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from the ten-percent-of-the-US-population-lives-in-California dept.
Omicron is now in the U.S., with first case found in California:
The first U.S. case of the omicron variant has been identified in California in a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
The patient had mild symptoms that were improving and was in isolation, officials said.
Much remains unknown about the highly mutated variant, which scientists fear could be more transmissible and more resistant to vaccines. The new variant has been identified in more than 20 countries since it was first identified in southern Africa last week.
[...] Federal health officials are expanding a program that offers free coronavirus testing at key U.S. airports, part of strengthened efforts to monitor international arrivals amid growing concerns about the omicron variant.
Under the program, visitors from eight African nations, including those connecting through Europe, who arrive at New York’s John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International, San Francisco International and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International airports, will be given the option of taking a test when they arrive. Those who volunteer also will be given the option of an at-home test to take three to five days after arrival.
International arrivals already are required to show proof of a negative virus test before boarding U.S.-bound flights, but Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing this week that the screening program at four of the nation’s busiest airports will provide additional data that can aid in the agency’s monitoring efforts.
First case of omicron COVID variant identified in the US:
The first confirmed US case of the omicron variant of COVID-19 has been identified in California, Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a White House briefing Wednesday. The infected person arrived in the US from South Africa on Nov. 22 and tested positive on Nov. 29, Fauci said.
"Genomic sequencing was conducted at the University of California at San Francisco, and the sequence was confirmed at the CDC as being consistent with the omicron variant," said Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden.
[...] The person was fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine -- but had not had a booster shot -- and experienced only mild symptoms that are now improving. They are quarantining, and all close contacts have so far tested negative, Fauci said. The person is a resident of San Francisco between the ages of 18 and 49, and was not hospitalized, California Governor Gavin Newsom said during a press conference Wednesday.
"We knew that it was just a matter of time before the first case of omicron would be detected in the United States," Fauci said.
Fauci reiterated that within the next three weeks, there will be a lot more information about the transmissibility and severity of this strain of the disease, as well as the effectiveness of vaccinations and booster shots against the omicron variant. The new variant was first identified in South Africa in late November.
Also at Ars Technica and www.aljazeera.com
(Score: 0, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 02 2021, @09:48AM (37 children)
We need to subsidize the airlines, and get the planes flying again at pre-Covid levels! And, we need to surge the border! And, we need to hug a Chinaman!
We have the most fucked up, hodge-podge, hit-or-miss pandemic policies imaginable. When international travel is shut down, I'll start to take the authorities a little bit seriously.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @10:15AM (21 children)
We need to come up with a bunch of straw men, cut them all down, and then strut around smugly congratulating ourselves!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 02 2021, @10:41AM (18 children)
Want to stick with facts, huh? Well, fact is, we're doing something terribly wrong. The richest countries have the highest death rates. And, I don't accept the common wisdom that dark skinned people are too ignorant to count.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Opportunist on Thursday December 02 2021, @10:49AM (4 children)
We also have the highest number of old people. Ever taken a look at the age pyramid of Niger? Half the country ain't old enough to fuck legally in the US. Also, since they generally do understand how epidemics work, because they very likely have one in recent memory unlike us where only the ancient ones even know what a pandemic looks like (by the way, how many 80+ year olds do you know that believe the conspiracies?), and since they know that there ain't a medical system that will catch them if they fall due to their own stupidity, they tend to take warnings serious and try to avoid getting sick as well as they possibly can.
And guess what, in this case that actually works.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @09:15PM
I knew a few. but for some reason or other they're dead.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @09:55PM (2 children)
THAT'S RACIST!!!
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Friday December 03 2021, @07:11AM (1 child)
I agree, but don't tell me that, tell that those Ni... who named their country that way!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 06 2021, @08:31AM
You must have missed the memo, another sad misunderstanding. It's their word and they are the only ones allowed to use it. No need to thank me just correcting the record.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @01:09PM (3 children)
What America is doing wrong is that they want to remain "free". Free to travel wherever they like, free to leave there homes whenever they like, free do what they think is best for their own bodies, free to believe that evolution does not exist therefore all these viruses must be "manufactured", and so on. Putting ones life on the line to remain "free" is considered heroic.
