COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[compucomp]

Fine then, total hospitalizations in the US are at about 100K and quickly rising. Absolute peak was at 140K last winter. NY and NJ have passed their hospitalization peaks from last winter.

I understand all the hopium and copium that people here are huffing in large quantities on the subject of Omicron, but "mild" does not mean "harmless". Yes, Omicron is milder than Delta, particularly for vaccinated people. No, it's not harmless; there's no way the common cold or the flu caused hospitalizations at this level in the past. And no, the pandemic is not over, despite how much you want it to be. The virus couldn't care less about how over it you are.

Several points about this are questionable:
First and foremost, Delta is still circulating. People seem to be ignoring this point, so trying to hype omicron up into something more significant is grasping at straws.

Second, there have been several articles about the dominant flu strain this year (which is also one of the more severe ones) not matching the vaccines that are out, which is almost certainly behind the increase in hospitalizations.

Third, if you are hospitalized--no matter what reason--and test positive on screening, you are counted among covid hospitalizations. This is a point the CDC has been clear about in their studies, but everybody ignores when reporting the daily numbers. It's also worth noting many ICUs are near capacity even with only a quarter or so of those being COVID patients--we have a major capacity problem in general that is going ignored by much of the media.

And most importantly, the pandemic is now being driven entirely by the unvaccinated. At this point we need either penalization or incentive--hell, I'd be fine with just paying these people $10k or something to get vaccinated so we can get back to a functioning society. Continuing on the Covid Zero nonsense is destructive, both in the short and the longer term.

More copium here:

1. Delta is rapidly being replaced by Omicron, particularly in the Northeast and South where cases have exploded. Yes the CDC's modeling was proven to be shoddy when they "adjusted" the proportion by 50%, but it's still all we have, and it does line up with the fact that cases are exploding in a fashion we have not seen at any point since March 2020.

2. We're talking number of COVID hospitalizations, flu is not relevant.

3. NYC will soon separate the data in the way that you want. I think you're wrong and that most of these COVID hospitalizations are hospitalizations due to COVID, but we'll see.

4. Having a segment of the proportion unvaccinated is like a law of nature in the USA. There's a bunch of numbskulls that just won't get it and there's enough of them that the Republicans see political advantage in catering to them. They're here to stay and that's not going to change. I find it strange that people on this forum are totally in favor of vaccine mandates but strongly against mask mandates, when vaccine mandates are more intrusive and harder to implement and enforce. Remember every state had an indoor mask mandate at one point.

Calling the current government inaction a "COVID Zero" strategy is just a complete farce, and we all agreed that private entites have the right to restrict themselves or close themselves down. It's great to see private entities particularly in the Northeast recognize that Omicron is a threat and are taking action themselves in place of the government which won't do anything, such as ordering employees to WFH, cancelling holiday parties, restricting their hours, restaurants closing dining rooms, or even shutting down entirely for stretches.

[Horus]

Fine then, total hospitalizations in the US are at about 100K and quickly rising. Absolute peak was at 140K last winter. NY and NJ have passed their hospitalization peaks from last winter.

I understand all the hopium and copium that people here are huffing in large quantities on the subject of Omicron, but "mild" does not mean "harmless". Yes, Omicron is milder than Delta, particularly for vaccinated people. No, it's not harmless; there's no way the common cold or the flu caused hospitalizations at this level in the past. And no, the pandemic is not over, despite how much you want it to be. The virus couldn't care less about how over it you are.

Several points about this are questionable:
First and foremost, Delta is still circulating. People seem to be ignoring this point, so trying to hype omicron up into something more significant is grasping at straws.

Second, there have been several articles about the dominant flu strain this year (which is also one of the more severe ones) not matching the vaccines that are out, which is almost certainly behind the increase in hospitalizations.

Third, if you are hospitalized--no matter what reason--and test positive on screening, you are counted among covid hospitalizations. This is a point the CDC has been clear about in their studies, but everybody ignores when reporting the daily numbers. It's also worth noting many ICUs are near capacity even with only a quarter or so of those being COVID patients--we have a major capacity problem in general that is going ignored by much of the media.

And most importantly, the pandemic is now being driven entirely by the unvaccinated. At this point we need either penalization or incentive--hell, I'd be fine with just paying these people $10k or something to get vaccinated so we can get back to a functioning society. Continuing on the Covid Zero nonsense is destructive, both in the short and the longer term.

More copium here:

1. Delta is rapidly being replaced by Omicron, particularly in the Northeast and South where cases have exploded. Yes the CDC's modeling was proven to be shoddy when they "adjusted" the proportion by 50%, but it's still all we have, and it does line up with the fact that cases are exploding in a fashion we have not seen at any point since March 2020.

