Easing restrictions might be a help to some people, but it might have a negative effect on other people. And it is very likely to have a negative effect on the public health situation.
If we could press a button and end the pandemic, we would. Unfortunately that button is not available to us. We have to wait for the vaccines to do their job. I donât know how long that will be but I expect itâs not that far off.
Why do we differ in policy from the rest of EU? You sound like you listen to too much RTE news at times when itâs shown our lockdown is 3x longer than the rest of the EU.
Iâd be content if we locked down with the EU but also opened up with them too.
Also presuming the vulnerable are vaccinated who else will suffer?
Despite our clear failings I believe weâve done better than most of the EU. I donât watch RTE News that much. I mainly watch Channel 4 News.
In what sense have we done better?
Less deaths. Than most other EU countries, not all. Which is the most important measurement.
McWilliams would disagree. Our success is mainly due to our very young population.
Ironically our current Young cohort will get out of here at the first opportunity. The Irish love sending their youth abroad to earn a living.
Well, you donât have to just follow rules that other people give you like youâre a train on the tracks. You can go in whatever direction you want, you donât have to conform to anything. I donât know what age you are but most people I know donât get a mortgage until mid-30s, if they even manage that. The world of work isnât as good as college. A key thing youâre missing out on here is that by the time college ends for most people theyâve gotten sick of it and are happy to move on but the lockdown has stunted youâre ability to mature in that direction - thatâs a problem. There are other options. I did TEFL for a few years after college and it was far better than college. Obviously you need the virus situation to clear up to do that.
But you dont have to be in a relationship at all. You actually sound like someone stuck in the wrong relationship. I have no idea what your situation is. But your life doesnât end once you leave college, if anything mine got freer. My friends are all in their 30s, only one couple have children. Just donât do what you donât want to do, itâs itâs Also very solid principle, itâs especially helped me during this pandemic.
Also, maybe you could pick a less stressful profession.
Maybe Iâm reading too much into what you said. Youâre right though, those are negative thoughts, in that that theyâre actually fairly irrational and they can be quite easily solved. Theyâre not really problems at all. Just live whatever the fuck life you want, problem solved. Iâm serious.
Your sport is a more serious thing, harder to solve. It probably wouldnât be much use if I told you that 99% of players never reach their potential and end up with big regrets, thatâs just life. And no matter how hard you work a huge part of success is luck, lucky timing especially, and you, like most people, donât have it. Maybe thatâs not as helpful as the first part if my answer.
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Good night
Can you give context? A virus that kills mainly the elderly in a country with the lowest average age in the EU? Is that a good indication still when weighted like that? A nation with the most restrictions in the EU.
McWilliams says a lot of things. We let Covid rip once, for a short while, and we saw what it could do. I would give the government a small modicum of credit that they havenât tried to repeat that mistake.
Weâre a small island on the edge of Europe and we speak English. Weâre beside Britain and not that far from America. Weâre in the EU. So of course we like to emigrate.
Sound for the words of advice kid.
Itâs prob best defined what you said on sports, once the years go they go.
Obviously there are many factors involved in the death rate, but age demographics is likely the most important. The average in Europe for people over 65 is is 20%, Ireland is at 14%. Just on Ireland versus Sweden alone, Sweden is at 20% so 40% more people over 65 than Ireland. They also have 40% more deaths per capita, I donât think thatâs a coincidence.
I think his point was very valid on age profiles of our population which is the biggest predictor in deaths.
To denounce it so abruptly is hardly fair.
The elderly are people too. And we have lots of younger people living with the elderly because we have a housing crisis. The reason we have had such long running restrictions is because we rejected the chance to have something better last summer by opening up too quickly. Failing that, we have what we have, which is better than the other alternative.
Are you suggesting zero covid could have been a runner? Im off to bed.
Sweden has 10 times the death rate of its nearest neighbour, who have extremely comparable demographics. I donât think thatâs a coincidence.
Read my posts from last weekend, Iâm not going into it again. But in short, broadly I believe the Zero Covid advocates have overwhelmingly won the arguments.
I donât either, but itâs unfair to compare Sweden to Norway (or Finland) if the same comparison isnât made between every other European country and Norway. Norway, Finland and Denmark closed their borders in March 2020 and never opened them again, except to each other. Could Ireland have done the same? Even with the border, I would say yes if the urgency and will was there, but it wasnât. So the result was the virus circulating at a lower levels during the summer, like everywhere else in Europe, and then as people spent more time indoors later in the year it surged again. Driven in the main by young people socializing which was always going to happen, lockdown or no lockdown.
Weâre told young people have been socialising now for the last number of months and cases have still gone down. Socialising in houses or outdoors is one thing, itâs the extra layer of mixing that indoor pubs etc. bring that really spreads it.
Cases rose from July/August, they were always rising from then bar the six week period in October and November.
Yes we could have effectively shut our borders, these are decisions that are taken or not taken by humans, the defining factor is will.
Cases have gone down almost everywhere that had a big surge in January, the curves for cases and deaths look almost identical. Younger people started to lose their interest in lockdown in mid summer of last year, at least here. Luckily that was when the virus was relatively dormant and we have a long summer season, but then we had Thanksgiving in late November when people were advised not to have family gatherings, but many did, then Christmas / New Year. People figure out a way to socialize, we are social animals.
I honestly donât believe the type of lockdowns we tried worked, even though I can see how people are convinced as to why they should work. I think the best you can do is limit larger gatherings, especially indoors, and there you have to be fairly strict. Limit the 20:80 spreader events. But thereâs no evidence whatsoever that outdoor activities involving small groups, like sports and training, contributed to any outbreaks. Itâs also clear that you can open safely, outdoor dining, even indoor dining with table spacing and good airflow. The primary danger is stagnant air, and at home is the most likely spot for that, so having visitors was probably the most dangerous activity.
As I said its complex bit people should be allowed to choose if they want to go out or restricted their movements based on their perceived risk. Telling everyone to stay indoors, shutting the country down to protect the elderly or vulnerable is a vast assumption. It takes away the personal choice and goverments from supposed Liberal freedom lovong nations have stepped way over the mark on this. You can opt out of what Iâm suggesting by staying at home.