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

I wonder can you be infected from a different strain soon after getting delta for example.

My understanding is you can lose your sense of taste and smell from delta (which happens to myself and my wife) but that doesn’t happen with omicron?

Thanks!

But how did lockdowns work better in other European countries than they did here? That was the question raised.

We may have spent two summers under restrictions, but were people actually restricting themselves? Did nights out at the pub just become house gatherings instead for example? That, to me, has to be the difference between why we are so bad and they aren't.

I'm not judging by the way, people can do what they want. But folk can't spend 24 months looking for loopholes (those videos of people in nightclubs dancing in the queues for the toilets just to avoid wearing a mask spring to mind) and then wonder why it's not working.

Like I said, not judging. Just observing what I believe is the reason that, despite two years of restrictions, we are the worst in Europe

I'm not annoyed about anything, not sure why you think that?

I'm not suggesting anything about NPHET because I don't consider myself an expert on any of this at all. I have never claimed to be.

But, they have had an impossible job working with the Irish public tbh. I don't really know when it happened, but nowadays people seem to measure their intelligence levels against how much they disagree with whatever experts in that respective field are saying.

The ventilation of classrooms that you mention is a great example. Initially, the problem was that they were poorly ventilated. Then they were overly ventilated. NPHET and the government were never going to get the support of the Irish public. We just don't seem to be wired that way.

My post sent before I was finished ....

I see your point about PCR and antigen testing and yes, that is a fair point and would also explain why our numbers are higher than in Europe.

Im not here to argue, I dip in and out of the thread when I have time and I'd like to understand it all a little more without getting totally obsessed with it all.

I'm lucky that I haven't been massively affected by Covid and restrictions at all - my social interactions are based around outdoor activities and I kept my job. I did have a hospital appointment rescheduled a couple of times, but thankfully it wasn't for anything serious. I appreciate that colours my view of restrictions.

There are a few things we’ve done differently to a lot of countries. It’s hard to say whether these are definitely the cause of us being the bottom of the class at this time of year twice in a row, but it’s fair enough to ask the question at this point IMO.

1) As others have said, we’ve been very slow to reopen in the summer months. Other countries opening up over the summer could have allowed the virus to spread at a time when in theory it’s doing less harm. Probably more importantly, the failure to open up also caused a pent up demand for socialising and as much as some posters on here like to demonise people for it, we’re social creatures in general. The inability of NPHET to understand this is probably their biggest failing.

2) The stance on antigen tests. Plenty of countries used them without issue. We had Tony and Phil lecture us ad nauseum about how they’re worse than useless. They’re not perfect, but they’re a useful tool and should have been rolled out far earlier.

3) The absolute refusal to admit schools could be an issue until recently. This one at least comes from a good place to be fair, it’s understandable to want to keep kids in education. Probably a bit less understandable to those working in hospitality when they’re thrown under the bus time and time again though. Other countries implemented mask wearing in schools and closures on a temporary and localised basis when cases spiked in an area. Why was the same not considered here?

4) Most recently, failure to make working from home mandatory in late autumn. It was advised, and we had numerous experts in the media saying working from home would make a bigger difference than hospitality closures as the numbers going into workplaces were greater than those socialising. A few weeks later, hospitality was restricted again with earlier closures yet working from home remained advisory rather than mandatory. Why?

I’m sure there are other countries who made a couple of those mistakes, but I’m not sure if any others made all of them combined. Again, I’m not saying these are definitely the cause of our high numbers but they’re fairly obvious errors in our handling of things.

In fairness, if omicron turns out to be as mild as many are suggesting it might not really matter this time around anyway.

Jeez such self loathing. Basically we only have ourselves to blame. That's the gist of it.

As for your great example re ventilation.. wasn't it NPHET themselves through the bould Phil that tried to give a lecture on the fluid mechanics of air movement. That was well outside his very narrow sphere of expertise. And labelled as defying the laws of physics. Suppose that was grand though.

The reason for the very high numbers is a very fast spreading variant. All we can do is test, follow the usual advice and ride it out. Case numbers are just good for screaming headlines and will pass.

We don't only have ourselves to blame, but there should be an element of personal responsibility too.

You still haven't offered any opinions or viewpoints yourself, you've just used sarcasm and passive aggression in your responses to mine.

I conclude at this point that you have even less of a clue about things than I do and since I come here for answers rather than arguments, this will be the last time I respond to you.

That's not really going to happen. All we have are discharges and length of average stay.

How does someone get admitted to hospital with Covid, is their doctor required to sign it off or can they just turn up in A&E and say they would like a bed?

Definitely . Were they admitted because of Covid symptoms and needing support for those symptoms or were they admitted with a fractured femur and test positive on admission . Did they need any extra support other than treating the fracture etc

One of the highest uptake of vaccines and boosters amongst an adult population in the world is enough for me to demonstrate a sufficient level of personal responsibility. As was the usage of antigen tests before NPHET relented on their snake oil position.

I'd have more issue with the state's general distrust in the Irish populace but then it's echoed right here in your faux search for "answers".

All the best.

TBH most people gave up months ago trying to see answers in patterns in hospital data, whether they were admitted with COVID or contracted it while there. Omicron just makes that data even more opaque.