Im happy for masks in post primary and older groups in primary. I think masks may impede learning in younger kids but that is just a personal opinion.
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Most vaccinated people entering ICU have impaired immune systems, says senior doctor (via @IrishTimes)
He actually uses the phrase âvast majorityâ
From what age?
Sounds like our public health experts are right wing nut jobs as itâs their recommendation not to:
Department of Education reopening guidance sent to all schools on Wednesday evening states that mandatory face mask rules in these settings are challenging and may cause undue stress for very young children.
As a result, it says they are not recommended at primary level or in pre-schools. However, they are advised at second level unless there is a good reason not to do so.
This guidance is based on a review conducted by public health experts at the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
By contrast, academics who are part of the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group say primary schoolchildren should wear masks given that high case numbers are concentrated among unvaccinated younger people.
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Most defo fagan OâDawg
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You were consistently cavalier about Delta before performing a volte face sometime in June, although you still wanted indoor pubs open on July 5th.
I was talking about Delta as a serious threat four months ago.
However when I suggested this on June 29th;
Your reaction was this:
We got to well over 900 cases a day before we opened indoor pubs. Weâre at 2k cases a day now, the North has 2,397 cases in its latest daily figures which I believe is the highest per capita in the world at the moment, and the schools are about to open.
4k cases a day within the near future is very realistic, probably likely. And it could get much worse than that.
May as well be counting farts at this stage
Unless they mandate N95 masks that are disposed and replaced after each wear them mandatory mask wearing is simply optics.
Dirty ten cent masks stuffed in pockets and taken on and off repeatedly being sold as some form of infection prevention measure and people nod along.
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If he left out vaccinated there then heâd probably be right too.
Masks for kids were introduced against all logic, as if it was no imposition and just not a big deal⌠the sensitivities of some imaginaryteachers were used as an excuse if anyone got cornered by common sense. Now youâve a few sickos still pretending theyâre useful and a lot of cowards who wonât speak up.
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Anyone who wants to mandate a mask for a child should wear one themselves constantly. I wear one at work for hours on end. I wouldnât ask it of a child
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That must have killed 30 minutes for you 
Way to conflate a load of different things by the way.
I called out MHQ system as pointless nonsense from the start. You said it was better than nothing. It was supposed to keep out VARIANTS. I said it wouldnât and it didnât. Guess what, I was correct and you were wrong. And weâre still keeping it up, a racist and pointless embarrassment to the country.
I was also correct that our more restrictive travel regime was stupid and pointless. Look where we are now, countries that have taken a sensible approach to travel are coloured green or orange on the map. Shouldnât they all be red long before now?
Why is it that countries that have taken the approach I advocated for on travel have fewer cases than we do? You and NPHET said travel would undo all our good work. But countries that have had taken a grown up approach to facilitating travel months before Ireland did now have a better profile.
Why is it that countries that use antigen testing have fewer cases than we do? You and NPHET said antigen testing would undo all our good work.
Why is it that countries that have fewer restrictions have fewer cases than we do? You and NPHET said relaxing restrictions would undo all our good work.
And excuse me if if find your assessment of the optimism levels of NPHET forecasting funny. I still do.
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You have continually advocated against the fewest amount of cases possible and tried to personally vilify anybody that does.
And you do NOT advocate for what Norway, Finland and Denmark do.
You advocate something which is much closer to what the UK are doing. Yu always have. You have denied for more than a year that travel is a major factor in spread.
Iâm more than open to Antigen testing. If done right.
Which means minimum 500 approved testing locations in the country, and at least 500k tests per day. And NOT self testing.
And that this continues for the foreseeable future, well past the scheduled conclusion of the vaccination programme.
I didnât say anything about the âoptimism levelsâ of NPHET modelling (not forecasting). I simply gave my own assessment on June 29th that if indoor pubs were opened on July 5th, as you demanded, that 900 daily cases would be very optimistic indeed, as in fantastical. You poo pooed that.
But I was proven comprehensively correct. Cases rocketed well past 900 a day before indoor pubs opened.
Yesterday I stated that the Republic sharing an open land border with Northern Ireland was a major contributory factor to virus spread in the Republic. This will continue to be a major problem as long as the UK is doing what it is doing.
You refuse to acknowledge this basic fact. Instead you try to claim that this basic fact is âracistâ. It would be funny if it werenât so pathetic.
You were NOT correct on MHQ. You were categorically wrong. Ideology like yours has and will continue to prolong and make worse this pandemic.
Get vaccinated.
Stop making up things that Iâve said. Itâs sad.
Youâve been wrong on MHQ, wrong on facilitating travel safely and wrong on antigen testing. Why do countries that have done the things youâve advocated against have better covid profiles and at lower vaccination rates?
If you were right on MHQ, antigen and travel they should all be red, surely.
The proof is in the results, have a look at the European map and see for yourself the countries that are doing better.
You can also see that Ireland is having worse results despite having more restrictions and higher vaccination levels.
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Do you admit that having an open border to the UK is a significant problem in terms of Covid spread in the Republic?
Or do you not?
All of Europe has an open border with each country nextdoor. If your reasoning held up theyâd all be red. They arenât and it doesnât.
You havenât answered the question.
Instead you ludicrously paint MHQ, one measure among many that should be implemented - because you need a multi-pronged approach - as the reason Ireland has a high case number at the moment.
A case number you donât see as a problem, incidentally. But it is a problem.
No I didnât. Why do you keep making up things that I say? Itâs bizarre. Thatâs one of your biggest and stupidest exaggerations yet. Why canât you debate what Iâve said instead of the the things youâve made up that Iâve said?
I said it was pointless from the beginning. Iâve been proved right and youâve been proved wrong. Itâs an embarrassment.
So now you admit that MHQ has not contributed to a single case.
Backtrack.
But the lack of universal MHQ has certainly contributed to increased spread.
Norway and Denmark both shut their borders by the way.
Your question âwhy has Ireland, which did something I donât like, now got high case figuresâ is very tabloid. And you want a tabloid answer.
If youâre that interested, why donât you have a go at writing 800 or 1000 words on the subject, because to address the subject properly would require that amount of words at a minimum. Covering all but not limited to the following: lack of universal MHQ, an open border with the UK, lack of mass testing, lack of masking in schools, employers taking liberties with demands on workers, a detailed analysis of living arrangements and age breakdowns in particular areas throughout the country, the general Irish dislike of rules, and the extreme virulence of Delta itself.