2. We're talking number of COVID hospitalizations, flu is not relevant.

3. NYC will soon separate the data in the way that you want. I think you're wrong and that most of these COVID hospitalizations are hospitalizations due to COVID, but we'll see.

4. Having a segment of the proportion unvaccinated is like a law of nature in the USA. There's a bunch of numbskulls that just won't get it and there's enough of them that the Republicans see political advantage in catering to them. They're here to stay and that's not going to change. I find it strange that people on this forum are totally in favor of vaccine mandates but strongly against mask mandates, when vaccine mandates are more intrusive and harder to implement and enforce. Remember every state had an indoor mask mandate at one point.

Calling the current government inaction a "COVID Zero" strategy is just a complete farce, and we all agreed that private entites have the right to restrict themselves or close themselves down. It's great to see private entities particularly in the Northeast recognize that Omicron is a threat and are taking action themselves in place of the government which won't do anything, such as ordering employees to WFH, cancelling holiday parties, restricting their hours, restaurants closing dining rooms, or even shutting down entirely for stretches.

A poke in the arm 2-3 times a year is far, far less intrusive than having an anti humanity mask forced on you for the rest of your life.

[compucomp]

Fine then, total hospitalizations in the US are at about 100K and quickly rising. Absolute peak was at 140K last winter. NY and NJ have passed their hospitalization peaks from last winter.

I understand all the hopium and copium that people here are huffing in large quantities on the subject of Omicron, but "mild" does not mean "harmless". Yes, Omicron is milder than Delta, particularly for vaccinated people. No, it's not harmless; there's no way the common cold or the flu caused hospitalizations at this level in the past. And no, the pandemic is not over, despite how much you want it to be. The virus couldn't care less about how over it you are.

Several points about this are questionable:
First and foremost, Delta is still circulating. People seem to be ignoring this point, so trying to hype omicron up into something more significant is grasping at straws.

Second, there have been several articles about the dominant flu strain this year (which is also one of the more severe ones) not matching the vaccines that are out, which is almost certainly behind the increase in hospitalizations.

Third, if you are hospitalized--no matter what reason--and test positive on screening, you are counted among covid hospitalizations. This is a point the CDC has been clear about in their studies, but everybody ignores when reporting the daily numbers. It's also worth noting many ICUs are near capacity even with only a quarter or so of those being COVID patients--we have a major capacity problem in general that is going ignored by much of the media.

And most importantly, the pandemic is now being driven entirely by the unvaccinated. At this point we need either penalization or incentive--hell, I'd be fine with just paying these people $10k or something to get vaccinated so we can get back to a functioning society. Continuing on the Covid Zero nonsense is destructive, both in the short and the longer term.

More copium here:

1. Delta is rapidly being replaced by Omicron, particularly in the Northeast and South where cases have exploded. Yes the CDC's modeling was proven to be shoddy when they "adjusted" the proportion by 50%, but it's still all we have, and it does line up with the fact that cases are exploding in a fashion we have not seen at any point since March 2020.

2. We're talking number of COVID hospitalizations, flu is not relevant.

3. NYC will soon separate the data in the way that you want. I think you're wrong and that most of these COVID hospitalizations are hospitalizations due to COVID, but we'll see.

4. Having a segment of the proportion unvaccinated is like a law of nature in the USA. There's a bunch of numbskulls that just won't get it and there's enough of them that the Republicans see political advantage in catering to them. They're here to stay and that's not going to change. I find it strange that people on this forum are totally in favor of vaccine mandates but strongly against mask mandates, when vaccine mandates are more intrusive and harder to implement and enforce. Remember every state had an indoor mask mandate at one point.

Calling the current government inaction a "COVID Zero" strategy is just a complete farce, and we all agreed that private entites have the right to restrict themselves or close themselves down. It's great to see private entities particularly in the Northeast recognize that Omicron is a threat and are taking action themselves in place of the government which won't do anything, such as ordering employees to WFH, cancelling holiday parties, restricting their hours, restaurants closing dining rooms, or even shutting down entirely for stretches.

A poke in the arm 2-3 times a year is far, far less intrusive than having an anti humanity mask forced on you for the rest of your life.

You're just wrong on this. I'm in favor of vaccine mandates but telling people that they have to inject a substance into their bodies is far more intrusive than telling them they have to wear a certain piece of clothing. You wear a shirt and shoes to get service, right? Also smoking is not allowed indoors?

People on this forum are totally out of touch with reality on this. Remember all 50 states implemented indoor mask mandates even without the federal government applying any coercion.

[Horus]

Fine then, total hospitalizations in the US are at about 100K and quickly rising. Absolute peak was at 140K last winter. NY and NJ have passed their hospitalization peaks from last winter.

