COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[jamestroll]

Its getting to the point that Wexton could probably lose under current lines and perhaps face a close race in redistricted lines.

Considering the layer of never trump voters in Nova, the region held up remarkably well for Terry McAuliffe in this climate.  But if covid fear mongering continues to happen, Republicans could out right win seats here next year.

Notice.. no leader from Alexandria to Loudoun ever implemented stricter covid measures. There is a reason for that. Drive around Nova.. you see mom and pop shops and independent businesses everywhere.

[TheReckoning]

Is it possible masks will be something to live with for literally the rest of our lives?

[Mr.Phips]

Is it possible masks will be something to live with for literally the rest of our lives?

Probably at least the next several years.

[Calthrina950]

Is it possible masks will be something to live with for literally the rest of our lives?

Probably at least the next several years.

This is truly disheartening. Why does this have to be the case?

[Green Line]

Is it possible masks will be something to live with for literally the rest of our lives?

They’re already not a thing in the US basically everywhere outside of blue cities.  If you want to live in a liberal city though, yeah, you’ll probably have to virtue signal for the foreseeable future.

[jamestroll]

Liberals like to take pride at staying at home during covid.

It should be the unvaccinated conservatives who stay at home at all costs.

[Calthrina950]

Is it possible masks will be something to live with for literally the rest of our lives?

They’re already not a thing in the US basically everywhere outside of blue cities.  If you want to live in a liberal city though, yeah, you’ll probably have to virtue signal for the foreseeable future.

This is not entirely true where I live (Colorado Springs). I would say the breakdown here is about 50/50, between those who are wearing masks and those who aren't. And of course, many businesses still require their employees to wear masks, including all of the national retail chains.

[jamestroll]

There is nothing wrong with wearing masks in crowded indoor areas. I do it myself and will continue to do so. I handle being sick very very poorly.

[Green Line]

There is nothing wrong with wearing masks in crowded indoor areas. I do it myself and will continue to do so. I handle being sick very very poorly.

Then keep wearing your mask.  Not a single person is arguing you should be forced to take it off.  Tired of responding to this straw man.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Is it possible masks will be something to live with for literally the rest of our lives?

I'm already done with it, and barely even started with it.

[jamestroll]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/11/30/omicron-stricter-travel-rules-us-entry/

As part of an enhanced winter covid strategy Biden is expected to announce Thursday, U.S. officials would require everyone entering the country to be tested one day before boarding flights, regardless of their vaccination status or country of departure. Administration officials are also considering a requirement that all travelers get retested within three to five days of arrival.

In addition, they are debating a controversial proposal to require all travelers, including U.S. citizens, to self-quarantine for seven days, even if their test results are negative. Those who flout the requirements might be subject to fines and penalties, the first time such penalties would be linked to testing and quarantine measures for travelers in the United States.

The two testing measures are detailed in a draft public health order written by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is under review by officials at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department and the White House. The self quarantine-related measures are not in that draft but could be added later if the proposals win broader sign-off, said the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the order has not been finalized.

Unless you are coming from Europe I guess... we don't exactly have to fear the rest of the world giving covid to us. I am more worried about the reverse!

[jamestroll]

There is nothing wrong with wearing masks in crowded indoor areas. I do it myself and will continue to do so. I handle being sick very very poorly.

Then keep wearing your mask.  Not a single person is arguing you should be forced to take it off.  Tired of responding to this straw man.

I am not trying to even start a fight. Never did I say anyone is trying to rip off people's masks.

[TheReckoning]

Perhaps MATTROSE94 being banned for “trolling” was premature, considering how his views are pretty mainstream among left wingers.

[jamestroll]

It is a good thing Youngkin was elected.. VA really dodged a bullet. There will be no business closures in Virginia.

[StateBoiler]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/11/30/omicron-stricter-travel-rules-us-entry/

As part of an enhanced winter covid strategy Biden is expected to announce Thursday, U.S. officials would require everyone entering the country to be tested one day before boarding flights, regardless of their vaccination status or country of departure. Administration officials are also considering a requirement that all travelers get retested within three to five days of arrival.

In addition, they are debating a controversial proposal to require all travelers, including U.S. citizens, to self-quarantine for seven days, even if their test results are negative. Those who flout the requirements might be subject to fines and penalties, the first time such penalties would be linked to testing and quarantine measures for travelers in the United States.

The two testing measures are detailed in a draft public health order written by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is under review by officials at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department and the White House. The self quarantine-related measures are not in that draft but could be added later if the proposals win broader sign-off, said the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the order has not been finalized.

Unless you are coming from Europe I guess... we don't exactly have to fear the rest of the world giving covid to us. I am more worried about the reverse!

I guess you're the guy that takes shady governments' stats as gospel.

[jamestroll]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/11/30/omicron-stricter-travel-rules-us-entry/

As part of an enhanced winter covid strategy Biden is expected to announce Thursday, U.S. officials would require everyone entering the country to be tested one day before boarding flights, regardless of their vaccination status or country of departure. Administration officials are also considering a requirement that all travelers get retested within three to five days of arrival.

In addition, they are debating a controversial proposal to require all travelers, including U.S. citizens, to self-quarantine for seven days, even if their test results are negative. Those who flout the requirements might be subject to fines and penalties, the first time such penalties would be linked to testing and quarantine measures for travelers in the United States.

