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

"The children wanted the masks"

Thats what people say when they want to abdicate responsibility. "Its not my fault, the children wanted it".

They are primary school children, you are an adult, take responsibility for what happened. You put masks on children and never stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, it was the wrong thing to do. Now you want to complain as you start to realise just how much of a fool this country has been taken for, as if it wasn't already clear a long time ago.

If case numbers and hospitalisations are dropping dramatically in Spring, why will they keep restrictions? For whose benefit will they be kept?

Why would I put it under pressure? All evidence points to Omicron not leading to increased hospitalisations. Nphet are using models which haven't exactly been brilliant.

"If case numbers and hospitalisations are dropping dramatically in December, why will they keep restrictions?"

The current announcement shows there is no rhyme or reason for their decisions - they are not science based. All metrics in this country are looking good - hospitalisations have been declining for weeks, cases are stable, boosters are increasing every day. Their only justification for more restrictions is out of "an abundance of caution".

They have no proof omicron will be more severe (evidence from SA points to the opposite), yet the choose to believe the worst case scenario is at hand and have no problem throwing away our freedoms "out of caution".

Fool me once shame on me, but after the 4th? time, I wont be fooled again

Schools as we know are a major source of cases but that's about it, no deaths etc so everywhere expect schools get the restrictions. Think it was the same with Leisure centres also having hardly any outbreaks before they introduced certs

Covid effects are mild or non-existent for the majority of people in this country. Many don't know they even have it unless tested.

The only ones who are at any real potential risk are the elderly, the infirm and the immunocompromised and it's these groups that should be restricting their movements, taking precautions and following their GP's advice - as in fairness they probably already do against a whole host of things far more dangerous to them.

What's happened here though is an approach of trying to force everyone to feel as worried as that group and trying to make them live under restrictions to protect them against something that (as per the numbers) is no real threat to them anyway.

That's the official line anyway. The real reason is to deflect from the point that 20 billion a year is squandered by the same people making these "recommendations" in a health service that is on the brink every winter and can't handle even a modest increase on the most minimal demands.

That's what we're protecting - the positions and paycheques of those who have mismanaged the HSE for decades.

certainly starting to look that way

They didn't drop them in Summer because they were still vaccinating, they should have opened in August but they didn't because they didn't want to have to rollback restrictions. The current changes are happening because of the rapid growth of omicron and the assumption that it is as severe but has a higher transmission rate, if it's less severe, then hospitalisations should keep on dropping and restrictions dropped along with them.

I don't believe they're necessary as I'm hopeful that Omicron is a lot less severe.

But that's the data being worked off.

I'd do 50 for a bet, whichever charity, can post the donation, passes gone internally by July 31st (they'll still be needed for international travel). I'm betting against there being any new significant variants between now and then of course :)

50 for a charity of your choice if vaccine passports/restrictions on unvaccinated are gone internally in Ireland by July 31st 2022

The way I see it panning out, the carrot for younger people to get vaccinated was to get into pubs/restaurants. If pubs are closed during January and February, what will be the carrot for U30s to get the booster? Maybe keeping them closed and saying get the booster and we'll reopen the pubs will be that carrot.

It’s the lack of media or opposition calling them out also