COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Indy Texas]

That video was...not reassuring.

[Indy Texas]

Does Trump not understand how bad it's going to look if he goes to the debate and is so out of breath that he nearly falls over?

[Indy Texas]

At this point, I have to wonder if it might be appropriate to impeach Pence for failure to invoke the 25th Amendment when it needs to be.

Speaking of that, where even is Mike Pence?

POTUS is in a drug-induced delirium tweeting Russiagate conspiracy theories from bed.

Half the West Wing has tested positive for COVID-19 and is presumably now at home. The Joint Chiefs have it too.

If China were to launch a nuclear attack against us, or terrorists were to execute a 9/11-type attack, could we even respond? Is there any non-incapacitated person in charge of our government right now?

[Indy Texas]

President Trump told us to not let COVID dominate your life. Clearly this woman just didn't take his advice. /s

https://twitter.com/stephenjnesbitt/status/1323665713815576576?s=20

[Indy Texas]

'Vigilante treatments': Anti-vaccine groups push people to leave ICUs

Anti-vaccine Facebook groups have a new message for their community members: Don’t go to the emergency room, and get your loved ones out of intensive care units.

Consumed by conspiracy theories claiming that doctors are preventing unvaccinated patients from receiving miracle cures or are even killing them on purpose, some people in anti-vaccine and pro-ivermectin Facebook groups are telling those with Covid-19 to stay away from hospitals and instead try increasingly dangerous at-home treatments, according to posts seen by NBC News over the past few weeks.

The messages represent an escalation in the mistrust of medical professionals in groups that have sprung up in recent months on social media platforms, which have tried to crack down on Covid misinformation. And it’s something that some doctors say they’re seeing manifest in their hospitals as they have filled up because of the most recent delta variant wave.

I suppose this is a good thing because if this gains traction, then ICU spaces are preserved for people who deserve them. Eating sh**t and dying to own the libs must be the new fad. Maybe they think Trump is still the president and that they need to keep the COVID numbers low so their glorious leader doesn't look bad. 

I have no objection to this.

These people keep insisting COVID is "just the flu" so if they really want to stick to their principles, they shouldn't be going to the hospital at all, since virtually no one ever needs the ICU for influenza.

I know people who have had necessary surgeries and procedures delayed because the COVID people are overcrowding the hospitals. So if they'll just stop going there, they'll free up the space for the rest of us.

[Indy Texas]

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1466776769369976839
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/world/omicron-norway-christmas-party.html
A Christmas party in Norway becomes a possible Omicron-spreading event.

Around half of the people who attended an office Christmas party in Oslo, where only vaccinated employees were admitted, have tested positive for the coronavirus after one guest recently returned from South Africa was found to carry the new Omicron variant, local health authorities said on Friday.

More than 120 people attended the event, held a week ago by a solar power company. Of the positive tests sequenced so far, between 15 and 20 were likely to be the Omicron variant, according to Dr. Tine Ravlo, a local chief physician involved in tracking the outbreak, who added that not all of the 60 coronavirus cases found so far had yet been fully checked for the variant.

“We are expecting more of them to likely be Omicron infections,” she said.

A spokesman for the company, Scatec, said that only vaccinated staff had been admitted to the party, and everyone had tested negative for the coronavirus before the event.

Wow! Everyone's vaccinated. Everyone's tested negative prior to the party. Most for on the "younger" side. 60 of 120 got the virus. At least 15-20 Omicron (the rest of the tests hasn't been sequenced yet?).

A lot still unclear - how old they were, were they boosted, when they got vaccinated, does the rest got Delta etc - but wow, Omicron seems to be a game-changer.

The relevant question is: were they hospitalized and how sick did they get?

[Indy Texas]

https://twitter.com/dilanpcook/status/1466568569559212034?s=20

I can't stand this kind of kludginess.

Just do what Europe does and keep the prices low by subsidizing the cost of the tests so they only cost a few dollars when you go buy them at the store.

Instead, apparently I'm supposed to pay $25 for a two-pack of Abbott tests and then fill out a bunch of paperwork so my insurance company can reimburse me and it's not even clear if the government is in turn reimbursing them or not.