I understand all the hopium and copium that people here are huffing in large quantities on the subject of Omicron, but "mild" does not mean "harmless". Yes, Omicron is milder than Delta, particularly for vaccinated people. No, it's not harmless; there's no way the common cold or the flu caused hospitalizations at this level in the past. And no, the pandemic is not over, despite how much you want it to be. The virus couldn't care less about how over it you are.

Several points about this are questionable:
First and foremost, Delta is still circulating. People seem to be ignoring this point, so trying to hype omicron up into something more significant is grasping at straws.

Second, there have been several articles about the dominant flu strain this year (which is also one of the more severe ones) not matching the vaccines that are out, which is almost certainly behind the increase in hospitalizations.

Third, if you are hospitalized--no matter what reason--and test positive on screening, you are counted among covid hospitalizations. This is a point the CDC has been clear about in their studies, but everybody ignores when reporting the daily numbers. It's also worth noting many ICUs are near capacity even with only a quarter or so of those being COVID patients--we have a major capacity problem in general that is going ignored by much of the media.

And most importantly, the pandemic is now being driven entirely by the unvaccinated. At this point we need either penalization or incentive--hell, I'd be fine with just paying these people $10k or something to get vaccinated so we can get back to a functioning society. Continuing on the Covid Zero nonsense is destructive, both in the short and the longer term.

More copium here:

1. Delta is rapidly being replaced by Omicron, particularly in the Northeast and South where cases have exploded. Yes the CDC's modeling was proven to be shoddy when they "adjusted" the proportion by 50%, but it's still all we have, and it does line up with the fact that cases are exploding in a fashion we have not seen at any point since March 2020.

2. We're talking number of COVID hospitalizations, flu is not relevant.

3. NYC will soon separate the data in the way that you want. I think you're wrong and that most of these COVID hospitalizations are hospitalizations due to COVID, but we'll see.

4. Having a segment of the proportion unvaccinated is like a law of nature in the USA. There's a bunch of numbskulls that just won't get it and there's enough of them that the Republicans see political advantage in catering to them. They're here to stay and that's not going to change. I find it strange that people on this forum are totally in favor of vaccine mandates but strongly against mask mandates, when vaccine mandates are more intrusive and harder to implement and enforce. Remember every state had an indoor mask mandate at one point.

Calling the current government inaction a "COVID Zero" strategy is just a complete farce, and we all agreed that private entites have the right to restrict themselves or close themselves down. It's great to see private entities particularly in the Northeast recognize that Omicron is a threat and are taking action themselves in place of the government which won't do anything, such as ordering employees to WFH, cancelling holiday parties, restricting their hours, restaurants closing dining rooms, or even shutting down entirely for stretches.

A poke in the arm 2-3 times a year is far, far less intrusive than having an anti humanity mask forced on you for the rest of your life.

You're just wrong on this. I'm in favor of vaccine mandates but telling people that they have to inject a substance into their bodies is far more intrusive than telling them they have to wear a certain piece of clothing. You wear a shirt and shoes to get service, right? Also smoking is not allowed indoors?

People on this forum are totally out of touch with reality on this. Remember all 50 states implemented indoor mask mandates even without the federal government applying any coercion.

Human breath =\= smoking.

[Sir Mohamed]

So we have broken the all time record of over 1 million new cases in a single day? A few months ago, I would have freaked out about this. But at least this is getting us herd immunity sooner than later, kind of a "natural vaccination" for anti-vaxxers. As sad as it is. I just hope hospitals don't get overwhelmed, especially to protect non-Covid patients as cancer and other diseases don't pause because of a pandemic.

[compucomp]

Fine then, total hospitalizations in the US are at about 100K and quickly rising. Absolute peak was at 140K last winter. NY and NJ have passed their hospitalization peaks from last winter.

I understand all the hopium and copium that people here are huffing in large quantities on the subject of Omicron, but "mild" does not mean "harmless". Yes, Omicron is milder than Delta, particularly for vaccinated people. No, it's not harmless; there's no way the common cold or the flu caused hospitalizations at this level in the past. And no, the pandemic is not over, despite how much you want it to be. The virus couldn't care less about how over it you are.

Several points about this are questionable:
First and foremost, Delta is still circulating. People seem to be ignoring this point, so trying to hype omicron up into something more significant is grasping at straws.

Second, there have been several articles about the dominant flu strain this year (which is also one of the more severe ones) not matching the vaccines that are out, which is almost certainly behind the increase in hospitalizations.

Third, if you are hospitalized--no matter what reason--and test positive on screening, you are counted among covid hospitalizations. This is a point the CDC has been clear about in their studies, but everybody ignores when reporting the daily numbers. It's also worth noting many ICUs are near capacity even with only a quarter or so of those being COVID patients--we have a major capacity problem in general that is going ignored by much of the media.

