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

Now that is ultra bizarre! They accuse you of being irresponsible for doing more than they are doing? The group think around this stuff is unbelievable!

In the absence of anything more obvious, I think we have to look at the CTA with the UK as the most obvious cause of our high numbers.

We always said that the reason zero covid couldn't work, was because both countries had to be on the same page. Which means that in essence we are a single epidemiological area and remain so even now.

Or it could be down to travel in general; have Irish people been engaging in more travel than other countries?

If that is the case, then we might actually see our case numbers start to improve as a result of schools coming back, and less people travelling in and out of the country.

It's a noodle-scratcher alright though.

We've 10 times more in hospital with Covid now than we did this time last year, although it's safe to say that Delta is more transmissible and movement/gatherings are now less restricted across Europe and within Ireland. I wonder what the numbers would currently look like without vaccines and I wonder how things will fair out, considering we already have nearly 90% of adults fully vaccinated.

A few short months ago, I would have expected the numbers to be bottomed with such a high vaccination rate but it seems that as we go on, our expectations are subtly reigned in and adjusted. If we had a crystal ball in 2020 and could see things now, I wonder how we might have changed our approach in all of this.

I don't understand how Romania and Bulgaria aren't totally out of control with delta considering how far behind us they are with vacination

Just got this text from our daughter's school........

"Unfortunately we have been informed of a positive case of covid 19 in your childs classroom. The HSE has deemed your child IS NOT a close contact and therefore no action is required at this time. We would appreciate greatly if you would be extra vigilant if your child shows any symptoms of Covid 19 and not to send your child to school if in doubt. Thanking you for your cooperation."

I'd have thought that sitting in the same room as someone with covid would qualify you as a close contact? I suppose the HSE knows best.

The much talked about Co2 monitors that the DES have been proudly slapping each other on the back about still haven’t arrived in a good portion of schools. Certainly our primary and secondary school are still awaiting their arrival according to correspondence received from both schools last Friday.

The secondary school purchased a very small amount of their own last year funded by the PTA.

My friend is Romanian, she said you have to pay to get tested in Romania, even with symptoms. There are no free tests anymore, so people choose to not get tested -> low incidence rates.

Friend in Berlin was telling me her daughter age 7 has to wear a mask all day in school and parents have to do three antigen tests on the child every week .

People keep assuming waves of covid start, peak and finish at the same time through the world. It doesn't. As you can clearly see, Ireland's peaks have been different.

It seems to go Ireland peaks, then Bulgaria, then Romania and then Ukraine. I don't see why this will change all of a sudden.

This can be seen when you look at Europe as a whole, the west seem to peak first followed later by eastern Europe.

It's easy to see why the west seems interconnected, lots of travel between Ireland/UK/Spain/Portugal/France, I assume there's a similar pattern all over Europe with groups of countries all interconnected.