Omicron variant: Move over, Delta

[LuFins Dad]

The waaaaaaayyyyy too early reports seem to indicate that cases are milder, but then again, most cases of COVID are mild to begin with. There will need to be a much larger sample size to really know.

[George K]

@lufins-dad said in Move over, Delta:

The waaaaaaayyyyy too early reports seem to indicate that cases are milder

Yes - low grade fever, myalgias, fatigue. No loss of smell/taste.

But - young population, and small sample size.

[LuFins Dad]

Israel just closed their borders.

[Mik]

You should see the network news. Omicron is the new Trump.

[LuFins Dad]

@george-k said in Move over, Delta:

The W.H.O. wouldn’t want to offend China, now, would they?

This really is absurd.

[George K]

@lufins-dad said in Move over, Delta:

Israel just closed their borders.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-ban-entry-foreigners-all-countries-over-omicron-2021-11-27/

[jon-nyc]

I’m glad I’m flying home today (Sunday). Monday the airports will probably be messy as the US implements its ban.

We all had negative antigen tests Friday. We’ll be wearing N95s on the plane.

[bachophile]

@lufins-dad keep out the riff raff

[Mik]

@jon-nyc said in Move over, Delta:

I’m glad I’m flying home today (Sunday). Monday the airports will probably be messy as the US implements its ban.

We all had negative antigen tests Friday. We’ll be wearing N95s on the plane.

Hope the trip went smoothly.

[jon-nyc]

Oh yes, lovely. Not quite the same as spring break, which we purchased the tickets for. But still nice.

[jon-nyc]

[89th]

@jon-nyc lol

[George K]

I saw an article quoting a doc in South Africa who's taken care of patients with the Nu Xi Omicron variant.

First of all, his patient population was young, and afaik, had no co-morbidities.

He says the symptoms were very mild, no anosmia, no loss of taste. One kid had a very rapid heart rate. Most common symptoms were overwhelming fatigue and some fever.

All resolved in a matter of days.

[George K]

And meanwhile, in New York, the governor has cancelled all "elective" surgery because of the Omicron variant, which hasn't even been found in the US (though undoubtedly it exists).

[Copper]

@george-k said in Move over, Delta:

governor has cancelled all "elective" surgery

Is he going to pick up the tab for that?

[Jolly]

Fear! FEAR! POWER!

[LuFins Dad]

In the meantime, this may be the solution that we’ve been waiting for.

[Aqua Letifer]

@lufins-dad said in Move over, Delta:

In the meantime, this may be the solution that we’ve been waiting for.

Attenuation, you mean?

They said it'd take 3-5 years, but it's also mutating at a much faster rate than they predicted.

[Mik]

'They' have also speculated that the virus can only mutate so much. But it's at the point where I believe none of what I hear and only half of what I see.

[Aqua Letifer]

@mik said in Move over, Delta:

'They' have also speculated that the virus can only mutate so much. But it's at the point where I believe none of what I hear and only half of what I see.

That might mean different things.

Proteins are very complex. There are probably a near-infinite number of possibilities.

But how many of them can compete with Delta? Assume Xi (I'm calling it that) replaces Delta in fitness. That is hard enough, but Xi, being even more fit, would make it that much harder for new variants to replace Xi. And the kind of traits the new variants would need would lead it eventually toward attenuation. That's not to say one of them could blow up into something really nasty, but overall it's incentivized to get to something more like the common cold instead of ebola.