The Omicron variant is 2x more contagious than the Delta.
Overall, as stated, the trend is for new variants of viruses is to be more contagious but less deadly (when you look at all the info). This is how they “survive”.
Just because an illness won’t “kill” me, doesn’t mean I want to go through it.
Yeah well I wasn’t suggesting that you or anyone would want to. I was stating something science-based. That’s how I roll. 😉
I do know it is In this country; and as JPD has said, we would have been foolish to think it hasn’t been. I am curious to know what the news of it spreading like wildfire is based on. Joshua said it has been in the EU longer than SA which is curious.
The media is having a field day mentioning that F O is spreading like wildfire in South Africa. They forget to mention that 75 percent of the population is unvaccinated so anything would spread.
“If we were 90% vaccinated, we would be in a VERY different place.”
– Dr. Francis Collins, NIH
These folks drive me nuts. They need to look in a mirror rather than blame everyone else and further divide us.
If our health “experts” were honest we’d be in a very different place. If we mandated proper precautions, we would be in a very different place.
I believe our politicians have done much more to divide us than our health experts. Of course, neither is totally blameless I suppose.
I agree but certainly doesn’t give the health experts a pass. Collins comment is a prime example. He knows errors have been made and continue to be made …serious ones….so he is deflecting and further dividing.
President Biden sounds awful, voice practically unrecognizable. He needs to stay away from his family for awhile as he got his bad cold from his one year old grandson if I’m not mistaken.
I have a bad feeling this recent Thanksgiving was more of a super spreader than last year at this time. The President’s case is a good example.
Yikes. I didn’t know he was ill. And I absolutely agree that he needs to stay away. I’m assuming he is well tested and does not have covid.
He does not have Covid, just a bad cold, as reported at least. Hope they (WH) aren’t hiding anything.
Agreed. I like to think this WH would not hide it. Yes, I can be a Pollyanna.
On the good news side, I shook the fever very early Friday morning, was unusually tired yesterday and maybe still a bit today, but I am much more me. It is interesting how people’s immune systems react so differently to the vaccine.
Glad you’re getting better Vicki. Hopefully no more boosters will be required of us.
Thank you, sir. I have a feeling they will but maybe they will be a bit easier to handle???
Well, I do have one more space left in my CDC proof-of-vaccination card. After that, who knows? 😉
Oddly, they used my last two on Wednesday. I wondered about that
We don’t know the definitive answer on how virulent Omicron is, however, early data does suggest that it may, indeed, be
milder than delta.
If it turns out to be much milder, then we could be in business.
If it doesn’t kill, then we can let everyone get it and it will become
more like the common cold. No , you don’t want it, but it won’t kill you either.
It is better than the alternative.
But, I do think it is too early to call that one yet.
The one wild card, even if symptoms are mild, unlike the common cold, will there be “long term” effects thereafter recovery?
One thing we have learned now is that Covid-19 never totally leaves your system well after recovery. Some symptoms tend to return, albeit minor.
Yes, very good point.
Indeed 🙁
I have been hearing according to our “health experts” it could be 3-4 months before we know for certain what the Omicron variant can/can’t do.
TOO much focus on Omicron. Way too much. Eric Topol is now saying this, too. I agree.
We’re in a terrible Delta wave – ongoing and reinforced by Thanksgiving – with an awful toll.
On Friday, the U.S. reported 157,500 new Delta cases. Enormous daily jumps. Also, 1,800 deaths, and hospitalizations approaching 60,000 soon.
U.S. also reported 11 Omicron cases (which the media talk about obsessively)
The Netherlands has turned the corner, with decreases across the board. Still a lot of infections, but fewer. Mitigation does work, folks. We’re seeing dramatic decreases in case in Austria. Again, mitigation does work, folks. Yet, we don’t do anything remotely close to real mitigation here. My ex-wife is very surprised to see how crowded the restaurants are. She and I just took a walk with our son in the South End. “Don’t they have rules or capacity limits?” Well, no, I answered.
Not to appear “snarky” Joshua, but restaurants need to start earning a living again. Let’s hope the new Mayor Wu doesn’t get the idea to impose capacity limits as that would likely put only more establishments out of business.
While on the subject, what about nightclubs in Boston? Have they been allowed to reopen to capacity, if at all?
Also, North End restaurants are upset as it is since they are no longer allowed outdoor dining. All others can go for it until the end of this month if I’m not mistaken. 12/31/2021.
