gigs for february or even march. As i am also a music teacher with diminishing student numbers i am feeling it deeply. I am not entitled to get compensation for any of this and i know many self employed people in the same leaky boat😩