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

Have to say as I am back in the US for the first time in 2 years and what a world of difference there is to ireland.

im in trump land if you want to get your bearings.

no masks, no social distancing, no restrictions. It literally is like pre 2020.

and to make it worse, I’ve made the local numbers similar to ireland, (I’m in an area with population of 2 million, so not some farmland in the middle of nowhere)

65 pct vaccinated here (vs I think we’re on 95% now)

1500 cases a day on average (this is 1-1 with ireland so against 6500)

hospitals aren’t full / overflowing (besides what the media says; almost like their lying to us). Both my parents over the last two years needed what would be called elective procedures (non urgent) done and there was no issue / delay in accommodating them.

there have been 85 Covid deaths for the full month.

icu beds extrapolated up would be 1200, but they have never had more than 30% utilised during the last 2 years.

honestly the restrictions are a joke in ireland.

This might help to get a sense of your own risk

Personally everything I have done has been to protect my parents from this. There is no way I would stay away from them if they were sick, let alone an asymptomatic positive. I would just take care who I was around afterwards, and test myself. Enjoy Christmas!

Thanks everyone for the guidance and support, it’s really appreciated.

This, 100% this!

Covid has, as it turned out, never been a significant risk to the vast majority of people in this country. This latest variant (as the reports are increasingly indicating) is even less risk again and now represents most cases in the country per the news this morning (but of course, Tony is concerned!).

The idea of healthy adults having to isolate themselves from relatives over Christmas (some of whom may be struggling to with isolation and loneliness themselves) because of NPHET and media scaremongering is frankly scandalous at this point.

How long before the penny drops among the general public and the politicians that the public health excuse is now to protect against a mild case of the sniffles, and how long before they remember that prior to 2020, this would have rightly been considered as farcical?

I'm sure if NPHET and the HSE have their way it'll be the middle of next year before they "allow" people out from under the bed so the spotlight doesn't turn to the question of what we've gotten for the massive amount of money spent over the last 18 months!

ANYWAY...

I hope that everyone on this thread has a great Christmas, acts sensibly but practically and steps away from the media and fear (and even this subforum) for a few days at least.

I'm off to wrap presents and get ready for my own Santa trip tonight 😊

Have a good one folks!

50-70% less chance of hospital admittance with omicron according to figures coming out of the UK

ha ok.

Omg wtaf, this is the worst thing I have read during this pandemic. Being sent home to die with possibly no support services.

Absolutely no dignity at end of life in this country. Not enough hospices. If they decide to stay in hospital to die, their family probably can’t visit due to covid.

If hospitals need to clear terminally I’ll patients from hospitals, they should be able to use private hospitals to give people some dignity and peace.

We accept too much crap in this country without causing a fuss.

You do realise this is because of the pressure on the health system from COVID patients (where its disproportionately the unvaccinated)? Are you calling for more restrictions to reduce COVID hospital numbers? Some on this thread living in bizarro world.

What is your solution to solve this without restrictions? *grabs popcorn*

(and just to get ahead of nonsense, let it rip makes it worse, using surge and private capacity makes it worse, adding capacity can't be done unless we have an untapped supply of doctors and nurses)

See this is it exactly, if I was positive there's no chance in hell I'd be with my vulnerable relatives on Christmas day! Buy if they have caught it the risk is surely far lower

Genuinely curious as I don't know but do we have a breakdown of the unvaccinated?

How many are pregnant women who might not want to get the vaccine until they give birth?

How many are in ICU before they were offered a vaccine?

How many are old or sick who are advised against a vaccine by doctors?

I seriously doubt healthy unvaccinated people are taking up so many hospital beds so I assume we know the breakdown of the unvaccinated?

There's never going to be a zero Covid day. It will be around in variant form for the rest of our lives. Health officials like Holohan will be pushing for restrictions every winter until he retires. Governments will introduce annual restrictions to pretend they are doing something about the health service. Celebrity Scientists will on our airwaves warning us about the xyz variant. Big Pharma will be telling us we need xyz booster. People who wear masks on their social media profiles will have lifetime Covid Derangement.