I sure agree, Joshua, refocus in O and the media nonsense….also on restaurant capacity.
It seems Restaurants are not even required to have staff wear masks out this way nor are customers. No place is unless the business mandates.
What about religious establishments?
No one masks
I wouldn’t step foot in a restaurant even if I were paid handsomely.
Nor would we.
You can’t imagine how many doctors and healthcare workers are experiencing burnout. This is just one of hundreds of example I see every day. A doctor from Ohio, where cases are approaching all-time highs. https://twitter.com/MDNidhi/status/1466558977915822084
I bet the most burnout are from the “unvaccinated” inside the ICU’s. At least the fully vaccinated can be treated at the hospital and sent home.
I have a friend who is an ICU PA. She has always chosen the more difficult areas because she felt she might help more there. She is retiring. She is younger than I, and I never thought I’d see the day. She and others like her are such a tremendous loss to healthcare.
Joshua, after reading your last posting from yesterday, the BBC article on the early stages of Covid-19 left me with great pause. Looking back, we as the world gave the virus a good 2-3 months head start, if you will. As much as I hate masking, we didn’t really start that in earnest until the month of May (#5) if I recall here in this state anyway. Maybe late April? Perhaps some lives could have been saved if Dr. Fauci had suggested wearing them right away. Instead, he didn’t believe they were even necessary. Also, masks were hard to find, even in pharmacies for awhile. It wasn’t until summer 2020 that masks were being sold in my neighborhood convenience stores. In conclusion, the coronavirus pretty much had a 4-5 month head start in the U.S. basically to impose its will!
Also, looking at that BBC world map, based on the location of Wuhan (China), if this occurred a hundred years ago, would the virus likely have remained in China? With such convenient air travel has made the world more mobile than ever imo.
I just went back and read the article. I knew something was brewing in late December but thought like Ebola and others it would not escalate. Then I started to worry and began looking for masks the first week of January. There were no masks to be had.
I was lucky. I had a great deal of insight because Mac’s brother is very involved in emergency planning for hospitals. We had talked way back in April of 2006 regarding the importance of pandemic disaster planning. Both he and I worked jointly to make multiple lists of what to do by different stages….steps to take if pandemic is suspected all the way to a list of what to do if the worst happens.
When I got to that last list I knew we were in serious trouble. And frankly, as thorough as the lists were, they needed a lot of tweaking when life became real.
Bottom line is that if I knew, our health folks worldwide knew. Very sad indeed.
I am darned near positive Fauci discouraged masking because the masks were needed for our front line workers and first responders. My son and everyone he worked with were issued on mask every 10 days. It was during that period where he had covid the first time.
Yes, that is 100% correct
I was completely clueless until early-mid March.
It’s been awhile since I have been inside a “sit-down” restaurant at my favorite establishment O’Malley’s in Brookline due to their radical time change of opening at 4:00 pm most days since the pandemic began.
1. When entering masks must be worn.
2. When seated, masks must remain on until drinks are ordered. Once said drinks are served, remove mask and enjoy the rest of your stay! 🙂
3. All waitstaff are masked at all times btw.
4. Enter one door, exit the other. Mask back on upon exiting until outside entirely.
Note, if you wish to remain at table once the bill is presented and/or paid, all guests must place masks back on.
Vicki, how long will your son have to quarantine? Can he go back to work before Christmas?
3 cheers for that nurse! Amazing though what the unvaccinated will do NOT to get vaccinated. Nice try anyway. 😉
As Mac would often say. Dio Mio!
Great points, Philip and Vicki.
From the Globe. I was tempted to not post because I don’t like giving O a platform. But it is actually positive news
“The first coronavirus case of the Omicron variant was detected in Massachusetts, according to a Saturday statement from the state’s department of public health.
“The individual is a female in her 20s and a resident of Middlesex County who traveled out of state. She is fully vaccinated, has experienced mild disease, and did not require hospitalization. The variant was identified through sequencing performed at New England Biolabs,” officials said in a press release.”
I wonder if she had her booster
Not known at this time. My bet is just by her young age, no. I don’t get the feeling younger folks are interested in boosters just yet. Just my opinion on that. I do know something else, she has not been hospitalized since her symptoms were mild.
My son said the test site in RI does rapid and PCR. If rapid shows positive which his did, they go by that. I wonder if they check to see what variant.
C-19 for 12-5 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Thanks TK.
The Omicron variant is 2x more contagious than the Delta.
