Covid 19 Part XXXV-956,720 ROI (5,952 deaths) 452,946 NI (3,002 deaths) (08/01) Read OP

We may have some data on flu cases in hospital(GP's?) but we don't have mass testing using a divisively sensitive test with the numbers being announced in every news bulletin.

Is it though? I mean, a bad flu session will rip through nursing homes and hospitals and there's very little we can do about it.

I'd say flu is accepted rather than controllable.

You've just described COVID as well though.

Again though, the trolley crisis every winter for the past decade or more would indicate this not to be the case. Yet, we still accept flu illnesses and deaths every year.

One thing this pandemic has shown is the differing outcomes between countries that invest and run their health systems properly versus those that do the bare minimum and hope for the best.

Wait . I thought we got rid of Flu ?

'flu will come back, it's unavoidable. There's a boogeyman story going around that because nobody has had 'flu there will be a big dangerous surge of it as immune systems aren't primed for its latest mutation(s).

I don't buy it though; if nobody has had 'flu then it's had little opportunity to mutate in any serious way, so it won't be a whole lot different from how it was in 2019/2020.

This winter is unlikely to be a serious one, flu-wise. It still hasn't had a lot of time to seed and build in populations. 2022 will probably be the bad 'flu year.

That IS factored in. Trolley crisis is bau.

Would you mind explaining bau please? I have no idea what that stands for.

@Jamie2k9@JRant wrote:

Well it is. You're basically saying that there's little difference now between 'flu and covid because we have a good handle on it and vaccines that are effective.

But there remains a considerable difference in transmissibility. Which is why we can't just apply exactly the same "we got this" approach that we do with the 'flu. We will eventually, but this is still a moving target.

More like 6 months

@JRant wrote:

We are. But we're not there yet. By mid-September we'll be effectively topping out on our vaccination rates and left with little options except to lift restrictions.

It'd be nice to have some kind of indicative plan, being 4 weeks out, but you know, holidays and stuff. Turkeys don't vote for Xmas and politicians don't cancel their recess.

I think we are saying the same thing so, just in different ways. We should be within sight of the finishing line. As you say though, with it being holiday season for our politicians we can't expect them to be given plans highlighting this. I can say with a huge degree of certainty that if MM had of announced his plan at the beginning of August the general mode of the population would be in a much better place and allow people the chance to mentally prepared for our reopening.

You can get the recovery version of the COVID cert with no jabs, but it expires 6 months from your test.

Oh make no mistake, the media will continue milking variants and clusters globally for all they're worth. Stories about mysterious illnesses in other parts of the world have been news staples for centuries, and this is just another slant on that same theme.

Come January 2023 there'll still be a new story about a new "variant of concern" that's emerged in a remote village in Siberia.

There's a good chance that distancing and masks may remain advisory for quite a while for people with symptoms of any illness. But it'll be just that; advisory.

Once the statutory powers have expired, it's gone. There will likely be a weird gap of time where there's no obligation to do anything, but businesses will remain confused and will continue having mask/vaccine/distancing policies because Failte advise them to, or because they believe their insurance requires it. It'll all come apart pretty quickly though once a few businesses start packing people in again and their neighbours realise they can too.