Covid Surge in Australia

[SethBullock]

I read that Covid infections are surging in Australia. I’m curious as to what you all want to do about it.

Fully open?
Stay open with restrictions?
Lock down?
Something else?

Australia COVID numbers hit a peak as Omicron outbreak strains domestic politics

Australia recorded another record surge in COVID-19 infections on Tuesday as an outbreak of the highly infectious Omicron variant disrupted reopening of the economy, while state leaders argued over domestic border controls.

www.reuters.com

 

[HBS Guy]

Yup, a way too early, way too complete removal of restrictions has had its inevitable effect.

 

[Jim Lahey]

numbers must be way higher than testing indicates due to overloading of pathology clinics...another win for big business.....

 

[stunspore]

It be curious to see how NSW/Sydney turns out after omicron wave is over. Would they be more resilient (lower cases, less susceptible) to next new variant? Having said that, no matter if it only reaches the 10's of thousands, that's a small drop compared to the population.

 

[SethBullock]

I have a feeling - and I've said this before - that unless one holes up like a hermit forever, sooner or later most people are going to get Covid. Supposedly, this latest variant is more transmissable than others. The good news is that a high percentage of your population has a degree of protection from vaccination, and this Omicron variant is said to be less deadly than the previous Covid strains. Time will tell about that.

Right now in the U.S., Omicron is off to the races.

 

[greggerypeccary]

I have a feeling - and I've said this before - that unless one holes up like a hermit forever, sooner or later most people are going to get Covid. Supposedly, this latest variant is more transmissable than others. The good news is that a high percentage of your population has a degree of protection from vaccination, and this Omicron variant is said to be less deadly than the previous Covid strains. Time will tell about that.

Right now in the U.S., Omicron is off to the races.

It's not supposedly more contagious - it is more contagious.

Much, much more contagious.

There's still not enough data available to determine for sure if it's less deadly though.

There are many factors to take into consideration. For example, all of the very old and very sick have already been killed off by Delta and that gives the (false?) impression that Omicron might be less deadly as less people are dying from it (because the most susceptible have already died).

Anyway, let's hope it is a lot less deadly.

I'm vaxxed, I wear a mask everywhere, and I avoid crowds.

Still, I'll probably end up catching it eventually.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Maybe the fine gents at Ozpol can secure us some Bleach and invermectin?

 

[HBS Guy]

They haven’t mentioned even Ivermectin much recently.

 

[greggerypeccary]

They haven’t mentioned even Ivermectin much recently.

Their bloated orange hero - Trump - came out strongly in support of vaccinations the other day, and even admitted that he's had a booster shot.

The far-right don't know what to do now.

Their cult leader has abandoned them, and now the monster is starting to turn on its creator.

It's gonna be fun watching them implode in the next few months.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Frank, panther, mechanic et al?

 

[johnsmith]

I read that Covid infections are surging in Australia. I’m curious as to what you all want to do about it.

Fully open?
Stay open with restrictions?
Lock down?
Something else?

Australia COVID numbers hit a peak as Omicron outbreak strains domestic politics

Australia recorded another record surge in COVID-19 infections on Tuesday as an outbreak of the highly infectious Omicron variant disrupted reopening of the economy, while state leaders argued over domestic border controls.

www.reuters.com

I think the Jeanie is out of the bottle now. There's no putting it back now. The numbers are far worse than reported because our testing facilities are overwhelmed in most states. Our hospitals are struggling to keep up as well. People are apparently lining up for 4 or 5+ hours to get tested, so many who feel sick just aren't bothering to get tested..

Apart from wearing masks when out in public and sanitizing regularly, there's not much we can do now except for maybe restrict numbers in venues. I think we are past hard lock downs.

The only good 'silver lining' is that you have to have one go through your population to help build up immunity, then at first glance omicron looks to be the one you want. It seems to be far less severe than Delta. Of course it's still early stages and we won't know the full impact of omicron for several weeks, if not months.

