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

TonyMaloney wrote: »

Why do people like you never check a chart or a graph before making these angry comments?

We saw sustained growth from a very low starting point in July.
From 6 cases on July 1st to 217 cases on Sept 1st.

We saw near linear growth until August, and then by september it started to trend up slightly. Again, no exponential growth until Oct.

FintanMcluskey wrote: »

They are not being cautious, they are being completely cowardly and devoid of any obvious leadership skills, in part because the “cautious approach” will have no effect on their lives from a working or retirement point of view in the long term

That's utter rubbish IMO.

Russman wrote: »

I dunno, I'm genuinely not trying to be smart assed in saying this, but if I go to a mechanic if my car is broken, a dentist if my teeth have a problem, a plumber for piping etc etc., tbh I sort of trust the NPHET and public health gang to be competent in their field of expertise. I just can't get to the point of thinking that there's some agenda at play or some ulterior motive behind restrictions. Why would anyone want any of this ?

It is not easy to figure it out to be fair, but the half arsed, overly conservative approach is the most intrusive and economically destructive that is going to have a much devastating long term impact on us...

And it is the madness of it all I can't ignore...yesterday I enjoyed a coffee, seated indoors along with other customers who were all enjoying teass/coffee/scones etc...now this is illegal and someone could have reported us...the only problem with that is I was in a Primary Health Centre...now what makes that cafe safer than all the cafes around the country that have been forced to close?

timmyntc wrote: »

We saw near linear growth until August, and then by september it started to trend up slightly. Again, no exponential growth until Oct.

No. It was exponential growth.

we had 36 times the number of cases on September 1st compared with July 1st

showpony1 wrote: »

"It is going to be a step by step slow reopening. We just don't want to move too fast and end up falling backwards." - Leonard Varadkar.


They seem to not accept that the more you open the more cases there will be. It's not like if you open one thing after another there will be less cases - obviously opening gym, shops, restaurants will have an increase in cases.

If you allow 10km, then allow outdoor sports, then allow shops/restaurants - there will still be cases when the things with indoor social interaction open.

It is unavoidable that there will be some cases, they need to accept it and get on with it. The overweight and old can stay home waiting for vaccine.

We don’t want to move too fast???

thebiglad wrote: »

I think it is partly about managing expectation - if they unlocked all of that (including or excluding inter county travel?) on 5 April then immediately we'd start pushing for the next tranche.

If they release a very few parts and promise to review again in 5/6 weeks then they can release more and drag the entire out significantly and manage the masses.

The big issue they will have is when the North unlocks either retail or hospitality - there'll be miles of tailbacks to cross the border and all the money they want us to spend in our economy post lockdown will be gone!

They shouldn't drag it out though, I think that's stupid. You can assess after 3 weeks, not 5-6 weeks.

I also think you reopen that and and a lot of the frustration dies down as our lives get back to more normal.

I can't see us going back to full normality until we have mass vaccination so things like returning to working in offices, nightclubs, festivals, large indoor gatherings, I just can't see happening until August/September at the earliest.

On the current vaccination plans, even with the delays, we should be looking at indoor pubs and restaurants by end of June/start of July at the latest. As that's the riskiest one that will be opened in the next few months, we should be building our plan backwards from that.

So, click and collect, hairdressers, construction, outdoor activities up to groups of 15, up to county travel in April (although if it was me, I'd reopen hairdressers and the bits of construction not going now), then go non essential retail fully open and outdoor hospitality if all goes well at start of May and stuff like full travel on the island in June.

Dragging it out just frustrates people as we can see progress in cases and hospital numbers going down, but getting nothing for it, and more frustrating when there's no plan so we don't even know what we're aiming for.

Graham wrote: »

because it worked out so well over Christmas?

Boring.

retro:electro wrote: »

Boring.

Amazing the way you guys just don't want to talk about the disaster that was Christmas. You all supported it despite all warnings.

It went exactly as we told you it would. The consequences are exactly what we told you they would be.

Now you want to stick your fingers in your ears while arguing we make the same error again.

Funny that.

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Amazing the way you guys just don't want to talk about the disaster that was Christmas. You all supported it despite all warnings.

It went exactly as we told you it would. The consequences are exactly what we told you they would be.

Now you want to stick your fingers in your ears while arguing we make the same error again.

Funny that.

It’s boring because it has been SO talked about that it’s done to death. We all know what happened with Christmas Kermie. It’s will be five months on from that by the time we have any meaningful opening and we also have people being vaccinated. Colour me shocked that the most socially and economically busy time resulted in a surge in cases. You cannot compare that time of year to where we are now and use it to justify a snails pace reopening “just in case”. At some stage someone somewhere is going to have to grow a pair and make a decision.

We're being fobbed off with a kind of sham obscurantism

Despite the attempts to redefine science as a mystery cult only comprehensible to initiates, any educated layman can assess the flawed modelling and simple theories of causality ("Its not rocket science!" - you can say that again) and ask questions about empirical standards of proof.

In fact far from being opaque, simple theories of cause and effect are appealing to the average person because they're so easy to understand.

The potential flaws with these theories are harder to understand (see Nietzsche's critique of causality).

Demanding proof is also alien to many, who just want someone who is meant to be in the know to appear in front of a television camera and make a definitive statement.

People think that by outsourcing judgement they are outsourcing responsibility for the extreme actions being taken in the name of containment but that is not true.

The gaslighting over Christmas is incredible.

January and Febuary are the coldest months, they are ground zero for flu (i.e. respiratory illness) season always.

Kermit wants an excuse to ban Christmas every year - he tried to claim last December that Christmas has no meaning. I am counting down the months to his next 'Ban Christmas' campaign and I first said so at the start of January.

I will be celebrating Christmas this December 25th, 2021.

The historic reason the middle of winter was chosen for a feast day is because people need (and have always needed) a break in the winter.

A conglomerate of liars have arisen who will say anything and who now pretend that the normal rise in respiratory illnesses in mid-winter, which happens every year, is due to coincident "socialisation". Don't listen to these people.

Graham wrote: »

Are you new to this thread?

Most people who disagree with NPHET/GOV don’t want all restrictions removed overnight despite how tempting it is to assume we’re all reckless, pint craving granny killers.

In fact, I would agree exactly with your suggested easing of restrictions a few posts ago as a first step.