Omicron variant and the measures implemented in response to it

[21C101]

I shared the same article on the support conversation thread.

A natural vaccine is something that should be encouraged, especially if it can reach the whole population in a matter of weeks.

I think the Omicron wave will collapse just a suddenly as it has increased, because if the doubling time is between two and three days as reported, the virus will run out of people to infect by late December or early January.

Not if you are making vast profits out of the current situation and have a vested interest in it continuing.

 

[bengley]

I was gonna take the bus and train through central Manchester, returning at 5.30pm (ie shoppers peak = crammed public transport) to watch a football game. Despite having all three jabs, the current news/press etc have scared the whatsit out of me, and I'm driving now. Don't mind the game as it's in the open air.

Am I going out tonight? yes, to a bar that's normally no more than quarter full as it does it's main business during the day.

Well, that's a bit silly isn't it?

 

[DustyBin]

I won't be locked down and I won't be restricted; if they stopped me going to the pub it would make me determined to meet people somewhere else. I am sure many others feel the same way.

Yesterday afternoon I got a train from Bushey and, without using the "m" word, let's just say over 90% of the people on that train did not appear to be interested in doing what Sadiq, Boris & co tell them to do

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Dec 2021 ==


They might try but most people have had enough.

Others have speculated that the current measures are a sort of test to see how compliant people are with a view to imposing more restrictions; if this is so, then based on my recent observations I would say the test has not gone the way the Government wanted it to go

As far as I'm concerned, anyone calling for more restrictions is not someone I want to have anything to do with.

I absolutely agree.

A better explanation is safetyism, which has its roots in secularism and atheism, but which essentially leads us down the same road. I think it is a pernicious ideology the West sleepwalked into, much more quickly since the advent of social media. The common man is now being confronted by not just a daily newspaper which summarises "what happened" but social media which demands he feel something about that all the time.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Dec 2021 ==


Yes, most of these people have been totally irrelevant since they left the sixth form but now see the current situation as a chance to get media appearances, advance their careers, enact political changes, and so on. They are completely unaccountable and the stranglehold they have on public policy and essentially the entire economy amounts to a tyranny by default. Any special interest group which essentially gets to run the country is unwelcome if you care about democracy and consensus.

In a parallel universe you can imagine how perhaps Britain was faced with some bizarre disease that required the highest quality train services to combat, and everyone would be protected if they took three train trips a year. Rail enthusiasts and bosses, and transport unions effectively govern the country for two years. Even we'd be sick of that.

Interesting thoughts, and very accurate in my opinion.

 

[adc82140]

I shared the same article on the support conversation thread.

A natural vaccine is something that should be encouraged, especially if it can reach the whole population in a matter of weeks.

I think the Omicron wave will collapse just a suddenly as it has increased, because if the doubling time is between two and three days as reported, the virus will run out of people to infect by late December or early January.

No no no. Don't you know that there will be 70 million cases a day by new years eve

 

[43066]

I was gonna take the bus and train through central Manchester, returning at 5.30pm (ie shoppers peak = crammed public transport) to watch a football game. Despite having all three jabs, the current news/press etc have scared the whatsit out of me, and I'm driving now. Don't mind the game as it's in the open air.

Am I going out tonight? yes, to a bar that's normally no more than quarter full as it does it's main business during the day.

Don’t you think you’re being a little (or a lot!) irrational?! 90% of what’s in the news is nonsense, as even a modicum if reading around the the subject will reveal. I will never understand why people who claim to be scared witless apparently also lack the motivation to do any research!

 

[Spamcan81]

Omicron could lead to more hospitalisations than last January without 'Plan C'

Omicron could lead to more hospitalisations than the previous peak seen in January 2021 unless 'Plan C' measures are introduced, scientists have predicted.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Funnily enough I seem to recall a certain V Putin said that a week ago.

The key word there is "could" but there seems to be insufficient evidence yet to back that up. Hopefully further research will show that this conjecture is accurate.

 

[chris11256]

I see reports of Gove presenting extremely concerning information at a recent COBRA are doing the rounds in the papers plus his comments on restrictions. I'm not surprised really, I think at every possible stage Gove has always said the restrictions aren't going far enough. It's mad enough that they expect a million cases a day by the end of the month.

If all this ends up not translating into hospital admissions, the government is going to have burnt a lot of good will. I'm not doing this again in April when then the Phi variant appears.

 

[43066]

I'm not doing this again in April when then the Phi variant appears.

I wonder what they’ll move onto once the Greek alphabet is exhausted. Colours of the rainbow? Prominent figures from history? Maybe we can ask the met office to start naming them like significant storms…

 

[yorkie]

I was gonna take the bus and train through central Manchester, returning at 5.30pm (ie shoppers peak = crammed public transport) to watch a football game. Despite having all three jabs, the current news/press etc have scared the whatsit out of me, and I'm driving now. Don't mind the game as it's in the open air.

