~*Official #COVID-19 Thread of Doom*~ Revenge of Omicron Prime

[SimpleG]

2 minutes ago, Air_Delivery said:

So was the doctor a fake or did the doctor lie?

the doctor lied

[Air_Delivery]

13 minutes ago, SimpleG said:

the doctor lied

They should have their licence revoked.

[CitizenVectron]

 

This plague is really hurting the bottom line, so we'll allow 40% more people to catch it to keep the quarterlies up!

 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

Centers for defending capital 

[Jason]

 

[CitizenVectron]

 

[Jason]

1 minute ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

 

Apparently the actual guidance includes only going back to work if you're not symptomatic and wearing a mask for the second five days even if you're not. Which lol of fucking course nobody will it's not even making it into the reporting. Plus between what we've seen in the pandemic and the shit people used to bring into work people clearly have no idea what "symptomatic" means.

[Chris-]

37 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

This plague is really hurting the bottom line, so we'll allow 40% more people to catch it to keep the quarterlies up!

 

 

Alternatively: their models on Omicron's contagiousness and community spread are so grim, the original guidance would have a crippling impact on some fragile industries (health care, education, transportation, etc.), so they needed to give the necessary places adequate cover. Like @sblfilms, sometimes the 'right' approach doesn't yield the best outcomes.

[Chris-]

There's a classic management issue of 'rewarding B but wishing for A', and doing what is 'right' in this instance qualifies. 

[Jason]

3 minutes ago, Chris- said:

Alternatively: their models on Omicron's contagiousness and community spread are so grim, the original guidance would have a crippling impact on some fragile industries (health care, education, transportation, etc.), so they needed to give the necessary places adequate cover. Like @sblfilms, sometimes the 'right' approach doesn't yield the best outcomes.

 

If there were specific critical industries they were concerned about then they could have issued industry-specific guidance. E.g. healthcare, have doctors and nurses who should have still been isolating come in to work just in the COVID ward. Or say trucking, probably not an enormous deal since truckers are mostly isolating all day anyhow.

[Chris-]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

 

If there were specific critical industries they were concerned about then they could have issued industry-specific guidance. E.g. healthcare, have doctors and nurses who should have still been isolating come in to work just in the COVID ward. Or say trucking, probably not an enormous deal since truckers are mostly isolating all day anyhow.

 

What good would that have done? People dissect the relative benefits of mask types, constantly jeer about incorrectly worn masks, mock the contradiction of wearing masks in a restaurant but taking them off to eat, and look critically at any and all guidance that issued. People would read about those policies and think, 'So flight attendants can do it but secretaries can't? It's OK for a nurse but not an accountant?' It would be even more contemptible than the guidance they actually issued, and the well would only be even more poisoned against them, further undercutting any potential compliance they might be able to wrestle out of people. 

[Jason]

13 minutes ago, Chris- said:

 

What good would that have done? People dissect the relative benefits of mask types, constantly jeer about incorrectly worn masks, mock the contradiction of wearing masks in a restaurant but taking them off to eat, and look critically at any and all guidance that issued. People would read about those policies and think, 'So flight attendants can do it but secretaries can't? It's OK for a nurse but not an accountant?' It would be even more contemptible than the guidance they actually issued, and the well would only be even more poisoned against them, further undercutting any potential compliance they might be able to wrestle out of people. 

 

They're chasing compliance from people who are never going to listen to what the CDC says no matter what at the expense of losing the people who are inclined to listen to the CDC but are left WTFing at what the CDC is doing. Remember how well that worked when they announced the revised mask guidance in the spring which everyone immediately seized on as THE NEW CDC RULES SAY NO MORE MASKS? All it's doing is giving free rain to companies who'll do the bare minimum regulations require them to. 

[Jason]

Seriously, that's the only thing that's going to change. Half the public will keep isolating longer than 10 days regardless, the other half was always going to be like sbl's inlaws and refuse to isolate at all, but it gives companies cover to force workers back in prematurely, which is precisely why they were lobbying the CDC for this. 

[Chris-]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

 

They're chasing compliance from people who are never going to listen to what the CDC says no matter what at the expense of losing the people who are inclined to listen to the CDC but are left WTFing at what the CDC is doing. Remember how well that worked when they announced the revised mask guidance in the spring which everyone immediately seized on as THE NEW CDC RULES SAY NO MORE MASKS?

 

I assure you that the number of people and places who will follow CDC guidance no matter what is far, far bigger than the number of people who will abandon guidance altogether because they think the CDC's policy isn't strong enough. You aren't going to the store maskless because the stock clerks aren't wearing their masks over their noses, and most people don't throw the baby out with the bath water because the bath water isn't their preferred temperature. 

[Chris-]

Also they aren't chasing compliance, they are fighting off noncompliance; those aren't the same thing!

[Joe]

There is data behind the CDC’s decision. It’s not like they’re just throwing in the towel.

[SaysWho?]

Omicron nowhere near as prominent as first thought:

 

The CDC slashes estimates of omicron's prevalence in the U.S.

WWW.NPR.ORG

---

New data from the CDC released on Tuesday, shows that while omicron remains the dominant variant, delta – which is the more severe strain – is still a worrisome driving force behind the current surge.

