Coronavirus (2021) thread

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But people on here, only a few hours ago, were keen to point out that the case numbers are not doubling like SAGE said they would. This is not correct - Omicron cases have more than doubled every two days for the last three days. This won't continue forever because of the sheer scale of the numbers, but if it carries on even only for the next week, you're looking at 75,000 cases on Tuesday, 150,000 on Thursday and 300,000 by Christmas Day. IF - and that's a big IF - it were to continue even only for a few days into next week, I think you can see where those numbers are heading.
And…..

Seriously, if Omicron ends up with an Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) of 0.016% (across a mainly unvaccinated population in RSA) then it’s eight to ten times less deadly than a normal, run of the mill dose of Flu.
 
Hospitalisations may or may not spike. The other factor to be taken into account is workforce availability so case number do still probably matter. I know this has been highlighted previously.

To give a very loose and less important comparison. The number of vehicles for parking at City’s home games in the opening months of the season increased by 5% and the available car parking spaces, close to the ground, fell by 20%. There was parking chaos for weeks.

I am hoping there won’t need to be lockdowns / tough restrictions but the people calling the shots have to look at the range of variables. It’s vital they health services are able to sustain the range of care they offer.
But if Omicron is basically a mild flu, then people surely don’t need to be quarantining for ten days after testing positive.
 
How long did it take people to get their smell/taste back? Wife has lost hers.
This information comes from an article in Nature in January this year, so there will likely be more recent information.

‘For most people, smell, taste and chemesthesis recover within weeks. In a study published last July, 72% of people with COVID-19 who had olfactory dysfunction reported that they recovered their sense of smell after a month, as did 84% of people with taste dysfunction.’
 
But if Omicron is basically a mild flu, then people surely don’t need to be quarantining for ten days after testing positive.
This, which has to be the endgame, isolations etc have to eventually stop. You feel like shit, take the day off etc but being stuck at home for 10 days with nothing much more than a cold obviously isn’t sustainable.
 
But if Omicron is basically a mild flu, then people surely don’t need to be quarantining for ten days after testing positive.
Yeah, it doesn’t make sense. Was different for Delta and the other main variants but there’s loads of anecdotal evidence of people catching Omicron and not even being bed bound at home.

And on that note, I’ve had a runny nose all weekend and nothing else. Just done a LFT at work and it’s positive so now on my way home. Had my booster last Wednesday so that hasn’t fully kicked in yet but hoping if it’s Omicron (which it probably is as I’ve previously had Covid) it won’t get any worse. I actually felt worse after having my booster than I do now. This is fuck all at present and if it was a cold rather than Covid it would be nowhere near enough to keep me off work.
 
But if Omicron is basically a mild flu, then people surely don’t need to be quarantining for ten days after testing positive.
Raab on Radio 4 now saying that they still don’t have ‘hard data’ on its severity, so until they have that they presumably won’t reduce the isolation time. By extension, with the same logic, they surely cannot put the country into a harder lockdown if they don’t have the same data on severity. Johnson expected to deliver a press conference this afternoon.
 
But if Omicron is basically a mild flu, then people surely don’t need to be quarantining for ten days after testing positive.
It might be but if we gamble that Omicron is no worse than flu then it might be too late if the overall impact of Omicron is more harmful. It could be milder but still result in enough hospitalisations to kibosh other health service procedures.

It might be pointless introducing tougher restrictions anyway now. People who were going to Christmas parties with work etc will have had them (or cancelled) A lot of people will have broken up from school, work, etc and there is little in the way of big sporting fixtures until Boxing Day.
 
Yeah, it doesn’t make sense. Was different for Delta and the other main variants but there’s loads of anecdotal evidence of people catching Omicron and not even being bed bound at home.

And on that note, I’ve had a runny nose all weekend and nothing else. Just done a LFT at work and it’s positive so now on my way home. Had my booster last Wednesday so that hasn’t fully kicked in yet but hoping if it’s Omicron (which it probably is as I’ve previously had Covid) it won’t get any worse. I actually felt worse after having my booster than I do now. This is fuck all at present and if it was a cold rather than Covid it would be nowhere near enough to keep me off work.
Ha, join my club mate.
 
It might be but if we gamble that Omicron is no worse than flu then it might be too late if the overall impact of Omicron is more harmful. It could be milder but still result in enough hospitalisations to kibosh other health service procedures.
This is the bit that I think a lot of people miss.

It's easy to make throwaway comments on a forum saying say it's milder and there is anecdotal evidence etc.
A bit harder to take that on faith when you are in a position of responsibility where your decisions could cost people their lives.

I said it several times here on Saturday night: there will be a reason that the government and SAGE are making the comments they are and are considering hard choices - and it's nothing to do with simply annoying the public.

Hopefully Omicron is a storm in a teacup ..... but they have to be sure.
 
Yeah, it doesn’t make sense. Was different for Delta and the other main variants but there’s loads of anecdotal evidence of people catching Omicron and not even being bed bound at home.

And on that note, I’ve had a runny nose all weekend and nothing else. Just done a LFT at work and it’s positive so now on my way home. Had my booster last Wednesday so that hasn’t fully kicked in yet but hoping if it’s Omicron (which it probably is as I’ve previously had Covid) it won’t get any worse. I actually felt worse after having my booster than I do now. This is fuck all at present and if it was a cold rather than Covid it would be nowhere near enough to keep me off work.
Which is why I imagine a lot of people just won’t bother testing themselves.

The potential to be stuck at home for 10 days over Christmas with a few cold symptoms.
 
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