COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Horus]

C) You should only do a PCR test if you have tested positive on the antigen test (they are super expensive anyways so why would you test?)

Because I have a life and want to spend the next two weeks living it instead of hiding inside waiting to find out whether or not I have COVID.  But I also don't want to spread COVID to dozens of other people, especially people I care about, if I do have it.

Dude that ain't cool.  There's literally people that need to get those tests to come back negative in order to get back to work.

I have no idea what you're trying to say here, are you implying I shouldn't get tested even after spending significant time with someone who was infected with COVID, because someone else might need the test more than me?

Correct. It's selfish to hog tests if you're low risk.

Tell that to my loved ones who don't want to get COVID from me.

Your loved ones are going to get omicron from someone no matter what.

You can't dodge it.

For Christ's sake, let the man have his PCR test.

He's welcome to, selfishness is the American way. Doesn't change the fact that almost every single person in the country has either contracted omicron or will soon.

[Horus]

C) You should only do a PCR test if you have tested positive on the antigen test (they are super expensive anyways so why would you test?)

Because I have a life and want to spend the next two weeks living it instead of hiding inside waiting to find out whether or not I have COVID.  But I also don't want to spread COVID to dozens of other people, especially people I care about, if I do have it.

Dude that ain't cool.  There's literally people that need to get those tests to come back negative in order to get back to work.

I have no idea what you're trying to say here, are you implying I shouldn't get tested even after spending significant time with someone who was infected with COVID, because someone else might need the test more than me?

Correct. It's selfish to hog tests if you're low risk.

Tell that to my loved ones who don't want to get COVID from me.

Your loved ones are going to get omicron from someone no matter what.

You can't dodge it.

Bruh this some real sociopath s--t

I don't think you understand how transmissible omicron is.

Fortunately it's also very mild.

[Horus]

The last few pages are seemingly an exercise in collective sociopathy and lack of any coherent idea part from rubbishing anyone who says that restrictions are still necessary, even if the evidence backs them up.

So I see we've reached the point where the zero COVID crowd just calls anyone who understands transmissibility and basic science a sociopath.

[Horus]

The last few pages are seemingly an exercise in collective sociopathy and lack of any coherent idea part from rubbishing anyone who says that restrictions are still necessary, even if the evidence backs them up.

So I see we've reached the point where the zero COVID crowd just calls anyone who understands transmissibility and basic science a sociopath.

Dude... I've posted scientific studies, and get nothing back from you guys except for talking points. 

It's all moot at this point.  The Debate has turned against the Democrat policies at the moment. 

And I understand Transmissibility being an EMT.  Body Safety is Chapter 2.

This... wasn't at all in reference to you? But okay

[Horus]

The last few pages are seemingly an exercise in collective sociopathy and lack of any coherent idea part from rubbishing anyone who says that restrictions are still necessary, even if the evidence backs them up.

So I see we've reached the point where the zero COVID crowd just calls anyone who understands transmissibility and basic science a sociopath.

Waah! I don't want to wear a tiny bit of cloth on my face! Waah!

Could you have your nervous breakdown somewhere else? Thanks

[Horus]

C) You should only do a PCR test if you have tested positive on the antigen test (they are super expensive anyways so why would you test?)

Because I have a life and want to spend the next two weeks living it instead of hiding inside waiting to find out whether or not I have COVID.  But I also don't want to spread COVID to dozens of other people, especially people I care about, if I do have it.

Dude that ain't cool.  There's literally people that need to get those tests to come back negative in order to get back to work.

I have no idea what you're trying to say here, are you implying I shouldn't get tested even after spending significant time with someone who was infected with COVID, because someone else might need the test more than me?

Correct. It's selfish to hog tests if you're low risk.

Tell that to my loved ones who don't want to get COVID from me.

Your loved ones are going to get omicron from someone no matter what.

You can't dodge it.

So the end result of this story is that I do, in fact, have COVID, and it sucks.  Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, and certainly not the people I love.