And most importantly, the pandemic is now being driven entirely by the unvaccinated. At this point we need either penalization or incentive--hell, I'd be fine with just paying these people $10k or something to get vaccinated so we can get back to a functioning society. Continuing on the Covid Zero nonsense is destructive, both in the short and the longer term.

More copium here:

1. Delta is rapidly being replaced by Omicron, particularly in the Northeast and South where cases have exploded. Yes the CDC's modeling was proven to be shoddy when they "adjusted" the proportion by 50%, but it's still all we have, and it does line up with the fact that cases are exploding in a fashion we have not seen at any point since March 2020.

2. We're talking number of COVID hospitalizations, flu is not relevant.

3. NYC will soon separate the data in the way that you want. I think you're wrong and that most of these COVID hospitalizations are hospitalizations due to COVID, but we'll see.

4. Having a segment of the proportion unvaccinated is like a law of nature in the USA. There's a bunch of numbskulls that just won't get it and there's enough of them that the Republicans see political advantage in catering to them. They're here to stay and that's not going to change. I find it strange that people on this forum are totally in favor of vaccine mandates but strongly against mask mandates, when vaccine mandates are more intrusive and harder to implement and enforce. Remember every state had an indoor mask mandate at one point.

Calling the current government inaction a "COVID Zero" strategy is just a complete farce, and we all agreed that private entites have the right to restrict themselves or close themselves down. It's great to see private entities particularly in the Northeast recognize that Omicron is a threat and are taking action themselves in place of the government which won't do anything, such as ordering employees to WFH, cancelling holiday parties, restricting their hours, restaurants closing dining rooms, or even shutting down entirely for stretches.

A poke in the arm 2-3 times a year is far, far less intrusive than having an anti humanity mask forced on you for the rest of your life.

You're just wrong on this. I'm in favor of vaccine mandates but telling people that they have to inject a substance into their bodies is far more intrusive than telling them they have to wear a certain piece of clothing. You wear a shirt and shoes to get service, right? Also smoking is not allowed indoors?

People on this forum are totally out of touch with reality on this. Remember all 50 states implemented indoor mask mandates even without the federal government applying any coercion.

Human breath =\= smoking.

COVID breath is more noxious than secondhand smoke. Also you conveniently ignored the part where you claimed that getting injected is less intrusive than putting on a piece of clothing, a clearly ludicrous statement.

[DaleCooper]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

[Horus]

Fine then, total hospitalizations in the US are at about 100K and quickly rising. Absolute peak was at 140K last winter. NY and NJ have passed their hospitalization peaks from last winter.

I understand all the hopium and copium that people here are huffing in large quantities on the subject of Omicron, but "mild" does not mean "harmless". Yes, Omicron is milder than Delta, particularly for vaccinated people. No, it's not harmless; there's no way the common cold or the flu caused hospitalizations at this level in the past. And no, the pandemic is not over, despite how much you want it to be. The virus couldn't care less about how over it you are.

Several points about this are questionable:
First and foremost, Delta is still circulating. People seem to be ignoring this point, so trying to hype omicron up into something more significant is grasping at straws.

Second, there have been several articles about the dominant flu strain this year (which is also one of the more severe ones) not matching the vaccines that are out, which is almost certainly behind the increase in hospitalizations.

Third, if you are hospitalized--no matter what reason--and test positive on screening, you are counted among covid hospitalizations. This is a point the CDC has been clear about in their studies, but everybody ignores when reporting the daily numbers. It's also worth noting many ICUs are near capacity even with only a quarter or so of those being COVID patients--we have a major capacity problem in general that is going ignored by much of the media.

And most importantly, the pandemic is now being driven entirely by the unvaccinated. At this point we need either penalization or incentive--hell, I'd be fine with just paying these people $10k or something to get vaccinated so we can get back to a functioning society. Continuing on the Covid Zero nonsense is destructive, both in the short and the longer term.

More copium here:

1. Delta is rapidly being replaced by Omicron, particularly in the Northeast and South where cases have exploded. Yes the CDC's modeling was proven to be shoddy when they "adjusted" the proportion by 50%, but it's still all we have, and it does line up with the fact that cases are exploding in a fashion we have not seen at any point since March 2020.

2. We're talking number of COVID hospitalizations, flu is not relevant.

3. NYC will soon separate the data in the way that you want. I think you're wrong and that most of these COVID hospitalizations are hospitalizations due to COVID, but we'll see.

4. Having a segment of the proportion unvaccinated is like a law of nature in the USA. There's a bunch of numbskulls that just won't get it and there's enough of them that the Republicans see political advantage in catering to them. They're here to stay and that's not going to change. I find it strange that people on this forum are totally in favor of vaccine mandates but strongly against mask mandates, when vaccine mandates are more intrusive and harder to implement and enforce. Remember every state had an indoor mask mandate at one point.

