A lot of pessimism today.

People have no grasp on how exceptionally well Ireland (society - all of you) has done in recent months and how hard it was to sustain that.

Today marks 7 weeks since July 1st, take a look at just how well you all did - and keep it going.

Since July 1st:

Cases: 2,026
Deaths: 37
Case Fatality Rate: 1.8%

That set of numbers in itself is excellent even without additional international context.

41 cases per day with 1 single death happening every 30 hours. 5 people dying *a week* in a raging global pandemic.

In those last 7 weeks:

Tests: 295,876
Negativity rate: 99.3%

300,000 tests in 7 weeks is a logistical achievement, nevermind the fact the negativity rate reflected societal achievement in suppressing the virus.

That's a lot of hard work from good people, routinely forgotten.

Those tests don't get done without long hours by medical scientists, GPs, ambulance crews, swabbers, couriers.

I only ever hear people moaning about turnaround times, which are excellent given volume.

I never hear people appreciate what legends we have doing it all for us.

This has taken me a lot of effort but below are countries in the world that had more Covid19 deaths than Ireland since July 1st.

This might help put a few things into context.

Probably won't, obviously, because it's easier to be glass-half-empty than it is to be grateful.

Deaths since July 1st:

Brazil - 50,363
USA - 44,847
India - 35,587
Mexico - 28,892
Peru - 16,982
Colombia - 12,285
South Africa - 9,607
Iran - 9,145
Russia - 6,657
Chile - 4,858
Argentina - 4,765
Iraq- 4,093
Indonesia - 3,401
Bolivia- 3,052
UK - 2,998
Egypt - 2,231

Bangladesh - 1,893
Pakistan - 1,886
Saudi Arabia - 1,821
Guatemala - 1,673
Ecuador - 1,578
Kyrgyzstan - 1,441
Romania - 1,423
Philippines - 1,421
Panama - 1,357
Kazakhstan - 1,227
Honduras - 1,098
Ukraine - 957
Turkey - 885
Dominican Republic - 741
Italy - 638
Afghanistan - 629

France - 608
Morocco - 486
Algeria - 479
Ethiopia - 469
Canada - 464
Sweden - 457
El Salvador - 451
Oman - 421
Serbia - 404
Nigeria - 391
Armenia - 389
Israel - 388
Moldova - 363
Kenya - 339
Poland - 336
Australia - 334
Spain - 315
Bosnia - 309
Costa Rica - 298
Azerbaijan -296

Bulgaria - 289
Germany - 253
Belgium - 247
North Macedonia - 247
Venezuela - 240
Zambia - 240
Sudan - 233
Belarus - 225
Yemen - 225
Uzbekistan - 216
Portugal - 208
Albania - 171
Madagascar - 153
Kuwait - 151
Malawi - 149
Senegal - 144
Japan - 143
Ghana - 136
Zimbabwe - 134

Libya - 133
Paraguay - 128
Palestine - 105
Cameroon - 93
Bahrain - 92
Haiti - 91
Nepal - 85
Qatar - 80
DRC- 73
Montenegro - 68
Angola - 67
Syria - 64
Lebanon -63
Hong Kong - 63
Netherlands - 62
Croatia - 59
Czechia - 52
UAE- 51
Liberia - 46
Greece - 41
Congo - 39

Ireland - 37

Now, you can break that down into per capita if the goal is to compare human misery by league table and pretend anyone is 'winning'.

Brazil 50,363 deaths equates to 1,187 dead in Ireland.
Montengro 68 deaths equates to 542 dead in Ireland.

That isn't my goal in that list.

Human suffering is measured by tears in eyes, not numbers on calculators.

Just look at the devastation the pandemic tornado has wrought in past 7 weeks worldwide, while it mostly passed Ireland by in a gentle breeze during same period.

That was down to all of your efforts.

I've written extensively and emotionally over my desire to treat immigrants and refugees with kindness.

To end DP; to give people hope not fear, to give people dignity not dependence, to give people sick pay not sickness, to give them a chance to shine. https://twitter.com/Care2much18/status/1294856563312807936?s=20

What's happening in meat and mushroom plants is happening the world over - in societies with heavy reliance on migrant workers, but also ones that don't.

Covid19 thrives in indoor facilities with high air speeds and doesn't care if there's rich or poor people inside of them.

Ireland's performance in these sectors is excellent (or awful depending on your point of view.)

No meat worker died in Ireland, thousands of meat workers are dead globally.

Nobody living in DP has died, thousands of migrants are dead globally.

That's excellent, if people not dying is the sole or ultimate measure of 'success'.

But people not dying isn't a testament to national values, and if we really want to reshape a more equitable society, we have to aspire to be better than that. https://twitter.com/Care2much18/status/1294856549249286144?s=20

People want to separate house parties from meat plants, which shows a misunderstanding in how viruses spread.

Multiple large, nationwide house party clusters in Ireland occurred in early July, multiple meat plant outbreaks followed in late July. https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerryman/killarney-house-party-led-to-large-country-wide-covid-19-cluster-39368327.html

What came first? Chicken or the egg.

Do you get as many meat plant clusters without swelling of community infection caused by house parties?

Do you get those house party clusters in early July without an increase in close contacts in mid-June?

It's all linked.

Then comes blame and judgement.

Young people judged for house parties, despite young people being objectively wonderful through the entire pandemic.

Greedy meat plant owners blamed for outbreaks, despite 90% of plants staying covid-free throughout this. https://twitter.com/Care2much18/status/1295261503952650240?s=20

I very rarely criticize or praise politicians for their pandemic response.

You all have knives out for Stephen Donnelly, a man who has ironically overseen the lowest death rate period in pandemic.

He inherited a good situation from Simon*.

He kept it going.

*He actually inherited a good situation from all of you, which is why I swerve praise.

It's your social distancing that kept nursing homes safe from perils of community infection.

It's your adherence to masks that kept most of our hospitals covid-free for 7 weeks.

Society.

I often quote my favourite scene from The Wire, Bunk chastising Omar.

"As rough as that neighbourhood could be, we had ourselves a community. Ain't no victim that didn't matter"

The pandemic has shown me modern Ireland is still a community and we're best when we stick together.

We've done so well for each other in the past few months.

We're still doing well, today, despite how everything feels - we're still far below the EU/EEA average of infection and deaths are very low.

Extra measures to try keep it that way are probably wise.

This winter may not be easy but I know if we continue to look out for each other, there will always be light in the darkness to come.

Covid19 is on a relentless march around the world, we've shown we can keep it at bay through unity.

Keep at all the basic hygiene measures.