@sean Coady: not “my hole” ,Mehole Martin!

@sean Coady: Lol

@sean Coady:

@sean Coady:

@Franny Ando: Seriously! We should have gone to level5 when the government were advised to go to level 5. The restrictions should be enforced more vigorously. 70% of people playing ball isn’t worth a sh..e.

@Elaine Moriarty: 100 percent correct.

@Elaine Moriarty: stop blaming. Give it a rest

@Gary Creaven: The numbers have proved otherwise. A blind a-ss could see the way it was done was a disaster.

@Elaine Moriarty: Well done, Elaine. Do the other 7 year olds think this is gas too?!

@Elaine Moriarty: Holohan and his colleagues could do more by getting the HSE to change some of their work practices during this crisis instead of constantly pointing the finger at the general public the whole time.

@Elaine Moriarty: no matter what Micheal does he can’t win. But the whingers will whinge no matter what he does.

@Elaine Moriarty: loose*

@Terry O Shea: This is not a political points scoring scenario, there is no winning, there is common sense, logic and hard decisions, non of whihc are the traits of a man who is supposed to be out leader who did not even do well in the election….

@Gary Creaven: The result of going from level 3 to 5 and back to 3 was that the entire Christmas shopping period was compressed into 2 or so weeks. Level 3 was showing progress before level 5 was introduced. They should have left it there. The alternative, if they really wanted to go to level 5, was to stay there, regardless of public sentiment. Unfortunately, a knee-jerk reaction lead to level 5, and utter spinelessness lead to everything opening again just in time for the Christmas mayhem…

@Franny Ando: which numbers? The increase in deaths or the decrease in cases now that they have stopped testing close contacts? ( which is still a 4 fold increase in cases on just before christmas.)

@Liam O Connor: how exactly do you think this is spreading, genius. The people.

@Dave:I wish I was flawless like you Dave

@Darren Byrne: I wouldn’t be holding my breath. Even if the numbers were coming down quicker they’ll have learned their lesson from Christmas. This one is going to be a long one jo matter what.

@Chris Day: August

@Maureen: this is a great game. November

@Chris Day: judging by the way some of my neighbours are carrying on it will be June or maybe later, complete disregard for the regulations, I mean some of them are totally immune from any chance of catching it

@Seán Óg: it’s like sports, we start to do well and everyone gets excited and then it inevitably falls apart.

@Michael McGrath: Of course the hospitals are where most fatalities come from, will you get your head out of the sand , its like you are saying ” but sure the people that dies were in hospital” Thats what hspitals are for to try and save lives, not fix the issues created by clowns who could not be arsed to behave themsleves…

@Dave: He said people were moved from hospitals to nursing homes. This was to make way for the millions that were predicted to need hospital treatment for Covid. Needless to say our experts grossly overestimated the impact of Covid and these millions never arrived.

The most disturbing thing was that these hospital patients weren’t tested for Covid so the virus spread to nursing homes throughout the country. Sadly the most vulnerable in our society paid the price.

Our government ladies and gentlemen.

@Dave: I think you should reread my comment and get down off the pulpit buddy

@mike: It’s beyond essential for those children to be in school.

@mike: it’s ludicrous to even think of opening the schools. Hopefully it won’t happen.

@Joe Moore: it’s essential to keep schools closed to help stop the spread of the virus, to protect the teachers, the parents, and all
families involved.

@Mills: I have a special needs child and I don’t want him anywhere near the place. It’s hardship without school but really it’s just not safe to be there.

@mike: I have a special needs child and he wil 100% be going back. There is a total of 9 people in his class, 6 students 1 teacher and 2 SNAs. It’s not overcrowded and completely safe. We’ve had COVID-19 so I’m not exactly worried about catching it again either

@Nicole: no your not or your not worried about anyone else either

@Nicole: you don’t care about anyone else do you what about who bring you child to school you only want him out of the way

@Pat Breen: yeah exactly I’m sick of them at this stage can’t even drink my 12 o clock wine in peace

@Michéal Ó Tuama: They encouraged the people to be the lobbyists. We all know this tactic, it’s effective and has worked for centuries. Divide and conquer.

