Coronavirus ROI/NI number 4

[eggandonion]

I don't believe it, would it ever go away!

I do understand the maths, and that older people are more vulnerable. I heard about a man in his forties in another country who died over the weekend - fit and sporty, but was in hospital with breathing issues last week. My kids are in their twenties, half the people they know seem to be getting tested, a few positives, but fine - the above case made them pause for thought.
I'm fed up with masks and sanitising and rules about cafes and not being able to go to the cinema and stepping back from people and not being able to hear through masks and dh and dd working from home.... I don't want anyone to be ill with covid or any other illness which they are scared to call the doctor about, or treatments postponed. This is a truly horrible time, especially tonight.

Why is it good schools are staying open? I mean apart from the obvious? If everything else is closed. Its not logical. How are schools safer than gyms, shops, a 6k walk?

I think working through the phases helped earlier in the year - this seems more uncertain?

@Readandwalk they arnt. But them staying open I is much much more important than all of those things

But do you really believe the gov figures on school are reliable? They keep changing the rules on what exactly constitutes a close contact in schools. They dont include in the statistics kids who've out of schools for 2 days previous to a positive case. Why do you think they are so determined to keep schools open?

It's nothing to do with education but all to do with keeping people compliant and the economy going and knowing that few young people will die from covid

Well Stephen Donnelly said this evening that school contacts are testing positive at 1+% whereas community contacts are testing at 7%.

That is probably to do with the fact that kids don't seem to pick it up, if they do it doesnt seem to be a serious illness, and they dont seem to shed particles which infects others.
It would be interesting to know if that 1% is other kids or the teachers.

We cant go on having 1000+ cases a day.

I think the govts plan is this.
Lock down til end of Nov

By then we will have single digit cases a day, not 100's, if people comply.
Let small business soak up Christmas earnings
Let families meet and loosen the pressure
So when cases start rising again, which they will, its inevitable , it will be from a low base.

Businesses will hopefully limp on from xmas earnings and people will have had an outlet.

There is some good news about vaccines coming down the line, knowledgeable scientists are hopeful the first ones could be rolled out before the end of the year, prob for healthcare workers first and then roll out to the elderly etc.

By the end of Jan/beginning of Feb cases will be rising again.
We will be facing tightened restrictions again - BUT with any luck there will be a vaccine widely available and we can avoid the worst of things.

I don't see what else they can do tbh.

I disagree with those saying this is all the government's fault. They've made plenty of mistakes, but personal responsibility is key in my opinion. It's reasonable to expect competent adults to hold their own behaviour to account. One would have hoped that guidelines to ensure our own safety, and the safety of our most vulnerable, shouldn't have needed to be enforced for the most part.

Clearly, that hasn't been the case, and here we are. it's a pity it's come to this.

www.irishtimes.com/news/health/coronavirus-why-level-3-failed-and-why-level-5-might-too-1.4385342?mode=amp

I hope you don't mind me joining this thread. I haven't lived in Ireland (or NI) for a long time, but still have friends and family there so like to know what's going on. My mum is in the Derry and Strabane area which is pretty terrifying, but she is staying indoors as much as possible. I do worry for all of you there, the situation looks to be very worrying, and, dare I say it, out of control.

I just wanted to say something about lockdown, and people blaming each other for not following rules etc. IMO your lockdowns are restrictions can't be effective, basically because they just aren't strict enough. And I can't see how you can afford to do what really needs to be done. Four months ago Melbourne and Victoria (population about 5 million) had over 700 cases a day. They locked down hard and fast, and crucially, also shut their border. Pretty much everything was shut, they had a curfew, it was pretty hardcore. And still it took almost four months to bring the figures down to single digits! So I can't see how you can put the genie back in the bottle at the minute. I just hope there is a vaccine soon, and if I was still there I would personally be as cautious as possible. My cousin works in a major hospital in the north, and she is very worried indeed as they are almost full already. Please all look after yourself, and I hope things get easier soon.

Thanks for the links to Irish businesses. They’re great to have. I’ve been feeling really bad about not supporting local bricks and mortar businesses but it’s been very intimidating going out with people coming up close, reaching across me in shops and in one case a woman beside me pulled her mask down to cough .

