Happy New Year!
1 January 2022
While most media are warning about the Omicron and authorities are planning new measures, restrictions and mandates, “cautious hope” is offered from New York Times.
"South Africa said health data suggested its Omicron peak had passed with no major spike in deaths, offering cautious hope to other countries."
Source: NYT, Thursday, 2021-12-30 at 5:08 PM EST.
In South Africa, overall case counts have been falling for two weeks, plummeting 30 percent in the last week to an average of less than 11,500 a day.
Notice. “No major spike in deaths.”
“The spread of infection is worse than FHM's scenarios"
On Wednesday, more than 9,000 new cases were reported, and new restrictions may become relevant, says Anders Tegnell.
The spread of infection has skyrocketed due to the new omicron variant, and several countries have reported a record number of positive cases in recent times.”
Svenska Dagbladet 2021-12-30
Additional good news
“New studies on animals suggest why Omicron is less severe than earlier variants: It seems to cause much less damage to the lungs.
In studies on mice and hamsters, Omicron produced less damaging infections, often limited largely to the upper airway: the nose, throat and windpipe. The variant did much less harm to the lungs, where previous variants would often cause scarring and serious breathing difficulty.”
NYT, Friday, December 31, 2021 11:21 AM EST
Sounds a bit like a common cold. Would NYT dare to admit that?