COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Oakvale]

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.

Denmark has peak infections and hospitalizations right now, 800 people were hospitalized yesterday.  Once they remove all the restrictions that number will only go up further.

Hope their hospitals are capable of handling the flood of severe COVID cases about to hit once all the restrictions are lifted.  Of course 80% of Denmark is fully-vaccinated and 53% are boosted so they're not going to have as many severe cases as other, less-vaccinated countries.

It's not actually remotely clear that there's any real truth to this given the insane prevalence of omicron and the negligible impact on transmission of any public health measures but, regardless, seems like they're not too worried about it! Maybe they haven't read the latest Feigl-Ding griftpost about the Danish sub-variant?

Bear in mind, of course, that we know that about half of all 'omicron' hospitalisations are incidental cases, too. Congratulations to the Danes on their forthcoming liberation.

[Migrant Crime]

https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19/data/hospitalization-utilization.html

There are less people in Illinois hospitals right now than there were on October 1, well before Omicron ever existed.  The number of people occupying ICU beds is also nearly the same (up by about 13).  The only "crisis" going on in our hospitals is a staffing crisis.  The current hospitalization surge will someday be a chapter in a followup to "How to Lie With Statistics".

[emailking]

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.

I agree. I am thinking that the Democrats will run on permanent mask mandates, rolling lockdowns, and other hygiene theater and virtue signaling stuff regarding COVID in the midterm elections.

I seem to recall a time that you supported permanent mask mandates.

[MATTROSE94]

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.

I agree. I am thinking that the Democrats will run on permanent mask mandates, rolling lockdowns, and other hygiene theater and virtue signaling stuff regarding COVID in the midterm elections.

I seem to recall a time that you supported permanent mask mandates.

My views changed in November after the off year elections. People are entitled to change their views as conditions change. 

[emailking]

Well if you believed it genuinely then how do you know the Democrats don't?

[GregTheGreat657]

Thoughts on NY's mask mandate being ruled unconstitutional?

[Tintrlvr]

Thoughts on NY's mask mandate being ruled unconstitutional?

Unlikely to survive appeal, but in any event it was just method of implementation under NY law, so not under the federal constitution anyway. Bad facts make bad law; clearly you want state governments to be able to do things like this even if you're suspicious of the federal government doing it.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Thoughts on NY's mask mandate being ruled unconstitutional?

We spent the 2010s fighting against the school-to-prison pipeline.

But the 2020s have been spent turning schools into prisons.

Masks in schools must go, and there must be accountability for those who enforced it.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

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?

I’m also a little surprised that no blue states have passed a vaccine mandate for driving.  I’d think this would be very effective and unlike other vaccine mandates, wouldn’t need to be enforced by private individuals.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I’m also a little surprised that no blue states have passed a vaccine mandate for driving.  I’d think this would be very effective and unlike other vaccine mandates, wouldn’t need to be enforced by private individuals.

More police selecting which vehicles to stop for whatever reason they like to have hostile interactions with non-compliant people. Sounds like a recipe for success. How many people would have to be shot until it got repealed?

[emailking]

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.

[Hammy]

Thoughts on NY's mask mandate being ruled unconstitutional?

We spent the 2010s fighting against the school-to-prison pipeline.

But the 2020s have been spent turning schools into prisons.

Masks in schools must go, and there must be accountability for those who enforced it.

It's people like you, making these braindead arguments, that are making the permanent mandate crazies look credible in comparison.

84% approve of the government supply free test kits and masks, but this forum hates the move. Finally there is proof that this forum is totally out of touch with the public on this issue and quite honestly out of touch with reality. You really should reconsider whether you want to fight to support a position with 16% support. You can add the usual 5-10% for the Republican position and it would still be deep in the minority.

Biden administration providing free COVID-19 tests, masks overwhelmingly popular: poll

The Biden administration’s efforts to provide free COVID-19 tests and masks to Americans across the country are overwhelmingly popular, according to a new poll.

The survey, conducted by Axios and Ipsos, found that 84 percent of adults in the U.S. strongly or somewhat support the federal government mailing free at-home COVID-19 tests to anyone who requests them.

Additionally, 84 percent of respondents said they strongly or somewhat support the federal government providing N95 masks to anyone who wants one through pharmacies and health clinics.

Why would anyone hate free tests and masks?  Seems like a no-brainer to me, that necessary items in a post-covid world should be free.