At this point the politicians know damn well that if they pull more of the same shit that other countries do, these people will vote them out of office or, more likely now, threaten their very lives.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @02:04PM
Well, what would you expect from a political/corporate/media conglomerate that did everything it could to steal (sorry, "fortify") the election?
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by number11 on Thursday December 02 2021, @07:01PM (1 child)
Free to infect people they have contact with (or who have to breathe the same air). Free to fill the ICUs so that there isn't space for people with heart attacks or accident victims. Free to demand subsidized care when they do come down with covid (if they have insurance at all, the company will just raise everybody's premiums to cover the cost). Ah, freedumb!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @09:38PM
I zee you az ze number elf, iz it from ze camp? [babylonbee.com]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday December 02 2021, @05:11PM (6 children)
I would point out that in some of the richest countries, that is those rich countries with the largest concentrations of the stupidest people, we have many people who won't take one of the most basic precautions of getting vaccinated.
I wouldn't mind them not getting vaccinated, if they would just stay home and not spread the disease and its variants.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 02 2021, @05:43PM (5 children)
Let's get this straight. Poor countries can't afford the vaxx, but they have lower death rates. Richer countries get the vaxx, but they have higher death rates. Conclusion: people die because they don't get the vaxx.
You've bought a pig in a poke. And, even as you watch the cat crawl out of the bag and go racing away, you won't believe that there is no pig.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday December 02 2021, @05:58PM (4 children)
Any citations for that?
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(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 02 2021, @06:22PM (3 children)
I posted this one somewhere yesterday - https://theprint.in/opinion/why-poorer-nations-have-low-covid-deaths-per-million-as-compared-to-richer-countries/576976/ [theprint.in]
I don't think I posted this one, but I did see that leading photo on a different site - https://weather.com/en-IN/india/coronavirus/news/2020-10-27-evidence-lower-covid19-death-countries-poor-hygiene-water-quality [weather.com]
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/05/04/992544022/one-of-the-worlds-poorest-countries-has-one-of-the-worlds-lowest-covid-death-rat [npr.org]
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/33844/COVID-19-Mortality-in-Rich-and-Poor-Countries-A-Tale-of-Two-Pandemics.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y [worldbank.org]
https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-singapore-explainer-idUSKBN2680TF [reuters.com]
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210818/Why-have-COVID-19-caseloads-been-comparatively-low-in-Africa.aspx [news-medical.net]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday December 02 2021, @08:29PM (2 children)
The great thing is that we live in a democracy. And we have free speech. We can even contact our government officials. Even write to, phone or fax (or OMG! email) our legislators.
If you really think you've got a case for everyone to not be vaccinated, you can contact your representatives, lobbyists, even federal government departments.
Funny how science works. If you present evidence, science changes what it says to conform to all the best evidence. Very different from how religious dogma (or politics) responds to evidence.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @10:35PM
In a democracy, we don't allow the president to threaten private companies into carrying out his unconstitutional orders. The courts have already blocked nearly all the vaccine mandates on those very grounds, yet Biden keeps exhorting companies to do as he says anyway. He is "losing patience." FOAD, Third World strongman.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 02 2021, @10:40PM
Whoa now! Just slow down a little bit there! When, and where, have I ever suggested that you, or anyone else, should NOT get vaxxed? If I have really made any such suggestion, I apologize for that, here and now.
I approve of you getting vaxxed, if you want to get vaxxed. I approve of you deciding for your kids whether they should be vaxxed or not. The thing I have objected to all along, is you deciding whether I get vaxxed or not. I'm kinda live and let live, you know? If it makes the Demon-sperm woman feel good to have an exorcist exorcise her home every week, I'm find with that. If it makes audiophiles feel good to replace their gold plated connectors annually, I'm fine with that. If it makes furries feel good to wear furry shit everywhere they go, I'm fine with that. And, if it makes you feel good to get vaxxed, I'm happy for you, because you're a little less weird than some of the other examples.