Calling the current government inaction a "COVID Zero" strategy is just a complete farce, and we all agreed that private entites have the right to restrict themselves or close themselves down. It's great to see private entities particularly in the Northeast recognize that Omicron is a threat and are taking action themselves in place of the government which won't do anything, such as ordering employees to WFH, cancelling holiday parties, restricting their hours, restaurants closing dining rooms, or even shutting down entirely for stretches.

A poke in the arm 2-3 times a year is far, far less intrusive than having an anti humanity mask forced on you for the rest of your life.

You're just wrong on this. I'm in favor of vaccine mandates but telling people that they have to inject a substance into their bodies is far more intrusive than telling them they have to wear a certain piece of clothing. You wear a shirt and shoes to get service, right? Also smoking is not allowed indoors?

People on this forum are totally out of touch with reality on this. Remember all 50 states implemented indoor mask mandates even without the federal government applying any coercion.

Human breath =\= smoking.

COVID breath is more noxious than secondhand smoke. Also you conveniently ignored the part where you claimed that getting injected is less intrusive than putting on a piece of clothing, a clearly ludicrous statement.

It is. Getting injected lasts a few seconds per year.. Wearing an unnecessary piece of cloth for hours a day that limits human interaction, makes the world impossible to access for deaf people and makes society dystopian is far, far more damaging.

Fortunately omicron is the end of COVID.

[compucomp]

So we have broken the all time record of over 1 million new cases in a single day? A few months ago, I would have freaked out about this. But at least this is getting us herd immunity sooner than later, kind of a "natural vaccination" for anti-vaxxers. As sad as it is. I just hope hospitals don't get overwhelmed, especially to protect non-Covid patients as cancer and other diseases don't pause because of a pandemic.

In a democracy, the people get what they want, and the loudest people are heard the clearest. If this forum is to be believed, the anti-containment people are the loudest, so the politicians hear them and thus the government won't do anything. Even if we had a majority of pro-containment people, it's pretty clear that we can't mobilize it. I've long given up on trying to get governments in the US to do anything, but it is encouraging that private entities are stepping up to some degree in the Northeast and taking action themselves against COVID. Maybe you will see the same soon in California.

Fine then, total hospitalizations in the US are at about 100K and quickly rising. Absolute peak was at 140K last winter. NY and NJ have passed their hospitalization peaks from last winter.

I understand all the hopium and copium that people here are huffing in large quantities on the subject of Omicron, but "mild" does not mean "harmless". Yes, Omicron is milder than Delta, particularly for vaccinated people. No, it's not harmless; there's no way the common cold or the flu caused hospitalizations at this level in the past. And no, the pandemic is not over, despite how much you want it to be. The virus couldn't care less about how over it you are.

Several points about this are questionable:
First and foremost, Delta is still circulating. People seem to be ignoring this point, so trying to hype omicron up into something more significant is grasping at straws.

Second, there have been several articles about the dominant flu strain this year (which is also one of the more severe ones) not matching the vaccines that are out, which is almost certainly behind the increase in hospitalizations.

Third, if you are hospitalized--no matter what reason--and test positive on screening, you are counted among covid hospitalizations. This is a point the CDC has been clear about in their studies, but everybody ignores when reporting the daily numbers. It's also worth noting many ICUs are near capacity even with only a quarter or so of those being COVID patients--we have a major capacity problem in general that is going ignored by much of the media.

And most importantly, the pandemic is now being driven entirely by the unvaccinated. At this point we need either penalization or incentive--hell, I'd be fine with just paying these people $10k or something to get vaccinated so we can get back to a functioning society. Continuing on the Covid Zero nonsense is destructive, both in the short and the longer term.

More copium here:

1. Delta is rapidly being replaced by Omicron, particularly in the Northeast and South where cases have exploded. Yes the CDC's modeling was proven to be shoddy when they "adjusted" the proportion by 50%, but it's still all we have, and it does line up with the fact that cases are exploding in a fashion we have not seen at any point since March 2020.

2. We're talking number of COVID hospitalizations, flu is not relevant.

3. NYC will soon separate the data in the way that you want. I think you're wrong and that most of these COVID hospitalizations are hospitalizations due to COVID, but we'll see.

4. Having a segment of the proportion unvaccinated is like a law of nature in the USA. There's a bunch of numbskulls that just won't get it and there's enough of them that the Republicans see political advantage in catering to them. They're here to stay and that's not going to change. I find it strange that people on this forum are totally in favor of vaccine mandates but strongly against mask mandates, when vaccine mandates are more intrusive and harder to implement and enforce. Remember every state had an indoor mask mandate at one point.