Go back through this thread, multiple posters attacked the move because it promotes the hated masks, exaggerates the threat of COVID, and impedes the "return to normalcy". In reality, people who still take the virus seriously (like me) strongly support the move, while people who don't have a strong opinion think, "Hey free stuff from the government, awesome!". The people who are opposed are the loudest here but finally it's revealed that they are actually deep in the minority.

The only complaints over this were your own strawman arguments of people "being triggered over masks arriving in their mailboxes" which isn't even how this is being implemented in the first place.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

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.

Why would a vaccine mandate for air travel require legislation but not a mask mandate? 

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

I’m also a little surprised that no blue states have passed a vaccine mandate for driving.  I’d think this would be very effective and unlike other vaccine mandates, wouldn’t need to be enforced by private individuals.

More police selecting which vehicles to stop for whatever reason they like to have hostile interactions with non-compliant people. Sounds like a recipe for success. How many people would have to be shot until it got repealed?

If they started shooting antivax white Republicans, this might actually lead to real police reform.

[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?

[emailking]

Why would a vaccine mandate for air travel require legislation but not a mask mandate? 

I don't know, maybe it's doesn't. I'm just guessing it would need legislation to survive SCOTUS since they allowed the mask mandates for air travel but also ruled that the executive branch can't order randoms to take the vaccine.

[emailking]

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.

[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.

[emailking]

Well I think there's at least a much better argument for keeping masks for air travel for the next several months, vs. forever.

[GregTheGreat657]

Thoughts on NY's mask mandate being ruled unconstitutional?

We spent the 2010s fighting against the school-to-prison pipeline.

But the 2020s have been spent turning schools into prisons.

Masks in schools must go, and there must be accountability for those who enforced it.

Agreed. Where I live, masks were mandated in schools, but there was one really one teacher who ever says anything about people not having a mask over their nose

[Mr.Bakari-Sellers]

This is why 39 percent polls should be ignored with Biden, because COVID isn't a large part of our daily lives as it used to be and it's an annual flu virus now because we are going out to bars, stadiums and resuming our daily lives

They try to push down his Approvals to make it look like Biden isn't succeeding watch in November the polls that are too conservative gonna be wrong if this remains until Nov, low APPROVALS

I get sick but it's not nearly as it once was

[Don't blame me I voted for Harris]

Thoughts on NY's mask mandate being ruled unconstitutional?

We spent the 2010s fighting against the school-to-prison pipeline.

But the 2020s have been spent turning schools into prisons.

Masks in schools must go, and there must be accountability for those who enforced it.

What?

[roxas11]

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.

80 percent of people in Denmark have been fully vaccinated and 60 percent have gotten a booster shot

Our numbers don't even come close to that and we still have a sizable part of our population that has not even gotten 1 shot let alone be fully vaccinated. Biden simply can't ignore those huge differences and just make the call to open up everything just because Denmark decided to especially at a time when deaths from omicron are currently on the rise

now to be clear, I do not oppose the idea of lifting all covid restrictions, but the decision should be based on what is currently going on in our county and not on what other countries around the world may or may not be doing

[Calthrina950]

The relevant difference is federalism and separation of powers, not our vaccination rates. Plenty of US states have broken even more dramatically from policies meant to contain the spread of the virus and others will follow along sooner or later.

If we take mask mandates as a barometer, here is the state of play as far as I can ascertain:



Keep in mind that the efforts to remove local mask mandates have been aspirational for most of the states in that category.

There's a strong political correlation at play as well. Every state which has a statewide mask mandate in force, or a statewide school mask mandate (except for Massachusetts and Maryland), has a Democratic Governor, and all but Louisiana possess a Democratic-controlled state legislature. Every state where an effort has been made to ban mask mandates, or where such bans have actually been implemented, has a Republican Governor, and all bar Virginia possess a Republican trifecta. Mask mandates are clearly tied to each party's identity at this point.

[MATTROSE94]

Thoughts on NY's mask mandate being ruled unconstitutional?

We spent the 2010s fighting against the school-to-prison pipeline.

But the 2020s have been spent turning schools into prisons.

Masks in schools must go, and there must be accountability for those who enforced it.

I agree, but probably not for another 2 or 3 months, as a lot of children are still at risk for COVID. In 2 or 3 months, more children should be vaccinated, so school mask mandates should ideally end then.