COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[emailking]

I don't see anything wrong with using the Worldometer numbers. We've been primarily using them in this thread since the start of the pandemic. Other counters like Johns Hopkins or CNN source their numbers differently and there's a lag.

[Hammy]

I don't see anything wrong with using the Worldometer numbers. We've been primarily using them in this thread since the start of the pandemic. Other counters like Johns Hopkins or CNN source their numbers differently and there's a lag.

I've been using the NYT/Our World in Data source from day one as it's the most readily available and seems to be updated the fastest and you can zoom in and get day by day data.

[Horus]

President Biden told CBS News's Scott Pelley on 60 Minutes tonight that the COVID pandemic is "over", just over two and a half years after the WHO declared it a pandemic. 

Ted Johnson at Deadline:

President Joe Biden said in a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday that the Covid pandemic “is over,” one of a series of newsworthy items he said during a sit down with Scott Pelley.

“The pandemic is over,” Biden said in a portion of the segment at the Detroit Auto Show last week. “We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lotta work on it …but the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing. And I think this is a perfect example of it.”

Public health agencies still treat Covid as health emergencies, but the head of the World Health Organization was optimistic in his remarks last week. He said that “we’re not there yet, but the end is in sight.”

There's gonna be so many resist lib and 'MD' accounts screeching about this on Twitter.

Imagine the coping from compucomp (about this and the recent developments in Ukraine) if he was still posting on here...

Between the insane Chinese lockdowns, Russia's recent losses, and this announcement, I sure wish the CCP hadn't stopped paying him. His responses would be very interesting.

[SnowLabrador]

The COVID pandemic is not over, not when so many people remain vulnerable to the virus. Granted, many of them are unvaccinated by choice. I may disagree with them politically, but that doesn't mean I want them to die of COVID.

[MATTROSE94]

The COVID pandemic is not over, not when so many people remain vulnerable to the virus. Granted, many of them are unvaccinated by choice. I may disagree with them politically, but that doesn't mean I want them to die of COVID.

Do you still wear N95 masks and do you think Joe Biden should institute a nationwide N95 mandate?

[SnowLabrador]

The COVID pandemic is not over, not when so many people remain vulnerable to the virus. Granted, many of them are unvaccinated by choice. I may disagree with them politically, but that doesn't mean I want them to die of COVID.

Do you still wear N95 masks and do you think Joe Biden should institute a nationwide N95 mandate?

Yes and yes.

[MATTROSE94]

The COVID pandemic is not over, not when so many people remain vulnerable to the virus. Granted, many of them are unvaccinated by choice. I may disagree with them politically, but that doesn't mean I want them to die of COVID.

Do you still wear N95 masks and do you think Joe Biden should institute a nationwide N95 mandate?

Yes and yes.

Some states like New York, California, Illinois, and DC I think will do N95 mandates this winter. Some cities like St. Louis, Boston, Newark, Paterson, West Orange, and Philadelphia I think will do so as well.

[Ferguson97]

https://twitter.com/YouGovAmerica/status/1573005455634231296

This is genuinely surprising 

[emailking]

A lot of people are still getting it even if it's just a cold for most of them, so that may be why a lot of people don't think it's over. Epidemiologically speaking, the pandemic phase of the disease may be over.

[Horus]

https://twitter.com/YouGovAmerica/status/1573005455634231296

This is genuinely surprising  

Democrats are scared of their own shadow and a lot of Republicans don't want to credit Biden.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

This might be outside the scope of this forum, but our leaders need to start seriously talking about prosecution and punishment for those responsible for the atrocities that have been committed over the past couple years. What has been done to children especially is downright criminal.

I'd go so far as to support a constitutional amendment barring those who participated from public office and curtailing states' congressional representation in proportion to atrocities they committed. At very minimum, there need to be sanctions on some states.

Never again.

[Ferguson97]

This might be outside the scope of this forum, but our leaders need to start seriously talking about prosecution and punishment for those responsible for the atrocities that have been committed over the past couple years. What has been done to children especially is downright criminal.

I'd go so far as to support a constitutional amendment barring those who participated from public office and curtailing states' congressional representation in proportion to atrocities they committed. At very minimum, there need to be sanctions on some states.

Never again.

What specific atrocities are you talking about?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

This might be outside the scope of this forum, but our leaders need to start seriously talking about prosecution and punishment for those responsible for the atrocities that have been committed over the past couple years. What has been done to children especially is downright criminal.

I'd go so far as to support a constitutional amendment barring those who participated from public office and curtailing states' congressional representation in proportion to atrocities they committed. At very minimum, there need to be sanctions on some states.

Never again.

What specific atrocities are you talking about?

Ruining education was the worst.