So, do you feel like you failed morally? That's how many pro restriction/forever maskers feel when they catch this extremely transmissible, mild variant that is impossible to avoid.

[Horus]

It will never, ever cease to amaze me that with all of our modern technology, this pandemic is going to end up lasting longer than the 1918 pandemic.

Why has that happened?

A lot more international travel than in 1918--not just in volume, but general ease of travel, as well as being much quicker thanks to air travel--is a big reason for that. So in a twist of irony, that same modern travel has allowed it to ripple around the world a lot more quickly.

How long do you think the pandemic is going to last for? We're nearly two years into it now. I sure hope that we still won't be in "pandemic mode" by 2024.

For me to be satisfied that COVID-19 is no longer a threat, the Omicron variant must dwindle without becoming another threat as another variant. Because of the heritage of SARS-2, the virus behind COVID-19, we must assume the worst.

Samples of the 1918 flu virus behind the last analogous pandemic attacking the respiratory tract have been injected in mice -- who of course died of the virus. I'm ready to claim that COVID-19 is no longer threat the first time that a related virus becomes a triviality.  Even without causing death, SARS-2 can cause diabetes, organ damage, cognitive loss (in essence, stupidity), stillbirths, and sexual dysfunction. None of these is desirable, to put it tamely.

We could get a respite, but that has yet to appear. Enough people have failed to get inoculated that the horrible disease can kill and cripple.

Nah.

[Horus]

how can people even believe this will ever end anymore

that anything will ever get better

it won't, everything is ed, always has been and always will be

Things are already much better. Deaths are way down, omicron is mild. The problem now is getting the 30-35% of brainwashed hypochondriacs out of eternal COVID mode.

[Horus]

I will say that I’m of the mindset that cloth masks *don’t* do much against Omicron, and that expecting every American to wear an N95 in an indoor setting is untenable. There’s a lot of theater involved here.

That said, fine, sure, send every American a better mask than most have. It’s not going to solve the problem in the way mandatory COVID sick leave would, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don't understand the recent push for N95 and KN95 masks. They are uncomfortable to wear, and I'm not sure if the benefits which they may confer outweigh the disadvantages inherent to them.

I agree they can be uncomfortable to wear, particularly it can be hard to breathe sometimes, but worn properly they address the main complaint about lower grade masks, that they don't protect the wearer. The filter also works in both directions so it will also dramatically cut transmission, assuming the mask doesn't have a valve like many sold in hardware stores. COVID will still spread when people gather in private and take off their masks, but if they are worn in a public space that public space should be safe.

Whatever delusion helps you sleep I guess.

The delusional ones are the people on this forum who are convinced that the pandemic is over and that COVID-19 is not a threat anymore, despite 1m cases a day and new record hospitalizations every day, blocking out the news or convincing themselves it's all fake. Imagine their shock and dismay when they receive N95 masks in the mail from the federal government, doubtless accompanied by a postcard encouraging continued social distancing and masking, a vivid undeniable reminder that in fact the pandemic is still raging and that they should be taking it seriously.

Genuine question: Do you even want the country ever to transition out of pandemic mode?

Why would a ccp lackey want the United States to do the right thing?

[Horus]

Sad to see students being scared into doing these performative protests:

https://twitter.com/Jill_Jorgensen/status/1480953134553862146

These are some of the smartest kids in the city. Brooklyn Tech is one of NYC's specialized schools along with Stuyvesant and Bronx Science.

I'm sure they can do math and physics but if they're advocating remote learning my guess is they're socially delayed. Whether that's from all the time they had to spend at home in 2020/2021 or for some other reason, idk, but it's not a healthy mentality.

[Horus]

I will say that I’m of the mindset that cloth masks *don’t* do much against Omicron, and that expecting every American to wear an N95 in an indoor setting is untenable. There’s a lot of theater involved here.

