Nand

@BristolUK I agree, it sounds like a change of mind.

To be blunt, I feel that the message is carry on, and spread this variant around as much as possible.

IDK what else to think really?

What else follows logically?

We are not locking down here, just asked to work from home 3 days. Schools open, a few more masks being worn, otherwise, nothing. Only vaxed people are allowed out. Other than that everybody is just doing whateverr.

I'm in North West coastal France, 91% vaxed here so they say. Still, the cases are over 200,000 a day usually atm. A lot!

Gozit

originally I thought the messaging in Ontario was that - go out and spread it. But now they are doing restrictions again so who TF knows what they are trying to do?

I'm getting a little tired of "We don't have enough hospital beds, we're adding more" ... reports from people in healthcare show this is not true, Ford has received $$$$$ from the federal government for covid. He hasn't passed it on to small businesses forced to close, individuals losing income as a result of his shutdowns, etc, the least he could have done is put it towards the healthcare system and adding more capacity so we don't have to shut down. But no instead we are spending money on useless HEPA filters for schools that the staff don't know how to install so are sitting unused.

Shard

UK today:
​​​218K/14K/48
cases/hospital/deaths

Jerseygirl

How are people coping in your part of the UK? Is it pretty much ‘carry on as normal’?

Shard

It seems to be. The schools have just started to wear mask in classes but, surprisingly transport and shops are guidance only. A few months ago it was the opposite of that - go figure. Just prior to Omicron it was really getting back to normal, and then December was suddenly mixed reactions, and now January should set the outlook until spring. My sense is that the UK is about 3 weeks ahead of North America on Omicron.

printer

And in BC finally Bonnie Henry comes round to the fact that she aint going to solve this with better masks or reduced capacity and i quote from todays update:During a news conference Tuesday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said she is trying to get out of the business of issuing public health orders to manage the pandemic.

“I do think it is over to the [private] sector,” to mitigate certain risks associated with the pandemic, Henry said, explaining many vaccinated people will likely contract a mild form of the virus in the coming weeks.

Most vaccinated people will be protected from serious illness or hospitalizations, she said.

Paul_Shepherd

Hmm... funny how the media in general are just cottoning on to that too.... seems they have wrung their hands and frothed as much as they can, and finally accepted its a massive over reaction to the level of threat present. If your fully vaccinated chances are, its going to be no more than a cold, if this is the case lets form herd immunity and move on! and stop wrecking business's

Shard

Good video explaining about new variants post Omicron.

Rete

I tested positive on Monday. Also mild symptoms. Runny and stuffy nose, heavy cough and sore throat. Feeling 90% better today.

I went to the drive-in at my primary doctor's office for the test. You tell them you are there and which # parking space you are in and they come out and do the test after they print out your paperwork from their computer records. About 40 minutes later they are back with the results.

In lower New York State, one school district is back to virtual school as so many teachers and school workers have called in sick.

Danny B

Look on the bright side, you had omicron with mild symptoms and now you have strong natural immunity.

I agreed with shutting the world down for the first strain in early 2020 before the vaccine was introduced and people were suffocating to death, but not for this milder variant.

The fear right now in BC is not from high cases or hospitalizations or even deaths, but from a third of the workforce calling in sick at the same time.

Shard

23 UK hospitals declared "critical incidents" today (signal of minimal extra capacity). Not a good week if someone is planning a heart attack !

Danny B

All depends what the media want you to believe, this twitter thread has some very interesting graphs regarding UK cases.

Shard

I'm just quoting one of the senior NHS people who was on Channel 4 News tonight. If hospitals are declaring critical incidents it's a real world signal (beyond graphs) that the system is under strain.

Danny B

I wonder if that is from the lack of NHS staff due to sickness , or more patients being admitted due to COVID? Either way it’s an awful situation to be in.

Shard

I think a bit of both. Or maybe a lot of both ! Hopefully in a few weeks we'll all be past the worst of this damn pandemic. Viruses are successful if they don't kill their hosts, so maybe Omicron is a blessing in disguise (apart from.those unfortunate enough not to survive).