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

9200 positive swabs on 37,700 tests.

Two record-breaking numbers there.

The HSE reckon we could hit 20,000 at the peak, which means we're only a week away from peaking really, at most.

FYI; The daily case numbers over Xmas are just going to be the positive swabs. The HSE won't have the data validation capacity during the break and want to avoid the same stuff last year where a huge backlog built up.

Why did they lead with the ludicrous worst case figures? What is the probability of the worst case happening? 1 in 100, 1 in 10000, 1 in 10?

Why does nobody ask that fool nolan what the most likely expected figures are and use that as the headline?

Economists don't tell us that "worst case inflation could be ten billion percent" they give us a forecast of what they *actually* reasonably believe inflation will be.

It's only with covid where public health advisors are allowed make ludicrous unchallenged forecasts and media prints them like they are plausible outcomes.

Its positive news as more of population are will be protected by serious illness - why would that make you so angry?

The peak is more likely to occur in mid to late January if we are being honest.

The effects of Christmas gatherings, the sheer amount of travel associated with Christmas (particularly from the diaspora) and New Years celebrations will see infections jump for at least a couple of weeks after the 1st of Jan.

Yeah perhaps. Omicron builds much faster though. Any Xmas socialising we'd expect to cause a peak very early in January. It doesn't take weeks to build up waves like previous variants did.

It peaks high but it also peaks quickly.

Exactly. 10000 positive swabs today could be as many as 20000 cases, because we will be missing lots of cases with testing under pressure. At that level of infection, it's pretty inevitable it will burn out quickly. I'm afraid it's not going to be pretty, hospitals will be under severe pressure even if Omicron is a bit milder. But it will be short lived.

It’s hard to see any new variants coming along that will be significantly more transmissible than Omicron, after this peak I really think we will start seeing the end game of this thing.

But then again if we have learned anything over the last 2 years, it is how unpredictable this virus has been, so I guess nothing can be taken for granted for a good while yet.

Discuss away. Just be prepared for a contrary point of view.

Yeah, credit where it’s due. The ramping up of the booster rollout in the last week or so has been impressive.

9000 cases we will be shut down before new years, even if hospital numbers stay stable.

Well, they are a good few weeks ahead of everyone else in terms of the surge, so may see that in others over the next week or two.

Are you asking me? Haven’t a cobblers. Just trying to take some positives out of a s* t situation. I’ll be taking a break from Covid news over the break. In other good news, Coldplay have announced they’ll stop making music in 2025. Some good things are worth waiting for.

Way more cases I would think as many cant get tested . No appointments free at all in Dublin these last few days

go away out of that... you'd love nothing better than an old "I told you so"

And if antigen is positive how do we inform anyone ? No where online to inform the HSE and no one answering the helpline