That said, fine, sure, send every American a better mask than most have. It’s not going to solve the problem in the way mandatory COVID sick leave would, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don't understand the recent push for N95 and KN95 masks. They are uncomfortable to wear, and I'm not sure if the benefits which they may confer outweigh the disadvantages inherent to them.

I agree they can be uncomfortable to wear, particularly it can be hard to breathe sometimes, but worn properly they address the main complaint about lower grade masks, that they don't protect the wearer. The filter also works in both directions so it will also dramatically cut transmission, assuming the mask doesn't have a valve like many sold in hardware stores. COVID will still spread when people gather in private and take off their masks, but if they are worn in a public space that public space should be safe.

Whatever delusion helps you sleep I guess.

The delusional ones are the people on this forum who are convinced that the pandemic is over and that COVID-19 is not a threat anymore, despite 1m cases a day and new record hospitalizations every day, blocking out the news or convincing themselves it's all fake. Imagine their shock and dismay when they receive N95 masks in the mail from the federal government, doubtless accompanied by a postcard encouraging continued social distancing and masking, a vivid undeniable reminder that in fact the pandemic is still raging and that they should be taking it seriously.

People are upset because they're vaccinated and don't want to be restricted anymore. I have no problem with restricting the unvaccinated, they could be treated like Vichy collaborationists we're in post-WW2 France and I wouldn't give a sh!t, but people who aren't derange morons and did the right thing shouldn't be punished because so many other people are mentally deficient pieces of trash who take things like QAnon, Joe Rogan and Alex Jones seriously and all the other conspiracy garbage these moronic mouthbreathers believe in.

You're close, but you're missing the key problem posed by the vaccinated (which is a microcosm of the problem posed by Republicans in general to society): they're our fellow human beings, and our fellow citizens. Yes, they're dangerously, aggressively, ignorantly wrong, but they're on our side (whether we want them or not). And it's bad for everyone to let COVID spread and multiply.

No matter why we have lots of COVID cases, they're a massive hit to society, both immediately (deaths, hospital capability saturated, the threat of healthcare system collapse) and over time (long COVID and other ongoing health effects, and the impact that the deaths will have on society for a generation or more). And the more COVID cases there are, the more copies of it are out there, mutating and evolving, and the more chances it has to produce a variant that is both highly infectious and highly deadly.

And that's before getting into how COVID vaccines and boosters provide resistance, not immunity. Sure, the properly vaccinated have better odds across the board, but that doesn't mean COVID's impact is insignificant.

I'm tired of the pandemic, too. But being tired of it and desperately wanting it to go away doesn't actually make it go away.

Stopping the spread of omicron is not possible.

[Horus]

I will say that I’m of the mindset that cloth masks *don’t* do much against Omicron, and that expecting every American to wear an N95 in an indoor setting is untenable. There’s a lot of theater involved here.

That said, fine, sure, send every American a better mask than most have. It’s not going to solve the problem in the way mandatory COVID sick leave would, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don't understand the recent push for N95 and KN95 masks. They are uncomfortable to wear, and I'm not sure if the benefits which they may confer outweigh the disadvantages inherent to them.

I agree they can be uncomfortable to wear, particularly it can be hard to breathe sometimes, but worn properly they address the main complaint about lower grade masks, that they don't protect the wearer. The filter also works in both directions so it will also dramatically cut transmission, assuming the mask doesn't have a valve like many sold in hardware stores. COVID will still spread when people gather in private and take off their masks, but if they are worn in a public space that public space should be safe.

Whatever delusion helps you sleep I guess.

The delusional ones are the people on this forum who are convinced that the pandemic is over and that COVID-19 is not a threat anymore, despite 1m cases a day and new record hospitalizations every day, blocking out the news or convincing themselves it's all fake. Imagine their shock and dismay when they receive N95 masks in the mail from the federal government, doubtless accompanied by a postcard encouraging continued social distancing and masking, a vivid undeniable reminder that in fact the pandemic is still raging and that they should be taking it seriously.

