61 people on two flights to NL from SA test positive for Covid. How?

[Tryingtryingandtrying]

Aren't they supposed to test before flying? Or are they all vaccinated and therefore not mandatory, but they have chosen not to? This is a really high number, much higher than I would have thought, must be pushing 10% of passengers and that is before it has spread to the others?

13 of the 61 have so far been confirmed to have the Omicron variant.

It will be very interesting to see if the other 48 cases are also Omicron, or are Delta.

Because if they are just Delta then it means that Omicron is not out-competing Delta, it is not more transmissible.

But if they are all Omicron though then it means it's taking over! And yes very transmissible.

They haven't finished sequencing yet from what I gather on Twitter. I just saw this argument made here:

twitter.com/jcbarret/status/1464940923427635206

"Because if they are just Delta then it means that Omicron is not out-competing Delta"

It's way too early to assume that.

[quote manolantern]13 of the 61 have so far been confirmed to have the Omicron variant.

It will be very interesting to see if the other 48 cases are also Omicron, or are Delta.

Because if they are just Delta then it means that Omicron is not out-competing Delta, it is not more transmissible.

But if they are all Omicron though then it means it's taking over! And yes very transmissible.

They haven't finished sequencing yet from what I gather on Twitter. I just saw this argument made here:

twitter.com/jcbarret/status/1464940923427635206[/quote]
No. That's not how it works. You can't assume anything based on 61 people. For all you know, they might have been part of a group or a delegation, so it would make sense they all have the same variant. Even if most of them have Delta, that doesn't mean Omicron won't outcompete it very soon.

You can't make any deductions or assumptions from this.

Okay but the guy I linked to is "leading the Covid-19 genomics initiative
@sangerinstitute"

So if he says it's significant then probably is!

@manolantern

Okay but the guy I linked to is "leading the Covid-19 genomics initiative *@sangerinstitute*"

So if he says it's significant then probably is!

Where does he say that? Where does he say any of what you've said?

He says:

"Important to understand if the other ~50 positives are not Omicron or just not confirmed yet. If there are a load of Delta infections on the plane it is a very different story to the original assumption."

@manolantern

He says:

"Important to understand if the other ~50 positives are not Omicron or just not confirmed yet. If there are a load of Delta infections on the plane it is a very different story to the original assumption."

Yes. And how is that remotely similar to anything you said? It's really alarming how people just make up all sorts of things and attribute them to a source who said nothing of the sort.

He's purposely not making any assumptions at all...how do you not see that?

@manolantern

He says:

"Important to understand if the other ~50 positives are not Omicron or just not confirmed yet. If there are a load of Delta infections on the plane it is a very different story to the original assumption."

That's not what you said though is it?

I was just trying to extrapolate....

julieca
The variant has only really been detected for 2 weeks. No one knows if it is more deadly or even less deadly.
Lots of people I am sure will still get it mildly even if it is more deadly.
But it takes up to a week after infection before you get symptoms, average about 3 days. Then another few weeks to be hospitalised for those who get it badly, then another few weeks to die for those unfortunate souls.
Just because some people have tested positive does not tell us whether these people will all stay at the mild stage or not.

This ^

@manolantern

I was just trying to extrapolate....

That's not extrapolating, it's making wild assumptions and pretending they're from a reliable source. It's very irresponsible.

Well I directly linked to his tweet in the very same post so that's overstating it. If I hadn't included the link then maybe.

[quote notimagain]Apparently he did have to show “intention to book a test” or some bullshit,

No apparently about it, since I suspect you mean this, err, “bullshit”:

“ Before you travel to England – fully vaccinated…..book and pay for a COVID-19 test – to be taken before the end of day 2 in England”

Standard procedures that applied until the rules changed for some arrivals yesterday..

www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19[/quote]
Yes book and pay for tests, with absolutely no one checking that you have actually used the test or that it was you that tested! As long as you’ve paid for it, no one gives a rats arse what you do with it.

KLM do not require a test?
I flew BA and Ryanair a couple of months ago, and both required tests.