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

Yes, Delta is basically dead and buried now. Throughout this they've always found a few variants still floating around here and there no matter which one is dominant, but at this point more than 99% of our infections are Omicron. The number of Delta infections is inconsequential.

The ECDC recommendations give two possible changes to the isolation based on the level of staff absences causing economic pressure.

The more extreme end recommends 5 days quarantine + 5 days proper (FFP2) mask wearing for unvaxxed close contacts (assuming no positive PCR). And for the vaxxed no quarantine, but 10 days wearing a proper (FFP2) mask & self-monitoring for symptoms.

There's an option to have vaxxed people quarantine just until they get a negative PCR, but given where we are right now that could easily amount to a 5-day quarantine anyway, so it wouldn't help much with the staff shortage issue.

This "new" report is based on the minutes of a NPHET meeting nearly a month ago. Probably triggered by the absolutely correct comments from Von Der Leyen at the time that countries should be open to discussing the issue and finding a common approach to it.

Based on where we are now, mandatory vaccination as a topic is obsolete. The Irish Times is reporting "news" that's 4 weeks out of date. NPHET is not "now" considering mandatory vaccinations. They brought up the topic a month ago for discussion at a later date.

The last sting of a dying wasp.

Given what is transpiring in other EU countries it wouldn't surprise me but it is wrong on so many levels.

Where is the science behind this? Ireland is highly exposed to Omicron and the unvaccinated will have antibodies as well as the vaccinated and boosted. Hospitals are coping and this wave will peak shortly. If anything the Certs should be dropped. Why would this be even considered at this stage considering Ireland’s high vaccination uptake in the first place. Will the people of Ireland finally start opposing something? There is also therapeutics coming on stream now in 2022 to treat Covid.

I updated my post, but if you see in the meeting minutes it's a case that someone asked about it and was told that it was parked as a topic for a later date when more information would be available.

So it is literally not being considered by NPHET.

Anyway, I said it at the time, but there should be no topic off the table. There are many circumstances in which mandatory vaccination is the lesser evil. If you have hard principles then you open yourself up to making things worse because you don't want to look stupid. You can't eat your principles.

Thankfully we are well past that now, so any DoH report that appears will be an interesting theoretical paper to read, but won't be of any use.

Why aren't these ministers doing something about it? Or will we be waiting 3 weeks to the end of the month before something happens.

I wonder how some of you type with a straight face despite being wrong so often.

But no matter. Here is another kite flying in the sky. The people pointing at the kite are just doom mongers, isn't that the word? And none of the previous kites in the sky ever came to anything, no sir.

Multiple EU countries making vaccinations mandatory but Ireland will not follow suit, no chance at all, nothing to see there.

Come on Man, never going to happen that. It's even wilder than when the loons were saying you would need a QR code to have a cup of tea in a cafe. Load of **** e !

All the decision making power is in the cabinet, infact it's a small subset of cabinet really. Lots of ministers haven't been included in most of the decisions made regarding restrictions.

"Abundance of caution". It's a health and safety mindset that pervades official Ireland.

That's all very positive in the Irish times article re restrictions. I think the government are going to be pretty aggressive in removing restrictions, wouldn't at all be surprised to see the 8pm limit lifted to 10pm from Friday or next Monday - it seems that the 8pm is causing certain hospitality venues to be jammed quite early and the sheer numbers of people who are now out of isolation with nothing to fear are happy to go.

Still almost 1k tests available in Dublin right now, great signs all round! The peak must have hit on Friday 8th, seems like NPHET have got their modelling on this one pretty accurate (except ICU!)

Why do people keep saying that hospitality could be changed from 8pm closing to 10/11pm closing?

Just what is the science there? Does the measure work or not? If it doesn't, then let the damn things open up normally.

Moving to 10pm just seems like more of the same old "throwing a restriction on there just to be seen to be doing something".

As expected really, hospital numbers go above 1000 for this morning.

1,063 as of this morning.

137 admissions, 82 of which had a positive PCR prior to admission.

43 discharges.

The admissions are pretty stable over the last few days to be honest, no massive jump, it's the weekend discharges that set the hospitals back. Should be a pretty large number of discharges by tomorrow morning.