Tag Archives: coronavirus

This afternoon.

Leinster House, Dublin 2.

A small ‘Get The Government Out’ protest outside the Dáil, calling for the current Government to be removed from power for its handling of the rona, along with an end to the homelessness crisis.

Leon Farrell/RollingNews

This morning.

UK’s Talk Radio.

Chronic disease specialist and Covid response critic, Dubliner Ivor Cummins aka The Fat Emperor discusses the new rona data, false positives and ineffective lockdowns with Julia Hartley Brewer.

Previously: Ivor Lot of Questions

Meanwhile…

Yikes.

Meanwhile…

“This a mobilisation of the organisation”.

Um.

Professor Pete Lunn, founder and head of the ESRI’s Behavioural Research Unit

This morning

Covid fatigue?

Nonsense.

Via The Irish Times:

Prof Pete Lunn, head of behavioural research at think tank ESRI, said that public polling over recent months suggested the public debate was “miles off” the opinion of the majority of the population who want the Government to be more cautious in fighting coronavirus.

…Surveys and evidence gathered on public attitudes towards restrictions are not showing fatigue with the restrictions but “a degree of resilience” and compliance has been “edging up” consistently over recent months, he said.

“That suggests that there is a majority appetite that says, ‘we can cope with this’ and in fact, on balance, the public wants more restriction rather than fewer,” said Prof Lunn, who is a member of a subgroup that has advised NPHET on the public response to the pandemic.

Most people want more, not fewer, restrictions, survey shows – ESRI expert (Irish Times)

Earlier: A Limerick A Day

Previously: Rona Shaming

Rollingnews

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health

This evening.

Some reaction to the decision to discard NPHET advice on bringing the country to Level 5…

Via RTÉ

A senior Government source said we are “in a very dangerous place” as decision is being represented as “politicians versus doctors” when it “never ever should have been allowed to get to this point of showdown”.

The source added that there are “serious questions and [a] major fallout”.

RTÉ also understands that while ministers took NPHET’s concern about the exponential growth of the virus “very seriously”, there was “resistance” to moving to Level 5 “at this time.”

Now Cabinet is set to decide on a proposal to put the entire country on Level 3, with additional enforcement.

A real fallout?

Or bait and switch?

We may never know.

Govt set to veto NPHET advice, adopt Level 3 nationwide (RTÉ)

Earlier: ‘You Were Elected To Lead’

RollingNews

A UK funeral service under Covid social distancing restrictions.

Earlier: Hi Five

Top from left: Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Minister for Climate Action, Communications Networks and Transport Eamon Ryan; Senator Michael McDowell

This afternoon.

Further to the possibility of a Level 5 lockdown for the entire country….

….Senator Michael McDowell, a former Minister for Justice, has released the following statement

‘I am appealing to the three coalition party leaders to reject the NPHET advice that the country should go to Level 5 in its entirety.

I am also appealing to the three leaders to refuse to be manipulated into a cynical (and perhaps intended) “compromise” with NPHET that we should move to Level 4.

Futile

Moving to either level will create untold misery, additional deaths, huge psychiatric and psychological damage, irreparable economic and social harm, and will be futile.

There is absolutely no reason to believe that the situation in three or four weeks’ time will be significantly different if we now go into a lockdown or quasi-lockdown. None whatever.

There is no reason to believe that infection rates or community transmission rates would not resume at or climb almost immediately to current rates if Level 5 or Level 4 restrictions were imposed nationally and if they were relaxed in coming weeks and months.

The reported NPHET advice will, if accepted, turn out to be semi-permanent lasting for many months.

Lockdown’s Consequences

Accepting NPHET advice will have entirely predictable consequences:

Increased mortality from cancer, heart disease and other conditions due to continued dislocation of the health services

Untold suffering for those continuing to be deprived of vital social services for the mentally and physically disabled and their families

Severe psychiatric and psychological damage to vulnerable people

Greatly increased domestic abuse

Loneliness and isolation for the elderly

Catastrophic consequences for economic life hitting especially the indigenous SME sectors

Collapse of many enterprises due to insolvency and foreclosures

Massively increased unemployment and resultant poverty and misery.

These consequences, among others, are not to be chosen by default out of weakness now.

Unacceptable

We simply cannot go back into lockdown. We have got to learn to live with Covid infection and with significant risk of community transmission. Epidemiology and mathematical modelling is only one part of the story.

We know that further lockdown will have inevitable mortality and health consequences that lie outside simple epidemiology. The reported NPHET advice is replete with existential threats to the “common good” more widely understood.

Hospitalisation rates, intensive care admission rates and genuine Covid mortality rates are certainly significant issues for government.