Calling the current government inaction a "COVID Zero" strategy is just a complete farce, and we all agreed that private entites have the right to restrict themselves or close themselves down. It's great to see private entities particularly in the Northeast recognize that Omicron is a threat and are taking action themselves in place of the government which won't do anything, such as ordering employees to WFH, cancelling holiday parties, restricting their hours, restaurants closing dining rooms, or even shutting down entirely for stretches.

A poke in the arm 2-3 times a year is far, far less intrusive than having an anti humanity mask forced on you for the rest of your life.

You're just wrong on this. I'm in favor of vaccine mandates but telling people that they have to inject a substance into their bodies is far more intrusive than telling them they have to wear a certain piece of clothing. You wear a shirt and shoes to get service, right? Also smoking is not allowed indoors?

People on this forum are totally out of touch with reality on this. Remember all 50 states implemented indoor mask mandates even without the federal government applying any coercion.

Human breath =\= smoking.

COVID breath is more noxious than secondhand smoke. Also you conveniently ignored the part where you claimed that getting injected is less intrusive than putting on a piece of clothing, a clearly ludicrous statement.

It is. Getting injected lasts a few seconds per year.. Wearing an unnecessary piece of cloth for hours a day that limits human interaction, makes the world impossible to access for deaf people and makes society dystopian is far, far more damaging.

Fortunately omicron is the end of COVID.

BS, injecting a substance into your body causes a direct effect on bodily functions in a way that no piece of clothing can do and thus is a far more intrusive act. In extreme cases, injecting heroin could affect you for the rest of your life, and executions are performed via injections. The fact that the vaccine is not a poison doesn't change the fact that it's still an injection and thus intrusive by nature.

[Mr. Illini]

So we have broken the all time record of over 1 million new cases in a single day? A few months ago, I would have freaked out about this. But at least this is getting us herd immunity sooner than later, kind of a "natural vaccination" for anti-vaxxers. As sad as it is. I just hope hospitals don't get overwhelmed, especially to protect non-Covid patients as cancer and other diseases don't pause because of a pandemic.

In a democracy, the people get what they want, and the loudest people are heard the clearest. If this forum is to be believed, the anti-containment people are the loudest, so the politicians hear them and thus the government won't do anything. Even if we had a majority of pro-containment people, it's pretty clear that we can't mobilize it. I've long given up on trying to get governments in the US to do anything, but it is encouraging that private entities are stepping up to some degree in the Northeast and taking action themselves against COVID. Maybe you will see the same soon in California.

The US is not an outlier here.

The only countries that have reimposed lockdowns are the Netherlands and Austria.

Meanwhile, countries with higher Covid rates than the US presently: Portugal, Spain, Ireland, UK, Iceland, Denmark, France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Montenegro

Some of those countries have shut down large events and such, but none have gone on lockdown as far as I know.

[Raccoon]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

In a revote I think virginia would be very close between trump and biden.. considering all this hysteria

[compucomp]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

Just because you're in denial about Omicron doesn't mean that it's not a threat. I applaud the media for telling people the truth and keeping them informed about the threat that Omicron poses. Look at all the voluntary business shutdowns in the Northeast, a virtuous concerted action by businesses and people to try to do something to slow down the virus when the government won't do anything.

[Lief 🗽]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

In a revote I think virginia would be very close between trump and biden.. considering all this hysteria

Yup. Virginia’s electoral votes will of course be awarded to Trump either way in 2024, but at this rate the GOP may win the state outright anyway.

https://twitter.com/stephenmoore/status/1477011711605587977?s=21

[Don't blame me I voted for Harris]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

In a revote I think virginia would be very close between trump and biden.. considering all this hysteria

Yup. Virginia’s electoral votes will of course be awarded to Trump either way in 2024, but at this rate the GOP may win the state outright anyway.

https://twitter.com/stephenmoore/status/1477011711605587977?s=21

…you do understand that Northam is still the governor? In other words, Virginia schools are staying open under a Democratic governor, a Democratic state legislature, and a Democratic president. You all really need to get a grip.

[Raccoon]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

In a revote I think virginia would be very close between trump and biden.. considering all this hysteria

Yup. Virginia’s electoral votes will of course be awarded to Trump either way in 2024, but at this rate the GOP may win the state outright anyway.

https://twitter.com/stephenmoore/status/1477011711605587977?s=21

No doubt nova has grown more liberal.. compared to the Obama years.

But its bizzare how everything is open here .. mask usage is 50 50 .. and people act normally and while many work from home it seems to be less than you'd think.

