Topic: Is the Corona virus the elephant in the room?

[smokester]

So, what we all need to do now is have a Delta hug-in to freeze out Omicron.

If one more reporter say "omnicron", I'm going to write a stern letter.

[6pairsofshoes]

A micron is one-millionth of a meter.  The name sounds like the first line of an ode.

O micron,
Go somewhere else and replicate please.
Admire your mutated spike proteins
somewhere far far away
where form never follows function
and pigs love to fly
please don't make us get sick and die.

[8ullfrog]

Cancel these follow up variations, no one wants them.

[goldshirt*9]

Cancel these follow up variations, no one wants them.

BRAVO sir so agree, As yet local hospital (where wife works) is very busy but with normal winter/coughs/colds/ flu etc not many Covid as yet, in fact only 1 ward.

[smokester]

I listened to the South African doctor, who originally discovered the strain, on the Andrew Marr show this morning. She only queried it as the "unvaccinated" guy in her surgery had incredibly mild symptoms that didn't fit anywhere much so she had him tested and he was covid positive. They then tested his family who were also positive, and also had incredibly mild symptoms. They sequenced the virus and discovered Omicron.

It got me thinking that if the highly transmissible strain is only as serious as the common cold, then spray the bless'ed world with it and get rid of all the other strains. If Delta etc push back, spray it again. If it mutates into something deadly, spray it again. In fact, is there an argument for creating a GM strain that only gives you hiccups and they spray the world with that – a bit like releasing mosquitos into the wild that cannot harbour the malaria parasite.

These are some of my ideas to save the world and should not be revealed to Donald Trump (he’ll only steal the credit). Mind you, if the republicans are right, he already knows the genomic sequences for all strains that may occur in the future.

[smokester]

So, I'm travelling on trains for about an hour each way to and from the training centre I'm at. There is hardly as much a clearing of one's throat on any of the trains so I'm confused how our numbers are meant to be so high? A couple of months ago when the numbers were lower, I hardly knew anyone that didn't have the dreaded coroni. The outside world was a cacophony of coughs and you'd dare not breath with a window open.

Is it now truly so mild that people don't present the illness?

[goldshirt*9]

Is it now truly so mild that people don't present the illness?

seems so

[6pairsofshoes]

From the rising death toll in China, due to the Omicron variant, it seems this variant is no less deadly than its predecessors.  The difference is that many people have been vaccinated and therefore have some immunity.  The ones succumbing to it in China tend to be elders who have not taken the shots.  Those who are fully vaccinated can carry the virus and spread it while infected but asymptomatic.

From what I've read, this is really not a good disease to catch.  I still wear masks in public when I go out.  There seems to be a lull of false security right now.  It's entirely understandable as we're all sick of this COVID business and want life to go back to normal.

[smokester]

From the rising death toll in China, due to the Omicron variant, it seems this variant is no less deadly than its predecessors.  The difference is that many people have been vaccinated and therefore have some immunity.  The ones succumbing to it in China tend to be elders who have not taken the shots.  Those who are fully vaccinated can carry the virus and spread it while infected but asymptomatic.

From what I've read, this is really not a good disease to catch.  I still wear masks in public when I go out.  There seems to be a lull of false security right now.  It's entirely understandable as we're all sick of this COVID business and want life to go back to normal.

China is different as they were hailed for being able to halt any outbreak in its tracks by their excellent measures of locking people up in cages. While that may mean that the virus never really took hold in any given area of China (if we believe the numbers), but it also meant it that the community there hadn't been truly exposed to the virus with or without vaccinations. Most people I know here with COVID are on their 3rd or 4th bout of it. Even those that are unvaccinated have probably brushed shoulders with it a few times.

I heard a professional once say about Omicron, that it was a vaccine strain as catching would invariably give you the best antibodies. This just hasn't happened in China.

[8ullfrog]

I've never understood that.

My mom once ended a friendship - she was friends with the mom, I was friends with her sons, because she believed in that "pox party" poo where you intentionally expose children to chicken pox. Great way to get shingles.

Like she started out the conversation calmly, saying that I wouldn't be taking part, but it elevated into a screaming match because mom DARED to consider this woman to be ignorant.

That woman is and was ignorant.

