At least the comments there are calling it out as a ridiculous story.
I had my first haircut of lockdown myself last weekend
Gardai snitching on each other.
St Gerards school teachers who got vaccines they tell other teachers
The establishment pillars are very crumbling
They need to go. A Slap I the face of frontline workers
I arranged for my eldest son to have his hair cut illegally today.
@lurking journalists - PM me for details.
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Nolanâs crystal ball in overdrive. From the IT
The Stateâs public health team has warned the Government that coronavirus cases could rise to 2,000 a day within four weeks, it has emerged.
In a letter to the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly on Monday night, the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) warned that Ireland does not have the âheadroomâ that was available last summer when case counts were low.
The team told the Government that Irelandâs epidemiological situation remains âprecariousâ.
âThere are a number of reasons for this. First, the level of infection is high, with a 5-day average case count of 620 cases per day and a 14-day cumulative incidence of 165 per 100,000. This is substantially higher than when restrictions were eased after previous waves of infection â approximately twice that experienced in early December 2020, and 50 times that in late June 2020.â
The second reason given was that the dominance of the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant means that viral transmissions and the effective reproduction number âwill be 30-70 per cent greater than in 2020.â
Thirdly, the reproductive number is is estimated to âalready be at or above 1â.
âThe high level of infection significantly increases the risk associated with any increase in social contact and reproduction number. If reproduction number increases, the number of new infections per day will rise very quickly from this high baseline.â
This was illustrated in a series of modelling figures provided to Government.
The scenarios were based on the reproductive number increasing to 1.6 from a baseline of 10, 200 or 600 cases per day.
âThe high starting point of 600 cases per day means that case numbers rise rapidly to over 2,000 per day within 4 weeks. Starting at 200 cases per day, case counts increase to 700 cases per day after 4 weeks, it takes 7 weeks to reach 2,000 per day.
âStarting at 10 cases per day, even after 11 weeks case counts only increase to 500 per day. Unfortunately, the significant âheadroomâ that was available last summer when case counts were very low isnât available now, and any increase in transmission will have significant impacts in a short space of time,â the letter says.
Meanwhile, new modelling presented to Government on Monday night is also understood to show that if all goes well with the vaccination programme, it will begin to reduce risk from May 2021 and suppress cases through June and into August.
Mortality is expected to radically decrease, with 11 deaths per 1,000 cases in the most recent wave dropping to two. However, until there is greater vaccination, the effect will not be as pronounced on hospitalisations, which will drop from 50 to 30, per 1,000 diagnosed cases, with admissions to ICU falling from five to four.
This is because while deaths have been concentrated in the over-70s, hospitalisations and ICU rates are more evenly spread in other cohorts, which are not yet vaccinated.
Sources said that projections were for between 80,000 and 500,000 cases between April 5th and the end of September, depending on the level of socialisation that takes place.
It shows that vaccines will reduce hospitalisations more quickly than numbers of infections and cases. Government was warned that the next eight weeks represent a âcritical windowâ where any significant increase in indoor social mixing would give rise to a wave like that in October last year or this January.
Iâm now irate and Iâm about to go to bed.
Grrrrrrr
Only another 123 days to go lads.
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My next door neighbour runs a small salon out the back of her place. Sheâs had a few customers in and out over past few weeks. I was thinking of asking for a trim. She could become my Nicola cc @flattythehurdler
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Newspapers largely just reproduce NPHETâs advice, as if theyâre PR companies sending out a press release. Itâd be good if they robustly critiqued what theyâre saying too.
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GRA STATEMENT
Donnelly must explain why NIAC have
ignored the risk of policing the pandemic
30.03.2021
Many GRA members will be dismayed by the decision of the National Immunisation Advisory Council (NIAC) to ignore the risks involved in policing the pandemic, GRA president Frank Thornton has said.
The Minister for Health must explain the circumstances in which this decision was made, he added.
Garda Thornton said: âHow has NIAC only now drawn the conclusion that gardaĂ are not at risk? Was there policing competence involved in the decision?
âWas the Department of Justice and the Garda medical officer consulted? Did NIAC have regard for the employersâ duty of care? These and other questions must be answered by the Minister for Health.
âWithout consultation or transparency, this drastic change in policy will see our members continue to be exposed to a high-risk working environment.
âOur concerns over the health and safety of our members has never been as high.
âWe have continuously stated the elderly and most vulnerable in society along with frontline health care workers are priority and our position remains the same.
âMembers of An Garda Siochana should be categorised with other frontline workers including those in health care given our unique role in the fight against Covid.
âGardaĂ will not forget the way we have been treated during this crisis. We are the second pillar of the response to the pandemic and we are now being told that we are no more at risk than someone who can work from home.
âGardaĂ do not have this option and when situations arise where there is a heightened risk of Covid infection, we are called to sort it out.
âNo-one else in Irish society is expected to wrestle with people who may be infected or refuse to wear masks or are in home quarantine because they are coming from a high-risk country.
âThe treatment of members of An Garda Siochana is shocking. We have endured so much, given so much, and revived little or nothing from this Government.â
ENDS
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Fran the Man is back doing personal training classes on the green near my house, just over from his premises. Time to report all these rule breakers if we want to get back to normality in the next few years.
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Right enough now that I think of it. None of my three governments have done anything to reassure me.
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You must be delighted having three governments to give out about 
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Fairly clear NPHET know if you can avoid hospitals and nursing homes you have little or no chance of catching Covid.
Has any Garda caught Covid wrestling a suspect to the ground or flailing at one with a baton.
Iâm sure we will hear examples, hopefully they publicly announce they are not police the measures
Any chance the GRA would question why a load of office bound Garda employees got the vaccine ahead of âfrontlineâ garda while they are at it?
Tough night lads. Off to bed with you all there now
A masterstroke by the authorities changing the priority order for the vaccines. Weâre all turning on each other while the real villains skulk away into the night.
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Ah! begod! Surely you havenât nailed it there! So @Glenshane wants MORE government! 'tis the oul âthe lady doth protest too muchâ. closet stuff.
Iâm here shaking my head at how much the Irish government have messed this upâŚitâs unbelievable