Am I going out tonight? yes, to a bar that's normally no more than quarter full as it does it's main business during the day.

You cannot avoid exposure to Sars-CoV-2; all you can do is help your immune system to fight it when you are exposed to it.

As you've been vaccinated there is little more than you can do, other than live a healthy lifestyle, eat well, try to relax and sleep well.

Feeling stressed and fearful won't help; sadly inappropriate messaging from the Government and the media is extremely poor in this area.

Driving more isn't going to benefit anyone.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Well, that's a bit silly isn't it?

No, the response of @Howardh is precisely the one that the government, the experts and the media (each for their own reasons) have set out to create. It may not be the best response, it may be evidentially incorrect, but most people don't delve deep into the less well publicised data to get a full picture. They have lives to live and rely on the soundbites to guide them. An elderly relative relies solely on TV News propaganda broadcasts and BBC Red Button for information!

As I asked before, just what is the risk faced by a person of age 'a', gender 'b', health conditions 'c', vaccination status 0, 1, 2, 3 and now 4, household make-up 'd', worklife 'e', social life 'f', shopping habits 'g'? It is possible to run on-line personal inflation calculators, perhaps it is time we had on-line COVID/Coronavirus risk calculators. But that would run contrary to the narrative of attempting to scare everyone witless so they comply by getting jabbed and following the restrictions to the hilt. Meanwhile your leaders party with impunity.

PS, assuming it hasn't changed: being young and female is the best position whilst being old, male and with CEV conditions is the worst position to be in.

CEV - clinically extremely vulnerable

 

[kristiang85]

I wonder what they’ll move onto once the Greek alphabet is exhausted. Colours of the rainbow? Prominent figures from history? Maybe we can ask the met office to start naming them like significant storms…

They should go to the phonetic alphabet.

The Foxtrot variant will have everyone dancing.

The Tango variant will be blamed on trump.

Gove will get very excited over the Charlie variant.

The Whisky variant will come at the right time as everybody will have hit the bottle hard by then.

I guess they would have to skip India, Lima and Zulu though...

 

[yorksrob]

They should go to the phonetic alphabet.

The Foxtrot variant will have everyone dancing.

The Tango variant will be blamed on trump.

Gove will get very excited over the Charlie variant.

The Whisky variant will come at the right time as everybody will have hit the bottle hard by then.

I guess they would have to skip India, Lima and Zulu though...

Bravo :

 

[bramling]

This is just crude naked fearmongering government mandated propaganda now, not even subtle.

I don’t get why the bar now seems to have subtly changed to “protection against symptoms”.

What we’re interested in is the risk of having to go to hospital.

I despair.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Dec 2021 ==

I see reports of Gove presenting extremely concerning information at a recent COBRA are doing the rounds in the papers plus his comments on restrictions. I'm not surprised really, I think at every possible stage Gove has always said the restrictions aren't going far enough. It's mad enough that they expect a million cases a day by the end of the month.

If all this ends up not translating into hospital admissions, the government is going to have burnt a lot of good will. I'm not doing this again in April when then the Phi variant appears.

Of course Gove and company want to scare everyone. The more we’re all in hysteria over Covid, the less we’re discussing Johnson’s suitability for role.

 

[brad465]

I shared the same article on the support conversation thread.

A natural vaccine is something that should be encouraged, especially if it can reach the whole population in a matter of weeks.

I think the Omicron wave will collapse just a suddenly as it has increased, because if the doubling time is between two and three days as reported, the virus will run out of people to infect by late December or early January.

Yes the large Delta wave in India made big headlines here as it surged up, but looking at their graph it declined as rapidly as it climbed, and they haven't had any noticeable wave since:

India COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer

India Coronavirus update with statistics and graphs: total and new cases, deaths per day, mortality and recovery rates, current active cases, recoveries, trends and timeline.

www.worldometers.info

There are a number of other examples of how waves have descended as quickly as they ascended, and I would expect any pure Omicron wave to do similar (South Africa being the earliest example to watch in the coming weeks). We have to remember that no wave lasts forever.

 

[philosopher]

I see reports of Gove presenting extremely concerning information at a recent COBRA are doing the rounds in the papers plus his comments on restrictions. I'm not surprised really, I think at every possible stage Gove has always said the restrictions aren't going far enough. It's mad enough that they expect a million cases a day by the end of the month.

If all this ends up not translating into hospital admissions, the government is going to have burnt a lot of good will. I'm not doing this again in April when then the Phi variant appears.

Gove being in charge is particularly concerning as he seems to be the most pro restriction Tory cabinet member. Boris’s baby arrived at a very bad time!

 

[yorksrob]

Yes, I don't trust Gove in charge.

 

[Mag_seven]

Yes, I don't trust Gove in charge.

Michael "you are only allowed one hour of exercise a day" Gove.

 

[yorksrob]

Michael "you are only allowed one hour of exercise a day" Gove.

Oh yes, if forgotten that !

