A quiet dread ...

Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash

A quiet dread, you know, the kind giving subtle shivers up one's spine applies as there are three coronaviruses, not just one and ... the chance of gene flow happening among the three  becomes possible due to the probabilistic nature of quantum and to the inherent similarity of genetic material shared by the three viruses in question. Last but not least is the incredibly contagious Omicron variant of Covid 19, the perfect delivery system of chaos incarnate if a new strain of coronavirus sharing content from either SARS or MERS decides to make it's presence known to the world in the years of our lord 2022/3.

Gene flow is the transfer of alleles from one population to another population 

through immigration of individuals.

I want to share some information on Omicron with you, in particular evidence that Omicron is far more concerning than is generally being reported.

My intention is not to change your conclusions about Covid or your political views. I am simply presenting timely information for you to consider.

Omicron is incredibly contagious and not as "mild" as we've been told: here are a few of the twitter threads my well-informed (i.e. science-healthcare professionals) readers are sending me:

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1472589879179677700

Omicron is being compared to measles- this chart is some perspective on what that means. This was made about a year ago with original COVID-19. The implications are terrifying @DrEricDing

My sources say that folks inside the CDC are whispering that #Omicron is now **as contagious or more contagious than MEASLES**. We epidemiologists have been muttering it for a week. I haven’t heard any CDC or govt official admit on Television yet. They should —people need to hear it."

From one positive test to 500 (50% of all positives) in a week is sobering.

Addendum ...

As another frontline MD explained in a private email to me, the system has managed by shifting resources and staff from one hot-spot to the next as caseloads arose and fell across the country. If Omicron continues to spread at its current rate, caseloads will explode across the entire nation. The strategy of shifting resources and personnel will fail and healthcare systems will break down and cease to function, with predictably catastrophic results.

From the frontline MD:

"At least 5 states that I know of have now activated their national guard to fill holes, and multiple hospitals across New York alone have begun turning away expectant mothers or have shuttered their emergency facilities entirely. What's truly staggering is to wonder what happens if everyone gets hit simultaneously with the next wave of illness from whatever. We have so cannibalized whoever is left that most states are working on a sort of rotational system, meaning most nurses that fill are the same ones who fill across the board and have since this started. As most things have come in cycles at different parts of the country, it has worked thus far and alleviated true staffing shortages, or at least painted over them with a thin veneer of complacency. Now, as we head into a full force of fun (from whatever, doesn't have to be anything even remotely related to Covid now), there is no backup, no travelers, no cavalry to call in." 

And this ...

The omicron variant is spreading fast and makes up about half of Cleveland Clinic's positive tests.

The question to ask now is ...

COVID-19, SARS and MERS: are they closely related?.

Content: COVID-19 seems not to be very different from SARS regarding its clinical features. However, it has a fatality rate of 2.3%, lower than that of SARS (9.5%) and much lower than that of MERS (34.4%). The possibility cannot be excluded that because of the less severe clinical picture of COVID-19 it can spread in the community more easily than MERS and SARS. The actual basic reproductive number (R0) of COVID-19 (2.0-2.5) is still controversial. It is probably slightly higher than the R0 of SARS (1.7-1.9) and higher than that of MERS (<1). A gastrointestinal route of transmission for SARS-CoV-2, which has been assumed for SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, cannot be ruled out and needs further investigation.

A quiet dread indeed. 

Addendum:

Omicron overpowers key COVID antibody treatments in early tests

Nearly all of the monoclonal antibodies used to prevent severe disease fail to stand up to the new variant, laboratory assays show

Oh Oh ...

The Washington Post: Omicron Coronavirus Variant Possibly More Infectious Due To Sharing Genetic Code With Common Cold, Study Says