I think Ireland and Sweden did a pretty poor job of protecting the elderly back in March and April but the difference is that Sweden have admitted as such, adjusted accordingly and have had mature, open debates about how to handle the virus. Meanwhile in spudland we gave the fella who mishandled the first wave the freedom of Dublin and just have daily Dr Death updates and incessant scaremongering from the state media that has our elderly population terrified and a nation of middle aged selfish cunts sitting at home tik tokking each other, sending work emails on full wage and tut tutting at young people wanting to have social contact and some semblance of normality.
It’s too early to say where the death totals will end up anyway. We’re moving up (or down) the table all the time and we’ve done fuck all in the last 7 months apart from telling people to stay at home and wash our hands.
The Norwegians had good honest discussions as well. Their PM admitted she panicked over schools. Their head of public health pointed out various interventions that were political (travel restrictions, schools) & admitted to where learnings have been made.
I believe sweden came out admitted they made a massive mistake around nursing homes, taken those deaths out of the numbers in both Ireland and Sweden the numbers are around the same. I spoke with a fella at a wedding few weeks ago who has lived there for 10 years (he came home 3 weeks before to isolated etc.) He couldn’t get over how restrictionive it was here. He said they closed nightclubs and have table service in bars. In shops they in general kept distance but nothing mandatory like here. Its the best option to go for. Lockdowns don’t work and we won’t see a vaccine anytime soon
Sweden has had a big surge in unemployment in hospitality sectors as well. They also have a WFH recommendation extending until January 2021
By keeping business open they’ve avoided having to pay supports for businesses that are struggling with the pandemic and I’m not sure if they have a PUP type scheme etc. The cost of the pandemic are offset to SME’s and businesses. People aren’t spending as much and the businesses are open without a freeze in rates etc.
The government here have decided to lockdown certain sectors where people move and meet more frequently than others but they’ve done their best to provide supports for those impacted. They haven’t been left to starve (there may be outliers)
No matter what you do, the pandemic will have devastating impacts on health care, the economy and employment. You can rob Peter to pay Paul from one to the other but in the end it will balance out.
What are you basing that on? Ireland had a very high rate of deaths early on. How can you say we did a good job of protecting the elderly early on? I genuinely think that’s a bizarre view to have. It’s the opposite of reality.
For some strange reason the public don’t get how shit we’ve done at this and how many lives have been lost in Ireland that wouldn’t have been lost of they lived elsewhere in Europe. It’s a simple fact.
That’s a fair point and I’d like to apologise to horsey and agree with him strongly on that particular point. A few bad sleeps and I can’t even read straight it seems.
