Brexit will lead to the death of the whole population of Ireland

The Graun today wheels out another chapter of Project Fear, the trope that just keeps giving. Politicians must sit down and rack their brains to find something that will be disastrous IF there is the worst kind  of 'no deal' , when the UK never communicates with anyone in the rest of the world about anytrhing forever. I thought we had scraped the bottom after 3 years, but new crises offer new possibilities for the alert moral entrepreneur:

Brexit 'could impede coronavirus contact tracing on island of Ireland' 

The tracing of number plates, flight passenger lists and coronavirus test results could become impossible unless the UK agrees a deal on its future relationship with the EU that includes security and data-sharing arrangements.

Although a local NI politician is quoted, the hand of the EC is also apparent in this 'technical note' from Brussels which offers a helpful:

reminder of the scale of the challenge facing businesses and now health authorities in the face of a national health emergency.

There is the eternal split between bureaucrats ('if we leave the transition period without a deal and there is legal uncertainty around our information governance framework that would put contact tracing particularly in border areas into risk') and pragmatists ('“Let’s get it up and running and we will work round the rest of it when we get to the end of the year and we see where we are in regards to Brexit.”')

Meanwhile, in another story:

The British government is quietly seeking access to the European Union’s pandemic warning system, despite early reluctance to cooperate on health after Brexit, the Guardian has learned....According to an EU source, this would be “pretty much the same” as membership of the system....However, the EU is not prepared to offer the UK full membership of the EWRS [have they actually asked forthat?] , an online platform set up in 1998 where public authorities share information about health emergencies...Instead, EU officials propose to “plug the UK into” the system when a pandemic emerges, similar to arrangements for other non-EU countries.

See -- we now realise we just can't cope without them and we have to beg favours. However: 

The UK government spokesperson said: “The safety and security of our citizens is a top priority. The UK is ready to discuss how our citizens can be kept safe and benefit from continued international cooperation on health security following the end of the transition period, where it is in our mutual interest...“Any such arrangements must align with the fundamental principles of respecting the UK’s political and economic independence, recognition of the UK and EU’s status as sovereign equals, and ensuring the UK has control over its own laws.”