 

[johnsmith]

Had the ladies at the Post Office have a whinge to me today.

Apparently some old guy had gone in and they, as they typically do with customers, asked about his day. He then had a whinge that he had just come straight from the hospital, where he had to wait 5 hrs for a covid test because he was a close contact of his daughter who was found positive.

She then asked him what he was doing there at the post office?

If he'd just been tested he needed to self isolate until he got his test results.

Some people are absolute morons. I hope they called the cops on him

 

[Jim Lahey]

Yep, certainly are...

 

[johnsmith]

This is some positive news ... lets hope its confirmed out in the real world

Research conducted in a laboratory in South Africa suggests Omicron may protect the people it infects against the more-severe Delta variant.

If shown to be true, that could mean Omicron will have the ability to displace Delta.

Omicron may protect against Delta COVID-19 variant, research suggests

Since hitting the headlines in November, the Omicron COVID-19 variant has damaged economies, destroyed holidays and blighted the festive season, but scientists say there may be a silver lining to the fast-moving version of the virus.

www.abc.net.au

 

[HBS Guy]

....... In the timeframe and jurisdictions the data covered, 569,142 not fully vaccinated people caught COVID-19 versus only 46,312 who were fully vaccinated. Of those, 34,972 not fully vaccinated people required hospitalization, while only 2,976 fully vaccinated people did. And regrettably, 6,132 not fully vaccinated people ended up dying of COVID-19, while only 616 fully vaccinated people died from the disease.

The takeaway from the CDC’s data seems clear: Fully vaccinated individuals have a much greater chance of not being impacted by the disease, whether that impact is via infection, hospitalization, or death.

https://www.fastcompany.com/9067552...-cdc-chart-shows-how-well-covid-vaccines-work

 

[Shellandshilo1956]

I read that Covid infections are surging in Australia. I’m curious as to what you all want to do about it.

Fully open?
Stay open with restrictions?
Lock down?
Something else?

Australia COVID numbers hit a peak as Omicron outbreak strains domestic politics

Australia recorded another record surge in COVID-19 infections on Tuesday as an outbreak of the highly infectious Omicron variant disrupted reopening of the economy, while state leaders argued over domestic border controls.

www.reuters.com

We should do exactly what we did in the 13 months before we had these vaccines. NOTHING! Treat all infected people with viral drugs and antibiotics. We have done this for the last 60 years. Now, because we have created this new genetic designer vaccine, with a high affinity to a part of a virus, we are forced to be vaccinated with more designer vaccines to fight every new variant. If the vaccine only is designed to recognize only a part of a virus(antigen), the virus will just keep mutating that part of itself. Which will mean more different vaccines will be needed to keep up with these mutations. This is insane and unnecessary!

Since we started forcing these vaccines onto people, the SARS-CoV-2 virus started mutating to avoid its spike protein from being detected. First the SARS-CoV-2 variant. Then the AY.4.2 variant. Then the Delta variant. Then D614G variant. Then the Lambda variant. And now the Omicron variant. All of these variants are in direct response to the vaccine attacking only ONE type of spike protein.

People who recover from this viral infection, will develop a natural immunity to ALL of these variants. Because their antibodies will recognize the entire pathogen. And, the virus can't change/mutate all parts of itself, and still remain virulent or hidden.

So, simply treat the illness and encourage herd immunity.

 

[HBS Guy]

Viruses mutate. Hence the yearly flu jab.

 

[Shellandshilo1956]

Viruses mutate. Hence the yearly flu jab.

But the flu vaccines contain LIVE flu viruses. Not a lab-created piece of genetic material, that induces cells to make antigens. It is also has a low mortality rate, is only upper respiratory, and is seasonal. But hey, IT ALSO DOES MUTATE!!

 

[greggerypeccary]

We should do exactly what we did in the 13 months before we had these vaccines. NOTHING! Treat all infected people with viral drugs and antibiotics.

Antibiotics aren't gonna help.

 

[HBS Guy]

Data shows that the vaccinations work.