@D Mems: Stop with that kind of comment please. They are all valid points made! Are being financially affected by the restrictions? Are you struggling to feed your family and pay your bills? Do you have sleepless nights? Like most commenters on here I doubt it very much that you do.

@Michéal Ó Tuama: F… o..

@Joe Moore: Do you not care that people are dying from this virus ?

@D Mems: What an igno-rant comment. Thats exactly what I mean.

@Franny Ando: People like you who refuse to understand that others are suffering. You dis-gust me.

@Michéal Ó Tuama:rubbish

@Cliff Burnby: Don’t be writing silly comments. I care very much actually, but there is more to life than Covid going on in people’s lives. 150 million people worldwide are now poverty stricken because of restrictions. Do you not care??

@Michéal Ó Tuama: You seem stable

@Franny Ando: didn’t you know most commentators on journal want county to stay locked down for ever as long as government keep handing out covid payments.

@Joe Moore: What’s silly about it ? Another commenter mentioned that people have died and you told him to stop with that type of comment. That’s a bit of a silly thing to say when another 60 families are grieving today. I do indeed care about all effects of covid, but most people know that lives are more valuable than money. You seem to think the opposite.

@D Mems: You should go into writing. You write a great drama in two sentences.

@Cliff Burnby: You don’t understand what I’m trying to say if you think I believe money is more important than lives. Yes the type of comment trying to guilt trip someone with perfectly valid opinions you were referring to. Do you feed your family and pay your bills on 350 a week ??

@Joe Moore: Thankfully I muted him. He is a very unpleasant person.

@Cliff Burnby: can you not care about others at the same time????

@Franny Ando: Couldn’t agree more!

@Joe Moore: Maybe I did misunderstand you, sometimes it just looks like people don’t care about those that are dying and are more wrapped up in their own concerns.
As regards being on 350 a week, I lost my job 10 years ago during the crash and was getting a whole lot less than that to feed my family. Yes it was horrendous and tough but I got through it and an doing fine now. I also know what it is like to grieve a loved one though and that is something that never goes away. I guess my point is that I have lots of sympathy for those that have lost jobs because I’ve been there but I realise that nothing is more important right now than saving lives.

@Cliff Burnby: For the last million years and forever more people will die, I am not a covid denier or conspiracy theorist but we will never be able to prevent people from dying, and no matter what is done throughout this pandemic people will die it’s just s matter of when and how

@Paul Keenan: Yes Paul, we get that, we are talking about preventable deaths here though. Would you be OK with someone close to you getting covid and dying in the next few weeks?

@talksense: I think the warm weather during the summer did have some influence in keeping the number of cases down. Also being able to be outdoors and get some natural vitamin D was a help. I live in Johannesburg and this country seems to have less cases per capita. Also the weather here is warm all year round. People here live an outdoor lifestyle which also helps.

@Daniel Dunne: Hearing of deaths of friends of friends in their 40s. Fit people with no underlying. Didn’t hear any of this in first wave. Didn’t know anyone directly affected in 1st wave. Knew some in 2nd wave but much more affected in this wave.

@Mairead Jenkins: let’s be real, it’s highly unlikely that even in a supermarket if you’re careful and keep you mask on at all and times and practice social distancing you’d get covid. plenty of people go shopping, don’t wear their mask properly,natter for ages to people they meet lean right into them etc. That’s when it’s dangerous. Follow the rules properly and you should be ok!

@Elaine Moriarty: There are no visitors allowed to nursing homes these days, so it is getting in via the staff – through transmission from living in the community. The staff are picking it up somewhere – supermarkets, public transport etc etc

@Gavin Tobin: Last time it was numbers, this time it’s names

@Elaine Moriarty: we need all the people to follow the rules – not just the health care workers… People pushing past others on the escalator and berated because the health care worker was trying to social distance. A maskless shop manager manning the tills with a notice on the door “Masks mandatory”. A security man with a mask on his chin asking people to follow the arrows…elsewhere glared at when a polite mention of social distancing was made at the queue for the check-out.

Everyone has to play their part and everyone who cannot or does not should stay at home.. if wearing a mask protected the wearer adequately then we would have no covid – but is it social distancing and hand washing primarily and the mask as an extra layer of protection (but does not protect the eyes which are connected via the tear ducts). Nothing can protect you completely from the actions of others or we would not have to worry about this pandemic.

