NI looks really bad, doesn’t it?
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As bad as it looks, Ireland is actually worse than the UK at the moment.
People are being lulled into a false sense of security by the relatively low impact of Omicron on hospitalisations and deaths, because the vaccinations are doing their job. But that shouldn’t mean giving up on the restrictions as soon as the trend starts pointing downwards.
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Yeah, that’s the thing that I don’t get… if the lockdowns are helping, why stop doing that?
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Well, some Irish lad didn’t get the message, apparently.
Loads of messages, me thinks.
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I wonder the same.
But it seems to me that a bunch of governments are in the midst of pivoting from helpful (if weak and chaotic) measures to “if you’re going to die then fuck off and die already”.
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As near as I can tell, in Australia it’s because the Business Council went to the neoliberals in the NSW and Australian federal governments and bitched and moaned about their turnover and profit margins until they got what they wanted. Which was more foot traffic in major shopping districts.
Sure, the hospitals are doing what everyone said since day one they’d do under these conditions, and melting down, but revenue is up slightly, unemployment is down, and the economic forecast is looking good, so that seems to be a win! /s
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Going by the history of these folks + how they broadcasted their plans online in advance and the makeup of DC, i’m at least expecting a massive street brawl on sunday.
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36 out of 54 passengers tested positive!
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An over 100-fold increase in daily new cases in three weeks in Tokyo.
Nationwide, we’re up to 54,000 today.
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There are a couple of things about Ireland’s experience of covid that while probably not unique, are very different to your experience in the 'States.
Ireland locked down early by popular demand, not by government diktat. The new, coalition government had just come just come second and third in a three horse election and didn’t really have a mandate. The Irish people were fearful that what happened in Italy would happen here and the Government acquiesced out of insecurity.
Since then, the Irish response has been pretty scientific and in the scheme of things, not terribly shabby. The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) do the science and the government make the decisions and it’s all been very transparent.
There is an anti-vax movement here but it’s small, ineffectual and unpopular. Mostly it’s just the usual shower* of right-wing shitheads stirring up the ignorant same as always.
There was a high degree of compliance among the population and we have a very high rate of vaccine uptake (80-90%). There were about 6000 deaths, a lot in care homes near the start and that could have been handled much better but by and large things could have been much, much worse.
So broadly speaking, Ireland is doing okay. NPHET did the science and have advised the government that many of the measures can now be lifted. The government is very keen to do this because they want to come out of this smelling of roses so they can hold another election and conclusively win it this time.
(I could digress and mention all the problems that caused them to lose the last election haven’t gone away, but this isn’t the place.)
So, my take on it is that masks aren’t going away and that’s probably the single biggest (and simplest) measure against covid, so that’s good.
But the pubs are opening up and IMO that has been the single biggest spreader of covid here based on past experience. So there’s that.
And I also feel it’s a bit naive to get all smug while there’s still a pandemic raging across most of the world and in particular, our nearest neighbour.
*Do other English speakers use ‘Shower’ as a mildly derogatory collective noun for a group of assholes? I suspect it’s a Dublin thing but I’m not sure…
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I haven’t heard that before.
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Against hospitalization
Persistent cognitive impairment is said to impact approximately one in four COVID survivors, according to a study about the frequency and variety of symptoms associated with the disease.
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I am truly sorry to hear that. Got several friends who have elderly family in Japan. Can relate.
Hope Japan does all they can do to get this under control. Massive vaccination campaign foremost, absolutely massive PSA regarding proper masking (K(N)95 / FFP2), and all other things that have been shown to work.
All the best to you, and your family. Hope that your mental health is extremely stable, and you are extremely resilient.
ETA: I totally missed how successful Japan was with vaccinations this autumn. My impression still was that hesitancy was high.
Holy shit, Japan, great!
Japan has a long history of vaccine hesitancy. In January, a survey showed a large majority were sceptical about the newly developed Covid vaccines. So what happened?
Wow, they hopefully can roll out the boosters as fast and successful!
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In my practice, we don’t worry about the survival rate. Kids don’t (generally) die of covid, and infrequently get terribly ill. It’s these neurological sequellae that keep me awake at night. How much neurological damage heals over time, or does it at all? WDKS but the risk is potentially devastating. Robbing a child of their potential in the name of some imaginary “freedom” is about as selfish as it is humanly possible to be.
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Related question: is this generally the case in your opinion? Last time I visited friends, I got the impression (from the media and answers I got when I enquired about the reports) that some people strongly oppose HPV vaccination, and try to influence kids to rail against it (and, e.g., their own parents). As far as I remember, some anti-vaxers parents tried to sue, and others tried even extreme measures to campaign.
That said, the Irish are doing a better job than most during the pandemic, and …
Oh.
Shit.
I don’t know if there is any hard data on this, but I wouldn’t bet against that in a million years, I wouldn’t. Without any stereotypes, Irish pubs are almost always place where people interact closely, and loudly by design. With is perfect for superspreader events.
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There was an anti HPV disinformation campaign here a few years back. There is overlap between that and covid anti-vaxxers.
However, when I was referring to the anti-vaxxers here I meant specifically covid anti-vaxxers, and the most vocal off them were the same individuals who had previously been (and presumably still are) anti immigration and pro IreExit. Pernicious racist assholes who crave attention.
If you’re curious…
On the subject of pubs, I’m referring to pubs specifically during the covid emergency. On the (IIRC) two occasions (one at Christmas 2020 and the other during summer 2021) that the pubs were allowed to open, intoxicated people behaved irresponsibly and there was a corresponding uptick in covid rates about 10 days later.
I don’t mean to implicate pub-goers as behaving irresponsibly, rather I mean that lowering of inhibitions is just the nature of intoxication.
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I definitely didn’t understand that you would.
I honestly think that Irish pubs are perfect for superspreader events due to how they are build and thus used. You usually have an open bar with more or less central tabs, and people go there for their orders. People talk loudly, there usually is music of some kind, so people talk more loudly. The soundscape of the building itself is not in favour of talking quietly and being understood. If you need to go to the loo, you usually have to go through the whole pub, to the back end. Ventilation might be good, but I doubt it has HEPA filters, so it might actually spread the virus further and farther. If there is live music, there will be singing, naturally. The artists are very close, usually - often just alongside the patrons.
And keeping your mask on in a pub doesn’t really work with food and drink, does it?
You don’t even have to be the least tipsy to have this go the wrong way. I know. I’ve been in pubs with several pregnant women in my time, who were behaving very responsibly indeed.
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