So I’m interested in your views of Omicron from a psychological perspective. There are so many conflicting opinions of this Covid strain. From “ooh it’s just a cold” to “we are doomed”. Certainly in the press opinion varies. Here is a piece in the Daily Mail today - so how do you feel? Optimistic or gloomy? :
There are growing calls for No10 to learn to live with Covid rather than focus on halting the spread of the virus now there is such a big disconnect between infections and deaths.
Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert from the University of East Anglia, said the figures showed that the burden of Covid is now comparable to flu. He told MailOnline Covid would ‘almost certainly’ get weaker every year as people develop natural immunity and eventually become a common cold that kills only the very vulnerable further down the line.
Meanwhile, Professor Hunter criticised those who have dismissed Covid as ‘the flu’ since the start of the pandemic but said the UK had now reached a point where comparisons can start to be drawn.
'[Before,] I would never compare Covid to flu because they are two completely different infectious diseases and I think to compare them right from the start was misunderstood.
‘But in terms of severity, it would appear at the moment Omicron has roughly the same infection mortality rate as influenza and pressure on intensive care units.’
He said: ‘That rate [for Covid] is almost certainly going to drop lower… and if it’s not already, it will almost certainly be weaker than flu.’
Professor Hunter’s comments came as top experts today claimed that the end of the Covid crisis was ‘in sight’ and ministers claimed Britain is on a path to ‘living with’ the virus.
I think my problem with Covid is that it’s a bit like Russian roulette. Most people survive it but some don’t and you’ve got no way of knowing if you’ll be one of the unlucky ones.
So, I’d rather not chance it!
I expect we will all get it eventually, much like flu, but I’d rather put it off as long as possible and have all the jabs on offer in the hope that when my turn comes to get it I don’t get it too badly.
I’m also working on improving my health, to get ready
I don’t think it’s fair to tell people live with it and to go back to normal and take chances and risk catching it, to get businesses and the economy back to normal.
Because the truth is while a lot of people will live with it a lot will also die from it and you shouldn’t expect people to sacrifice themselves to keep the pubs and restaurants going.
I wonder whether they will at some point have some statistics on Omicron fatalities. We know that Delta is dangerous and deadly but Omicron appears mild in comparison. It seems to be the equivalent of a firebreaker.
My thought exactly about the vaccines Maree…I’ve had covid and survived, so I won’t need the vaccines now anyway.
But there is a school of though that suggests that the vaccines will not protect you against Omicron, that would certainly explain the unusually high number of Omicron infections.
Unless the whole population is tested each day, or at least each week, the statistics will only ever be an estimation and are open to manipulation. Computer modeling has proven to be inaccurate.
I’d be glad if the Omicron variant paved the way for the pandemic to become endemic and less of a threat. My concern is, though, that in contrast to any flu virus very little is known about organ damage caused by Sars-Cov-2 including Omicron that may be one of the long-term complications of an infection. Over here it’s strongly recommended to have a check-up of the organs after nine months even if it was a supposedly mild infection to detect those. I had the Swine flu and thought I was going to die but, as bad as it was, there haven’t been any late complications or long-term damage. I wish I could say the same about Corona.
Actually I think there is some truth in that, Foxy.
I also said a long time ago, that not everyone who has been ill after the vaccine ever reports it, and gets it properly put on record, so i strongly suspect that many more have suffered than is officially known or added to statistics.
In this case, it is not the goverments fault, it is the people themselves (and their GPs), for not reporting and recording it.
I see it as more of a firewall. Or similar to sandbags in a flood zone. The more Omicron there is the less of the deadly infection that can get through. Some were saying it was created in a lab to counter covid. Who knows? There is no way to trace its origin, unless there’s some new intelligence.
Our experts agree that no vaccine will protect you 100% against an infection but all will help most people to have milder symptoms. Since the bulk of people were vaccinated several months ago they are now less protected against Omicron. That’s why booster jabs are so critical.
Now there’s a coincidence…
A vaccine creator (Robert Malone) suggested that should he have had to construct a vaccine to protect against covid 19, he couldn’t do better than the Omicron virus…Certainly makes you think if we aren’t all being fooled and manipulated…
