The Omicron Conspiracy

Aside from sounding like the title of a bad Robert Ludlum novel, the near-hysterics about the omicron strain by a large swathe of the institutions shows that they appeared to have learned nothing over the past 18 months.

 

Inconceivable though it is, there is talk again of lockdowns, travel bans, and border closures around the world.

 

All this panic over a strain that the world clearly knows little about. In fact, what we do know suggest that the omicron strain may be a milder version of the disease. This fits the patterns of all previous pandemics. The Spanish Flu, for example, which killed 50 million people in the early 20^th century, lasted two years, with the disease-causing virus (influenza A, subtype H1N1) evolving to become much less harmful and is now a part of the quotidian herd of seasonal flu viruses.

https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/100-years-spanish-flu-world-ready-next-pandemic/

 

This is in fact what appears to be the case with the much dreaded delta strain. Whereas most of the media was milking panic, the data suggest that the delta strain is actually less deadly than the original alpha strain.  

 

What is more worrying than omicron is the fact that the people ostensibly in charge have underscored their incompetence with their reactions, making all the same mistakes again that they have already made in the pandemic. And their rank hypocrisy is too blatant to be even laughable. 

 

In the US, when Trump shut down the borders in early 2020 to seven countries, including China, it was a time when the world had no vaccines, no treatments, and the dangers of the virus was unknown. For the bans, he was accused of being a xenophobe by Biden and others.  

 

More than 18 months later, with most of the nation vaccinated, with effective treatments now available and being developed, and with the nature of the virus much more clear, Biden is doing the same things as Trump by banning a host of African nations, despite having much fewer excuses. The sharp edge of irony is that, in 2020, when Trump added some African nations to his list of travel bans, Biden stated that it was an “African Ban” and insinuated that it was racist. But then again no one should be surprised by such naked double-standards from this administration and its media chaperones.

 

Dr Anthony Fauci, who hinted that more lockdowns could return to the US leading up to Christmas in response to the omicron strain, has again emphasized the idea that Fauci equals science, and therefore any attack of him is an attack on science itself. Sounding more like a Pope than a public servant, Fauci does not seem to have the self-awareness to realise that this statement is not only laughable but at its core unscientific. And this from a man with a slew of incorrect predictions and illogical recommendations in his wake. You have to admire the man’s vanity.

 

Although Louis XV's "apres moi, le deluge" may be more apposite

In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has announced new restrictions in response to the omicron strain, including compulsory mask wearing in certain places and a 10 day isolation for those who have come into contact with omicron strain carriers, even if they are fully vaccinated. These policies are odorous of panic and neurosis. Again, an entire government seems not to have noticed that after the UK has opened up in July, ditching its many restrictions and mandates, things have improved dramatically. Importantly, these new restrictions were put into effect before Parliament could vote on them.

 

It is sad to see, so far down the road, that governments still have myopia regarding COVID-19, and that they will still plod over the same mistaken muddy ground through which they have dragged the world to little avail.

 

One reason is that they are not being held accountable for the dire effects of their hysterical policies. The US broke its record for overdose deaths by almost 30%. Deaths at home increased by a third in the UK in 2020. An estimated 114 million jobs were lost globally in 2020 alone, with many more jobs suffering working-hour reductions. A catastrophic global mental health crisis has been brewing. All this notwithstanding the fact that the median age of death due to COVID-19 in the UK is 83 years, which is older than the average life expectancy for the British.

 

To fixate on this virus haphazardly while allowing everything else to collapse is highly irresponsible.