 

[adc82140]

On the flip side, it's generally the case that whatever Gove says will definitely happen usually doesn't, and vice versa.

 

[nw1]

Gove will get very excited over the Charlie variant.

LOL. He should have been made an example of and had the book thrown at him over his flouting of the drug laws. I am someone with generally libertarian views on whether one should be prosecuted for drug use (as in, I don't support criminalisation - even though I dislike the idea of taking drugs personally), but the one thing I don't like are ministers sanctimoniously telling us what to do when openly flouting the laws themselves. People like Gove and Hancock need to face prosecution, and be made an example of - to show us that power doesn't put you above the law.

Switching sides in the political divide, I am getting increasingly frustrated about the pro-fear attitude taken by the Guardian and much of the so-called left too. Don't they understand that this cannot go on indefinitely?

 

[adc82140]

From the Sky News live feed (can't link directly to that)

Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, said the numbers highlighted by the LSHTM modelling group are "alarming".

"They illustrate clearly that we will be in for another difficult winter," he said.

"It did not have to be this way. There have been national and global failures in how to manage the pandemic. Here in the UK, the 'Freedom Day' lifting of all restrictions, and the progress through the government roadmap, was highlighted by many as being too quick."

He added: "At that point, with far fewer cases to handle, the UK would have been in a better position to handle any rises in daily cases, and not already be struggling with COVID-19 cases at this time of Omicron becoming dominant."

I think his research supervisor would do well to inform him that rather than speaking to the media, he'd be better off going back and learning the basics. He seems very confused. It was stated at the time by Whitty and Valance that "Freedom Day" was happening at the right time, so that the exit wave would happen over the summer period. Which it did.

 

[yorksrob]

From the Sky News live feed (can't link directly to that)


I think his research supervisor would do well to inform him that rather than speaking to the media, he'd be better off going back and learning the basics. He seems very confused. It was stated at the time by Whitty and Valance that "Freedom Day" was happening at the right time, so that the exit wave would happen over the summer period. Which it did.

He's speaking total claptrap anyway. This variant came from abroad, so we could have all been having raves and bacchanalian orgies throughout the summer and it wouldn't have made the slightest difference.

 

[dave87016]

According to ITV news ( which the following is utter claptrap in my opinion ) a London school for tropical medicine specialist estimates between 25,000 and 75,000 odeaths in the UK in the next 5 months from this omicron virus yet IIRC there hasn’t been a single death yet anywhere !!!

 

[Mag_seven]

From the Sky News live feed (can't link directly to that)


I think his research supervisor would do well to inform him that rather than speaking to the media, he'd be better off going back and learning the basics. He seems very confused. It was stated at the time by Whitty and Valance that "Freedom Day" was happening at the right time, so that the exit wave would happen over the summer period. Which it did.

Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, said the numbers highlighted by the LSHTM modelling group are "alarming".

"They illustrate clearly that we will be in for another difficult winter," he said.

"It did not have to be this way. There have been national and global failures in how to manage the pandemic. Here in the UK, the 'Freedom Day' lifting of all restrictions, and the progress through the government roadmap, was highlighted by many as being too quick."

It was always going to be "too quick" for people like this. Don't forget they already delayed it once. I'm sure if this person ran a business or had a job in the real world instead of a nice well paid secure job in the cosy world of academia he might think differently.

 

[yorksrob]

According to ITV news ( which the following is utter claptrap in my opinion ) a London school for tropical medicine specialist estimates between 25,000 and 75,000 odeaths in the UK in the next 5 months from this omicron virus yet IIRC there hasn’t been a single death yet anywhere !!!

25K deaths over five months is about 160 a day, which is similar to now.

 

[LAX54]

You cannot avoid exposure to Sars-CoV-2; all you can do is help your immune system to fight it when you are exposed to it.

As you've been vaccinated there is little more than you can do, other than live a healthy lifestyle, eat well, try to relax and sleep well.

Feeling stressed and fearful won't help; sadly inappropriate messaging from the Government and the media is extremely poor in this area.

Driving more isn't going to benefit anyone.

If this variant is as mild as other Countries say, would it make more 'sense' for as many to get it as possible? and 2) Why is it seen as 'serious' in what appears to be the UK only ?

 

[adc82140]

25K deaths over five months is about 160 a day, which is similar to now.

Even their "worst case" is 500 a day, which is a third of the worst of the January 2021 wave, and half of the normal amount of daily deaths from respiratory illness in a normal year.

 

[LAX54]

According to ITV news ( which the following is utter claptrap in my opinion ) a London school for tropical medicine specialist estimates between 25,000 and 75,000 odeaths in the UK in the next 5 months from this omicron virus yet IIRC there hasn’t been a single death yet anywhere !!!

It only seems a 'serious variant' in the UK !

 

[Mag_seven]

25K deaths over five months is about 160 a day, which is similar to now.

It doesn't matter - to most of the innumerate masses its a big scary number.

 

[dave87016]

I concur 100% with LAX54 and mag_seven