[It’s so Joever]

Go yell into the clouds some more. That’ll really teach ‘em.

[Ferguson97]

This might be outside the scope of this forum, but our leaders need to start seriously talking about prosecution and punishment for those responsible for the atrocities that have been committed over the past couple years. What has been done to children especially is downright criminal.

I'd go so far as to support a constitutional amendment barring those who participated from public office and curtailing states' congressional representation in proportion to atrocities they committed. At very minimum, there need to be sanctions on some states.

Never again.

What specific atrocities are you talking about?

Ruining education was the worst.

What crime was committed?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

What crime was committed?

Education is a right.

[Ferguson97]

What crime was committed?

Education is a right.

What crime was committed?

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

https://twitter.com/YouGovAmerica/status/1573005455634231296

This is genuinely surprising 

I mean, I don't think it's over, and I don't think there should be any more restrictions. The virus is still spreading and will continue to spread for several more years probably; but if you are unvaccinated at this point then i don't really give a f-k what happens to you. I wish people would get vaccinated but we can't force people to, so they have made their choice. I don't support any more restrictions, I got my second booster shot, and I don't think my life should be restricted further by the irresponsible choices of others.

So if I answered this poll, I would say the pandemic isn't over. But that doesn't mean I would support further restrictions, and I would answer a poll as such. Wonder how many others there are like that.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/YouGovAmerica/status/1573005455634231296

This is genuinely surprising  

Democrats are scared of their own shadow and a lot of Republicans don't want to credit Biden.

I think Biden is doing a good job overall, but he and his administration have seriously dropped the ball on COVID  at this point. The US should have a national contact tracing system, mask mandates should be mandatory in areas where it's still spreading. There are still hundreds of deaths from it per day.

Whether COVID is technically still a pandemic I don't know, but it is neither gone nor done. Perhaps the Biden Administration is bending to popular will as it increasingly seems to ignore COVID, but I do not think it is well done. What's being ignored is a horror show with vast impact not just now and over the last two and a half years, but forward for decades.

[Calthrina950]

https://twitter.com/YouGovAmerica/status/1573005455634231296

This is genuinely surprising  

Democrats are scared of their own shadow and a lot of Republicans don't want to credit Biden.

I think Biden is doing a good job overall, but he and his administration have seriously dropped the ball on COVID  at this point. The US should have a national contact tracing system, mask mandates should be mandatory in areas where it's still spreading. There are still hundreds of deaths from it per day.

Whether COVID is technically still a pandemic I don't know, but it is neither gone nor done. Perhaps the Biden Administration is bending to popular will as it increasingly seems to ignore COVID, but I do not think it is well done. What's being ignored is a horror show with vast impact not just now and over the last two and a half years, but forward for decades.

You think that we should still be in "COVID mode", comparable to what East Asian countries are currently doing? I don't think Americans would tolerate living like that for years to come, which is what you would seem to support. At this point, what good will mask mandates do? Given that the vast majority of Americans are vaccinated at this point, why should they be required to restrict their activities and their lives? This "zero COVID" strategy simply will not work, and we must acknowledge that this disease cannot be entirely eliminated.

[SnowLabrador]

I'm not saying we should lock down like China is doing, but we should AT LEAST have indoor mask mandates. Putting a piece of cloth over your face isn't that much of an inconvenience.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I'm not saying we should lock down like China is doing, but we should AT LEAST have indoor mask mandates. Putting a piece of cloth over your face isn't that much of an inconvenience.

We've been doing this religiously for almost 3 years and it's gotten us nowhere.

[SnowLabrador]

I'm not saying we should lock down like China is doing, but we should AT LEAST have indoor mask mandates. Putting a piece of cloth over your face isn't that much of an inconvenience.

We've been doing this religiously for almost 3 years and it's gotten us nowhere.

I don't know what you're talking about. I went to CVS recently to get my flu shot, and I'd say most people weren't wearing masks.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I don't know what you're talking about. I went to CVS recently to get my flu shot, and I'd say most people weren't wearing masks.

That's because everyone stopped when they realized it didn't work.

[Calthrina950]

I don't know what you're talking about. I went to CVS recently to get my flu shot, and I'd say most people weren't wearing masks.

That's because everyone stopped when they realized it didn't work.

Almost everyone, at any rate. You still have ~10% or so of the public where I live donning masks. I occasionally still see entire families where everyone, parents and children alike, are masked. In fact, I had to check out such a family at my job just yesterday. A half-dozen of my coworkers are still masking up, and one of them told me that she's "gotten used to" and seems intent on masking up permanently from now on. My stepmother still masks up whenever she goes out in public and has no intentions of stopping anytime soon. It's obvious that there will be a segment of the population masking up in perpetuity. It's their right, but it's unfortunate.