People are upset because they're vaccinated and don't want to be restricted anymore. I have no problem with restricting the unvaccinated, they could be treated like Vichy collaborationists we're in post-WW2 France and I wouldn't give a sh!t, but people who aren't derange morons and did the right thing shouldn't be punished because so many other people are mentally deficient pieces of trash who take things like QAnon, Joe Rogan and Alex Jones seriously and all the other conspiracy garbage these moronic mouthbreathers believe in.

You're close, but you're missing the key problem posed by the vaccinated (which is a microcosm of the problem posed by Republicans in general to society): they're our fellow human beings, and our fellow citizens. Yes, they're dangerously, aggressively, ignorantly wrong, but they're on our side (whether we want them or not). And it's bad for everyone to let COVID spread and multiply.

No matter why we have lots of COVID cases, they're a massive hit to society, both immediately (deaths, hospital capability saturated, the threat of healthcare system collapse) and over time (long COVID and other ongoing health effects, and the impact that the deaths will have on society for a generation or more). And the more COVID cases there are, the more copies of it are out there, mutating and evolving, and the more chances it has to produce a variant that is both highly infectious and highly deadly.

And that's before getting into how COVID vaccines and boosters provide resistance, not immunity. Sure, the properly vaccinated have better odds across the board, but that doesn't mean COVID's impact is insignificant.

I'm tired of the pandemic, too. But being tired of it and desperately wanting it to go away doesn't actually make it go away.

Stopping the spread of omicron is not possible.

Neither is stopping death, but that's not an argument for legalizing murder, removing traffic laws or eliminating the countless other things we do for both personal and public good. We can limit the number of COVID viruses replicating in human hosts. Every single omicron or other COVID virus that doesn't get a chance to replicate is a tiny win for the human race, and every one that does is a tiny loss.

Omicron isn't serious enough to look at that way.

[Horus]

https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1485958788851064839

Great to see another country achieving freedom from the pandemic. We owe vaccines and our dear friend omicron a massive debt. Hopefully only weeks until Biden too can declare this thing over.

Biden won't do it. The Democratic Party has completely embraced COVID restrictions as part of its political platform and its identity. It certainly doesn't help that almost all of the party's strategists are suburban snoots that think a midterm strategy devoted to "Stay Home, Save Lives" and agonizing over Marjorie Taylor Greene will be effective.

If Biden actually does this I'll rock a red Delaware av for a month. It ain't happening. Biden is, sadly, no Mette Frederiksen.

[Horus]

It's been 2 years. The ridiculousness must end.

Read through this thread, many enjoy living this way. They love their masks and sense of superiority. The end of the pandemic means they have to go back to a normal that they, for one reason or another, hated.

[Horus]

It is also utterly outrageous that we still have a mask mandate to travel on airplanes (for 2-year olds!) but no vaccine mandate.  A vaccine mandate for air travel would have no constitutional issues and be relatively easy to implement, and as a bonus airlines wouldn’t have to deal with all these aggressive passengers anymore.  How is this not complete no-brainer?

This would probably need legislation, and I doubt it has 60 in the Senate. A mask mandate for air travel even with everyone vaccinated makes sense if the goal is to hinder a novel variant.

If the new goal is to hinder a novel variant, it logically follows that mask mandates should be permanent, right?

[Horus]

If the new goal is to hinder a novel variant, it logically follows that mask mandates should be permanent, right?

I'm not trying to advocate for it.

I know. But the forever maskers are numerous and loud minority, far more empowered than anti vaxxers. This is one argument they will be using to push for a perpetually masked society.

[Horus]

New variant deserves a new thread.

The "Son of Omicron" has arrived in Denmark and can only be detected by lab analysis.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10445209/Expert-stuns-Karl-Stefanovic-warns-contagious-Covid-variant-BA-2.html

University of Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Nancy Baxter was on morning TV saying it's more contagious than Omicron.

Looks like masks are about to be even more useless than they already are.

[Horus]

New variant deserves a new thread.