The two testing measures are detailed in a draft public health order written by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is under review by officials at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department and the White House. The self quarantine-related measures are not in that draft but could be added later if the proposals win broader sign-off, said the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the order has not been finalized.

Unless you are coming from Europe I guess... we don't exactly have to fear the rest of the world giving covid to us. I am more worried about the reverse!

I guess you're the guy that takes shady governments' stats as gospel.

I literally stated earlier that I do not know how much I would trust perus numbers.

[jamestroll]

So apparently the US will require a PCR Test within 24 hours of departure even for vaccinated international travels .. and then require another test within 3 to 5 days after arrival.. even for vaccinated US Citizens and after that... still require a 7 day quarantine period even for vaccinated US Citizens.

That is insanity.

I just don't think severe travel restrictions or travel bans actually help.

Vaccinated can still transmit the virus, albeit in a much shorter time window than unvaccinated as virus load decreases such faster.

Travel restrictions can't stop the Omicron variant for sure, but gives us some additional time to prepare and gather more data.

We may as well quarantine travelers from Michigan with that logic

[StateBoiler]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/11/30/omicron-stricter-travel-rules-us-entry/

As part of an enhanced winter covid strategy Biden is expected to announce Thursday, U.S. officials would require everyone entering the country to be tested one day before boarding flights, regardless of their vaccination status or country of departure. Administration officials are also considering a requirement that all travelers get retested within three to five days of arrival.

In addition, they are debating a controversial proposal to require all travelers, including U.S. citizens, to self-quarantine for seven days, even if their test results are negative. Those who flout the requirements might be subject to fines and penalties, the first time such penalties would be linked to testing and quarantine measures for travelers in the United States.

The two testing measures are detailed in a draft public health order written by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is under review by officials at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department and the White House. The self quarantine-related measures are not in that draft but could be added later if the proposals win broader sign-off, said the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the order has not been finalized.

Unless you are coming from Europe I guess... we don't exactly have to fear the rest of the world giving covid to us. I am more worried about the reverse!

I guess you're the guy that takes shady governments' stats as gospel.

I dont you clown.. are you high or something ?

I literally stated earlier that I do not know how much I would trust perus numbers.

You want me to take you literally when you've been nothing but a smartass the past few pages?

[StateBoiler]

Anyway, some medical experts' takes collected at Flutrackers:

The [omicron] variant has a concerning collection of Spike substitutions; less remarked on, it also has the nucleocapsid substitutions R203K, G204R, which have been reported to increase genome packaging and infectivity (PMID: 34735219). Worrisome.

Looks like this had been a thing in undersequenced virus countries for awhile, South Africa and Botswana were just the ones that discovered it when the virus made its way there. So international travel restrictions won't accomplish much.

Appears the high rate of mutations (more than 30 in the spike protein) is incredibly unusual. Normally, highly mutated viruses would cause a virus to die, but the virus could've had time to reach a viable state. The high mutation rate also throws effectiveness of existing vaccines up in the air while also helping the virus evade the immune system.

You can see the striking accumulation of mutations in the S1 domain of the spike protein just by plotting S1 mutations against time and coloring by clade (https://nextstrain.org/ncov/gisaid/afri ... _mutations…). Omicron viruses bear many more S1 mutations than previously circulating variants. 7/16

The way I read this ‘family tree’ it’s like someone reached all the way back to April 2020, plucked out an existing variant (having only the D614G mutation in common with every other clade & variant) and then somehow, magically, all by itself, came up with not one, not two, not ‘a few,’ but twenty new mutations never before seen in any other variant of concern.

The going suggestion is Patient Zero was an HIV-compromised individual contracted the virus back in April 2020 and it then spent a year and a half in his body changing before becoming highly transmissible.

It's not known whether this is relatively mild or not, just need time and data, so all media saying such are wishcasting. But Gauteng's (province in South Africa with Johannesburg) hospitalization stats has quintupled.

[BigSerg]

https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1466119839991275520?s=20

[100% pro-life no matter what]

If the reports are true that Omicron is considerably milder than past strains, isn't this a good thing?  Don't we want it yo become the dominant strain?  Zero covid is never going to happen, but it will eventually likely be pretty harmless.

Though, unless it significantly evades natural immunity, I think much of the South will have a hard time spiking again, at least not to the extent of previous waves.

[jojoju1998]

https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1466119839991275520?s=20

Damn it California.

[Inmate Trump]

https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1466119839991275520?s=20

Damn it California.

I'm sure it's in many more places throughout the country.

[It’s so Joever]

If the reports are true that Omicron is considerably milder than past strains, isn't this a good thing?  Don't we want it yo become the dominant strain?  Zero covid is never going to happen, but it will eventually likely be pretty harmless.

Though, unless it significantly evades natural immunity, I think much of the South will have a hard time spiking again, at least not to the extent of previous waves.

Yes. IF it is considerably milder.
Emphasis on IF, because that is not known.

[President Johnson]

Is it possible masks will be something to live with for literally the rest of our lives?

I don't think so, though it may have raised general awareness for other infectious diseases. mask wearing and other measures against Covid have significantly reduced the number of flu infections (at least in Germany; I would expect the same is true for the US and elsewhere).

Masks in crowded spaces are pretty standard in many Asian countries and have been for many years, in stark contrast to Northern America or Europe.