Personally I feel that the caretaker govt were health focused which was excellent but didn’t have enough economic expertise. And the current govt dropped the ball and lost the connection with the public.

But I strongly feel that if the guidance on social distancing and isolation/restricted movements had been followed we wouldn’t be in this state. So the public are not blameless.

I think that they are right to focus on cooperation rather than enforcement but I think that if there were serious penalties for people like that person who is linked to 56 infections then it might cause people to think more carefully. And if an index case, who hasn’t complied with the quarantine guidelines, was subsequently linked to a death then they should face manslaughter charges.

I’d be draconian and say anyone found not isolating correctly should be imprisoned for 14 days but our prison system is in worse shape than our health service.

The government is made up of people just like us. Dealing with a brand new deadly virus of course mistakes and miscalculations were made. We need to follow the guidelines and get on with it. At least going into lockdown this time isn't as frightening, treatment for covid is much better and death rates are much lower. I am really going to make an effort to shop in local companies online for Christmas, we can all do our bit.

What kind of magical powers do the bloody GAA have over the government? Surely we’re safer at the hairdresser/barber than the crowd of amateurs who play and come into close contact with each other and then pass it on to their families and colleagues? (Exactly that happened with a Blackrock player in a Co. Cork final a couple of weeks ago.). And WHY GAA training for kids allowed carry on? Keep the schools open, certainly, but get rid of flipping GAA training! I can’t go for a swim in my quiet swimming pool but crowds of kids can get together in the local GAA grounds? Such strange double standards.

I agree @Procrastination4

It's any outdoor non-contact training for kids that can go ahead though, isn't it? Not just GAA. My kids' soccer training is going ahead (they won't be attending), but the local GAA training for kids stopped for the winter a week or two ago anyway.

How are they going to police the 5k rule? People can visit graves, my beloved grandmothers grave is 3 hours away, I used visit very often pre restrictions... Can I do this now? I always visit & bring a wreath on her birthday in November, judging by the covid exemptions I'm allowed, it doesn't state how far away the cemetery needs to be....

I wonder which minister insisted on grave visits?

Apparently according to the bible aka Twitter, gaa have the govt. Over a barrel as some testing centres are at GAA halls ???

I'm glad the Championship can go ahead. It's all we've got left.

We have the American election, Brexit and the Toy Show.

See what I mean?

So we lock down for 6 weeks ( it slows the virus down slightly) then we open right back up before Christmas so plp can see their family and shop so our completely battered economy gets a slight boost and the infection rates soar right back up again!? Cam places like pubs even reopen , Dublin pubs have been shot since March.
It isn’t going anywhere... It’ll be there in 6 weeks.
Also before Christmas is the worst time for illness, flus d+v viruses etc so is that good timing to open it all up again and spread it. 3 weeks early December is probably enough time that by Christmas Day numbers are high again..
The WHO have actually discouraged short lockdowns as they only slow it down slightly for it to soar in numbers once reopened.
I feel for the government but our economy will take decades to recover..let along the effects of other unnoticed illnesses. I don’t know what the answer is but shutting down for 6 weeks and opening in time for it to spread for Christmas Day is not it either.

Apologies for typos

I agree that the plan seems to be shut down for a few weeks, open up for Christmas and then pay for that with another shut down in January. But I can’t see the alternative.

They can’t let the numbers keep climbing exponentially.

Surely it would be better to have short, sharp lockdowns before the numbers climb rather than waiting til we get to the point where we’re at crisis point. Could we sustain 2 weeks every 6 weeks? I don’t know what the answer is.

7days. Numbers inscholls are much higher. If tbe student is absent 48hrs beforethey test positive it is considered a community case. School isn't even contacted.

They do not test close contacts and have changed the rules for what a close contact is in schools
It used to be someone in tbe same lesson within 2metres. Now it's someone during lunch, without a mask for 15 mins.

Also baffled by the GAA championship going ahead. The way they were talking about it in the news for the past few days, you'd swear it was as vital as oxygen. I couldn't give a toss about the GAA and neither could many other people, judging by the poll Claire Byrne quoted last night (60 something percent of people polled thought it shouldn't go ahead)

I doubt if there was too many watching Claire Byrne. The GAA is important for people's mental health, especially young people who've had everything else taken away from them.