[roxas11]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

Eventually people are going to move on with their lives and no amount of fear mongering from the NYT and the Washington Post is going to change that

If anything all they are really doing is destroying what is left of their credibility because it is now very clear that omicron is simply not the dangerous variant that they were hyping it up to be in the first place

Omicron is no Delta and all the spin in world from the media is not going to change that fact

[YE]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

In a revote I think virginia would be very close between trump and biden.. considering all this hysteria

Yup. Virginia’s electoral votes will of course be awarded to Trump either way in 2024, but at this rate the GOP may win the state outright anyway.

https://twitter.com/stephenmoore/status/1477011711605587977?s=21

No doubt nova has grown more liberal.. compared to the Obama years.

But its bizzare how everything is open here .. mask usage is 50 50 .. and people act normally and while many work from home it seems to be less than you'd think.

This is true in 80% of America.

Problem is like half the forum myself included live in the 20%. Hence the complaints about restrictions from myself and others.

[compucomp]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

In a revote I think virginia would be very close between trump and biden.. considering all this hysteria

Yup. Virginia’s electoral votes will of course be awarded to Trump either way in 2024, but at this rate the GOP may win the state outright anyway.

https://twitter.com/stephenmoore/status/1477011711605587977?s=21

No doubt nova has grown more liberal.. compared to the Obama years.

But its bizzare how everything is open here .. mask usage is 50 50 .. and people act normally and while many work from home it seems to be less than you'd think.

This is true in 80% of America.

Problem is like half the forum myself included live in the 20%. Hence the complaints about restrictions from myself and others.

Here we go again. There are no overarching government restrictions in force. A mask mandate is not a restriction. Some schools are going back to remote learning but that's decisions made at the local level by each individual school district depending on the local conditions, how many people caught COVID, etc. We all agreed that private entities have the right to restrict or shut themselves down.

I will give your side credit for being so loud that it has drowned out the majority of people who think the virus is a threat and want to try to slow it down. You're probably working the levers of power, badgering your elected officials with anti-restriction harangues, threatening to withhold donations, etc. Hell maybe you've even hired lobbyists by now.

[YE]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

In a revote I think virginia would be very close between trump and biden.. considering all this hysteria

Yup. Virginia’s electoral votes will of course be awarded to Trump either way in 2024, but at this rate the GOP may win the state outright anyway.

https://twitter.com/stephenmoore/status/1477011711605587977?s=21

No doubt nova has grown more liberal.. compared to the Obama years.

But its bizzare how everything is open here .. mask usage is 50 50 .. and people act normally and while many work from home it seems to be less than you'd think.

This is true in 80% of America.

Problem is like half the forum myself included live in the 20%. Hence the complaints about restrictions from myself and others.

Here we go again. There are no overarching government restrictions in force. A mask mandate is not a restriction. Some schools are going back to remote learning but that's decisions made at the local level by each individual school district depending on the local conditions, how many people caught COVID, etc. We all agreed that private entities have the right to restrict or shut themselves down.

I will give your side credit for being so loud that it has drowned out the majority of people who think the virus is a threat and want to try to slow it down. You're probably working the levers of power, badgering your elected officials with anti-restriction harangues, threatening to withhold donations, etc. Hell maybe you've even hired lobbyists by now.

A mandate is by definition a restriction. So is schools going remote because one is restricted from attending school in person.

[compucomp]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

In a revote I think virginia would be very close between trump and biden.. considering all this hysteria

Yup. Virginia’s electoral votes will of course be awarded to Trump either way in 2024, but at this rate the GOP may win the state outright anyway.

https://twitter.com/stephenmoore/status/1477011711605587977?s=21

No doubt nova has grown more liberal.. compared to the Obama years.

But its bizzare how everything is open here .. mask usage is 50 50 .. and people act normally and while many work from home it seems to be less than you'd think.

This is true in 80% of America.

Problem is like half the forum myself included live in the 20%. Hence the complaints about restrictions from myself and others.

Here we go again. There are no overarching government restrictions in force. A mask mandate is not a restriction. Some schools are going back to remote learning but that's decisions made at the local level by each individual school district depending on the local conditions, how many people caught COVID, etc. We all agreed that private entities have the right to restrict or shut themselves down.

I will give your side credit for being so loud that it has drowned out the majority of people who think the virus is a threat and want to try to slow it down. You're probably working the levers of power, badgering your elected officials with anti-restriction harangues, threatening to withhold donations, etc. Hell maybe you've even hired lobbyists by now.

A mandate is by definition a restriction. So is schools going remote because one is restricted from attending school in person.

No it's not. Masks don't prevent anyone from doing anything when the usual exceptions are carved out. Surgical masks cost 5c each. It's as much a mandate as an indoor no-smoking mandate or a mandate to wear clothes in public.

Schools are going remote because they have uncontrolled spread of COVID. Once they control the spread, they open back up. In the past school closures due to outbreaks of say measles or the flu was not unheard of.

