Covid 19 Part XXIII-33,444 in ROI(1,792 deaths) 9,541 in NI(577 deaths)(22/09)Read OP

Just spent too long catching up with this thread, and it's depressing to read some of the posts here.

I'm a grandparent with 7 grand children, we didn't see any of them for close on 4 months, and we've only seen 2 of them once in the last 9 months. We're seeing 3 of them more often, because they're more local, and we have to be available to assist with care, as both of their parents have to work in order to survive, the financial crash hurt them badly, and even now, there's no way for one of them to stop working, even with the covid issues. fortunately, we do have and use relevant technology, but it's NOT the same as being able to see (and hug) the people we love. Anyone that tells you different is lying through their teeth.

Much more worrying to me is that we've not seen my parents in the UK for over 9 months, and we're unlikely to be able to visit them for some time to come, as the restrictions that we'd be in to when we return would cause all sorts of problems, and the parents are 90 (x2) and 96, and they were in cocoon mode for a good while due to their ages, and even now, they don't fully understand why we can't visit them, and it's clear that their mental health has suffered as a result of the Covid situation. And yes, they too have and use some technology, despite the regular problems that Microsoft cause with their unreliable updates, we'd be blown out of the water if I couldn't do remote support from here to keep their computer going, but they don't do things like mobile phones, so there are for sure problems keeping in touch with them at times.

There's also the very real scenario that travelling to the UK is not exactly advisable right now, and given our ages, Covid is not to be taken lightly, I'm still wondering if we had a dose of it around the New Year, we were both pretty much wiped out for close on a month by something that looking back had pretty much all the Covid symptoms, and took a dose of steroids after 2 weeks to get it finally under control.

I digress slightly, probably because it's getting late, and there have been distractions, both in the thread and on the TV. Sky news is on in the background. It's not just here that's in ****e, there are 2 areas of the UK that are being locked down as a result of increased clusters, and the South Wales area that's being locked is as a result of several clusters which has resulted in the area's incidence rate hitting 82.1 per 100,000 people over the past seven days.

The increase goes well above the infection rate of 50 per 100,000 people marked as the threshold that saw nearby Caerphilly go under local lockdown on September 8.

The cluster in cases has been blamed on pubs - with the De Winton pub in Tonypandy and the Players Sports Bar in Pontypridd being closed by health officials.

Another cluster was reported at Penygraig rugby club and one more with a coach trip to Doncaster races stopping off at a series of pubs on the way. The stop-offs were so successful the party never actually made it to Doncaster, the Welsh government clarified tonight.

And we wonder why the relevant advisors don't want the wet pubs open in Dublin, where the incidence rate is now hitting between 90 and 150!

Melbourne seem to be getting their numbers back under control, but I suspect that there would be riots here if the relevant ministers had the balls to go for what Melbourne have done. The reason I mention Melbourne is because there are a lot of similarities numbers wise, and we have a family member living there, so get regular updates from my brother about what's happening there.

5KM movement restrictions, no visiting at all, 1 person only per day allowed out for essential shopping, and a complete curfew between 20:00 and 05:00, and most businesses closed. It was even more severe, but is being relaxed slowly as the numbers are coming down again from a high in mid July. The fines for non complicance are eye watering, and have been used to deal with repeat offenders.

That would shut the house parties down if they did it here, and there's no pubs or restaurants open either, though they are allowed to deliver during curfew, and take away can be ordered outside of curfew hours.

There's a good few on this and the related wet pub thread that would have a complete melt down if that level of restricition came in here.

We were supposed to be going to a wedding on Friday, but can't, as the numbers are too restricted, so they've had to cut the guest list.

The reality is that we'd like our lives back, so that we can actually do something with the retirement that we're supposed to be enjoying. on the basis of the age of my parents, we should have a good few years yet to do so, and I'd kind of like to do so, so catching covid is not part of my plan, given the risks it poses for us.

And in passing, based on what my wife and daughter have seen at the local school, I suspect that the problems that are being blamed on the schools are not the kids, but the parents that just have to get together with their friends as they all congregate around the gates when they drop off and pick up their kids.

So, what should we be doing differently.

First, the politicians need to be told in no uncertain manner that wishy washy messing around on the fringes of this pandemic is NOT hacking it, we DESERVE clear and decisive leadership, based on the advice of the myriad of advisers and other hangers on that they have in every direction, and no, they don't need yet more layers of committees to hide behind.

The testing and contact tracing systems should have been resourced to enable them to provide the level of service that doesn't leave people hanging for several days or having to travel on public transport for several hours to get to a test centre, and then spending several days wondering if they have Covid or not.

Then there's the travesty of people being tested, then found negative and being forced to use holiday time as a result, that should have been addressed.

The HSE should have been shaken up from top to bottom to make it fit for purpose, that's never been done since the health boards were merged, and there's still way too much waste and inefficiency in the management structures.

The two tier health nonsense should have been dealt with, and the people that are no longer needed for unneccesary accounting work to make the private insurers pay for every last item should have been redeployed to more useful things like contact tracing and testing, so that specialists from other areas like speech therapy for the schools and occupational therapy could be allowed to go back to their real jobs.

The chronic shortages of ICU beds should have been addressed over the summer, there was very little doubt that a second wave would happen, the only doubt was when, and the severity of it.

The travesty of people being afraid to get testing because they'd be getting no money should have been addressed.

The importance of social distancing, correct mask use, hand sanitising, and related protections need to be much more clearly emphasised, as well as pointing out the risks of things like garage fuel pump nozzles as a potential source of infection.

I'm sure I could add to this list, but that's enough, and it will probably stir up some anyway.