Other countries reactions to Omicron

[Wizzbangfizz]

As the title suggests. What are other countries doing with regards to the "tidal wave" of the new variant, are their rushing towards boosters, locking down?

I personally feel this is a huge and unwarranted overreaction to a surging number of cases (cases, not hospitalisations and not deaths) so I would be interested get other countries viewpoints.

Norway has increased restrictions, reducing social mixing etc. www.reuters.com/world/europe/norway-again-tightens-covid-19-restrictions-bid-halt-spread-2021-12-07/

Denmark is increasing restrictions and pushing forwards with it's booster program. www.ndtv.com/world-news/denmark-cuts-covid-19-booster-shot-interval-to-4-5-months-2648932

Italy - bringing in tighter inbound testing restrictions

Austria - just coming out of a lockdown and has a vaccine passport www.austria.info/en/service-and-facts/coronavirus-information

To be honest, the UK's restrictions and reactiveness is pretty slack compared to other parts of the EU.

The WHO is worried that many countries are Under reacting.

It's only been in the country for a couple of weeks ,so we don't know yet how it's going to impact hospitalisations or deaths
Any way 78,610 cases today .

But cases, not deaths or hospitalisations - and I accept that is not the case YET.

But nobody knows yet ,hence the caution .

If you are not worried about where the UK will be in a week or two's time you haven't really been listening. It's going to be very bad

Surely it's better to be cautious now,if it's all a big fuss over nothing then we will know soon enough .

@x2boys

Surely it's better to be cautious now,if it's all a big fuss over nothing then we will know soon enough .

Yes-the gov have been criticised for not acting quick enough in the past so at least this time they seem to be on the ball

Much rather they are over cautious than under cautious

Lithuania since September have had covid passports for everything except small essential shops.

@Wizzbangfizz

But cases, not deaths or hospitalisations - and I accept that is not the case YET.

The old adage in dealing with pandemics like this is “by the time the precautions seem reasonable it’s already far too late”.

The experts have been saying for a while (long before omicron) that it’s the transmissibility which is the most worrying element - as a even a small % of deaths quickly becomes a very large number when a virus is very very transmissible.

Also - we are expected to run out of PCR test capability very very soon which the way numbers are increasing.

The WHO said this morning was that countries betting the farm on boosters alone will not be enough.

@kittykarate

Norway has increased restrictions, reducing social mixing etc. www.reuters.com/world/europe/norway-again-tightens-covid-19-restrictions-bid-halt-spread-2021-12-07/

Denmark is increasing restrictions and pushing forwards with it's booster program. www.ndtv.com/world-news/denmark-cuts-covid-19-booster-shot-interval-to-4-5-months-2648932

Italy - bringing in tighter inbound testing restrictions

Austria - just coming out of a lockdown and has a vaccine passport www.austria.info/en/service-and-facts/coronavirus-information

To be honest, the UK's restrictions and reactiveness is pretty slack compared to other parts of the EU.

This but also most of these countries had tougher restrictions than us to in the first place. I have relatives In Italy. Even before omicron they had vaccine passports and much stricter mask wearing rules (basically you have to wear a mask when you go pretty much anywhere). Also they have a better vaccination rate than we do.

@SkateboardInTheNet how many other pandemics have we had other than the Spanish flu which is not comparable?

[quote Wizzbangfizz]@SkateboardInTheNet how many other pandemics have we had other than the Spanish flu which is not comparable?
[/quote]
Unfortunately it’s not just about the UK.

The WHO have said this as have other people who have had experience with Ebola, MERS, AIDS, SARS etc.

It’s not just about global pandemics it’s about pandemic management even where they managed to keep it at a more local level.

Also - we are expected to run out of PCR test capability very very soon which the way numbers are increasing.

With how many we are doing it's hardly surprising we will run out. Over a million a day.