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

@Vachement wrote:

To what end though are we testing everyone going into hospitals? If we're swabbing for covid, then why not norovirus, why not influenza? Covid is not going away, so new testing regimes now would be functionally permanent. It's not like anything is going to change that will let us stop testing.

And I'm not in principle opposed to infection control measures in hospitals - obviously - but it needs to be based on what is proven work rather than expectations. That is, would screening everyone in and out of hospitals, result in a net benefit? On the face of it, it seems like a no-brainer. But there would be knock-on effects; increased levels of staff absences and reduced numbers of visitors. Both of which we know to be detrimental to individual patient outcomes. So even if increased levels of testing resulted in ls acquired illnesses (and we don't know for certain if it would), that alone is not good enough. We need to know whether patients as a whole benefit from it.

In terms of improved indoor air quality, you're not wrong. But everyone who has suggested it seems to fall short of defining or understanding the actual scale of it. Are we talking about retrofitting HVAC into every building in the country? If the building owner refuses or can't afford it, what then? Even if we had started in March 2020, the resources needed to run such a programme are far too constrained to have made a difference in two years. This kind of thing belongs in building regulations. Which, like fire safety, is a drip-feed thing which takes decades to become standard across the country.

Of course, what we do know is that the vast, vast majority of cases were acquired in household settings. How do we improve the air quality in homes? Building regulations. How long will that take to make a difference? Again, decades. There's also the environmental impact. We can't just start throwing air conditioning into every home in the country. Measures would have to be based on low-energy & passive systems. Which are even more expensive and harder to retrofit.

I see one of the companies that runs a few Gaeltacht colleges have cancelled their courses for the Summer again this year due to covid.

I suppose they'll have the paw out looking for money from the government to stay afloat aswell?

These people need a serious wake up call.

I agree we need to learn and know more, but my point was that the data so far shows worse effects from Covid than from the worldwide rollout of the vaccines .

You will argue to the contrary however. Can't change that .

You do accept that mandatory vaccines were not brought in nor were they for children ?

Nor was the Digital Covid cert made permanent .

These were other worries that you had that did not come to pass ...

Or maybe people have grown a pair and have stopped reporting that they have it.

I went to work for a week with it and nobody was any the worse for not knowing, time to move on.

Some of us don't have the handy cushion of public service sick pay.

what is the prevalence and impact of non Covid viral infections in hospitals? There seems to be a lot going round at the moment.

Not very much influenza , 1 needing ICU , only 7 in the whole Winter season .A lot of coughs alright but milder illness .

Small numbers even of norovirus comparing to other years . Nursing home outbreaks .

These are all on HSPC website , under infectious diseases surveillance .

Big job for her. She's been excellent during this. CMO, herself and ...?

Ah that was quitting Maynooth and well-flagged. NPHET just seconded people for the duration.

@Goldengirl wrote:

Sure. The actual danger Omicron presents is still very much up in the air. At the moment about two-thirds of ICU admission have "incidental" Covid, according to Varadkar. Which suggests that even at maximum saturation, the actual impact of covid infections is pretty small.

Most of the issues with staffing and control appear to focus around staff absences and patient isolation. I said it months back, but at some point we need to shift from "isolate covid patients to protect the vulnerable", to just "isolate the vulnerable to protect them".

The point is that covid is not going away. At some point we have to recognise that treating like a novel virus is unsustainable as you pump resources into mitigation efforts that do not properly reflect the real danger.

The fact is that Omicron in Ireland since the 1st January 2022 has a CFR of around 0.12% - at most. Which is at the lower end of the CFR that seasonal influenza typically has. It's considerably more infectious, sure. But it's simply not that dangerous any more.

Claire Byrne back in the shed again. Lol. She has become a bit of a parody at this stage.

https://twitter.com/Independent_ie/status/1511059789522124806

I wonder will any members of government get covid....

At the same time as Claire....

You really can't isolate the vulnerable in a hospital, Séamus, unless you have single rooms for everyone, which would be ideal / in an ideal world.

There are just too many people vulnerable.

We have always kept those infected away from the general run of the hospital / isolated as much as possible to prevent spread to the multiply vulnerable, be they young or old.

And novel or not novel, that infection rate and CFR is still higher than anything else going around, and thats with the least severe variant.

No. Its wrong to be suggesting a sort of let it rip at this stage in hospitals, way too risky.

Thanks. Always good to hear your perspective.

it occurs again to me reading this how the opportunity was lost to buy out the private hospitals. I know it is not simple with existing contracts and health insurance but creative solutions could have been found and we could transition more quickly to a universal health model.

What, exactly, do you mean by "universal health model"?

We already have universal hospital care, as since 1970 everybody is entitled to care in public hosps.