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

It's only a variant of interest at this stage. Not really worth an article.

for where I work remote working has been a godsend. We've always had remote working but the total would have been maybe a 1,000 when now we have about 80,000 working from home. A lot of us have really embraced it and to be honest we've gotten a lot more done than in the office.

I know some teams are going back in Sept but our team won't be. The big fancy office area they had built just for our team is enclosed and hence its the highest risk area in there so its now being dismantled. Company has expanded the use of hot desks with dual monitors so people can come and go as they please.

Another benefit is the money the company has saved from not having to power entire facilities. Remote working has also enabled them to close smaller offices they were leasing as those workers now transition to full time remote working.

Yeah... doesn't look good.

On one side, things are being pushed to open everything back up, on another daily corona cases are high, then coupled with the fact cold months of winter ahead.

Interesting cocktail.

I've been in a pub twice this year and TBH nothing really attracts me about going back anytime soon. Some of my friends have set up home bars and most of them just go there now. The current setup in the pubs is frankly crap and no craic.

Indeed I'm not sure the Pub trade will ever recover to what it was, there will be a lot of closures for sure

What is gone wrong with Pat Kenny?

Was just listening to him on the way into work and he seems to have gone a bit off the deep end.

Even the guests seemed to be trying to carefully pick their words in case they set him off.

That's COVID psychosis, a little studied phenomenon that causes some people to become completely obsessive or very irrational!

Tomás Ryan gets airtime for the same reason that the Adrian Kennedy phoneshow had regulars with ridiculous opinions that they'd bring in to get the show heated up; because it gets the phoneline hopping.

It's a trick as old as time.

Unfortunately Dr. Ryan doesn't realise that he's a clown in a circus being made to perform for the amusement of others. He clearly doesn't understand human beings at all or the complexity of social and economic systems. His point has always been that, "We can just keep everything locked down until we eradicate this virus". And he thinks the only reason we're not doing it is greed or incompetence.

The sad part is that he's a research scientist who absolutely refuses to accept any data or study which doesn't fit his own opinion.

Sweet jesus, 7000 euro to fit our a home office?

Like, it's a desk, a chair and a monitor.

Its the early closing time that puts people off. Some people have this idea that we want to go out and drink but its not actually true, what people really want to do is go out and socialise. So some idiot says "You can drink plenty before 11.30" but they are really missing the point.

I haven't been out since indoor pubs reopened because I have no interest in having drinks and then going home at 11.30, so I just don't go out to a pub at all, when that restriction is removed I will absolutely go back out again.

Weirdly, it's sort of attracted me more to go out to a pub. I suffer from terrible hangovers, and also a complete inability to resist just one more drink as it gets later into the night. The last two nights I've gone out I've had a great time with friends, and while I was disappointed that the bar closed at 11.30 it meant I didn't have four more drinks or bought a round of shots or something stupid. While I did have a hangover the next day, I wasn't dying.

That probably says more about my relationship with alcohol than it does about whether restrictions should or shouldn't be in place. But I've liked the earlier closing time.

And we're getting rid of masks on October 22 as well. Just in time for a long winter indoors.

Waking up today to see and hear so many people in the media, community etc resistant to the idea of October 22nd. Fearful and calling it wreckless. And it's still seven weeks away. Ive always taken the pandemic seriously, and would have my doubts coming into winter but my god are we a nation of hysterical bedwetters. So many can't move on and will never be ready.

It makes sense why deep down we really did need and want the Catholic Church back in the day to tell us what to do and engrain sin, guilt and fear into us.

There will be no more 'Lockdown' there may well be a rebranded, renamed 'Circuit Breaker' or 'Fire Break' implemented to protect hospitals if/when hospitals are overrun I'm guessing.

What I find interesting about this whole pandemic is how medicalised it has become rather than heath driven. We all know that getting our health, fitness, diet etc in order can be a really effective tool to enable each of us to deal with infection and recover with natural immunity but it is rarely stated. Doctors now just keep prescribing pill after pill to patients without giving advise on being healthy.

Sister in law is morbidly obese- has been prescribed a ton of medications, when she goes back the doc he checks blood pressure, asks a few questions and says 'that's better, keep doing what your doing.' never a word about how weight will effect her health- most of the meds could be done away with if she was a healthy weight I'm pretty certain. I know a couple of other that have similar situations- I wonder are doctors not allowed to tell it how it is with regards to obesity nowadays?

I can't really find much clarification on this.

Mask mandate lifted in certain work and leisure sectors from 22nd October, grand. But not in retail, grand.

What about hospitality? Pub workers, restaurant workers etc? Will they still be required to wear masks in work from 22nd?

I work in that sector and while I'll wear a mask as long as is necessary with no complaints, I'm unsure if this guidance means I'll need to continue after 22nd or if it'll be optional