@Anna Carr: Yes, it’s people’s behaviours that’s the problem, not the waning effectiveness of the vaccines nor the government’s mishandling of the health service for years

@Anna Carr: sounding very like a spoilt child there Anna

@John brett: 50000 unmasked people all on top of one another was fine, was it?

@Richarddoherty: thank you :)

@Rob: actually yes it is people’s behaviour. How is it the government’s fault that people just refuse point blank to do what they’re asked. People like you are very much part of the problem, if not most of it, my friend.

@Roy Dowling: no I’m notttttttttt!! Stomp, stomp lol

@Anna Carr: Successive governments have failed to increase bed and ICU capacity so yes it is their fault

@Anna Carr: we did all of the above on your list….didnt work….

@Anna Carr: you just got one of those less than mature responsible comments from Roy dowling
Must be a big spoilt baby himself

@Anna Carr: your welcome

@Sarah Lou: Anna wants to lockdown for as long as Covid is around because the bold people of Ireland cannot behave as she wants

@John brett: I would think you are wrong. Had the vaccinations not occurred I imagine our death rate would be about 10 times higher, possibly more. That would be 440 deaths …….. the good news is the death rate has not increased this week but that could be due to the lag in cases compared to death rate or the lag in people reporting deaths. RIP to those passed away.

@Rob: no it isn’t. If people did what they are advised to do, they wouldn’t be taking up so many icu beds. And if that’s all you’re worried about…..lack of beds, not people sick and dying because others won’t obey the rules, then I’m afraid any energy I spend debating the issue with you, is wasted.

@John brett: so you keep saying. Anecdotal story from me , 3 family members, double jabbed contracted C19 over last few weeks. All have underlying health conditions and all thankfully avoided hospitalization. So I beg to differ

@Sarah Lou: it did Sarah Lou. It worked wonderfully well until restrictions were lifted and there was a massive free for all.

@Anna Carr: in fairness to those attending the Aviva they were in a semi outdoor environment and the risks are lesser when you are outdoors.

@Rob: that’s so insulting. You’re not fit to wipe the boots of the bold people of Ireland. They fought and died for others. They didn’t just think about themselves. Shame!!!!!!!!

@Anna Carr: No Anna it did not. We have lived like hermits for the past nearly 2 years, done everything on your list but covid got in! Not all the cases out there are because of people being frivolous I put my money on it most of the current cases are due to lack of contact tracing in schools.

@Anna Carr: Pull yourself together, you sound hysterical

@Anna Carr: exactly, Spain best country in Europe because since lockdown school children wear masks all day in school and everyone does when any likely hood of close contact. Children playing outside and teenagers meeting friends wear them. Incident rate 57 per 100,000 not 1,100 like Ireland. Funny how quiet Varadker is lately.

@Anna Carr: I’m off to the pub. oh I’ve been in the uk twice in the last month on business. you go hide the rest of us are getting on with it and paying our taxes.

@John brett: Well you obviously don’t follow Covid updates as we have had a lot lot more if we hadn’t got vaccinated

@Anna Carr: What is it that you think everybody is doing that they shouldn’t be?

@John brett:

You need to revise your JC maths curriculum & pay attention to the % section.

Percentages are key to understanding how unvaccinated people end up in hospital or dead.

I thought this had been explained ad nauseum over the past 12 months.

@Sarah Lou: I have to agree to disagree. I don’t want to argue with you. You’re one of the nice people :)

@Rob: yes more beds for people to die in should stop this virus dead in its tracks alright. It’s nothing got to do with peoples’ behaviour or anti-vaxers at all.

@Anna Carr: Thanks anna I will have to agree to disagree too cos I genuinely have done all i was told and covid is literally in the sitting room as i type. Just saw norma’s comments about play dates and bday parties, you would swear we were all living it up. Very bad timing to see such comments!!!!

@Rob: I’m not at all hysterical Rob. I’m a descendant of some very brave Irish rebels and I take exception to entitled t0ssers trying to liken themselves to my wonderfully brave ancestors. Being sel.fish is not an attribute. You seem to be under a misconception, my friend.

@ed w: getting on with it and taking precautions or getting on with it and not taking precautions. There’s a big difference. Everyone is getting on with it in some shape or form.