Overall, as stated, the trend is for new variants of viruses is to be more contagious but less deadly (when you look at all the info). This is how they “survive”.
Just because an illness won’t “kill” me, doesn’t mean I want to go through it.
Yeah well I wasn’t suggesting that you or anyone would want to. I was stating something science-based. That’s how I roll. 😉
I do know it is In this country; and as JPD has said, we would have been foolish to think it hasn’t been. I am curious to know what the news of it spreading like wildfire is based on. Joshua said it has been in the EU longer than SA which is curious.
The media is having a field day mentioning that F O is spreading like wildfire in South Africa. They forget to mention that 75 percent of the population is unvaccinated so anything would spread.
“If we were 90% vaccinated, we would be in a VERY different place.”
– Dr. Francis Collins, NIH
These folks drive me nuts. They need to look in a mirror rather than blame everyone else and further divide us.
If our health “experts” were honest we’d be in a very different place. If we mandated proper precautions, we would be in a very different place.
I believe our politicians have done much more to divide us than our health experts. Of course, neither is totally blameless I suppose.
I agree but certainly doesn’t give the health experts a pass. Collins comment is a prime example. He knows errors have been made and continue to be made …serious ones….so he is deflecting and further dividing.
President Biden sounds awful, voice practically unrecognizable. He needs to stay away from his family for awhile as he got his bad cold from his one year old grandson if I’m not mistaken.
I have a bad feeling this recent Thanksgiving was more of a super spreader than last year at this time. The President’s case is a good example.
Yikes. I didn’t know he was ill. And I absolutely agree that he needs to stay away. I’m assuming he is well tested and does not have covid.
He does not have Covid, just a bad cold, as reported at least. Hope they (WH) aren’t hiding anything.
Agreed. I like to think this WH would not hide it. Yes, I can be a Pollyanna.
On the good news side, I shook the fever very early Friday morning, was unusually tired yesterday and maybe still a bit today, but I am much more me. It is interesting how people’s immune systems react so differently to the vaccine.
Glad you’re getting better Vicki. Hopefully no more boosters will be required of us.
Thank you, sir. I have a feeling they will but maybe they will be a bit easier to handle???
Well, I do have one more space left in my CDC proof-of-vaccination card. After that, who knows? 😉
Oddly, they used my last two on Wednesday. I wondered about that
We don’t know the definitive answer on how virulent Omicron is, however, early data does suggest that it may, indeed, be
milder than delta.
If it turns out to be much milder, then we could be in business.
If it doesn’t kill, then we can let everyone get it and it will become
more like the common cold. No , you don’t want it, but it won’t kill you either.
It is better than the alternative.
But, I do think it is too early to call that one yet.
The one wild card, even if symptoms are mild, unlike the common cold, will there be “long term” effects thereafter recovery?
One thing we have learned now is that Covid-19 never totally leaves your system well after recovery. Some symptoms tend to return, albeit minor.
Yes, very good point.
Indeed 🙁
I have been hearing according to our “health experts” it could be 3-4 months before we know for certain what the Omicron variant can/can’t do.
TOO much focus on Omicron. Way too much. Eric Topol is now saying this, too. I agree.
We’re in a terrible Delta wave – ongoing and reinforced by Thanksgiving – with an awful toll.
On Friday, the U.S. reported 157,500 new Delta cases. Enormous daily jumps. Also, 1,800 deaths, and hospitalizations approaching 60,000 soon.
U.S. also reported 11 Omicron cases (which the media talk about obsessively)
The Netherlands has turned the corner, with decreases across the board. Still a lot of infections, but fewer. Mitigation does work, folks. We’re seeing dramatic decreases in case in Austria. Again, mitigation does work, folks. Yet, we don’t do anything remotely close to real mitigation here. My ex-wife is very surprised to see how crowded the restaurants are. She and I just took a walk with our son in the South End. “Don’t they have rules or capacity limits?” Well, no, I answered.
Not to appear “snarky” Joshua, but restaurants need to start earning a living again. Let’s hope the new Mayor Wu doesn’t get the idea to impose capacity limits as that would likely put only more establishments out of business.
While on the subject, what about nightclubs in Boston? Have they been allowed to reopen to capacity, if at all?
Also, North End restaurants are upset as it is since they are no longer allowed outdoor dining. All others can go for it until the end of this month if I’m not mistaken. 12/31/2021.
I sure agree, Joshua, refocus in O and the media nonsense….also on restaurant capacity.
