What IS the fuss about omicron?

[GingerHouse]

In all seriousness, data shows that not a single person has died from omicron and that’s in countries that have low vaccine uptake too.

The virus is going to mutate all the time and as things are showing this variant is very contagious and the vaccine doesn’t work as well against it, but it’s mild to almost everybody.

I feel like this is mass panic and for what reason?! I understand wearing a mask where applicable to help reduce the spread but I just don’t get it! Is this going to happen every winter forevermore?

@rrhuth I can indeed read a graph although hope it makes you feel good trying to belittle people who don't hole your catastrophic views.

I've not seen any data that persuades me an omicron wave (which does now seem likely to happen) is especially likely to create any bad problem. Such evidence might emerge, but it hasn't done so why throw away our freedoms again?

[quote bumbleymummy]@AnotherOneWithNoGoodName they’re keeping an eye on things as cases move into the older population but any report I’ve read has said that cases are milder so far and fewer people need oxygen support/critical care so that’s all positive news.[/quote]
That is very good news, and I hope it remains that way.

And fwiw I'm now triple jabbed and have had covid in the past 3 months and i wear a mask/follow rules when mandated to do so.

Don't trust Sage, they've been wrong at every turn!

Can you post your sources in regards to this variant being milder and there being no deaths?

As far as I know it takes 28 days to collect the data on that info and we aren’t there yet.

It is an evolving situation.

@MaxNormal

Chloemol you could possibly have made the same points without being rude. The endless hostility is so incredibly tedious and I'm really not sure what anyone hopes to achieve by it.

Well said.

Being scared does not make people easy to control

It's odd you should mention that, ddl1, since SAGE implied that it most certainly does - and aren't we always being told that SAGE are "expert scientists" who should therefore be listened to?

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/882722/25-options-for-increasing-adherence-to-social-distancing-measures-22032020.pdf

The thing I like the least about these discussions is the way people who believe we’re all doomed tell people who are actually questioning it that they’re stupid and should go and ‘read the data’.

Will one of you please tell me which data you read that only you could be clever enough to understand? Because I also read the data AND listen to real scientists and I don’t think the situation with Omicron is as bad as the —BBC— media and government have us believe either.

Why are the media scaremongering everyone? There's no evidence that it will cause severe illness. Let's get on with our lives

@Yellowarmy

Don't trust Sage, they've been wrong at every turn!

They really haven't.

Are you honestly staying don't trust the qualified scientists and experts??

Where do you get your information from? Facebook?

[quote Puzzledandpissedoff]Being scared does not make people easy to control

It's odd you should mention that, ddl1, since SAGE implied that it most certainly does - and aren't we always being told that SAGE are "expert scientists" who should therefore be listened to?

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/882722/25-options-for-increasing-adherence-to-social-distancing-measures-22032020.pdf[/quote]
Wow, that’s a disturbing document, especially the bit under ‘Persuasion’

Well said @BoPeeple

Every time a variant comes their predictions have been wrong. The graphs they showed last December when announcing lock down were completely doctored. They just want to control you. Show me a prediction that they've got right. When delta arrived it was all doom and gloom but it didn't have the impact they said it would

Where do you get your information from? Facebook?

There it goes again…

@BoPeeple

The trouble is, it’s hard to tell what exactly is threatening to overwhelm the NHS:

• high volumes of seriously ill Covid patients
• high volumes of seriously ill non-Covid patients who have had delayed/neglected treatment due to Covid restrictions
• a reduction in beds (4,500 fewer since pre-Covid due to restrictions)
• patients who were admitted to hospital for something else and have now tested positive for Covid so can’t go home/back to their care setting
• staff self-isolating due to Covid positive children or track and trace

If you look at the data it is impossible to tell, because a lot of the above are rolled into one set.

There’s no doubt that the NHS is struggling, as it does every winter (particularly bad flu winters like 2017, when bed occupancy was often at 92%).

But are the restrictions themselves a bigger threat to the NHS than Covid?

Only the public can decide that when and if they require NHS treatment - prior to that, everyone likes to moan about it.

What we REALLY REALLY need is members of the public to come forward and train to be carers / HCAs / rehab assistants / porters etc - things that can help quickly without a degree required and make a massive different to the entire population. The staff shortages can only be solved by the public at large.

I don’t think the situation with Omicron is as bad as the —BBC— media and government have us believe either

It's early days.I would be absolutely delighted if you were right, in the meantime we could all have a booster if able.

When delta arrived it was all doom and gloom but it didn't have the impact they said it would

Could that be because they locked us down to limit the impact ?

Breaking news: predictions can be wrong in an evolving situation.

Some of you sound unhinged on both sides of the argument.

@Wrongkindofovercoat

Well of course we will (with the freedom to decide for ourselves, hopefully).

What we’re talking about here is whether more restrictions (and the blind panic of half of Mumsnet) is warranted.

Pretty sure delta came along once schools were open etc

Yes, what is the fuss about a new variant of concern during a global pandemic, as multiple countries face rising waves of infection already, as the northern hemisphere enters winter, a typically poor time for hospitals due to other infections and a poor time for suppressing a rise in case numbers in a pandemic due to cold weather, closed windows, and crowds/groups breathing in close quarters...

What on earth is the fuss about a variant of concern with an astonishing number of mutations, which has been shown to evade current vaccines, and which has demonstrated a higher R than previous variants of concern, causing cases to double at an astounding pace...

What could possibly go wrong this winter?

What we REALLY REALLY need is members of the public to come forward and train to be carers / HCAs / rehab assistants / porters etc - things that can help quickly without a degree required and make a massive different to the entire population. The staff shortages can only be solved by the public at large.

that’s a disturbing document, especially the bit under ‘Persuasion’

Yes, BoPeeple, it is - perhaps more so since it's SAGE's own report rather than some Twatter/Facebook version, which I believe is where the insult-mongers think everyone else gets their information

Strange, too, that we're told controlling people through fear is a "ridiculous suggestion" when the evidence is there. Maybe that's why any reference to it is largely ignored?

This thread at least gives me hope that the country won't just indly accept more restrictions.

@Gingernaut Deadly as fuck - with or without vaccines.

What? IFR is considerably less than 1% for most age groups.

www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2918-0