Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Cullis
All the reports I've seen so far recommend caution, typically saying that Omicron is highly contagious, possibly more so than the delta variant, but it is not yet clear whether Omicron will be able to displace Delta...
The South African doctor who first identified the Omicron variant says in this Telegraph article the symptoms are unusual but mild...
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I don't think we'll have to wait longer than 2 or 3 weeks to find out what impact (if any) this new Omicron flavour of virus will have.
It is spreading in South Africa, a relatively poor country that has a low rate of vaccination and a high incidence of crowded housing. So we should see some pretty definitive results before Christmas - either all hell breaks loose and lots of people get sick & die, or not much changes at all from what has been going on for the past 18 months.
Tim's comment noting that South Africa has fewer elderly people as a percentage of population than first world countries is noteworthy, but I think that is offset by RSA having more folks who don't have access to health care, or have HIV or malaria or other disadvantageous infections.
So let's just sit tight for a couple of weeks and see what happens down there.
Michael
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