Several years later the vaccine came out and I was vaccinated. I consider that one of the most painful inoculations I've ever experienced, and my mouth tasted like hot dogs for several hours afterwards. Very unpleasant.

But I don't remember the ones from when I was a baby. Maybe they hurt more.

Got my pneumonia shot on my last visit.
Thankfully I didn't have to get the nose swab of doom this time.

I'm still wearing a mask because I don't want flu either.

[6pairsofshoes]

China is different as they were hailed for being able to halt any outbreak in its tracks by their excellent measures of locking people up in cages. While that may mean that the virus never really took hold in any given area of China (if we believe the numbers), but it also meant it that the community there hadn't been truly exposed to the virus with or without vaccinations. Most people I know here with COVID are on their 3rd or 4th bout of it. Even those that are unvaccinated have probably brushed shoulders with it a few times.

I heard a professional once say about Omicron, that it was a vaccine strain as catching would invariably give you the best antibodies. This just hasn't happened in China.

When not immunized, either via a prior case of the virus, or a vaccine, Omicron has proven to be as deadly as prior strains.  This is a disease with long range effects like brain fog and one that can inhabit and cause problems all over the body.  Personally, I would rather give it a wide berth.  I have enough trouble remembering where I put my glasses without some pathogen adding to the problem.  And I'm not all that keen on blood clots, either.  The Mayo Clinic has a reputable site that gives good information on a range of health problems.  Here's a link to their description of some of the long term problems reported even with mild cases of COVID.  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-long-term-effects/art-20490351#:~:text=In%20some%20people%2C%20lasting%20health,they%20have%20had%20COVID%2D19%20.

[smokester]

When not immunized, either via a prior case of the virus, or a vaccine, Omicron has proven to be as deadly as prior strains.  This is a disease with long range effects like brain fog and one that can inhabit and cause problems all over the body.  Personally, I would rather give it a wide berth.  I have enough trouble remembering where I put my glasses without some pathogen adding to the problem.  And I'm not all that keen on blood clots, either.  The Mayo Clinic has a reputable site that gives good information on a range of health problems.  Here's a link to their description of some of the long term problems reported even with mild cases of COVID. 

In all honesty that really isn't the attitude here any more (as far as I've experienced). You now can go to work if you test positive and people with the virus are no longer lepars in the street - I often speak with people who are infected and only keep a few feet away. Maybe it's because people are more confident now that they are vaccinated, but I really think that most people believe that if they are not dead yet from it, then they won't ever die from it.

Of course, if there was another strain like Delta that did the rounds, I think we'd all recoil a little more.

[6pairsofshoes]

They are lifting mask requirements in schools and other places around here, but most stores still have mask requirements, and I routinely wear a N95 when I go into public places.  There's a couple of close friends that I visit without masks but we're all fully vaccinated. 

I went to the theatre a couple weeks back and had to present proof of vaccination and wear a mask during the performance.  The actors, of course, were unmasked.  It felt strange to be sitting in seats next to strangers again but with this damned mask on.  Lord knows I would like an end to this need to exercise caution everywhere.  It's sad to see how many good restaurants have gone under due to the pandemic.  I miss going out and dining, listening to live music, etc.

[smokester]

They are lifting mask requirements in schools and other places around here, but most stores still have mask requirements, and I routinely wear a N95 when I go into public places.  There's a couple of close friends that I visit without masks but we're all fully vaccinated. 

I went to the theatre a couple weeks back and had to present proof of vaccination and wear a mask during the performance.  The actors, of course, were unmasked.  It felt strange to be sitting in seats next to strangers again but with this damned mask on.  Lord knows I would like an end to this need to exercise caution everywhere.  It's sad to see how many good restaurants have gone under due to the pandemic.  I miss going out and dining, listening to live music, etc.

In the English part of the U.K we are completely back to normal. Shops and other forms of business parctices are allowed to set their own rules regarding COVID, but the State does not suggest or police them.

It been sunny here this week and driving around it's refreshing to see people gathering and having fun. At the end of the day, life has to be worth living for it to be a life at all. I feel robbed of the last 2 years of my life as it just never happened.

[goldshirt*9]

Unfortunately the rise in cases is true though