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K74T wrote:2 deaths and 76 new cases. (24 of those cases came from the prison in Tobago)
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Ireland Goes Into Total Lockdown in Desperate Bid to Save Christmas as Europe’s Second Wave Gathers Force
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Ireland will plunge into the world’s toughest national lockdown on Wednesday in a desperate bid to salvage Christmas. The rest of Europe could be forced to follow.
Tom Sykes
Updated Oct. 20, 2020 6:06PM ET / Published Oct. 20, 2020 1:28PM ET
COUNTY CARLOW, Ireland—Sunday two weeks ago, my wife and I joined four friends for a birthday dinner, making up what was then the maximum sized legally-permissible group, six.
An opportunity to forget about the coronavirus for a few hours turned into anything but when one of our host’s kids came into the room where we were eating and told us that they’d heard on TikTok that the country was moving to “level five.”
We all understood.
It was soon established that Ireland’s National Public Health Emergency team, NPHET, had written to the government, urging a move from the then-current patchwork of “level two” and “level three” restrictions to a super-strict “level five” lockdown across the entire country.
At levels two and three of the government’s five-level plan for “living with COVID,” which was launched last month, something resembling normal life in Ireland is just about possible.
Level five, by contrast, is essentially a total lockdown with restaurants (and our famous pubs) only open for takeaway; non-essential shops closed; hairdressers and salons closed; all social visits banned; weddings and funerals limited to 25 guests and individuals prohibited from traveling farther than 3 miles from their homes.
The following day, Monday, Ireland’s government did something extraordinary; it rejected NPHET’s advice. It said the entire country would move to level three instead.
Ireland’s deputy leader, tanaiste Leo Varadkar, went on radio and publicly chastised NPHET members. Varadkar said they were civil servants who had no conception of what it meant to be facing unemployment or having “to shutter a business for the last time.”
Varadkar added, “I’m not talking about the economy, I’m talking about something that could have happened to half a million human beings tomorrow and the reason why politicians make these decisions is because we’re the ones who can see the bigger picture.
“It’s not just about a virus and statistics around a virus. It’s not about a death rate. It’s about real people, and how it impacts on so many different people, and so many different communities, in so many different ways.”
Exactly two weeks after Varadkar made his defiant stand, the Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin stood on the steps of government buildings Monday night and performed a stunning u-turn.
A grim-faced Martin announced that the entire country would indeed go into level five restrictions beginning midnight Wednesday, after infections among Ireland’s 5 million people surged to over 1,000 a day. The government expects some 200,000 people will lose their jobs. The only chink of light is that schools are staying open, for now.
A key factor in the government decision was that NPHET indicated that a six-week lockdown would suppress the virus to as few as 50 cases a day by December, allowing reopening in time for Christmas.
Martin sought to tap into the national obsession with Christmas in his televised address, saying, “Every Christmas is important, but this year it is particularly so. Each of us have our own rituals for Christmas, and they will take on extra poignancy this year as we remember those who didn’t survive 2020. Not only those who have been taken by the virus, but also all those others who passed away this year and didn’t get the wakes and funerals and goodbyes that we as a people are so good at, and which they deserved.
“It won’t be the same Christmas that we have enjoyed in years past, but if we all pull together and follow the spirit of these new rules, it will be a very special time and will give us all some respite from the hardship of the last seven months.”
The resurgence of the virus has shocked many Irish, who congratulated themselves this summer after daily cases fell to the low twenties.
However, the reality is that Ireland is merely part of a vast new coronavirus wave sweeping across Europe.
And while Irish people are now living with the toughest official national restrictions in the world, it seems inevitable that much of the rest of Europe will follow.
Indeed, many European countries, including Spain, France, the U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Luxembourg all have 14-day cumulative numbers of COVID-19 cases per 100,000, one of the ECDC’s favored measures, above Ireland’s figure of 253. Many of those countries have severe regional or city-specific lockdowns and curfews already in place.
America is unlikely to be spared a second wave either; the state of Arizona, for example, has 7.2 million residents compared to Ireland’s 4.9 million and is seeing a similar number of cases of around 1,000 per day, and the Arizona number is on a sharp upward trajectory.
While Martin tried to hold on to the promise of Christmas, he also admitted in his address that the country was effectively set for a cycle of yo-yo lockdowns.
He rejected goals of zero COVID, and herd immunity, instead saying, “We work to suppress the virus when it is growing, and we work to reopen as much of our society and economy as possible when it is safe to do so. Until we have a safe vaccine, we must continue in that pattern.”
It’s a deeply depressing message. It’s also the truth, and not just for Ireland.
Ben_spanna wrote:the way how trinis getting ancy if govt gives a lil ease now and our numbers skyrocket from beaches, rivers, bars and restaurants re-opening its going to be a rather strange Xmas in lockdown i forsee.
Ben_spanna wrote:the way how trinis getting ancy if govt gives a lil ease now and our numbers skyrocket from beaches, rivers, bars and restaurants re-opening its going to be a rather strange Xmas in lockdown i forsee.
Can't do that, other wise PNM wouldn't win again.MaxPower wrote:Hadda fix the Trinidadian irresponsible, ignorant and careless mentality first before trying to fix Covid.
Facts.
Trinis ASS are still too happy and relaxed.
Its never too late to rest down a lockdown and crack the whip.
Dizzy28 wrote:Deaths over the century mark. FB_IMG_1603316075609.jpeg
toyolink wrote:Covid19 has truly worn us down and the silent invisible impacts are all too noticeable.
Inability to sleep, feelings of fatigue, a sense of being confined, a feeling that everything is going down the drain and out-burst of anger.
We are hearing from less and less cheer-leaders since they themselves now need support.
We are now really called to dig deep and look out for others who need our help.
The government must be part of the solution and source of real support and ease off the expectation for a bligh.
toyolink wrote:Covid19 has truly worn us down and the silent invisible impacts are all too noticeable.
Inability to sleep, feelings of fatigue, a sense of being confined, a feeling that everything is going down the drain and out-burst of anger.
We are hearing from less and less cheer-leaders since they themselves now need support.
We are now really called to dig deep and look out for others who need our help.
The government must be part of the solution and source of real support and ease off the expectation for a bligh.
Dizzy28 wrote:Talking with a client today out of Dublin. He was saying Ireland is starting a 6 week lockdown at the highest tier from midnight tonight.
This contrasts with two weeks ago when Tanaiste Leo Varadkar basically made light of the medical fraternity's advice.
Varadkar is a doctor as well ah.
Trinidad better get our sheit together as more developed countries getting knocked down hard.
MaxPower wrote:toyolink wrote:Covid19 has truly worn us down and the silent invisible impacts are all too noticeable.
Inability to sleep, feelings of fatigue, a sense of being confined, a feeling that everything is going down the drain and out-burst of anger.
We are hearing from less and less cheer-leaders since they themselves now need support.
We are now really called to dig deep and look out for others who need our help.
The government must be part of the solution and source of real support and ease off the expectation for a bligh.
Hello toyolink,
ALL Trinis must do their part, simple.
But yes, the Govt must be part of the solution which is to discipline the citizens of T&T.
Still no treatment for the serious Covid-19 cases.K74T wrote:
redmanjp wrote:CMO said we getting 1 death per day- but today had 2 and yesterday 3?
redmanjp wrote:CMO said we getting 1 death per day- but today had 2 and yesterday 3?
Dohplaydat wrote:redmanjp wrote:CMO said we getting 1 death per day- but today had 2 and yesterday 3?
Did you not learn averages in school?
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