The Pandemic is officially over!

I was up at my GP there the other day. I asked the receptionist did I need a mask? Someone in the waiting room without one. She said it would be appreciated if patients wore one. They have notices on the door saying no mask no entry yet they don't even provide masks there. They used to refuse entry and make you go to the chemist to buy one.

So anyway I had a mask with me so I did put it on. But I'm thinking it's wrong of her to say that. They are not a requirement. I was at a hospital appointment last week and didn't wear one with no problems. It's a bit rich.

You could but then, what would all the people addicted to the place do?

It ended for me when the HSE stopped announcing how many died from it in the last 24 hours on the 6 o'c. News. Am I right to say Maradona's death was the only thing that stopped it from being the first item on the RTE news during that period.

People won't or simply can't afford to stay at home with the flu or the cold or covid because they can't afford to in the current financial climate with every day costs going out of control. If the government or doctors want us to stay home for a week with the flu put their hand in their pocket and give people their full wages for the week through social. There were boasting a couple of weeks ago about being 16bn in the black over the next couple of years so they can afford it.

People weren't dying from it though. They were dying with it.

This fact seems to have got overlooked throughout this farce.

Agree we went ridiculously cautious for covid. It was only to prevent our very expensive health service which was already at capacity from being overwhelmed.

And even now, the health service is still at capacity and not due to covid.

Investment in healthy eating, alcohol reduction, exercise, mental health would save many more lives. And also the govt. needs to deliver on the billions poured into the health service. And make it possible for those who work in it to afford accommodation and a future in this country.

The reality is that the pandemic was "over" as any kind of serious threat to most people after about 4 months when it became clear who was actually at risk of serious illness or death - in general the same people who were already vulnerable to a host of other illnesses. It's those people that our efforts and resources should have been focused on, not asking young and/or healthy people to hide away, maybe losing their jobs and/or dealing with serious stresses in the meantime.

What Covid exposed in this country was the obsessive need of a small minority to control the behaviour of others, the dangers of social media crusading and divisive polarisation, the shocking ease at which freedoms and rights were handed over by many, and the lack of news media that could provide an objective and effective challenge to the politicians and decisions being made - or more accurately abdicated to a group of unelected and unaccountable public servants led by a man who should never have been in charge in the first place.

The fact that there are still some who are worried and attacking others about something that was little more than a mild dose for the overwhelming majority shows the damage that was done by the blanket and excessive one-sided coverage of the event. Just as serious is the financial and mental health consequences of our response, all of which will be with us for a long time to come.

Yeah has to be done. I have flown 7 longhaul return flights and 1 short flight since November 21. A few ferry crossings. . I decided life is for living after covid.

I read in Phoenix mag that the Irish Times received huge Government advertising revenue from Covid ads. Is it possible that affected their editorial policy, I'd be be surprised if other media outlets didn't get similar amounts.

On Covid, I don't know, that's why I'm asking. They have been accused in the recent past of fueling the property bubble because they received a lot of advertising revenue for their supplements. Although they did publish Morgan Kelly's gloomy predictions, which turned out to be accurate.