Everyone has a part to play in keeping covid-19 out of the health care environment.

@Niall Ó Cofaigh: I completely agree. I follow the rules as do my parents. But many just don’t get it, it’s a multitude of factors, like you said ..masks AND social distance , plus handwashing etc. And without the full collective effort of everyone, that’s the reason the numbers have taken a jolt. I barely to into shops anymore myself as too many others in there not following the rules put everyone else at risk

@Niall Ó Cofaigh: or the delivery guy who saw me wearing a mask and asked me, do you want me to put on a mask…. unbelievable Jeff.

@Mairead Jenkins: HELLO THE WET PUBS ARE CLOSED SINCE LAST MARCH!!!

@Gavin Tobin: Cool story Gav. I wouldn’t place much trust in sources like that. It’s almost as bad as the garbage on FB and WA.

@Tomo: is that not fundamentally the issue with the Irish psychi? Always looking for someone to blame…….

@Philip Mckenna: yes, they are paying experts millions, then claiming they could never have foreseen this, when anyone with a modicum of common sense could have told them there would be carnage. Their incredulity is mind boggling.

@Philip Mckenna: they knew there’d be some kind of increase but the scale of the increase was completely unexpected not even you could have predicted that Philip!

@Barry Evans: utter recklessness????? is that really what the majority of people were doing, after 9 months of restrictions, trying to see their families at xmas, honestly the worlds in trouble of this is deemed reckless, some people may have taken the piss but the vast majority just loosened up a fraction, unfortunately this virus is unforgiving and spreads like wildfire ireland is just like all others where there are spikes in infection rates

@billy bound: you should have a talk with your selfish inbreds and tell them to stop.

@Jim Smith: What you should do is stop complaining about the numbers going up then when you’re incapable of seing a simple solution to the problem, level 5 seems like a circus with people like you around

@Mills: simple solution to reduce the numbers, that’s all! Irish people are way too hypocritical these days saying RIP when they aren’t even doing anything to stop the spread

@B: @B: Firstly, your simple solution is not so simple if your a parent and schools are closed. Where are children supposed to go? Should children just be left home alone when the family runs out of milk?

Secondly, you know absolutely nothing about me. How about this for a simple solution? Mind your own business.

@Jim Smith: if Covid would only be my business then yeah I would mind my own business but unfortunately it isn’t…
numbers are still too high, level 5 is in place and every parent seems too keen to take their child shopping and then later curse at the numbers getting even higher… hypocritical mindset

@B: Are you a parent? Seems to me that most parents are most definitely NOT keen on taking their kids shopping with them. Covid or no Covid…

@Jim Smith: 49% increase in youth suicides in Japan which are linked to school closures. I can’t post links, but a quick Google search will bring you to the research

@B: Kids in the supermarket? But you’re fine with all the people meeting up in their cars for coffee.

@billy bound: here are the lab reports for the last 12 days – submitted at 11am each day.

date – tests – pos – % positive – diff (reported cases)

05/01 – 19869 – 4462 – 22.2% positive +773 (5235)
06/01 – 28368 – 6862 – 24.1% positive +974 (7836)
07/01 – 28609 – 6368 – 22.2% positive +253 (6521)
08/01 – 27282 – 5152 – 18.8% positive +3096(8248)
09/01 – 27585 – 4962 – 17.9% positive -138 (4824)
10/01 – 22949 – 4142 – 18.0% positive +2746(6888)
11/01 – 18280 – 2845 – 15.5% positive +2084(4929)
12/01 – 17765 – 2456 – 13.8% positive +612 (3068)
13/01 – 23590 – 3856 – 16.3% positive -287 (3569)
14/01 – 28178 – 3854 – 13.6% positive +141 (3995)
15/01 – 22874 – 3457 – 15.1% positive +41 (3498)
16/01 – 25114 – 3063 – 12.1% positive +168 (3231)

You can also see the number of new cases reported (in brackets) – now remember these are both HSE figures so there is no playing with numbers really.

While the reports say “tests in the last 7 days” they are in fact running a few days behind… so a swab taken on Wednesday and sent to the Lab on Thursday and tested on Friday may appear in the Saturday positive test results and maybe on Saturday or Sunday validated cases count.