{"id":14939,"date":"2023-02-22T17:19:22","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T17:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=14939"},"modified":"2023-02-22T17:19:22","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T17:19:22","slug":"covid-19-in-ireland-lives-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2023\/02\/22\/covid-19-in-ireland-lives-lost\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 in Ireland: Lives Lost"},"content":{"rendered":"

Irish Times health correspondent Paul Cullens<\/a><\/span> reported on February 13, 2023 that a disturbing 1,300 patients had \u2018died over the winter as a result of delays in hospital admission from emergency departments, according to an analysis of Health Service Executive data.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

This followed a longer article by Cullen the previous Saturday<\/a><\/span> exploring what is driving the deeply concerning excess death figures recorded over the previous year in Ireland and elsewhere \u2013 \u2018among worst in 50 years<\/span><\/a>\u2019 according to the BBC.<\/p>\n

Importantly, Cullen acknowledges that COVID-19 itself \u2018can only explain a fraction of the additional number of people dying.\u2019<\/p>\n

Given this is a global issue, attributing additional mortality primarily to the parlous state of emergency medicine in Ireland is a difficult argument to sustain. It could be a contributory factor, but conditions in 2022 were no different to the preceding years. For example, prior to the onset of the pandemic, in January, 2020 Cullen reported<\/span><\/a> that \u2018[t]he first week of the new year has been the worst ever for hospital overcrowding, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.\u2019<\/p>\n

The first of Cullen\u2019s recent articles, in particular, appears to have been written in response to high mortality being \u2018attributed by some online to Covid vaccines.\u2019 He summarises his arguments to the effect that \u2018[t]his limited data does not appear to support claims of a vaccine-related rise in deaths in this age cohort.\u2019<\/p>\n

He then reveals,<\/p>\n

While the vast majority of medical specialists we asked in recent months about claims of vaccine-induced harm say they have no cause of concern, it is fair to say a small number of doctors do, though for now they are reluctant to speak publicly.<\/em><\/p>\n

This reluctance among members of the Irish medical profession \u201cto speak publicly\u201d about adverse reactions to the vaccines should be setting off alarm bells, but what is really striking about the current coverage of elevated mortality is the detached, clinical tone.<\/p>\n

This contrasts starkly with the emotive way in which death, and illness, attributed to COVID-19 was reported during the period of the emergency powers<\/a><\/span> (March 2020 \u2013 January 2022).<\/p>\n

Stalin (in)famously said the death of one man is a tragedy but the death of a million is a statistic. In Ireland during that period a single death from COVID-19 was treated as a tragedy, whereas today thousands of additional deaths only seem to be eliciting comment when vaccines are implicated.<\/p>\n

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Frank Armstrong measures the health of the Irish republic in response to the pandemic, and argues for a social contract inclusive towards all who live here.https:\/\/t.co\/Y2SCYfZab6<\/a>@frankarmstrong2<\/a> @BowesChay<\/a> @broadsheet_ie<\/a> @indepdubnrth<\/a> #COVID19<\/a><\/p>\n

— CassandraVoices (@VoicesCassandra) May 27, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n