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

Unfortunately I have had very extensive experience of visiting nursing home.

The wages for many employed in them may not be great, and many may be non national, but why should that be a problem with them being vaccinated or why would it result in nursing homes being unable to operate ?

A poster mentioned here today that we should be more like Hungary.

In Hungary it is now mandatory for all health care employees to be vaccinated with no redeployment if they are not. Same for other countries, with both France and the U`S now doing the same. I cannot see when the review of how we handled this epidemic takes place that healthcare worker vaccination status will not be a consideration.

Wearing it outside on a cycle is pretty pointless to be fair.

And the number of deaths has flatlined (in Hungary) to what looks like lower deaths per head than Ireland since they opened up and ditched the restrictions. This was tied into a certain percentage of the population being vaccinated.

I’m comparing and contrasting situations in the post vaccine world which most of Europe is now in. What will change between now and the next 4 weeks? Nothing, yet businesses are still being restricted. Then in October we will still be donning the life saving mask to pop in for a litre of milk in Spar or while sitting on a possibly empty Dart late at night.

I'm sure if all the restrictions were eased, some people would still keep a mask. I have no problem with that, that’s personal choice, which is where we are meant to be going with this, except we’re not.

Time to move on. Get vaccinated and open everything and remove ALL restrictions now.

We have had people calling for the dropping of all restrictions from day one. Now with just 4 weeks to go to until there will be no restrictions other than a very limited one on mask wearing, we should immediately drop everything based on Hungary who handled this pandemic so well they have the highest deaths per capita in the EEA and the 4th highest in the world where you appear to believe their present low deaths are due to the dropping of restrictions. Seriously, not a very convincing arguement.

Some here have been skipping around the world for quite some time now, criticising Ireland while being picky on the areas that suit their narrative while ignoring others from the same country that do not. You are citing Hungary as an example we should now follow, so with your mention of vaccines, can I take it you are not doing the same and you also believe we should follow Hungary`s example and make it mandatory for all health care workers to be vaccinated with no redeployment for those that refuse too. ?

It is nonsense. Are cases going to be lower on the 22nd of October, probably not. They are barely different to 1 month ago. Yet we are still faffing around pretending that these current restrictions actually work. It's blatantly clear they were not "public health measures", it was just bait to get the vaccine.

The second part of your first paragraph is nonsense. Again.

You can't but laugh at their (and others) feeble attempts to keep the topic relevant. Front and centre of their main page this morning, in big bold letters, "fears new Covid-19 advice will see cases rise". My god, the horror of it. I'm sure the perpetually-frightened will spend the day wringing their hands and indulge in some virtual finger wagging on Twitter, FB etc. But the vast majority know this isn't a cause for concern. I heard John Boyle (INTO) on radio yesterday complaining (nothing new there) about the new policy, and stating he needs more data - is John an epidemiologist now, as well as general secretary of INTO? Does he know something that NPHET don't? Why this clown is given airtime is beyond me.

We know, in general, that the vast, vast majority of children do not get sick from Covid-19. Yes, there are outliers, unfortunate cases, etc. but NPHET have obviously decided that such minor incidences are not enough to justify ongoing disruption to the overwhelming majority of healthy children who (up until now) have had to isolate, stay at home, etc. without even having any symptoms. And if they pass it on to someone at home, that person will most likely be protected by the vaccine, and so on. I just don't understand the outcry over this decision. And if you think about it in the cold light of day, it has been some monumental shift of the goalposts to go from protecting the elderly/nursing homes/health service to protecting <12 year old children.

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EDIT: Boards won't let me delete a random quoted post.

But if the person in front of you is wearing their mask are they not protecting themselves?

I think this is the point, surely we have to move on from "me protecting you" by wearing a mask to "you protecting you"

TBH the mask wearing doesnt bother me too much but i can see the point in moving to "looking after yourself phase"

In the future im sure mask wearing will become part of normal society during flu seasons etc for those that choose to do so.

Masks dont protect you - and to be honest they dont offer much protection for others either for a virus measuring in the 100s of nanometers, far smaller than the invisible holes in the fabric of your mask.

We have highly effective vaccines and a highly effective vaccination programme that have largely rendered this novel virus… well, not novel. It seems like you’re arguing not to return to normal for reasons that are very different from the reasons we implemented these measures in the first place.

Traditionally vaccines gave people personal protection from disease but these ones don't so please continue to treat everyone you meet as a leper on the off chance that they're secretly ill and don't know it.

Where am i arguing for not returning to normal?

Im basically saying if you want wear a mask then wear one, just in the future it will be normal or acceptable for people to wear masks if they choose to do so.

I was replying to Seamus who is arguing that wearing a mask is a safety measure everyone needs to continue. You and I agree; with the emergency coming to an end / having already ended we should be returning to normal in which an individual decides what’s best for them without being able to impose on everyone else.

But continuation of compulsory face covering is completely unnecessary. Those who still need protection (e.g. frail or immuncompromised) should be wearing proper (FFP2/3) masks anyway, because delta aerosols make face coverings largely redunant. Therefore the use of face coverings by non-vunlerable people is irrelevant.

The problem with our "face covering" policy is that it was formed in early 2020 when masks were in short supply and needed by healthcare workers, and hasn't been touched since.