@Ian James Burgess: thank you :)

@Anna Carr: you are wasting your time trying to be reasonable on here! I pretty much got on with live over the last 19 months.. maybe I’m silly but I wasn’t worried about covid and luckily enough nobody close to me had it. I also can’t stand our government and if they were the only 3 parties on the ballot I just wouldn’t vote. They have made and keep making a hash of EVERYTHING!! That said people over the last few months have rightfully being getting on and enjoying life and it is for that reason we are where we are.. In my mind we are at the crossroads we were always going to end up at!! Restrictions forever or get on with life and if you are afraid of going to the cinema, restaurants, bars etc etc just don’t go..

You decide!!

@ed w: be my guest.

@John brett: Imagine if we had not got vaccinated. Then the numbers would be even more horrific.
The vaccine was never a cure all vaccine. That was never claimed. People with underlying illness and or disabilities are still at high risk.

@Rob: That does not have anything to do with spreading the virus

@Tom Kelly: totally get where you’re coming from. Take care.

@Rob: Anna wants people to follow the fairly simple rules to stop the spread of a deadly virus for a large part of the community.
Your right she is completely unreasonable.

@ed w: I am paying my taxes and I am following the rules.

@Sarah Lou: So somebody who did not follow the rules gave it to somebody who was. In that we have the whole issue.
People who dont follow the rules endanger everybody.

@Anna Carr: Nope

@Tom Kelly: Strange how all the politicians agreed on the process taken apart from the usual bickering for the press.
Weirder still how Ireland was held up as they country who did the best job possible for many months.
Getting on with life will mean a lot of people are left behind.

@Anna Carr: lol

@John brett: I think you would find our hospital numbers and deaths would be significantly higher without our vaccinations. You only need to look at Eastern Europe, Russia and the long list of other low vaccination rates countries to see the higher numbers of deaths and hospitalisations. The percentage of unvaccinated in our ICUs Vs vaccinated is further proof of the protection against serious illness they provide. Unfortunately viruses don’t behave in a convenient way. It’s up to all of us to behave responsibly and look out for other people. Mask up, clean hands, personal space. No point blaming the government or anyone else. It’s up to all of us to moderate our behaviour. If you can’t do that then your part of the problem.

@Gary Kearney: or the government dropped the ball on contact tracing 3 to 13 year olds and now its spiralled out of control in the community and everyone is getting it??

@Anna Carr: google Gibraltar yesterday on RT news

@Rob: How would increased bed and ICU capacity stop people getting infected?

@Gary Kearney: come on Gary. Did you read the article about where we “did the best job possible for many months”? Its made up of only 53 countries (there’s 197 countries in the world). We were top for 2 months and way down the list a few months before. Our vax roll out, economy growth forecast and being by and large open had us at the top for those two months. Things were VERY different prior. Our universal healthcare score is 90/100 which is laughable and when you see the countries that are below us and their current situation compared to ours the rank is hard to believe. Id take that #1 rank with a huge pinch of salt…… Politicians agreeing on a process doesn’t make it the correct course of action which has been proven time and time again over the past 2 years. Reactive not proactive

@DK: I know that the mouth mask and chin mask are a popular trend and of course lack of hand sanitising while people are drunk in pubs and restaurants and maybe overcrowded public transport and overcrowded venues in general as well as people going into each others house maskless and willy nilly. So in conclusion, I think that if less of all those things happened, it would surely improve. Oh and international travel without proper security too. Hope that helps :)

@Anna Carr: Approximately 1.35 million people die in road crashes each year; on average 3,700 people lose their lives every day on the roads. An additional 20-50 million suffer non-fatal injuries, often resulting in long-term disabilities. We going to ban driving as well? Covid is here to stay, over 90 percent of the population is vaccinated what’s next? We can’t afford more lock downs so tell me what’s next? What’s the plan?

@Damien Leahy: your analogy is flawed. We develop systems to minimise traffic accidents. Seat belts, traffic lights, rules of the road.
Similarly we get systems to minimise Covid deaths; vaccines, test and trace, social distancing and masks. What is our long term solutions? Better drugs to combat Covid, better vaccines and boosters with a fair proportion going to poorer countries. There are no simple easy fixes.

@Anna Carr: in fairness Anna there have been very few rules to follow over the last few months as society opened up. But one of those rules that was lifted by the government was the removal of close contacts for under 12s in schools. Schools are currently riddled with covid and its as if a decision was made to allow it to run through the schools. Norma Foley is asking parents to cancel play dates and birthday parties yet my child can be a close contact and continue to go to school unless he has symptoms. If we are talking about rising cases numbers and responsibility then some of that responsibility has to lay at the government’s door because their decision was definitely a contributing factor.