Recent evidence concerning the categorisation of Covid related deaths suggests that the figure of approximately 1800 may be inflated. Likewise the evidence given to the Dáil Covid committee’s final meeting that the median age of Covid related death was “in the high eighties” requires us to put purely epidemiological advice into a real perspective when confronted with the clearly known and inevitable consequences of accepting NPHET’s reported advice.

Living With Community Transmission

The younger cohorts of the population (including nearly everyone of working age) are entitled to live their lives as normally as circumstances can permit. It is not a question of pitching their interests into a conflict with those of the older or more vulnerable cohorts in our population. Keeping schools and creches open goes nowhere near what is now demanded.

Entire swathes of our society and of social and economic activity simply cannot be put into suspended animation in pursuit of unattainable epidemiological goals or entirely temporary effects.

The cohesion that we have witnessed up to this point was based on a number of suppositions.

These include the supposition that our health authorities would address as a matter of extreme emergency shortfalls in ICU capacity. Little or nothing was done.

The supposition also was that we would establish a really effective test, track and trace system as a matter of extreme emergency. This does not appear to have happened either.

I am appealing to the leaders of the coalition and to their parties to reject the NPHET advice and to articulate with conviction, courage and honesty a different course for Irish society over the next number of weeks and months. The NPHET path is neither necessary nor sustainable – politically, socially, or economically.

You were elected to lead – not to be led.’

Senator Michael McDowell calls on coalition to reject NPHET Level 5 advice (Senator ichael McDowell)

Earlier: Hi Five

Update:

From top: Minister for health Stephen Donnelly and Chief Medical officer Tony Holohan

This afternoon.

Government Buildings, Merrion Street, Dublin 2.

More as we get it.

Where is your mask(s)?

Meanwhile…

NPHET has said that the powers available under public health laws need to be fully and visibly utilised, RTÉ News has learned.

While the letter to Government does not specifically reference the Garda, it calls for a renewed commitment to enforcement of regulations.

Um.

Govt party leaders meet Holohan over NHPET recommendation (RTÉ)

Earlier: On The Level

What’s Going On?

Rolingnews

Over the weekend.

Two of Ireland’s most celebrated journalists Gene Kerrigan and Vincent Browne urge the wearing of masks be it out of fear, in Mr Kerrigan’s case, or the possibility that it might help eliminate the rona ‘almost completely’, according to Mr Browne.

Gene Kerrigan

Vincent Browne

Fianna Fail TD Jim O’Callaghan

This morning

on Newstalk, Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan discussed the possibility of the country moving to Level 5 with host Pat Kenny…

“First of all it [the recommendation to move to Level 5] is advice. It’s on a decision by NPHET and any decision made in respect of this shall be made by Government.

However, I’m concerned that the manner by which we’re doing business at present, it’s not a good idea for the people of Ireland to hear, late on a Sunday evening, a leak from NPHET indicating that there’s a recommendation that the country’s going to go to Level 5, that we shouldn’t be doing business that way.

“NPHET’s job is to advise the Minister for Health. It’s job is to coordinate the health sector response to Covid. But it’s not an independent entity and it’s a group that advises the minister and it’s Government and politicians that will make decisions as to whether or not this country moves to a different level.

“Obviously the advice given by NPHET should be considered by Government and I know that the three leaders of the parties in Government are meeting NPHET today but I would be asking them what’s the reason for the inconsistency in the NPHET’s approach?

“They met last Thursday, there was no recommendation in respect of this. I’m also concerned that if Government are to go to Level 5, it would be completely disproportionate at this stage.

That we’ve to look to see where we are in terms of this pandemic. And I know what [Infectious disease expert] Porfessor Sam McConkey says, you know, we have to look ahead but in terms of assessing a pandemic, the primary way to do it, is you assess it by a number of steps and you assess it by a number of hospitalisations.

“To date, 1,810 people in the country have died of or with Covid and only 47 of them have been recorded as dying since the first of August so the terrible time for this country in terms of our failing in respect of Covid was the nursing home fiasco that happened in March, April and May when significant numbers of people died.

“The numbers are much lower now in terms of death.

“When you look at hospitalisations, Pat, back in mid-April, there were 881 people in hospital in this country who tested positive for Covid and on a particular day, the 15th of April, there were 155 people in intensive care. Today, there are 134 people in hospital and 21 in intensive care, so we’re nowhere near where we were in mid-April.

“If we go to Level 5 now, where do we go after that?

“Like the reality is, we had the lockdown, it reduces the numbers, we can’t eliminate this virus, and if people tell you ‘we’re going to get it to zero, we’re going to eliminate it from Ireland in the same way that St Patrick got rid of the snakes, they’re fooling you and they’re fooling the public.”

Rollingnews

Earlier: What’s Going On?