COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[T'Chenka]

Why is Iceland going out of their way to kill and injure people? Not commenting on what they are doing by WHY they say they are doing it.

[Horus]

Why is Iceland going out of their way to kill and injure people? Not commenting on what they are doing by WHY they say they are doing it.

Because dodging COVID is impossible and Iceland is going to be 80% vaccinated within a month. I'm pretty sure the experts in Reykjavik know more than you.

[GregTheGreat657]

What do you guys think the odds are that NYS drops it school mask mandate on March 7th when it is set to expire?

Over 50/50.

I’ll be knocking on wood for that to happen

[T'Chenka]

Why is Iceland going out of their way to kill and injure people? Not commenting on what they are doing by WHY they say they are doing it.

Because dodging COVID is impossible and Iceland is going to be 80% vaccinated within a month. I'm pretty sure the experts in Reykjavik know more than you.

Plenty of experts have been saying for over a year that trying to infect everybody as fast as possible is not a good strategy. They didn't stop saying this during omicron. Again, I'm not objecting to what they're actually doing. I'm objecting to their reasoning / objectives.

[Dr. MB]

1. It requires people to get an injection that causes COVID for a day and possibly repeat this process every 6 months. This is a far greater imposition than to ask someone to put on a mask, an additional piece of clothing.

The vaccine literally does not "cause COVID for a day" or any other length of time, as there is no part of the actual virus in the vaccine, but instead uses pieces of the spike protein that bridges to allow the actual viral infection.

You know what I mean, the side effects of this vaccine are far beyond any other vaccine I've taken, I needed to take time off work for the fever and chills, and this is a common reaction. Now I willingly tolerated this three times but wearing a mask never made me feel so ill I had to go to bed.

After the 2nd vaccine I had a headache for a day vs the booster shot where I only had arm pain for a couple days. Compared to when I got a meningitis B vaccine which woke me up one night with shooting pain up and down my arm, it’s nothing.

[Crumpets]

If the current case load trajectory continues, we will probably be at our lowest weekly average nation-wide since the initial rise of Delta last summer within just a few days.

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

So, could this be the end of covid? Cases in my town went from 362 to 21 over the course of a month.

[Lurker]

Why is Iceland going out of their way to kill and injure people? Not commenting on what they are doing by WHY they say they are doing it.

They've probably looked at the situation in the countries that have opened up (including all of Scandinavia), and managed to avoid the bizarre hysteria so widespread among American liberals.

[T'Chenka]

Why is Iceland going out of their way to kill and injure people? Not commenting on what they are doing by WHY they say they are doing it.

They've probably looked at the situation in the countries that have opened up (including all of Scandinavia), and managed to avoid the complete hysteria so widespread among American liberals.

Their stated intentions were to infect as many citizens as possible, as quickly as possible. Other countries that are opening up are not doing so for the same reasons. This strategy is dangerous and not recommended by most epidemiologists.

[emailking]

So, could this be the end of covid? Cases in my town went from 362 to 21 over the course of a month.

It's not the end, but it's possible it could be a long time before we get high case counts again.

Note: our cases are still higher than they were the first several months of the pandemic. But they're likely to fall below that in the next few weeks.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

So, could this be the end of covid? Cases in my town went from 362 to 21 over the course of a month.

Covid will never be eradicated, but it wouldn't surprise me if we're heading for another period like late April through early July of 2021 where the virus retreated so far as to be basically forgotten about for a little while.

[MATTROSE94]

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1496364357814476802

Interesting theory, though this goes against my belief that COVID was around as early as late 2018.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1496364357814476802

Interesting theory, though this goes against my belief that COVID was around as early as late 2018.

There is nothing to suggest that covid-19 was around in 2018.  Coronaviruses have been around for millennia, but any theories of covid being around before the fall of 2019 don't make a lot of sense.  I'd buy it spreading at low levels in China by October 2019, Europe by Christmas, and the US by January 2020, but it is true that it exploded in March 2020.

[It’s so Joever]

https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1496364357814476802

But I was told that this is a wacky conspiracy theory on par with thinking the Earth is flat and that believing it might be true means you hate all Asian people.

You're smarter than this.
It isn't racist to want to investigate based on the fact that China infamously does have poor regulation and to determine a likely cause through that investigation. What was racist was when attacks were made on politicians such as Pelosi for *gasp* going to Chinatown in February (when LITERALLY everything else was still open and covid was seen as a non issue in the US)

The assumption that it was a lab leak without ruling out the more obvious cause (the same bats which literally caused Sars 1) was not racist at all, but it was just f**king stupid and irrational.

[Frodo]

CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday

[Calthrina950]

CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday

Good. There will be a change at my workplace. Two days ago, some of my coworkers told me that corporate has decided to lift the employee mask mandate, but it hasn't been announced yet. Apparently, the change could be made by next week. The CDC relaxing its recommendations, as I've hoped, would provide the final push.

[compucomp]

CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday

Good. There will be a change at my workplace. Two days ago, some of my coworkers told me that corporate has decided to lift the employee mask mandate, but it hasn't been announced yet. Apparently, the change could be made by next week. The CDC relaxing its recommendations, as I've hoped, would provide the final push.

This is not the change you want that would stop recommending masks, full stop. This is along the lines of what I predicted where they will change the definition of "high transmission". This is the right reason for a change for the CDC because Omicron is in fact milder than the prior variants so it's reasonable what "high" means.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Hawaii is now the final state with a mask mandate (and no final end date announced).

