Serious concern’ as South Africa detects new coronavirus variant--Omicron

[Danderman123]

There are infinite mutations possible with a virus, but this one seems to evade vaccinate antibodies in terms of infection, but the infected are asymptomatic. The problem is what happens when the unvaccinated are infected?

 

If this turns out to be a killer for the unvaccinated, it’s going to be a worldwide crisis. The unvaccinated are going to have to stay away from the vaccinated.

 

Or, the virus may be benign for everyone. Don’t know yet.

 

 

[RupertIII]

23 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Has anyone been hospitalised with the new variant yet?

Doctor who discovered Omicron variant says UK 'panicking unnecessarily' and that symptoms 'extremely mild'

The doctor who discovered the Omicron variant said the UK was “panicking unnecessarily” and that the symptoms are “extremely mild”.

Dr Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, told The Andrew Marr Show she first encountered the variant in a man in his early 30s who presented with tiredness and a mild headache, but none of the usual coronavirus symptoms.

She said: “What we are seeing clinically in south Africa, and remember I’m at the epicentre - that’s where I’m practising - it’s extremely mild. For us, that’s mild cases.”

When asked if the UK was “panicking unnecessarily”, she said: “I think you already have it there in your country and you’re not knowing it, and I would say, yes, at this stage I would say definitely.

“Two weeks from now maybe we will say something different.”

 

Taken from:- https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/nov/28/covid-live-news-uk-germany-and-italy-detect-omicron-cases-israel-bans-all-visitors

[Jeffr2]

1 hour ago, Virt said:

Some very early data seems to indicate that it could very well be a variant that pushes the Delta to the side, but time will tell if that is a good or bad thing if it happens.

 

 

https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1463956686075580421/photo/1

[Jeffr2]

2 minutes ago, RupertIII said:

Doctor who discovered Omicron variant says UK 'panicking unnecessarily' and that symptoms 'extremely mild'

The doctor who discovered the Omicron variant said the UK was “panicking unnecessarily” and that the symptoms are “extremely mild”.

Dr Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, told The Andrew Marr Show she first encountered the variant in a man in his early 30s who presented with tiredness and a mild headache, but none of the usual coronavirus symptoms.

She said: “What we are seeing clinically in south Africa, and remember I’m at the epicentre - that’s where I’m practising - it’s extremely mild. For us, that’s mild cases.”

When asked if the UK was “panicking unnecessarily”, she said: “I think you already have it there in your country and you’re not knowing it, and I would say, yes, at this stage I would say definitely.

“Two weeks from now maybe we will say something different.”

 

Taken from:- https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/nov/28/covid-live-news-uk-germany-and-italy-detect-omicron-cases-israel-bans-all-visitors

This is being refuted.

[brewsterbudgen]

3 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

This is being refuted.

By whom? Link?

[Bkk Brian]

4 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

By whom? Link?

You've just been shown a link on the other thread by @Macrohistory

 

Moderate to severe disease (in some cases requiring ICU treatment) for people in their 20s and 30s, according to the head of the intensive care unit at Soweto's Baragwanath Hospital:

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/covid-variant-threat-worldwide-scramble-81417682

 

In addition the other quote.................

That quote by the doctor is being taken out of context as the BNO newsroom points out:

 

"A widely-shared quote from a South African doctor, saying Omicron causes only mild symptoms, is being taken out of context. She was referring to a small group of young, healthy people and warned of severe disease in other groups https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/south-african-doctor-raised-alarm-omicron-variant-says-symptoms/"

https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1464734073897766919

 

 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

4 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

You've just been shown a link on the other thread by @Macrohistory

 

Moderate to severe disease (in some cases requiring ICU treatment) for people in their 20s and 30s, according to the head of the intensive care unit at Soweto's Baragwanath Hospital:

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/covid-variant-threat-worldwide-scramble-81417682

 

In addition the other quote.................

