"It should be noted that the total number of deaths is 1,844
Your information is out of date. Today the number is 2,513.
Bottom line is that I would prefer NOT to catch the virus, than catch it. Firstly, I might be one of the unlucky ones without co-morbidities who ends up seriously ill or I might infect somebody I love and care about and cause them to die.
Yesterday, the Irish health service executive gave a briefing at which they gave a very interesting breakdown of the transmission of the virus within one small group of people over a weekend. It's incredible how contagious this virus is.
Bascially, a couple went on a trip away and when they arrived back on day one of the weekend, they attended a house party, which had eight people at it.
Out of this number, six people became positive with the virus.
The couple then stayed overnight with a family and in this household, three out of the four members of the household became positive for the virus.
Also, three further social contacts of the family tested positive for coronavirus.
On the second day of the weekend, one of the couple went with another group of friends for a dinner party into the town centre. At that party, there were four people and all four tested positive for the virus.
The conference heard that at the premises where the dinner party was, a table adjacent to the party had six people, all of whom became positive for the virus.
Four members of staff at the bar/restaurant also tested positive for Covid-19.
The index case with another friend then went to another drinks venue to meet a party of four for drinks, and all four became positive.
"This demonstrates that over two days in a weekend, how quickly the virus can spread and the importance to restrict your social interactions," Dr Smyth said.
"If you were to halve your social interactions and go out one night at the weekend - that would help greatly."
So, it's not a question of living like a hermit, but of trying to keep your contacts down in order to control the spread.
And we should all remember that people with underlying conditions are not all at death's door. Many of them would have many years of reasonable quality of life ahead of them. A person in their sixties with diabetes for example, who takes their meds, follows their dietary plan etc can have a happy, productive life.