** 16-Dec-2021 World View: 'Tidal Wave' of Covid Omicron cases
Two weeks ago, the UK detected the first Covid case with the Omicron
variant, and now, it is the dominant variant in London, and is
spreading exponentially across the country. Omicron is spreading
incredibly fast, with cases doubling in less than two days in most
regions.
This is just one example of the "tidal wave" of Omicron cases
spreading in the UK, Europe and Africa. Although Delta is still the
dominant variant in most places, Omicron is displacing it in all
cases. The fear is that the UK's hospitals will be overwhelmed
by Christmas or New Year's.
France has just announced that it was blocking travel from the
UK. This may slow down the spread in France, but the same tidal
wave is currently spreading across Europe.
In Africa, omicron is spreading like wildfire, and relatively
few people are vaccinated. The low vaccination rate is sometimes
blamed on America, but it turns out that vaccine hesitancy is very high
in Africa, and a lot of people are refusing to be jabbed, with the
result that huge shipments of vaccines shipped from the US
eventually have to be thrown out because they've expired.
Delta is still the dominant variant across the US. The omicron tidal
wave in UK was detected early because they have an aggressive genome
sequencing and testing program. In America, those programs are far
more episodic, and far less aggressive.
The result is that we don't know how far Omicron has spread in the US.
Nonetheless, the Omicron tidal wave is expected to hit much of the
United States in January, and a lot of people are going to be shocked
and caught off-guard.
In fact, in January there may be simultaneous waves of Delta,
Omicron and the flu, overwhelming the hospitals in some states.
The advice being advanced by different officials in the UK, Europe and
Asia is incoherent, with rules for masking, distancing, vaccination,
boosters, mandates, quarantines, isolation, self-isolation, travel and
lockdowns all different, and all changing from day to day.
There is similar chaos in the advice coming out of Washington. The
meaning of the term "fully vaccinated" changes frequently, and it's
not clear today whether you have to have a booster to be "fully
vaccinated." Some businesses require a customer to be vaccinated, but
it's never clear who is enforcing that rule and anyway, you can get
fake vaccination cards online. Some companies are requiring employees
to be "fully vaccinated," but it's not clear what will happen to
employees who refuse to be vaccinated, or refuse to reveal their
status. Some companies will fire the employee, some will require
daily or weekly testing, with costs sometimes borne by the employer
sometimes by the employee, some businesses have different policies for
employees who work at home, some businesses give religious or medical
exemptions. Additional confusion results from mixed reports about how
effective existing vaccines are against Omicron, especially when you
have been vaccinated many months in the past.
Despite the chaos, all government officials seem to be unanimous in
urging everyone to be vaccinated and boosted, and to use masks and
social distancing indoors or in crowds. There are many people who are
pro-vaccination but also pro-freedom and anti-mandate, especially for
kids. This has become a major political issue, and the politics will
be even more vitriolic in January when the Omicron tidal wave strikes,
especially if hospitals become overwhelmed. On the other hand, some
officials are saying that Omicron is so mild that it isn't even worth
worrying about. Generally speaking, the Red states are freer and more
anti-mandate than the Blue states.
-- Omicron 'most significant threat' since pandemic began, U.K. health
authority warns
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/omic ... s-rcna8828
(NBC News, 16-Dec-2021)