Covid 19 Part XXVI- 50,993 ROI (1,852 deaths) 28,040 NI (621 deaths) (19/10) Read OP

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Europe faces the most serious crisis since WW2 this winter.

The situation is bleak across the board in every country and it's deteriorating fast.

The CDC in the United Sates has been warning since last March about this autumn, winter, spring. That this will require a serious resolve.

But it's got lost in the fog with the media.

We need to be prepared for measures that might not sit well with the notion of liberal democracy ultimately right across Europe. How that works out, we'll have to wait and see. People won't be happy with what has to be done.

The ‘crisis’, (if that’s what is is), that we are facing is not the danger posed by Covid, it is the sudden realisation that we are all mortal and we will all die sooner or later.
We have been lulled into a false sense of security that all diseases can be cured or eliminated and death can be avoided.
The chances of anyone dying from Covid19 are actually extremely small compared to all the other things that will cause our eventual and certain demise.
Much has been made of the danger posed to residents of nursing homes. What people seem to forget is that nursing homes have come to be used as places where people can be ‘disappeared’ by society and, quite bluntly, where people go to, or are sent to, die.
What Covid has done is to remind us that we are not invincible or immortal and that we have a limited lifespan despite all the modern ‘wonder’ drugs and medical procedures that we can avail of.
So the best we can do is live our lives to the full, enjoy it’s pleasures, and accept the risks that go with that. Life is for living, not just existing. Something will get us all in the end no matter what we do.

caveat emptor wrote: »

I know people cry vaccine but you can't depend on something which isn't there and the threshold for "success" of this vaccine is very low. In 2004 the flu vaccine was 10% effective. Now I'd hope it would be higher etc but the point is there is no guarantee.

There is no guarantee, but in fairness the main reason why a flu vaccine "fails" in any season is because the wrong strains are innoculated against. The vaccine itself works, the target changes.

That could still happen with Covid, but it seems to mutate far less frequently than influenza and none of the mutations to date have affected the vaccines in development. The main risk in my opinion is less about whether it will work (it will), but how long the immunity from it will last.

bennyl10 wrote: »

Have we any more sources for the letter?

It's the Daily Mail, completely legit.

TBF, it's hardly a stretch. It's what they recommended 2 weeks ago, but now things have deteriorated they have upped the time, a trend that will continue I imagine.

Russman wrote: »

This “learn to live with the virus” is such a glib throwaway remark. It can mean anything or nothing. What does it say about us if we essentially lock up half or 40% of people under the guise of protecting the vulnerable, so the rest can carry on ? Is that really the best we can come up with ? It really smells like “I had my fun and that’s all that matters”. I honestly don’t know the answer, but I can’t for the life of me see us being able to keep people shielded successfully. That’s before we consider the impact on the vulnerable to being “protected”.

Some pages back someone compared it to WW2. Whilst obviously it’s different in terms of the slaughter and deaths etc, it’s similar in the impact on society. This is a world changing event that we’re living through. Our old norms and expectations are gone (for the time being) and it’s very hard for a modern society to accept. There’s a cohort out there who simply can’t understand or process that, it’s literally like “file not found”.

Early morning rant over

It's not quite that bad but it does need to explained and repeated every day. It's also a reminder that what we had to do in March is not really a runner except in absolute extremis. While NPHET are sounding ever greater alarm so far the key areas of hospitals and care homes are being managed. They will come under more pressure and how that pans out is how the message gets through. Unfortunately the 80% or so who get next to no symptoms make that a lot more challenging but the positive is that people do understand more even if or when they choose to ignore it.

bennyl10 wrote: »

Have we any more sources for the letter?

Aine mentioned it on Radio 1 this morning. She asked the minister about it.

I have no doubt we will be in Level 5 in November. I don't think many people will be surprised by that. We always knew this winter would be a write-off.

weldoninhio wrote: »

I never get this argument. We're told that 40s-80s Ireland was a bleak oul place, not a job to be had, immigration the only way to make a life not relying on the dole,

then on the other and we're told that those that were here in that period built the country, paid for this, that and everything.

Which was it??

A concept of bleakness is often a revision applied with extremely delayed hindsight. Many, many people grew up in those times and lived happy lives by the measurement of those times.

Not surprised to see this allegation. Pretty crass given what is at stake in global health terms.

The Times reported that a Russian disinformation campaign has been set up in order to spread fear about the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine, with pictures, memes and video clips depicting the British-made inoculation as dangerous.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/oct/16/coronavirus-live-news-france-reports-record-new-cases-as-who-warns-europes-case-surge-is-of-great-concern?page=with:block-5f892c588f087cfbdaeb109b#block-5f892c588f087cfbdaeb109b

Hospital numbers up 6 since yesterday

E36Ross wrote: »

Irish Daily Mail running with NPHET saying 5 week lock down, Can't find it anywhere else though?

Is that Leo the leaker up to his sneaky tricks again though

is_that_so wrote: »

But ICU numbers still holding steady.

Looks that way yes. However the drop of one yesterday was down to the death of a patient rather then discharge

E36Ross wrote: »

Irish Daily Mail running with NPHET saying 5 week lock down, Can't find it anywhere else though?

It's no great leap to imagine they are, it was four weeks last Sunday week. In reality such a scenario would be 8 weeks+.

Gael23 wrote: »

Looks that way yes. However the drop of one yesterday was down to the death of a patient rather then discharge

Yeah, that is regrettable but actual numbers are one of the metrics they use.

Gerry is tough to listen to. Never directly answers a question without first going through metaphors, cliches and waffle.

Gael23 wrote: »

They can call for it all they like. Public buy in is not there. Neither is stare funds to support it

Yeah, it has become very clear that the NHPET stance is far too narrowly focused, as you would expect given their remit. As some have suggested maybe it is time to add some new, non-medical, voices to it.