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

so some of Europe saying it should be treated as a flu now, as most of us that had it have been saying all along.

im sorry for the families of the 6k people that passed away, but as a nurse friend told me(that lost her own mother in march 20), "a small fall would have killed them).

Oh I think the time change is the easiest to do and could be done today, the other stuff will take more time. TBH they could scrap it all immediately but another roadmap is more in keeping with the approach. Not defending them just reckon this will be the strategy but will be very happy to be wrong.

Exactly, everybody needs to be vaxxed, including the poorer nations.

The African nations you speak of had overwhelmed health systems which were in a shocking state to begin with and poor testing regimes so it might have looked like they had low case numbers. The pubs never closed there because there are very few pubs in the desert

I really wouldnt be boasting about your prediction abilities if I were you.

I don't know about the pubs pushing the 8pm limit, they have been fairly strict on their closing times in my opinion ever since they were restricted by them. In saying that I'm a city dweller so it might be different in the countryside

Return to workplaces is the big one and they have talked about a phased approach there. Maybe there will also be phased moves on hospitality around how they are currently set up. It's hard to say but some in government are innately cautious anyway, Martin in particular.

I really doubt that.

If and when the restrictions all get lifted today, I hope that it also moves away from the front page of the newspapers, TV news, boards.ie forums, everything about it should be shunned to just an after thought. We don't need it in our face as much as we've had since March 2020.

We don't need reminding of the last 2 years, the leaks, the lies, the restrictions, the sickness, the fear. RIP to all those who have passed away during this, those with and without Covid. They all deserved a better send off.

Onwards and upwards.

Think posting here brings it to front page of boards fyi.

They'll go back to their day jobs soon enough as there is little more to review. There is just one final set of decisions to make at some point, on masks and distancing. That may just come via the CMO and the DoH.

Eagerly anticipating the announcement tonight.

The government missed a trick with announcing the bank holidays earlier this week. Could you imagine the added euphoria if MM lifted restrictions tonight AND announced the new bank holidays! 😁

Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted to finally see an end to these restrictions on our freedoms and regular life and think it's been overdue, but I can't help to think the extreme swing from one direction to another will just bring us right back to square one in a couple of weeks with new emergency restrictions. In general, I believe they should have phased the reopening (although ambitiously) by keeping Covid passes for a while longer and have offices and nightclubs open in a couple of weeks. Lifting everything will just cause cases to spike again, everyone panics and the media will start calling for a new round of restrictions.

It's a good day to be wrong!