That quote by the doctor is being taken out of context as the BNO newsroom points out:

 

"A widely-shared quote from a South African doctor, saying Omicron causes only mild symptoms, is being taken out of context. She was referring to a small group of young, healthy people and warned of severe disease in other groups https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/south-african-doctor-raised-alarm-omicron-variant-says-symptoms/"

https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1464734073897766919

 

 

 

Let's hope there are very few fatalities, especially among the vaccinated.

[rabas]

B.1.1.529 is not symptomless. It was discovered because of its unusual symptoms, not by genetic surveillance. By Nov 18 (10 days ago!), Dr. Angelique Coetzee had seen many young but otherwise healthy patients with "unusual Covid-19 symptoms that did not make immediate sense". She informed authorities she suspected a new variant. 

 

Roughly half of the patients were vaccinated.

 

Symptoms were generally mild except for extreme fatigue which was common. However, her patients were younger people and she was concerned about older, more venerable people.   More here.

Edited November 28, 2021 by rabas

[brewsterbudgen]

Just now, rabas said:

B.1.1.529 is not symptomless. It was discovered because of its unusual symptoms, not by genetic surveillance. By Nov 18 (10 days ago!), Dr. Angelique Coetzee had seen many young but otherwise healthy patients with "unusual Covid-19 symptoms that did not make immediate sense". She informed authorities she suspected a new variant. 

 

Roughly half of the patients were vaccinated.

 

Symptoms were generally mild except for extreme fatigue which was common. However, her patients were younger people and she was concerned about t older and more venerable people.   More here.

Fingers crossed it remains like this.

[Danderman123]

I don’t think anyone is going to question why testing is important after this.

 

Nor is anyone going to argue that letting foreigners into the country without testing is a no-brainer.

[DavisH]

39 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Let's hope there are very few fatalities, especially among the vaccinated.

Those with severe symptoms were mostly not vaccinated. The data is still scant. I think we will know more in the next 2 weeks. 

[brewsterbudgen]

37 minutes ago, DavisH said:

Those with severe symptoms were mostly not vaccinated. The data is still scant. I think we will know more in the next 2 weeks. 

Yes.  Hopefully this will prove to be a complete overreaction. They can't do this every time a new variant is discovered, can they??

[MrJ2U]

Last time for a domestic holiday on the cheap before the next wave rolls in.

 

 

[Danderman123]

17 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Yes.  Hopefully this will prove to be a complete overreaction. They can't do this every time a new variant is discovered, can they??

Of course, if this turns out to be a minor variant, the usual suspects will post that it’s all a scam, Fauci lied, it’s all just to control people, etc.

[Jeffr2]

23 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Yes.  Hopefully this will prove to be a complete overreaction. They can't do this every time a new variant is discovered, can they??

They don't do this every time a new variant crops up. There are thousands of mutations and variants. Only a few get named.  Like this one.

[Bkk Brian]

29 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Yes.  Hopefully this will prove to be a complete overreaction. They can't do this every time a new variant is discovered, can they??

This new variant has the potential in the initial analysis to be the worst ever seen, its not a case of just a new variant. Normally it would take weeks to be declared a VOC by WHO, this one took just a few days.

 

Quote:

 

“We do risk a massive backlash in case the Omicron VOC does not cause a massive wave of infection and can be controled. But this is a risk that I am comfortable to live with as the pandemic has caused so many deaths and suffering”

 

From Tulio de Oliveira @Tuliodna Director of CERI: Centre for Epidemic Response & innovation, South Africa

 

 

The core challenge of public health: if you warn people of a problem and take action that successfully prevents or halts the problem, people accuse you of over-reacting or grasping for power; if you do nothing, people die.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by Bkk Brian

[Danderman123]

I am looking at the Worldometer data for South Africa, and I don’t see a big uptick in Covid deaths. Presumably, this variant has been around for more than 2 weeks, so if it is a more lethal virus, it’s not obvious from the available data. Or maybe South Africa Covid data is ratty.

 

New cases today are 10% of those during the top of the Delta wave.

[Jeffr2]

2 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

I am looking at the Worldometer data for South Africa, and I don’t see a big uptick in Covid deaths. Presumably, this variant has been around for more than 2 weeks, so if it is a more lethal virus, it’s not obvious from the available data. Or maybe South Africa Covid data is ratty.

