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

Why do lads like you abdicate all responsibility?

Do the open windows help or not? If they do, then you should open them regardless of what the policy is. If they don't, then you should close them regardless of what the policy is.

But you aren't basing your actions on whether they help or not, instead you act depending on what the policy is. And if the policy changes then you will change with it, regardless of whether they work or not!

And that is insane.

At one stage policy was to move patients into nursing homes. It was policy that masks were not needed. And it was policy that antigen tests did more harm than good. Don't leave children shivering just because you are a slave to policy.

It'll be interesting to see how this one pans out given we threw away our chances to host the Euro Games last year due to public hysteria.

It must be awlful for companies trying to survive and then have workers feel they are forced back into the office at this stage.

When do we just move on with it all at this stage .

Hepa filters are not being put in every classroom

So you think it works, but you will stop doing it if the policy changes, despite the fact that you think it works.

What a country.

Closing construction last year for 4 months has to be the worst decision do far.

When do we stop saying that mindless, moronic “hiding under the bed” ?

Absolutely.

Just getting over a dose and hit the oldest two in the house worst ( middle aged!) and reckon would have been a lot worse without vaccination ... now looking forward to a better year hopefully .

The consequences of simply trying to plough through a pandemic and pretend it wasn't even happening would have been very unpredictable. Would Irish people have been okay with tens of thousands of deaths instead of 6000? Also, many people would have been freaked at the idea of literally everywhere remaining open, including all places of work and schools and leisure whilst a deadly virus was running riot. The anti-lockdown brigade would be high fiving each other of course but I'd guess large numbers would not be (and especially when the big second wave last winter and then Delta came along).

Absolutely. Although I think some of those mistakes were seen as mistakes and ineffective at the time and even worse now in hindsight.

I think it is fair to say that the first lock down was completely reasonable. We were in an emergency situation and there were huge unknowns. But at that time it was sold as an emergency and people got on board with it.

But we never completely came out of that lock down - the 9 euro meal, wet pubs, masks bad then good, the frenzy around bank holiday weekend, communions, confirmations, major concern when there were 10 cases or so, the stigmatisation of travel (when we are on an island), and memorably Golfgate (another media storm) which followed the Govt being bounced by NPHET into new restrictions at short notice. The biggest mistake at that time was not to try to open up more that summer so as to give people some relief when things were ok - I remember advice that they did not want BBQs as people would risk infecting each other when they were going to the toilet.

We never really learned from that time. That outdoor was safer - that construction did not need to close - that regulated environments are safer than private settings - that antigen tests is a useful tool.

We also had some howlers driven by media, zero Covid loons and by the opposition. Notably was MHQ which has cost 25 million and putting controls on fellow EU Member States - recalling again that we are an island with an open border to the UK and part of a single market with 26 other Member States with deep economic and social ties. Madness at the time and even more so in hindsight.

Another was not opening in the summer when we had so many people vaccinated. It seemed there was never a right time for public health. And now my biggest fear is that we are using extraordinary restrictions to shield the health service from its failings.

It was clear early on that the NPHET structure was never really fit for purpose yet this has never been fully addressed.

Restrictions are an extraordinary power which have both benefits and costs. That broad cost-benefit analysis needs to be under constant review.

Yesterday - despite all we know about the Omicron variant, NPHET decided to maintain the emergency restrictions it sought in November and early December to control this variant. We have a highly vaccinated population yet we are closing hospitality and culture at 8pm - the State then has to step in to pay for this. Businesses are closing and many others will never reopen.

There will be damage to sports bodies for years to come as they have used all reserves on this and yet we face the prospect of near empty stadiums…5000 in Lansdowne Road next month while Twickenham will be packed to the rafters. This means lack of investment in fitness and sports in the future…

Quite frankly we need a plan now to reopen quickly and at the latest by the end of February. If another variant emerges let’s deal with that then but we cannot continue the policy of trying to avoid another lockdown by not reopening. It’s not working, it is costly and it is demoralising.

where are you getting this tens of thousands of deaths idea from? we have pretty much the same deaths as other countries which did not impose restrictions.

if those many people would have been freaked by that then they should stay home and lock themselves down.

i was in A&e one night and an ambulance arrived with a couple and he was complaining of an ulcer, turns out he had heartburn from drinking cider all day, a petite young doctor found a room for him and just as his gf got to the door she slammed in her face, and from outside we heard the doc give him the mother of all bollickings.....she went through him for a shortcut about all the wasted resources :) ,,...i was proud of her