[tracker1]

Do you have the same reaction to other common virus/cold vectors?

Hospitals and healthcare workers are partly overworked at this point because there is under staffing, a huge number quit or were otherwise laid off and decided no to come back. It's not a lack of space. The other side are the number of people going to the hospital in a panic because they have a cough and think they're going to die out of panic.

The level of FUD spread over COVID is palpable and exceeds the danger, and largely has since the beginning. EVERYONE is going to get COVID at some point. That is the scientific consensus. Trying to reach COVID zero or force everyone to lock down in perpetuity is anti-science. This is largely why GB, one of the more oppressed nations in terms of response has now completely rolled back govt restrictions/mandates.

Omicron (latest variant) is so virulent that it's massively spread, but the symptoms are less than a typical flu year. I went through it a few weeks ago, so did my fiance. She's fully vaxxed and got it worse than I did. I'm not vaxed for medical reasons. I've had worse cases of the flu. I realize I'm an N of 1, but there are a LOT of people with similar results. These include a lot of vaccinated elderly.

As to the breaking point... the 2018 flu season had many facilities overwhelmed... it's actually really typical. Why, because hospitals don't have a ton of excess staff sitting around doing nothing all day. They are staffed to 50-65% of expected typical capacity, because emergencies are typically regional, and some will travel to help. When the problem is everywhere, there's no slack. There's literally not much that can be done about that.

If you want to hermetically seal off your home, you are welcome to do so... but to force everyone else to do so because you have unrealistic expectations on the risks of walking outside your front door is not alright.

[terminatornet]

> Do you have the same reaction to other common virus/cold vectors?

The ones that affect 30% less of the US population in an 8 week span typically? No

https://twitter.com/trvrb/status/1483996724427251714

[escapedmoose]

> The other side are the number of people going to the hospital in a panic because they have a cough and think they're going to die out of panic.

Extremely high test positivity rates show that this isn't the case.

And yes, flu outbreaks can and do periodically overwhelm health systems, but not to this extent: where entire healthcare systems (not just hospitals) are cancelling lucrative elective procedures, broadly restricting/removing visitation, employing federal disaster relief, etc.

That's at least the case in my state; I can't speak for yours of course. AFAIK we also don't know much about the prevalence of "long COVID" from Omicron. Anecdotally, of the dozen or so people (mid-30s, all but 1 vaccinated) I personally know who got COVID over the holidays (so presumably Omicron), 2 were hospitalized and 5 were completely floored by COVID for at least a month. My vaccinated sister still doesn't have her sense of taste/smell back two months later. I think in a month or so we vaccinated folks can probably start acting normal again, like we did last summer. But at the moment it doesn't seem like the best time to take the gamble.

[oarsinsync]

> where entire healthcare systems (not just hospitals) are cancelling lucrative elective procedures

It’s worth noting that in the context of the UK hospital system, elective surgeries are not elective in the sense that the person has made a choice to have surgery, but rather it’s simply the opposite of emergency surgery. It’s usually vital life saving surgery, but the scheduling of the surgery is elective.

For example, you could have heart attacks, find out you have blocked arteries and be told you need to have a triple bypass. If the need is not immediate right this very second or you’re going to die, that’s elective surgery.

It is not things like a boob job.

[tracker1]

A positive test for COVID is not equivalent to a need to be in the ER. MOST people with COVID don't need to go to the hospital at all.

As to your assessment, if you choose to stay inside that is fine... that doesn't mean that EVERYONE should be forced to do so.

I just got over COVID, I'm un-vaccinated because of high medical risks to vaccines, everyone else in my household is vaccinated. We went through COVID the past few weeks... I got through it in just over a week, my fiance, fully vaccinated and boosted had worse symptoms than I did that started and lasted longer. My 19yo daughter didn't even have any symptoms.

[zimpenfish]

> This is largely why GB, one of the more oppressed nations in terms of response has now completely rolled back govt restrictions/mandates.

Well, that's more to do with our current PM flailing about under a whole swathe of self-inflicted wounds trying to a) gin up support from the right wing criticising the lockdowns/vaccines, and b) distract from said wounds by creating a lot of noise about this kind of policy. It is basically nothing to do with scientific consensus or sensible policy or anything like that.

[tracker1]

Scientific consensus was I've that most doctors recommend Camel cigarettes then any other brand... It's less than perfect.

Given the choice, I'm going to lean towards personal liberty.