COVID-19: Chapter 9 - OMGicron

yeah, I prefer the Israel model too, makes sense for a couple of weeks

Go Team!

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Who knows where Biden pumped $1 billion into covid surveillance that he campaigned on (or stated when he was inaugurated?) Can’t all be into postage costs to the WHO to get them analysed. Seriously, you think the US would be doing this as you were taking the tests, rather than needing a week catch up, wouldn’t you? e.g. Netherlands had a plane land and knew the results 24hrs later

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So this person was in the UK from the 19th-21st, going to a church and a restaurant. A week later, after leaving the country and after South Africa discovers the Omicron variant, it’s discovered that he/she had the new variant. I’m not sure how this is a big win for Team UK’s COVID surveillance efforts.

Even more disturbing is the news that KFC restaurants have spread to the UK. Didn’t you guys invent fired chicken? Why would you import bottom-tier fried chicken joints from the US?

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It would appear we can test both present and past tests quicker than the US. Us and CZ, SA, Belgium, Netherlands, HK etc, etc. I hate to inform you but with Delta, the UK was the surveillance letting the countries know they had an issue, rather than telling the world on their behalf - this might be the same. Haethrow’s a busy place and we have surveillance fo all those pozzies.

Iraq has KFC. We didn’t used to import your chlorine-washed chicken but we might have relented in the last 12 months after being threatened with the sanctions (not sure though). Edit: don’t think EU or UK accept US chicken still

Is it by any chance almost time to lock this thread and start a new one?

Not that any of this nationalist chest-thumping matters in a global health crisis, but this time it was South African scientists that told the world about this new variant. Give them some credit, please.

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Yeah but it was still a Brit that did the geonome crunching AFTER the Botswana and HK spotted it.

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Meanwhile in Germany:

Far-right owner of a lab diagnostics company develops his own vaccine and without getting it approved vaccinates people until the police puts a stop to it.

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I’m supposed to be flying back to the Philippines for 3 weeks for christmas. Mrs rugby hasn’t seen family for nearly two years

As we speak. Both australia and Philippines are closing borders to certain countries.

I’m using my one time that we somehow fade border closure/mandatory quarantine in both countries…

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The top US infectious disease official said Americans should be prepared to fight the spread of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, but it is too soon to say what actions are needed, including possible mandates or lockdowns.

Dr Anthony Fauci told ABC News on Sunday that the United States must do “anything and everything” amid likely cases of the variant, but it was “too early to say” whether new lockdowns or mandates were needed, Reuters reports.

He said it was possible that the new variant was already in the United States, although no official case has been confirmed.

There will probably be an increase in mask mandates in certain areas of the country.

The US is never having an April 2020 style lockdown ever again.

This is a flat-out lie. The variant was identified and sequenced by African researchers, who then shared the sequence with the rest of the word.

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This is just laughably false. I have been working personally with people doing variant surveillance for months now. Fuck off with these fabrications. We have, right now in operation, a sequencing scheme robust against the omicron mutations.

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I think the future of “lockdowns” is going to be stuff like companies sending their employees to work from home, etc., the government is just going to give up because their half measures don’t work and full measures like mandatory vaxxes is not something they have the will or courage to implement.

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This is literally what Tom Peacock says in the tweet churchill posted a screen shot of so it’s odd that he used that tweet to support his claim. There’s also a follow up tweet, as indicated by the ellipses at the end and the line underneath Tom’s avatar
https://twitter.com/PeacockFlu/status/1464169677115084812

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Omgicron is getting around.

WTF BBC

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