COVID-19: WHY HIGH CASE RATES ARE MADNESS

The Omicron variant is spreading like wildfire. Bypassing the immunity provided by two jabs, and finding the boosters are only around 75% effective.  Vaccines much better than nothing, but still not perfect.

Today comes the good news that Omicron is less prone to cause serious disease, requiring hospitalisation.  But this is somewhat of a red herring:

• Hospitalisation is not the only COVID-19 matter to be concerned about
  
• Omicron has been spreading mainly amongst younger age groups, so the real world data for the more vulnerable older age groups is not yet available
  
• A small proportion hospitalised out of a large number infected is still a worryingly large number that could overrun the NHS
  

 OTHER MATTERS TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT

1. The number of people becoming physically ill means train operators, football teams, the NHS and every other organisation is now short of staff.  What if food supply were to be affected?  Imagine the panic!
2. People are typically ill longer than from flu.  Five days at least, and its nasty.  Reducing self-isolation from 10 days to 7 days (subject to various constraints) will help.  But further growth in infections will still mean major disruption, with some organisations having to close completely
   
3. People can be left exhausted after any major illness. Covid-19 is no exception.  Meaning people take longer to get back to work.  Further low-staffing consequences
   
4. You don't need to have severe illness to suffer from LongCovid, often serious enough to prevent being able to live life as normal:

• Bad news for the individuals affected
• Extra pressure on GPs and specialist services, taking resources away from treating other health conditions

"Health is wealth" they say.   The only way to live with COVID-19 is to control infection levels, so these troubles do not occur.. That will do less damage to people's health, businesses, the NHS - and the economy.

The Government missed a trick not doing a 3-week FireBreak lockdown whilst the schools were on holiday.   High case rates are madness.  Christmas will have cost the nation a fortune.