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

Cmon, that's a bit of a disingenuous comparison. Of course cases in the UK have been high - they have been fully open for months now, whilst we have been pricking about with an ultra-cautious, slow reopening which has served no purpose only to result in higher cases per million compared to the UK. So, ultimately, we have ended up in a worse position, despite being far less open and much more restricted for longer.

They kept us restricted all spring, summer and autumn with October 22nd as the date when restrictions would melt away.

I and others pointed out that we'd be heading into the winter then.

Well Oct 22nd came and winter began. The ending of restrictions was cancelled and now we're heading into a deep winter panic.

Flu season peaks between December and February every year. That is around when our winter "trolley crisis" would happen every year in the past, remember?

I agree it would be bollix to cancel it but I'm thinking about the new restrictions involving WFH unless necessary to attend the office, nightlife ending at midnight and symptom free vaccinated people to restrict their movements; a 50k+ attendance at a match with packed darts and buses to get there seems at odds to the general, hysterical restrictions being brought in.

Of course we would. But we're already backtracking, despite being restricted for far longer than the UK. We never even got our version of "Freedom Day". At least if we had 4-5 months of a fully-open society (proper open, no half measures), it might make the current reimposition of restrictions more palatable.

So despite all the charts, models, panics, lockdowns, closures, distancing, bankruptcies, nasty covidpass, vilifications, and frankly balderdash of the past two years....

One of my kids brought it home from school and proceeded to infect all of us. Its a bit of a dose, nothing that bad as expected given our ages.

@PhoneMain 'It's wrong to imply that the annual trolley crisis is due to flu or respiratory illnesses'

I believe it's a factor, as the worst trolley crises would often be at the peak of flu season.

In any case, *this* flu/covid season will likely mark the peak of hospital admissions - partly due to some of the special circumstances you've outlined in your response to my post.

So, in that context, what is mistaken about the point I was making - which was that suppressing freedom all summer and then planning to re-open going into flu season is a strategy doomed to failure and likely to create maximum frustration by serving to prolong restrictions into an all-year thing?

Oh yeah it's a factor and maybe you're right about opening up earlier. However I do feel that they genuinely believed during late spring and early summer than opening up in October would be the last time. Unfortunately it's not worked like that due to possibly a myriad of factors. Hopefully if we do have to lock down, itll be over soon enough.

You're also expressing your disapproval of why people may reflect differently on boosters. We won't get anywhere near 92% this time.

Yes, I have a friend that has been convinced that unvaccinated are the problem. You argue the facts with him, the De Gascun tweet, the underlying conditions stats, the fact that a lot of people in hospital that are classified "Unvaccinated" were not able to be vaccinated, and all you'll get is a snarky response. This is replicated all over the place.

When we were supposed to go back to the office, a work colleague was demanding to know who was and who wansnt vaccinated.

It's nuts. People are not willing to do research. They just take what Pat Kenny and Claire Byrne are fobbing out as the Bible.

Stephen Donnelly has been very strongly advocating the use of antigen tests right from the start according to himself.