Relaxation of Restrictions, Part XII *Read OP For Mod Warnings*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793544#Comment_117793544

I was in the UK for an extended period over the "freedom day" period in both England (North and South) and Wales, and my personal experience does not jive with this at all. The vast majority of people in shops, pubs, restaurants and so on were not wearing masks at all (in England), in Wales people stopped wearing them in hospitality settings altogether as soon as they were allowed, and in outdoor spaces they were few and far between.

I believe the question was about whether people had worn a mask at any time outside their home in the last 7 days, so it's possible that people are choosing to wear masks in specific settings (public transport, pharmacies, surgeries etc.) but foregoing them much of the time. And the data overlapped with the days that Wales and Scotland dropped restrictions, but asked about the prior 7 days, so that will have skewed things.

Personally, I hope that people will feel comfortable to wear a mask in public when they have any sort of respiratory infection, because less colds is a better life for me (I hate the bloody things). If someone wants to wear a mask then more power to them, but the time for mandatory masking outside of very high risk settings like hospitals and care homes has passed, IMO.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793446#Comment_117793446

You can get anti-fog sprays to clean your glasses with. The better quality ones are pretty good, and they tend to stop dust buildup as well.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793671#Comment_117793671

Professor Nolan seems to think they have little or no effect since he's saying that mask wearing and social distancing will be long-term. But then Holohan did say either last year or earlier this year that the vaccines would merely complement the other measures.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793739#Comment_117793739

Neither does mine.

I distrust a lot of those polls (especially the YouGov ones).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793731#Comment_117793731

The mask thread is even worse.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793666#Comment_117793666

raind, what do you make of Professor Nolan saying that mask wearing and social distancing will be in place long-term? That's post-vaccination.

kieran26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793731#Comment_117793731

The scary thing is the Government clearly has people monitoring online discussion such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Boards and comment sections like the Journal, and they probably think these people are representative of the view of more reasonable members of society. Also ten comments does not mean that ten people feel a certain way on a topic, those ten comments could all be one or two people or an organisation pushing an agenda.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793742#Comment_117793742

I personally find those to be next to useless but each to their own

Penfailed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793508#Comment_117793508

I thought you wanted all the restrictions removed? No? Yet when people ignore the restrictions you want removed, they're ignorant and stupid? Maybe you could clarify?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793779#Comment_117793779

Having not heard the comments and based on thread form, I would like to hear what he actually said

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793835#Comment_117793835

COVID-19 restrictions will ease but need for mask-wearing will remain - Philip Nolan | Newstalk

Doesn't explain why a fully vaccinated country would require masks to be protected. Is he not basically saying that they're permanent? If full vaccination isn't enough for them then what is?

Penfailed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793854#Comment_117793854

We're a fully vaccinated country now?

bloopy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793773#Comment_117793773

Same.

I crossed Wales and England and back during the week following "Freedom day" and did not see a 90% compliance rate with the masks.

Outside of some of the larger chain shops that are enforcing masks, there were very few to be seen. Nonexistent in pubs and restaurants outside of employees.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793866#Comment_117793866

Will be soon enough. And yet he's talking about them (bad enough on their own) and that social distancing being long-term. That means no concerts, nightclubs etc.

I would like to see some large-scale, random immunity testing, including IgG and T-SPOT tests to gage where we truly are with immunity.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793880#Comment_117793880

I didn't know that there were shops that were enforcing them. Mind you, I didn't venture much beyond Earls Court, Paddington and Queensway. It'd be interesting to see what it's like outside of London because public transport in London is still a bit of a grey area. I hope to go to Liverpool soon to see what things are like there.

