Staycations for everyone. Youâd want your head examined not to have booked a Villa in Kerry last December
Meanwhile Eamonn Ryan continues to ignore the issue.
But of course itâs a serious question. By getting rid of MHQ, you are strongly increasing the likelihood of seeding further chains of transmission of B.1.617.2.
Pretty much the whole world has realised that this variant is not something you want to invite in, but according to some posters here, MHQ or indeed any attempt to keep B.1.617.2 out of countries amounts to a shadowy conspiracy by big government to inflict pain on people for kicks. Itâs been fascinating to observe the spread of these sort of conspiracy narratives on this forum over the last year.
While our vaccination progamme is steadily advancing - and thatâs great, we still have a relatively small number of people fully vaccinated as of this moment.
It is ludicrous to dismiss the threat that a wide spread of B.1.617.2 and indeed all forms of Covid can do in terms of sickness, death, overpowering the hospital system and in terms of putting the kibosh on re-opening society.
By abolishing MHQ, you make that spread more likely.
So we need to know how such a spread would benefit us vis a vis the imperfect alternative. As far as I can see, the potential benefit of a wide spread of B.1.617.2 in any cost/benefit analysis is zero, while the potential cost is significant.
My Aer Lingus pilot mate tells me that what his union is being told by TDs is that they (the TDs), and even senior ministers cannot get any traction with Martin or Donnelly on the issue of travel. Martin and Donnelly are pandering to NPHET. And NPHET are not even as concerned about travel any more, but theyâre concerned about losing control of the public. Or at least thatâs what the union was told by TDs at FF/FG parliamentry meetings this week.
I completely disagree.
I would guess part of the thinking on it is that they do not want younger folks getting more pissed at them for waiting for vaccines whilst older folk jet off.
The travel fine is unsustainable though and will have to go before the end of June. If it doesnât Iâd expect court cases on it.
But of course you make seeding chains of transmission more likely if you donât have it. Mandatory hotel quarantine is something has actually been proven to work. I donât really see how there can be any debate about this.
The fact that our system is non-universal and imperfect - and yes this is a problem - is by the by. Something having flaws is not a reason not to do it.
MHQ is totally fruitless when you have an open land border on the island. Might as well be pissing up a downpipe trying to enforce it
Locking up people that are vaccinated and or have tested negative while people that have actually tested positive can wander around and infect as many people as they like is nonsensical. It provides no protection, itâs pointless. We are the only European country doing it. We canât even publish our criteria for adding or subtracting from the list, because we donât have any. Itâs a nonsense.
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Thatâs not the case. Itâs a case of something being better than nothing.
Yes, ideally you would not have that open border, and the system would be universal, but NI and the UK also have their own MHQ systems.
Direct UK-Ireland travel is a problem however.
Its Friday lads. Take the weekend off and ye can pick up again on Monday morning
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But you see youâre desperately searching for inconsistencies and flaws with the aim of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Of course there are flaws and inconsistencies - but again - in this case, something is very definitely better than nothing. Thatâs the point.
In the absence of the crystal clear policies of Zero Covid - which were very easy to understand - so no problem with messaging there - pretty much every policy weâve brought in has had inconsistencies.
Thatâs the nature of what youâre dealing with when you donât go full Zero Covid. People complaining about inconsistencies and confused messaging.
But the inconsistencies and confused messaging were what the people on this forum wanted - because to the best of my knowledge, hardly anybody here was in favour of Zero Covid.
Going against the EU after the hard work of brexit is a tendering mallet to thr face of frontline workers
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Variants and MHQ are cods. Can we just open up and discuss this over a few pints
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Have you heard thereâs vaccines for COVID19 that are effective against all variants and that the vast proportion of over 50s have received at least one shot in this country? For your information I donât envisage the hospital system being overpowered again with this illness at least.
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I think @rocko put in place a moratorium on the Covid threads for a few weekends? It would be most welcome back.
Again, I disagree. Why is something better than nothing? How is every other EU country getting on with their no MHQ?
A reasonable system would be to test people on arrival and use MHQ on those who test positive. We are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
By the way, your argument assumes that variants will do huge damage here. I donât see any evidence for that either. We are already riddled with a âvariantâ. The measures that suppress it in Ireland currently will equally act against any other variant that comes in. You assume a variant will come in and be a superspreading event. There is nothing to suggest that is likely.
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I caught the tail end of McConkey on radio 1 and he was warning of the risk of a 4th wave due to these varients.
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We have to get ahead of the variants that donât exist yet.
George Lee has a bit of a pep back in his step there with news of the Indian variant. Hasnât been himself recently.
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