 

New cases today are 10% of those during the top of the Delta wave.

I'm not so sure.  Cases are ticking up, and as they say here, that's how new waves start.

https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1463956686075580421

[Danderman123]

1 minute ago, Jeffr2 said:

I'm not so sure.  Cases are ticking up, and as they say here, that's how new waves start.

https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1463956686075580421

There is an uptick in new cases, but deaths are still low, which was not the case for Delta.

[Jeffr2]

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-cases.html

[Jeffr2]

The big spike was an error.  But...trending up big time.

 

https://sacoronavirus.co.za/covid-19-daily-cases/

 

[Jeffr2]

2 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

There is an uptick in new cases, but deaths are still low, which was not the case for Delta.

Deaths typically follow by 2 weeks or so, right???

[Danderman123]

9 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Deaths typically follow by 2 weeks or so, right???

Yes.

 

But this variant has presumably been around for more than 2 weeks, and we are seeing 6 Covid deaths today.

 

All we know for sure is that the virus has a lot of mutations, but we don’t know anything about what those mutations do.

 

The data doesn’t support that the mutations make the virus more lethal, at this point in time.

[chessman]

11 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Hopefully this will prove to be a complete overreaction.

What measures do you think have been a complete overreaction? 
 

Sure, there have been a few dramatic headlines but I can’t see any any actual measures that would affect people in most countries.

 

[Jeffr2]

12 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Yes.

 

But this variant has presumably been around for more than 2 weeks, and we are seeing 6 Covid deaths today.

 

All we know for sure is that the virus has a lot of mutations, but we don’t know anything about what those mutations do.

 

The data doesn’t support that the mutations make the virus more lethal, at this point in time.

South Africa also has a very young population.  As we know, the virus isn't as harmful to them.  Let's see what happens when it gets to countries with older and more susceptible people.  Fingers crossed it turns out to be not too bad.  I'm getting tired of this! LOL

[Scott]

It is going to take some time and a fair amount of spread in the general population to get an idea of how serious this variant is.  Given some time, we will have a clearer idea of how lethal it is, whether the vaccines hold up and how easily it spreads.  

 

We can hope that closing borders and stopping travel is an over-reaction.  

[Tom H]

Let unmasked farangs pay 20,000 Baht according to Emergency degree. Deport them also. Close Sukhumvit Soi 7 in Bkk. Hot spot street! Unbelievable whats going on there. Streamers report live! Also Khao San with unvaccinated Twitch streamers like Bangkok_420 who enters backdoors.

Edited November 29, 2021 by Tom H

[Bluetongue]

1 hour ago, Tom H said:

Let unmasked farangs pay 20,000 Baht according to Emergency degree. Deport them also. Close Sukhumvit Soi 7 in Bkk. Hot spot street! Unbelievable whats going on there. Streamers report live! Also Khao San with unvaccinated Twitch streamers like Bangkok_420 who enters backdoors.

Sorry I don't understand social media jargon speech. Please translate if you can.

[cormanr7]

On 11/27/2021 at 2:57 PM, rabas said:

Just today:

"On 27 November 2021, the Dutch health ministry estimated about 85 of the ~600 passengers on two flights from South Africa that landed at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol  on Nov 26 were infected with the virus."  [wiki] The actual number is now 66. [reuters] I assume most if not all passengers would be vaccinated.

 

Maybe someone has reported this already but 13 out of 61 infected passengers had the omicron variant, suggesting that it is already widespread https://www.ad.nl/dossier-coronavirus/rivm-13-passagiers-uit-vliegtuigen-zuid-afrika-besmet-met-omikronvariant~a526e346/  in Dutch).

[brewsterbudgen]

5 hours ago, chessman said:

What measures do you think have been a complete overreaction? 
 

Sure, there have been a few dramatic headlines but I can’t see any any actual measures that would affect people in most countries.

 

Banning flights and closing borders.  Probably more over-reaction to come!