I've seen a lot more people wearing masks on the street again, instead of just in stores and buses

[conuly]

‘We've Never Seen This Before in NYC': COVID Positivity Rate Doubles in 3 Days on Omicron Spread

NYC offers 500,000 free rapid Covid tests, 1 million masks amid case surge (One million masks sounds like a lot until you remember that the population of NYC is over eight million....)

As COVID-19 cases climb in NYC, so do classroom closures

Several NYC Restaurants Temporarily Close Due to COVID Spike

Records fall and borders close as world races to get control of Omicron

The Omicron variant advances at an incredible rate

Omicron infects 70 times faster than previous COVID strains: study (Though it appears to be less severe - at least in the short term, nobody *knows* the long term effects of this variation yet - the gains there could be wiped out with greater transmission, especially as greater transmission = more cases = more chances for mutations = greater odds of a future mutation that evades the vaccine. We have got to take the issue of immunizing all those other, poorer countries seriously. I'm not saying don't get your booster, but it's more important to get a first shot in more arms over there than a third shot in people's arms over here.)

Comments

[siliconshaman]

I've said about the Omicron variant that we don't know what it does in the late stages of the infection... for all we know you could be more-or-less fine until you drop dead due to a cytokine storm and massive organ failure. Lots of viruses have a late-stage cellular lysis phase.

[lightbird]

Meanwhile the dumb-ass law firm I work for, which has been remote since 2020 and doing great, wants to require us to go back into the office in January, which, you know, is when all the people who've been at large gatherings for the holidays will be positive and spreading it further. I'm hoping they change their minds in the next couple of weeks, but the managing partner seems to be living in a different universe from the rest of us, so that's unlikely. And they want to be mask-free, lol

But I am seeing more people on the street wearing masks, too, so hopefully people start taking more precautions again.

[shadowkat]

NYC offers 500,000 free rapid Covid tests, 1 million masks amid case surge (One million masks sounds like a lot until you remember that the population of NYC is over eight million....)

Thought exactly the same thing. I mean we have about 12 million in NYC that we know about. All he's doing is giving masks to all the public employees in the city.

Also, completely agree with this:nobody *knows* the long term effects of this variation yet - the gains there could be wiped out with greater transmission, especially as greater transmission = more cases = more chances for mutations = greater odds of a future mutation that evades the vaccine. We have got to take the issue of immunizing all those other, poorer countries seriously. I'm not saying don't get your booster, but it's more important to get a first shot in more arms over there than a third shot in people's arms over here.)

The only way we're going to fix this is if we get the vaccine to people globally. Seriously, our nationalism is killing us. It's about time we kicked it to the curb.

[conuly]

How'd you come up with twelve million? I googled before I posted, got just under 8.5 million.

[shadowkat]

I didn't google it - it's the number they keep touting in the news and elsewhere - but they also may be counting folks working in the city, on Long Island and in the Metro area. Also the undocumented or the ones that are here and aren't clearly counted. Getting an accurate number is apparently impossible.