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

Well the PCR confirmation helps apply for illness benefit while self isolating. They don't seem to have changed that requirement for now (a text from HSE telling you to isolate). Also does it mean that under 40s now have to notify their own close contacts that they may have covid...I wouldn't want a coworker not realising because I never did a PCR and they got a vulnerable family member sick as they didn't realise they should probably take precautions.

I think the opposite with respect. Compliance only encouraged further restrictions etc. Lots thought Boris made the wrong decision in the summer but…

The excess deaths from undiagnosed and/or untreated heart conditions and cancer etc in England for example according to the British Heart Foundation etc are scary. Can’t be any different here.

I agree. Huge amounts of data out there being analysed and misinterpreted (honestly and maliciously).

Personally I am happy, I work in a job where data is analysed and decisions made from the analysis.

Lots of people are really nervous and anxious, someone from government should appear and make a statement, Leo probably the best and he will quote a few films.

Your last point is valid, here and in UK, but I hope you are not drawing the wrong conclusion. These deaths are a consequence of Covid, not of lockdowns. Covid patients had to be treated and the result was reduced hospital capacity. Nothing could be done about that.

You should be able to report a positive antigen online, like in the UK. We’re so far behind it’s laughable.

Hmm, I’m not too sure about that at all. I would say it was both. I have that from inside the heart unit of one of our hospitals when even non elective surgery was being cancelled when there was capacity (during first lockdown).

I guess we might find out if and when there is an independent unfettered review of the whole thing include unintended consequences.

We are living in la la land. The debate about Covid amongst your average citizen is that the government shouldn't do this(close the bars and pubs at 8pm) but they should do this(Close the airports). And the sad thing is sentiments like this are about as extreme as your average citizen is going. We are still playing up to the charade that Covid is a dangerous disease that poses a serious health risk to the general population, I still hear the odd 'but long covid'...the mind boggles. The reality is the most infirm and vulnerable should be isolating and their families can make decisions about the risks they are willing to take. Let everyone else get on with it. Some deaths and illnesses will occur but that's life.

True, she has no rights now except to be characterized as a conspiracy looney. It's her own fault.

Yes but our politicians couldn't handle the criticism that comes with that.

If government decides that it's time to just open up and take personal responsibility then the media is going to be on their case for every single death. Only a matter of time before the news is running stories about some poor kid who has lost a grandparent and how this could have all been prevented if the government had just acted.

The groundwork for all of this was really done long before the pandemic started. Remember when Dublin had a lot of snow back in early 2018 (I think)? I recall Facebook and Twitter being full of people going mental at businesses that were going to remain open. Pretty sure one of the hotels in the city center was accused of endangering their staff by asking them to come to work. We were already setting ourselves up for this kind of thing.

The fact of the matter is that by April 2020 we already new exactly the demographics that were overwhelmingly the most vulnerable. Yes, there would be some people under 65 with no prior conditions etc who would get very sick and die but they were in the minority. We are about to enter January 2022 and still haven't figured out a way to protect the people who we know for a fact are most likely to die from this. Let's close retail for months. Let's close nightclubs and pubs and restaurants. Let's try everything except for increasing hospital capacity and quarantining the most vulnerable as best as we can. Let's definitely not try to explore any early treatments of the virus or anything that we could encourage people to do to prepare themselves for a potential infection.

Ridiculous last year that you could go into Tesco on a Saturday afternoon and see that the clothing section has been cordoned off so you can't buy basics like socks etc but you can totally stock up on donuts and booze before you join the queue with a bunch of old people and folk who don't understand that the mask should cover your mouth and also your nose.

Still being in this position when near enough everyone in the entire country is vaccinated and we have nearly two years worth of data to see who is most vulnerable is just ridiculous.

20,110 cases today. ICU figures low at 86.

Great post.

I'll say it again and again, it's an impossible task for Government so I am not critical of them as people. I am critical of the failings of our systems, our whole society cannot deal with nuance or grey areas. Depth for most people is just some run of the mill sad story about someone going through a hard time but it never delves deeper, always superficial. When has there ever been a really good conversation on RTE since the pandemic occured about trade-offs or about the overall climate that has facilitated some of the greatest restrictions on our liberties that anyone could have imagined(less so now) At least have the conversation, allow the debate, instead we have Clare Byrne with another fear-mongering piece to add to the fear-mongering piece she delivered a week previously.

I think it has taken Covid to wake me up to the limitations of our systems and society. We can retreat to the digital sphere to get a more thorough examination but really it exists in its own bubble outside the public space.

Hospital admissions figure inflated by people who are there with COVID but being treated for other conditions.

It's the only thing NPHET have left to drive their agenda but the public see through it now, it's over.

Funny