Life now
looks much
like it did before
though in the present moment
most people you see
are wearing masks

From the excellent Plague Poems account on Twitter

Thankfully most people in Ireland are wearing masks.
Case numbers are as high as they were at last January's peak.
Louth is one of the counties were the 14 day incidence rate is over 1,000 cases per 100,000 of population.
Hospitals are coming under pressure again as ICU beds begin to fill and staff are off due to COVID. Some are cancelling elective surgery and out patients appointments and are restricting visiting.
Schools are having to cope with outbreaks although contact tracing of pupils has stopped.
Businesses are closing as staff are infected, concerts are being cancelled as are some public events.
The situation has worsened dramatically since the more or less complete removing of restrictions last month.
Many people are carrying on as though the virus has gone away, crowding into pubs and nightclubs.
Time to hibernate once more,