The "Son of Omicron" has arrived in Denmark and can only be detected by lab analysis.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10445209/Expert-stuns-Karl-Stefanovic-warns-contagious-Covid-variant-BA-2.html

University of Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Nancy Baxter was on morning TV saying it's more contagious than Omicron.

Looks like masks are about to be even more useless than they already are.

What an illogical comment, the virus got stronger so we weaken our defenses? If the weather is 10 degrees colder tomorrow than it is today, will you put on an extra layer of clothes or strip naked in the subfreezing weather instead?

More transmissible doesn't mean stronger. Omicron is very mild, especially for the vaccinated. I'd bet "Son of Omicron" is even weaker.

[Horus]

Other than the family strategy I have already mentioned here, the next best way to get conservatives vaccinated in higher numbers is that Trump should go on national TV and say that anti-vaxxers are disloyal RINOs. A lot of people would begrudgingly get vaccinated just to prove that they aren't a RINO

On the contrary Trump would lose a lot of support if he did this. His anti vax supporters hate the vaccine more than they love him.

[Horus]

The rolling average for USA peaked at about 800K in mid-January.  Today it fell under 400K.  And the sharp decline continues.

In New York they're basically back down to zero.  I wouldn't be surprised if New York fully reopens in the next week or two.

Knock on wood but it really does feel like the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight.  The cases are collapsing, we've got a full arsenal to combat severe infections, we've got vaccines to prevent those severe infections and a few on the way to add even more firepower.  Original COVID is completely destroyed.  Delta seems to be mostly gone as well.

I'd be pretty surprised if the Biden administration doesn't start loosening restrictions by the end of the month.

I told you this would happen weeks ago.

[Horus]

This is the future the anti-vaccine, forever-pandemic left wants… really disturbing
https://twitter.com/saitomri/status/1489151047507800064?s=21

Compucomp, MacArthur etc see nothing wrong with this either.. Some people just have no humanity.

[Horus]

This is the future the anti-vaccine, forever-pandemic left wants… really disturbing
https://twitter.com/saitomri/status/1489151047507800064?s=21

Hate to burst your centrist bubble, but it's the establishment centrist Dems who want this, not "the left". You're starting to sound like Trump.

It's honestly a mix and doesn't fit neatly on Hillary/Bernie lines. For example PSOL and MacArthur are both big on restrictions and I'm not, even though I'm in between them politically.

[Horus]

https://twitter.com/kelleykga/status/1490074005541466113

https://twitter.com/KelleyKga/status/1490108637058150403#m

These photos are dystopian: The charismatic leader greeting the faceless masses!

I don't know how politicians who do this can live with themselves. Maybe it's just a lack of self-awareness, but even that says a great deal about them, i.e. that special treatment is such an entitlement to be unworthy of notice.

Let me emphasize that these were photo-ops. This isn't just an incidental capture of a day in the life. They reflect how her campaign wants her to be portrayed.

She deleted the tweet, so I'm guessing this is not how her campaign wants her portrayed. Bad look though, to say the least.

[Horus]

“Nobody is arguing for permanent mask mandates, you’re just being hysterical”
“Masks aren’t even a big deal guys and bringing them back for half the year is perfectly fine. Also, it’s your fault people support permanent mask mandates”

Please pick one narrative and stick with it. The constant gaslighting/goal post shifting is exhausting.

The gaslighting is the point.

[Horus]

“Nobody is arguing for permanent mask mandates, you’re just being hysterical”
“Masks aren’t even a big deal guys and bringing them back for half the year is perfectly fine. Also, it’s your fault people support permanent mask mandates”

Please pick one narrative and stick with it. The constant gaslighting/goal post shifting is exhausting.

The gaslighting is the point.

I feel like the gaslighting is coming much more from the anti-restrictions camp that’s acting like Biden is some sort of pro-lockdown Twitter lib than from people who support mask mandates.

He could be doing far more. Absolutely no excuse for him to still be wearing a mask, especially outdoors. And I know this word has been used a lot but the SOTU capacity limit is outright dystopian.