It seems Restaurants are not even required to have staff wear masks out this way nor are customers. No place is unless the business mandates.
What about religious establishments?
No one masks
I wouldn’t step foot in a restaurant even if I were paid handsomely.
Nor would we.
You can’t imagine how many doctors and healthcare workers are experiencing burnout. This is just one of hundreds of example I see every day. A doctor from Ohio, where cases are approaching all-time highs. https://twitter.com/MDNidhi/status/1466558977915822084
I bet the most burnout are from the “unvaccinated” inside the ICU’s. At least the fully vaccinated can be treated at the hospital and sent home.
I have a friend who is an ICU PA. She has always chosen the more difficult areas because she felt she might help more there. She is retiring. She is younger than I, and I never thought I’d see the day. She and others like her are such a tremendous loss to healthcare.
Joshua, after reading your last posting from yesterday, the BBC article on the early stages of Covid-19 left me with great pause. Looking back, we as the world gave the virus a good 2-3 months head start, if you will. As much as I hate masking, we didn’t really start that in earnest until the month of May (#5) if I recall here in this state anyway. Maybe late April? Perhaps some lives could have been saved if Dr. Fauci had suggested wearing them right away. Instead, he didn’t believe they were even necessary. Also, masks were hard to find, even in pharmacies for awhile. It wasn’t until summer 2020 that masks were being sold in my neighborhood convenience stores. In conclusion, the coronavirus pretty much had a 4-5 month head start in the U.S. basically to impose its will!
Also, looking at that BBC world map, based on the location of Wuhan (China), if this occurred a hundred years ago, would the virus likely have remained in China? With such convenient air travel has made the world more mobile than ever imo.
I just went back and read the article. I knew something was brewing in late December but thought like Ebola and others it would not escalate. Then I started to worry and began looking for masks the first week of January. There were no masks to be had.
I was lucky. I had a great deal of insight because Mac’s brother is very involved in emergency planning for hospitals. We had talked way back in April of 2006 regarding the importance of pandemic disaster planning. Both he and I worked jointly to make multiple lists of what to do by different stages….steps to take if pandemic is suspected all the way to a list of what to do if the worst happens.
When I got to that last list I knew we were in serious trouble. And frankly, as thorough as the lists were, they needed a lot of tweaking when life became real.
Bottom line is that if I knew, our health folks worldwide knew. Very sad indeed.
I am darned near positive Fauci discouraged masking because the masks were needed for our front line workers and first responders. My son and everyone he worked with were issued on mask every 10 days. It was during that period where he had covid the first time.
Yes, that is 100% correct
I was completely clueless until early-mid March.
It’s been awhile since I have been inside a “sit-down” restaurant at my favorite establishment O’Malley’s in Brookline due to their radical time change of opening at 4:00 pm most days since the pandemic began.
1. When entering masks must be worn.
2. When seated, masks must remain on until drinks are ordered. Once said drinks are served, remove mask and enjoy the rest of your stay! 🙂
3. All waitstaff are masked at all times btw.
4. Enter one door, exit the other. Mask back on upon exiting until outside entirely.
Note, if you wish to remain at table once the bill is presented and/or paid, all guests must place masks back on.
Vicki, how long will your son have to quarantine? Can he go back to work before Christmas?
I am not sure. Not sure he knows yet.
Egads!
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/italian-dentist-presents-fake-arm-vaccine-pass-81554437
3 cheers for that nurse! Amazing though what the unvaccinated will do NOT to get vaccinated. Nice try anyway. 😉
As Mac would often say. Dio Mio!
Great points, Philip and Vicki.
From the Globe. I was tempted to not post because I don’t like giving O a platform. But it is actually positive news
“The first coronavirus case of the Omicron variant was detected in Massachusetts, according to a Saturday statement from the state’s department of public health.
“The individual is a female in her 20s and a resident of Middlesex County who traveled out of state. She is fully vaccinated, has experienced mild disease, and did not require hospitalization. The variant was identified through sequencing performed at New England Biolabs,” officials said in a press release.”
I wonder if she had her booster
Not known at this time. My bet is just by her young age, no. I don’t get the feeling younger folks are interested in boosters just yet. Just my opinion on that. I do know something else, she has not been hospitalized since her symptoms were mild.
My son said the test site in RI does rapid and PCR. If rapid shows positive which his did, they go by that. I wonder if they check to see what variant.
C-19 for 12-5 is ready.