The Omicron variant

Agreed.I can only speak from my own experience and it was a valuable (if a bit embarrassing lesson for a man in his 40s)

When this all kicked off I was stunned by the stupidly, selfishness and just lack of empathy and general cop on in places like the now fairly infamous restrictions threads.I actually thought that stuff was representative of the real world. Embarrassing but in the crazy times of spring 2020 anything was possible, we weren't allowed 2k from our houses!

Once I had real conversations with family,friends,work colleagues acquaintances it became clear that out of say 300 people I know as above 1 or 2 had gone off the deep end.

It might just be a personal thing but I'm glad I can laugh at/ pity/ empathise (to some degree) with this cohort at this stage whilst realising its not representative of real life.

I'm all for questioning data,responses etc and I can get into it with people in the pub or online etc but bottom line is I'm a low rank health care worker who knows fùck all about it.

I ask questions of my doctor,dentist,mechanic builder,plumber,accountant but I don't over rule them with something I read on facebook .You have to trust the science and people who are qualified to read it.

Apologies for the rant!

Its insane to see how the media can stir up a frenzy out of nothing.

A new variant, with no known additional risk (suggestions it may be even milder) - and yet the headlines are dominated by doomsday predictions and the phrase "SUPER MUTANT"

And then some people crying for borders to be shut and for us to be locked in our houses to protect us from what looks to be an even weaker variant - if this is infact milder then we should be encouraging spread. A mild infectious virus is exactly what you want from a pandemic management POV - it makes it more likely things will go back to normal.

So you want to put hundreds of thousands of people out of work a few weeks before Christmas just incase?

Cases appear to have plateaud and are likely declining and hospital numbers have been reducing. We know literally nothing about this variant and there's actually a chance that it will be more mild, if it even does take hold.

We definitely need to keep an eye on things, but it's way too early to make rash decisions.

Here's one

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10246223/amp/Travel-industry-despair-new-uncertainty-caused-super-mutant-variant.html

I am all for hearing that this is milder and the more days go by and the South Africans keep saying so great. But it would want to be significantly milder to undo the transmissiblity that anecdotal and preliminary data is suggesting. At risks groups haven't substantially been exposed to this yet either. But then europe is far more vacinated with boosters to come than SA, but on the flip side SA has a high level of natural immunity and a younger population than Europe.

Do you not usually turn to "The UK Sun" and "The UK Mirror" for your, measured, scientific, updates? 😋

The Variant That Stole Christmas Part II as it was another variant last christmas. i wish now "they" would just give us an idea of what christmas will be like so we can reassess our plans etc. if its mild why so much panic. because its more easily spreadable and the vaccines are waning. i guess. but surely a new variant not a surprise its doing what viruses do - which is mutate.

Moving the goalposts again I see. I never said it was exclusively Irish media - although the phrase has been used on Irish radio unfortunately

C'mon Wibbs. Nobody thinks that there is ever a position that the virus is harmless until midnight. That is up there with the people who conclude that the legislators were under the impression that a 9 Euro sandwich makes you immune.

The reason they limit activities is to reduce the opportunities for spread. If person A with covid runs into a room and straight back out, they will infect far less people than person B who has covid but who stays in the room for everyone else for 5 hours. Limiting socialising time simply reduces potential spread. That is all.

I for one welcome our new Omnicron Super Mutant Overlord.

It has gotten me out of all planned family meet-ups over the Christmas. All my Whattsapp groups are buzzing with End of Days scenarios. Quite the frenzy out there.