@Anna Carr: Two close friends of mine died from COVID even though they were double jabbed. They are simply not working.

@Damien Leahy: oh for goodness sake. Road accidents are not CONTAGIOUS. I feel great sadness for the victims of road tragedies but it’s SO not the same thing and why people INSIST on comparing them is beyond irritating.

@Mike Dunne: highly unlikely

@Anna Carr: its an example that people die every day yet we move on it’s tragic but we move on. With covid We are not moving on. Covid is going no where and we are going backwards. How is it so hard to understand?

@Richard Williamson: so how is it flawed if they are similar?

Lockdown now @Anna Carr:

@John brett: You really are thick it’s unreal.

@John brett: Keep going. You embarrassing yourself brings others joy

@Sam Harms: The UK does an enormous amount of serological testing, they know the nation’s antibody levels. What’s interesting, and a little disturbing, is that >90% of the population now have antibodies against the virus, but they have not attained herd immunity:

Estimated percentage of adults who would have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from a blood sample, week beginning 18 October 2021, UK countries:

England 93.1%
Wales 91.7%
Northern Ireland 90.9%
Scotland 92.5%

Btw, we should be similar to NI.

India reached +90% antibodies against Delta and they reached herd immunity e.g. Delhi.

https://www.google.com/search?channel=crow5&client=firefox-b-d&q=delhi+covid

It’s possible that most people have antibodies from vaccination, rather than from infection, and the vaccine doesn’t prevent transmission as they weren’t designed for Delta, too many breakthrough infections.

What is needed is Vaccination + Delta Infection and/or Vaccination + Booster, which gives stronger immunity against Delta.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveyantibodyandvaccinationdatafortheuk/10november2021

@Sam Harms: You might want to look up the UK population Sam. Their 7-day average of 148 & ours of 11 means our death figures are exactly the same.

@Barry Ryan: I hardly think closing bars from midnight and suggesting working from home is shutting things down

@Dave: yes and we are trying to help reduce our deaths while the UK just carry on like nothing is happening. My friend used to work in ICU in London and she still has friends working there who are completely exhausted and some are looking after three patients at a time.

@Sam Harms: Did you not see today there’s been an increase in nursing home & hospital outbreaks? Some of them nursing homes were already locked down I bet. And considering nursing home patients already received their boosters, that’s not a good sign is it? The entire country is being punished again because healthcare staff are not being regularly tested & their ineffective infection control measures. Almost half of the infections in hospitals are acquired there. If you know people working in hospitals, you must also know the main reasons hospitals are so busy. Hint: it’s not covid. And all the hysteria & calls for more restrictions & lockdowns tells you one thing. If these jabs were really that good at preventing serious illness & deaths, nobody would be calling for them.

@Sinead Merrigan: it’s not viable for nightclubs to stay open, hence shut. All companies that can work from home are shutting buildings. People are canceling bookings and Christmas parties etc. Watch this space, it won’t make any difference and further restrictions will happen, while all the time tracking the UK

@Locutus Of Borg: positive swabs were over 4300 so expect higher numbers soon https://covid19.shanehastings.eu/api/swabs/

@Locutus Of Borg: Yea and where are the mass boosters

@David Jordan: any thoughts on why ireland – after two years of harsher /longer restrictions than most -and after spending something like 40bn resourcing and 90% vaccinated – we are stíll projecting much higher infection rates than the UK which eased before us and let’s be honest are not all that different to ireland socially etc – can we start critising the authorities for what is more and more looking like we haven’t actually managed things very well at all?? When are we going to accept this is below average public health management if we are still looking at such bad outcomes by Xmas (again)

@len len: People who have lost friends and family. People with long Covid, healthcare workers, elderly people, people who are immunocompromised, anyone whose livelihood has been impacted. People who generally just care about others. I’m pretty sure they all care.

@len len: I love the pile-on in response to this comment. Three posters saying the very same thing. I don’t think being callous towards deaths was the intention of the original commenter but hopefully your responses help you sleep tonight.

@EnKy I sleep very well, thank you. I’m numb to it now.. the response to it is beyond a joke.. vaccines were supposed to be our saviour. That’s turning out to be rubbish..