[GregTheGreat657]

Hawaii is now the final state with a mask mandate (and no final end date announced).

Masks might be permanent there as a cultural thing

[Calthrina950]

Hawaii is now the final state with a mask mandate (and no final end date announced).

Supposedly, the Governor there is contemplating an end to the mask mandate, or is "consulting" with his health department about it. Hopefully, they get rid of it.

CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday

Good. There will be a change at my workplace. Two days ago, some of my coworkers told me that corporate has decided to lift the employee mask mandate, but it hasn't been announced yet. Apparently, the change could be made by next week. The CDC relaxing its recommendations, as I've hoped, would provide the final push.

This is not the change you want that would stop recommending masks, full stop. This is along the lines of what I predicted where they will change the definition of "high transmission". This is the right reason for a change for the CDC because Omicron is in fact milder than the prior variants so it's reasonable what "high" means.

No, the CDC will be reverting to their recommendations from last May that vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask in most public settings. And they are changing their metrics from being based on cases to being based on hospitalizations. Of course, you will dance for joy if mask mandates were to ever return.

[compucomp]

Hawaii is now the final state with a mask mandate (and no final end date announced).

Supposedly, the Governor there is contemplating an end to the mask mandate, or is "consulting" with his health department about it. Hopefully, they get rid of it.

CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday

Good. There will be a change at my workplace. Two days ago, some of my coworkers told me that corporate has decided to lift the employee mask mandate, but it hasn't been announced yet. Apparently, the change could be made by next week. The CDC relaxing its recommendations, as I've hoped, would provide the final push.

This is not the change you want that would stop recommending masks, full stop. This is along the lines of what I predicted where they will change the definition of "high transmission". This is the right reason for a change for the CDC because Omicron is in fact milder than the prior variants so it's reasonable what "high" means.

No, the CDC will be reverting to their recommendations from last May that vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask in most public settings. And they are changing their metrics from being based on cases to being based on hospitalizations. Of course, you will dance for joy if mask mandates were to ever return.

That's not what this article says to me. The below quote indicates the change is in the metrics particularly what in the definition of "high transmission". We will find out tomorrow.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday will announce a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at COVID-19 case counts to a more holistic view of risk from the coronavirus to a community. Under current guidelines, masks are recommended for people residing in communities of substantial or high transmission — roughly 95% of U.S. counties, according to the latest data.

The new metrics will still consider caseloads, but also take into account hospitalizations and local hospital capacity, which have been markedly improved during the emergence of the omicron variant. That strain is highly transmissible, but indications are that it is less severe than earlier strains, particularly for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted. Under the new guidelines, the vast majority of Americans will no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended, based on current data.

[Calthrina950]

Hawaii is now the final state with a mask mandate (and no final end date announced).

Supposedly, the Governor there is contemplating an end to the mask mandate, or is "consulting" with his health department about it. Hopefully, they get rid of it.

CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday

Good. There will be a change at my workplace. Two days ago, some of my coworkers told me that corporate has decided to lift the employee mask mandate, but it hasn't been announced yet. Apparently, the change could be made by next week. The CDC relaxing its recommendations, as I've hoped, would provide the final push.

This is not the change you want that would stop recommending masks, full stop. This is along the lines of what I predicted where they will change the definition of "high transmission". This is the right reason for a change for the CDC because Omicron is in fact milder than the prior variants so it's reasonable what "high" means.

No, the CDC will be reverting to their recommendations from last May that vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask in most public settings. And they are changing their metrics from being based on cases to being based on hospitalizations. Of course, you will dance for joy if mask mandates were to ever return.

That's not what this article says to me. The below quote indicates the change is in the metrics particularly what in the definition of "high transmission". We will find out tomorrow.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday will announce a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at COVID-19 case counts to a more holistic view of risk from the coronavirus to a community. Under current guidelines, masks are recommended for people residing in communities of substantial or high transmission — roughly 95% of U.S. counties, according to the latest data.

The new metrics will still consider caseloads, but also take into account hospitalizations and local hospital capacity, which have been markedly improved during the emergence of the omicron variant. That strain is highly transmissible, but indications are that it is less severe than earlier strains, particularly for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted. Under the new guidelines, the vast majority of Americans will no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended, based on current data.

This still represents a departure from their approach, and the reports I've seen is that they will be placing more emphasis on those factors. But as I've said, you probably don't welcome this change of course by the CDC.

[MATTROSE94]

CDC to significantly ease pandemic mask guidelines Friday

Good. There will be a change at my workplace. Two days ago, some of my coworkers told me that corporate has decided to lift the employee mask mandate, but it hasn't been announced yet. Apparently, the change could be made by next week. The CDC relaxing its recommendations, as I've hoped, would provide the final push.

My job left mask mandates up to each district manager. Unfortunately, the district manager at my job is very strict about COVID (she wears three or four masks and gloves whenever she is in), so the employee mask mandate isn’t going anywhere. I am going back to law school in August, so the mask stuff at my job I will tolerate until then. My law school is keeping the mask mandate as well however, though I can deal with it there.

[Roll Roons]

Biden's own pollsters are basically telling him to declare the pandemic over: https://punchbowl.news/impact-covid-positioning-strategy-memo/

They can start by not requiring masks at SOTU.

[Calthrina950]

Biden's own pollsters are basically telling him to declare the pandemic over: https://punchbowl.news/impact-covid-positioning-strategy-memo/

They can start by not requiring masks at SOTU.

Out of curiosity, would you support Biden for reelection at this point? As I've said before, you certainly have soured on him.