Beechwoodspark

It sounds like this ain’t anywhere near over yet ... :/

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793881#Comment_117793881

It's more a case of not committing to anything now especially not live to the media. As others have suggested we are more likely to have an announcement one day and that will be it.

bloopy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793905#Comment_117793905

Places like Boots and M&S we're still requiring them when I was there. Had to visit quite a few towns and cities while there and was the same deal pretty much everywhere.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793854#Comment_117793854

Think about it, unless 100% country are vaccinated with a vaccine that has 100% efficacy we will need more than vaccination to protect us, won't we?

godzilla1989

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793896#Comment_117793896

T Spot tests that are very accuarate will never be rolled out while this crisis is ongoing

Why won't they be rolled out?

My own theory is that covid was widespread here between Nov 19 - Feb 20, that horrible flu that alot of people got and closed schools was covid imo and by the time mass testing was available in April it had already start to die out on it's own.

If it were to be known that our hospitals survived winter 19 with covid, lockdowns could never have been brought in

China lied about when they knew about Covid, it was supposedly spreading in Sept 19 and China only ever show us what they want us to see.

All those video's leaked out, were put out by them and they left it spread silently for months to make it look much worse than it was.

How could the original variant of RO 2.5 create the scenes seen in Wuhan in a few weeks? First case in December to hospitals collapsing in January.

Delta is supposedly 4-5 times more contagious and we don't have those scenes

Penfailed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793881#Comment_117793881

We will never be a fully vaccinated country.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117794016#Comment_117794016

Now now, lets be fair, if we get a vaccine with 100% efficacy, and enough doses to fully vaccinate our population and the full population takes it, along with any boosters we could be... Like you I don't see it though

titan18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793742#Comment_117793742

Ya, tried that and it didn't work. Ive mainly found its either contacts or be blind, and I hate contacts more than masks so I've lived with walking around with very fuzzy sight or just avoiding places where I need a mask.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117794016#Comment_117794016

Okay, when I say fully vaccinated I mean around 90-95%.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793949#Comment_117793949

So permanent in other words because 100% is never going to happen.

Or people could accept the small risk and move on. That's what Denmark, the Netherlands, Hungary, Sweden, Norway, and others have done.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793765#Comment_117793765

When did Professor Nolan say that vaccines have had no effect in greatly decreasing deaths and serious illness from this virus ?

A rudimentary look at the figures shows they have, and despite all the "alternative theories" nothing else has or will achieved that. While large numbers were still not fully unvaccinated last year or early this year, I really do not see what the problem is with what Doctor Holohan said then. I would have thought it a bit of a no brainer that other complimentary measures would help to reduce deaths and serious illness.

hatrickpatrick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793810#Comment_117793810

They almost certainly don't, tbh. If they had, the result of the 2020 election wouldn't have been such a gigantic shock to them, nor would their unpopularity among Ireland's youth.

Now, maybe they've instigated some kind of monitoring since that election, but given the sh!tstorm they've had to deal with in the intervening months, plus their continued policy brain farts which have blown up all over the aforementioned platforms and only strengthened peoples' disdain for this government, it honestly seems highly unlikely that they're paying the slightest amount of attention to social media. They'd hardly be digging their own graves in the manner they have been if they were fully aware of just how angry it was making people across the spectrum.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117793729#Comment_117793729

But that is not what herd immunity is. It`s not about achieving zero transmissions through burn out of a virus.

By definition herd immunity is resistance to the spread of an infectious disease within a population that is based on pre-existing immunity of a high proportion of individuals as a result of previous infection or vaccination. That will vary depending on the didease, which in this case is generally accepted as 80% - 85% of the total population. Basically it is about providing protection for those unable to avail of a vaccine and those most at risk.

Vaccine efficacy was never about sterilisation against infection. It was and is about greatly reducing serious illness or deaths should you become infected. I do not see where there is any arguement to say they have not achieved that.

Your post appears to suggest that breakthrough cases make up 50% of all new cases. That is not so. A report from NBC 10th August based on 38 U.S. states shows that breakthrough cases represented just 0.076% of those vaccinated in those states, and Covid deaths of those vaccinated was 0.00085%

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117794185#Comment_117794185

If he believes they work then why the need for long-term social distancing and mask wearing?