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

Some restrictions were staying after 22nd of October anyway, mainly around facemask wearing in shops and on Public transport. Maybe there was an (unannounced) hope of removing facemask restrictions on that date that he's refusing to rule out?

Yeah he did put a positive slant on the delta wave numbers but the last few sentences of the vid were the important ones and they were not positive . He basically said the 22nd was not guaranteed at all . He didn’t use those words but that’s what he meant by saying it was dependant on stable numbers and Nephet advice . Let’s hope things remain stable because if they rise for the next week I for one would be apprehensive about wether things will go ahead or not . I realise he can’t come out early and say full steam ahead but it was a reminder things are far from certain at the moment

While in practical terms there's not a whole lot more in the 22nd than nightclubs, there is a less tangible impact of it. It marks the point at which we draw a line under the emergency phase of the pandemic and move on with the rest of our lives. Most people are looking towards this date as the point at which they can breathe and plan for the future.

Even now I have plenty of anecdotal evidence of people who have avoided planning and booking things, "just in case", who are starting to fill up their calendars in the expectation that life will be practically normal come November.

There's definitely a little collar-tweaking going on in some quarters looking at the numbers, but nothing else so far.

We had a budget yesterday that was driven almost entirely towards post-pandemic planning, with nothing but a nod to a contingency fund in case anything else cropped up.

Could Holohan turn around on Monday and go, "Jaysus lads, things are looking a bit grim, we need to hold off here for another while"? Of course. But he's not in charge. A look outside the numbers tells us that there's no reason to expect the numbers will magically improve, they are still way below the expected numbers that were modelled, and ultimately any hold-off is likely to do more damage both to the public attitudes to the pandemic and the government than they are to improve the situation.

I think the backlash to a delay at this point would be enormous. Because it would be the first time realistically that something would be implemented with no end-goal in sight.

Every time up to now that restrictions have been maintained or increased, there has been an end-goal in sight. "We need to stop the increase in cases", "We need more time for cases to come down", "We need more time to get more people vaccinated". All reasonable, tangible goals.

What could be the end-goal here; "We need more time to see what happens next"? People won't accept it.

Monday's NPHET meeting will most likely produce a "sober" briefing that emphasises the need to continue vaccinating every dark corner we can find, to continue pushing the need for people to be cautious, but if they have any sense of the public mood (they usually do), should stop short of recommending a delay to reopening. They could take new models from Nolan to point to a date in the future that they expect cases to start dropping off, but it'll be met with extreme skepticism.

A report from RTE saying concerns have been raised.

Looks like Oct 22 is off.

There will be a lot of anxiety this weekend from the affected industries.

Conservative Ireland strikes again.

Except for the September one, and the August one, and July 26th, and pretty much everything except the 3 week blip in indoor hospitality.

It's almost like the record vaccine uptake worked.

FYI ICU has dropped to 69 (at 11.30), down 4, since that article was posted, more of the yo yo effect we've been seeing in hospital numbers.

Why would it depend on numbers? Doesn't he know that the work from home experts on Boards.ie have been very clear in stating that facemasks will be the only restriction remaining after Oct 22nd?

They have been unequivocal about it, no room for doubt and lots of quotes there for all to see, they said it all ends on the 22nd, no maybes or wait and sees about it.

You keep saying this, that they are afraid of society reopening. Its such a non-sequitur that I am surprised you haven't realised that yourself yet.

I’m cautiously optimistic things will go ahead on the 22nd but not confident we will see out the winter without some restrictions being reimposed. I’m not sure how anyone could be tbh . That of course is idle speculation . Not I nor anybody else knows for sure what will happen . However If we don’t unwind on the 22nd when will we ? Vaccination rates among the highest in the world but not ok to open ? When then ? It would be a dreadful decision not to. People say life is going on just fine now but this is not what life was like . Life won’t be normal until everyone mixes freely without a worry . The 22nd isn’t just the late bars and clubs opening it’s the end of social distancing the end of treating other people like biohazards . Mentally it’s a huge day as it feels like we are finally moving away . The final step then will be the removal of those wretched masks but can’t see that happening until the spring

Well when it was suggested hysteria, doubt and a media blitz would be on the way as we got closer to reopening it was dismissed by many here too. To be fair I didn’t think it’d ramp up just yet. They have surpassed my expectations . I thought they’d at least have another day to bleed out of the budget but no rte news at 1 lead headline with the fear mongering . Over 2k cases to be announced today according to Fergal Bowers . The government need to show a spine for once and get on with it

It’s baffling how our cases are so high compared to the rest of western Europe . Our open border with the north and their high incidence rate ? Our nearest neighbours having a high incidence rate in the Uk? Our autumn climate perfect conditions ?poor ventilation standards ? Vaccines waning ? I don’t know . I don’t think anyone does .

Or because we had such long lockdowns that we haven’t had as much spread as other countries. We flattened the curve so much that we’re still on it.