It seems your side's true position is that COVID-19 is like the common cold and should be ignored. Your side should really be honest and publicly espouse that view and stop hiding behind complaints about "restrictions". Of course we all know why they won't, because it would instantly cause your side to lose credibility and support.

[Don't blame me I voted for Harris]

I swear, most of you act like we're still living under March 2020 era restrictions. It's a little out of touch.

[Donerail]

There are no overarching government restrictions in force. A mask mandate is not a restriction.

Reported for gaslighting

[YE]

Jesus, the liberal egghead outlets like NYT, Washington Post, and NPR are in full-on propaganda mode right now. They're putting out daily headlines fear-mongering about Omicron and not-so-subtly smearing the heroes that are trying to make sure school actually stays open. If these social media companies actually wanted to be consistent about their misinformation policies they would ban or at least threaten to ban these publications too. I don't want that to happen, but I'm just saying that the COVID lies go far beyond the Q people.

In a revote I think virginia would be very close between trump and biden.. considering all this hysteria

Yup. Virginia’s electoral votes will of course be awarded to Trump either way in 2024, but at this rate the GOP may win the state outright anyway.

https://twitter.com/stephenmoore/status/1477011711605587977?s=21

No doubt nova has grown more liberal.. compared to the Obama years.

But its bizzare how everything is open here .. mask usage is 50 50 .. and people act normally and while many work from home it seems to be less than you'd think.

This is true in 80% of America.

Problem is like half the forum myself included live in the 20%. Hence the complaints about restrictions from myself and others.

Here we go again. There are no overarching government restrictions in force. A mask mandate is not a restriction. Some schools are going back to remote learning but that's decisions made at the local level by each individual school district depending on the local conditions, how many people caught COVID, etc. We all agreed that private entities have the right to restrict or shut themselves down.

I will give your side credit for being so loud that it has drowned out the majority of people who think the virus is a threat and want to try to slow it down. You're probably working the levers of power, badgering your elected officials with anti-restriction harangues, threatening to withhold donations, etc. Hell maybe you've even hired lobbyists by now.

A mandate is by definition a restriction. So is schools going remote because one is restricted from attending school in person.

No it's not. Masks don't prevent anyone from doing anything when the usual exceptions are carved out. Surgical masks cost 5c each. It's as much a mandate as an indoor no-smoking mandate or a mandate to wear clothes in public.

Schools are going remote because they have uncontrolled spread of COVID. Once they control the spread, they open back up. In the past school closures due to outbreaks of say measles or the flu was not unheard of.

It seems your side's true position is that COVID-19 is like the common cold and should be ignored. Your side should really be honest and publicly espouse that view and stop hiding behind complaints about "restrictions". Of course we all know why they won't, because it would instantly cause your side to lose credibility and support.

Wearing clothes is also a restriction and certainly smoking bans are also a restriction. They’re not overly intrusive and I’ll admit many people on this forum myself included are overly sensitive sometimes but it certainly is a restriction. I also don’t think masks will suddenly make a big dent in this pandemic with the Omicron variant just because of how contagious it is. Everyone is going to get it unless they’ve been boosted or already got it, and even then, they very well have a good chance of getting it. Hospitals are going to be overwhelmed, and at best, a mask mandate delays that by a day or two. I think, and this is especially true for universities, mask mandates, especially post-vaccine and pre-omicron, were mostly implemented as a form of virtue signaling, so that they feel like they did SOMETHING.

I’m actually fine with shutting schools (as if it were a snow day) if it becomes logistically impossible for schools to function due to so many absences and that’s something that should be decided on a school by school basis. That is not the same as remote learning because quite frankly that is not a viable education method especially for younger students.

I do think we need to start treating this as endemic (like the common cold). Vaccines were heralded as the end of the pandemic and in terms of lowering an individual’s risk of serious illness, it has delivered. It’s really terrible optics to keep shifting the goalposts.

[emailking]

So we have broken the all time record of over 1 million new cases in a single day? A few months ago, I would have freaked out about this. But at least this is getting us herd immunity sooner than later, kind of a "natural vaccination" for anti-vaxxers. As sad as it is. I just hope hospitals don't get overwhelmed, especially to protect non-Covid patients as cancer and other diseases don't pause because of a pandemic.

At least as far as officially recorded cases go, I don't think we have. There were over a million cases logged yesterday but it includes holiday backfill.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

An interesting perspective on recent increased hospitalization rates from an ICU nurse:

https://slate.com/technology/2022/01/omicron-miami-icu-nurse-covid-optimism.html

I would say as I talk to the nurses that work in the COVID unit right now, I sense more optimism. In the first and second surges, we saw so much death, and dying, and suffering. It was really, really, really heartbreaking.

This time, patients just aren’t as sick.