 

Quote

The CDC had previously reported that as of Dec. 18, 73% of new cases were linked to omicron. But on Tuesday, the agency revised those figures, slashing that estimate to 23% – a 50-point drop, suggesting that while the new variant was on the rise, it was not infecting people at the rate the CDC had projected.

"There's no way around it, it is a huge swing that makes it seem like something went really wrong," Dr. Shruti Gohil, associate medical director for epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine's School of Medicine, told NPR. "But there is always a delay in the testing information that comes in, and that's what the public should take away."

 

Quote

The most recent report shows that as of Dec. 25, 59% of all U.S. infections were caused by omicron. Meanwhile, delta accounted for 41% of cases during the same period. And the number of those infections could be even higher, given the agency's margin of error on the collected data. The true figure could be as high as 58%.

 

Given the CDC's updated information, Gohil said, "The implication is that we have a lot of delta going on and that requires a lot more attention."

 

[SuperSpreader]

Oh goodie that means that we can get a real omiwave in February.

[Fizzzzle]

Apparently at work my chef's girlfriend and ex-wife both tested positive for COVID. My boss made the chef get tested (he had just spent the holidays with one and/or both of them) and lo and behold, he also tested positive. He had been working all day in the kitchen without a mask on.

 

I haven't been there in almost a week, so I'm not worried, but my friend is also sick, they're just not sure if it's COVID or just the flu yet, they're getting tested today or tomorrow.

[Pikachu]

My boss and our head sales guy got exposed to COVID, so I am working from home today. I normally go into the office on Mondays and Wednesdays.

[Keyser_Soze]

14 hours ago, SimpleG said:

So my wifes boss had a patient come in this morning for a minor surgery. This patient was required to have a negative covid test prior to coming in. The patient had their doctor call my wifes office and verify the negative results . Doctor said the test was done in her office and was negative .Jump to this afternoon and i have all the symptoms that @sblfilms has, and my wife decides to call the same doctors office to see if she could get me in for a test. She doesnt tell them who she is or where she works, the nurse there says "we dont do that here", my wife says "really? a friend swears she had a test done there recently". Nurse says"100 percent, if we did them I would be the one doing or overseeing it. My wifes boss is ready to go full on Chernobyl , he deals with hundreds of at risk patients and is at risk himself.

 

Are there places where you get tested by the doctor? In my experience (granted this was a while ago) you talk to the doctor and they say go get a test, they don't say come in and I'll test you myself.

[Ghost_MH]

Cool. My anti-vax and anti-mask aunt thought it was cool to not mention that she wasn't feeling well when deciding to drop by and visit my grandmother over Christmas. She has COVID, so it was pretty cool exposing an 80+ year old asthmatic. She doesn't even leave the house. My mother does all her shopping for her. Also cool, because my mother was over to do some shopping for her earlier this week.

[SimpleG]

8 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Are there places where you get tested by the doctor? In my experience (granted this was a while ago) you talk to the doctor and they say go get a test, they don't say come in and I'll test you myself.

Yup, my primary physician does it in his office, which I would have gone too but hes completely out of tests.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, SuperSpreader said:

Oh goodie that means that we can get a real omiwave in February.

They were off by about 11 days. The wave is already here.

[AbsolutSurgen]

In Ontario, the bad news:

1)  Case numbers are spiking (and probably understated due to low testing)

2)  Hospitalizations are starting to go up (though, at a significantly slower pace than in other waves)

 

The Good news:

1)  Deaths aren't noticeably increasing 

2)  ICU bed usage isn't noticeably increasing

 

Since we're now several weeks into Omicron, I would have expected some movement in the most severe aspects of Covid.  So far, doesn't seem to be happening.

 

Yet,  the Canadian media keeps harping on the case numbers -- and not mentioning the other stats (which IMHO, are significantly more meaningful).

 

At this point in the pandemic, I'm not particularly worried about my family -- we're all at very low risk of complications (and are vaccinated).  Parents and in-laws are mostly boosted, and most where CN95 masks when going out.

 

I am primarily concerned about the impact the pandemic has on our day-to-day lives -- i.e. the ability of my kids to go to school and lead "normalish" lives.  I am still trying to figure out at what point we decide if the kids can go back to school next week.

 

If there is no credible threat to the hospital system, what would the rationale of continued restrictions be?  I'm not sure I know how to think about this yet.

[Joe]

 

[Jason]

5 minutes ago, Joe said:

 

 

"Not sure what to do with the info?" Rapid tests are very good for telling whether you're contagious!

[AbsolutSurgen]

12 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

"Not sure what to do with the info?" Rapid tests are very good for telling whether you're contagious!

I think that some scientists believe that a rapid test may still show as positive, even after you are no longer contagious.

[Jason]

25 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

I think that some scientists believe that a rapid test may still show as positive, even after you are no longer contagious.

 

I thought that was an issue with PCR tests not antigen tests.

[CitizenVectron]

 

[Keyser_Soze]

 

[Joe]

Let’s gooooooooo

 

 

[SuperSpreader]

27 minutes ago, Joe said:

Let’s gooooooooo

 

 

 

[skillzdadirecta]

the last couple of pages of this thread:

 

 

[SuperSpreader]

3 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

the last couple of pages of this thread:

 

 

 

"I got it now you're all getting it anyway!!!"