All Covid-19 measures are permanent, don't be a boiling frog!

If it's logical then why aren't Sweden and Norway going down that road?

It's definitely a possibility. It's already the case in other countries. I looked at the passport in different countries around Europe the other day. The vaccine passport is required in Luxembourg (vaccine or test) to go to the hospital. So presumably if you're sick but refuse to show that passport at the hospital door then you can't go in. I read that in Moscow the unvaccinated would be denied routine medical care. In Frankfurt shops can ban those who don't have a vaccine passport. My point is that it's not a good road to go down.

The media really doesn't hold a range of opinions. A handful of journalists maybe, but the newspapers are identical and indistinguishable from the public broadcaster.

But you can't really do those things spontaneously. You can't just walk into a swimming pool (have to book in advance), can't walk into an art gallery (have to book in advance), can't pop into the shop if you don't have your mask, can't pop into a restaurant or a pub unless you have your vaccine passport and now, unbelievably with over 90% of the eligible population vaccinated, you can't even enjoy a normal night out in a club.

Eh, firstly the reason Ireland isn't approaching it the same way as other countries is because we have a health service that can easily end up crippled. So yep it's logical.

I would still stand by my original view that it's incredibly unlikely that access to healthcare would be restricted based on vaccine status, it would likely end up straining service more in long run. I'm sure you can point me to a barrage of opinion pieces arguing for it?

What you're illustrating is that all countries are approaching it differently. The Irish approach is we've classified pubs, restaurants and nightclubs as high risk venues due to closeness of people.

You can still eat outside without a vaccine passport btw. I frequently do it. Some art galleries may require bookings but I'm guessing it's based around peak times. I just checked the Hugh Lane Gallery and they are doing walk ins. So what you're referring to is a decision by the venue.

In terms of precooking for a swimming pool. It's not a huge inconvenience tbh. Similarly with needing to have a mask to go into a shop, most people always have one on them at this stage. And honestly in relation to nightclubs, I'm pretty sure a lot of people don't want to end up in a scenario where they end up hooking up with an unvaccinated person. So honestly, your spontaneity is far more impacted in your head than anything else.

You also ignored the fact that half of the media went full anti NPHET during the lockdown. On top of that, lobbyists are frequently platformed by the media for minimal restrictions....

not to worry, Uncle Sam has me on retainer to disrupt and dissuade this type of behaviour

And that will always be the case. So I don't see how you get to zero restrictions.

ah the good old "if you don't test for it, it's not there" argument...

You do realise that the UK, despite rising cases, voted to not employee extra COVID measures yesterday... and have some of the least amount of measures in place for a country in the continent of Europe.... even with extra pressure from opposition politicians, they didn't implement extra measures..

Do you not think it would have been ample opportunity for them to use that as an excuse to exert control over the masses?

The UK testing regime is similar to any of the EU states....

Having been in the UK, Ireland and France in the past 3 months, it was actually far easier to get a test in France than anywhere I've been, pop up lateral flow test tents, giving free tests, within 10/15 mins walk from anywhere in a lot of major cities, to which you can either keep paper record of a negative test (for all you guys afraid of the government watching) or, they will update the TousAntiCovid app for you...

Can't comment on the US because, you know, I'm not there (or am I ??? )

Seriously, get away from the computer and have a try for yourselves of the outside world.

I don't have any conspiracy theories to abandon. This thread is in the wrong forum.

Christina Figueres told us that the transformation of the economic model was intentional and Klaus Schwab says new foundations are needed for the economic model. No conspiracy theory. It's all out in the open. We should be discussing what those foundations will be and what the intentional transformation of the economic model is.

I have already said what measures I think will be permanent in Ireland. Masks, the vaccine passport, and lockdowns.

I'm referring to Ireland and many other countries.

How do you build new foundations without firs removing the old ones? That's the question that needs to be answered? How do you intentionally transform the economic model without first getting rid of the old one? As I say, that's what we should be discussing and this isn't the forum for it.