Best Posts in Thread: New Omicron variant from southern Africa

Too true! I have read hundreds of articles on Covid-19 and there is still a huge variation in opinion on most aspects. It is correct that often a virus that spreads more easily is less virulent (because it does not force the host to isolate) - in the case of Omicron it spreads more easily because its main location within the body is the upper respiratory tract and for that reason it is found less deep in the lungs and so causes less severe damage.

But it is plausible that Omicron might produce an even less virulent variant but that other variants in circulation may take another path and give rise to more dangerous variants. All of these variants will be able to enter a new species of host and re-emerge in another form.

There is no doubt that the high vaccination status of some countries is helping but not as much as some people would originally have assumed.

Hope that 2022 is the end of the severe pandemic for most countries.

 

Because of the very young average age of the population, we would expect the case mortality rate in the Philippines to be much lower than Western Europe.

The average age in the Netherlands is 43 years whereas the average age in the Philippines is only 26 years old. COVID has a greater impact on older people.

The only statistic that matters is the hospital utilization. COVID is here for the long run and vaccines are available for those who will take them. The only issue now is getting the effects of covid down to what the health care system can manage.

 

Recent (the graph includes data up to Jan 5) development for our province still looks like this

but this is what's already happening in the NCR.

Don't be lulled into a false sense of safety by the low reported case numbers in our province, it won't be long before Omicron starts spreading (exploding) here, and actual cases will be up several days before the reported case numbers show any serious uptick.
If you don't already have a bunch, stock up on N95/KN95 masks (don't rely on surgical masks), see this article to explain why ( you can't read the whole thing without a subscription, but enough to get the essential information).

Edit: N95 fits fine for me, but for the three Filipina girls in my household they are too big. They much prefer a KF94 mask (Korean version of the N95, very similar specs). Obviously, a mask that doesn't fit well is worse than a well fitting one, even if the specs are slightly worse.

 

Edited my post to embed the video, should be ok now.

 

There's a whole lot of rubbish going around regarding this new variant on social media, like "it infects and kills everyone, vaccinated or not" or similar.
This short video (from Deutsche Welle, but it's in English) cuts through the chase and provides the currently available knowledge about this new variant.