What I have always been pissed about, is the arrogance of your tribe, who insist that they have the authority to dictate whether I will have a vax - or not. Mask mandates, etc ad nauseum. Social distancing, I can go along with. I don't like people invading my personal space, unless they are curvaceous and looking for sex.
Hell no, I'm not lobbying to make vaxes illegal, or whatevr you're suggesting here.
If you like your vax, you can keep your vax. Obama and I agree on that one point.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Thursday December 02 2021, @08:35PM (1 child)
2nd US omicron case just traveled to NYC anime convention with 53K attendees
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/12/2nd-us-omicron-case-just-traveled-to-nyc-anime-convention-with-53k-attendees/ [arstechnica.com]
I bet in poorer countries, they don't have one infected person as likely to travel to an event with 53,000 attendees, and then return home. Also, no doubt infecting others while en route to/from the event.
I suspect in poorer countries people are more tribal, have contact with fewer people, and don't travel as far or as much or to as large of a gathering.
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(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 02 2021, @10:26PM
Anime? You said ANIME? Jesus Christ on a Crutch. People who watch or read Asian/Oriental entertainment are obvious vectors! How hard is it for a virus to hide between the pixels?
(I suppose I need a /sarcasm tag here.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @01:58PM (1 child)
When is the Burning Strawman Festival? Asking for a friend.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 03 2021, @04:31PM
In this place? Any time Hallow, Runaway, NPC-$BIGNUM, or any of a number of ACs who are likely one of the above decide to comment.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Informative) by Thexalon on Thursday December 02 2021, @02:05PM
You mean how Biden already banned travel from southern Africa?
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday December 02 2021, @02:13PM (7 children)
International travel was shutdown until less than a month ago, and they just shut it down again from the seven identified Omicron hotspots.
Funny how similar this is to the selective shutdowns at the start of the Trump administration. I know: different reasons - or are they? Fear is at the root of them both.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @03:19PM (6 children)
Same reason: precaution, not fear. Exactly as any competent epidemiologist would advise! [nih.gov]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 02 2021, @06:06PM (5 children)
A genuine epidemiologist would shut down the airlines, period. Only travel essential to the distribution of essential supplies and goods would continue, and even that would be curtailed to some extent.
https://www.webcamtaxi.com/en/airport.html [webcamtaxi.com]
I can see aircraft around the world, carrying potential spreaders to destinations hundred and thousands of miles to spread wherever they go. An entire industry of vectors, we might say.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 03 2021, @01:22PM (4 children)
Genuine epidemiologists know that travel bans accomplish nothing once the virus has already entered a community. Politicians love them though, because they're grandiose demonstrations of "doing something!"
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday December 03 2021, @03:36PM (3 children)
Ahhhh, you've made my point. All international travel should have been shut down way back when the Democrats were chanting "hug a Chinese"
Once again, Trump to the first faltering step toward that end, until the Dems attacked him on grounds that shutting down travel was racisssssss. At which point he backed off, and permitted the virus to gain access to the US.
Progress blocked by progressives - more news at 11!
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Friday December 03 2021, @10:34PM (2 children)
It was racist (and pointless) because the ban only applied to Chinese nationals. US citizens traveling from there were free to come back with not so much as a check for sniffles.
It's looking like the current travel ban is pointless, as it is obviously here already.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday December 04 2021, @12:34AM (1 child)
I love the sibilance of that word - racisssssss. Like a snake hissing. And, of course, you can't argue with a snake. Always remember, 'don't step on snek'. Now, about that racissss move - were Chinese who were American nationals also barred from returning home? Were any Americans of any ancestry at all barred from returning home? Were Americans of either gender barred? Maybe Americans less than 4 feet tall? Americans with tats? Americans in high heels? Americans with falsetto voices?
As I've said repeatedly, Trump took the first bumbling step to shutting down travel, and your clan went immediately on the offensive. What your side should have done was to tell Trump, 'Yeah, we want to bring out citizens home, but we need to TEST THEM upon arrival!' Did ya do that? No? Your objection is meaningless.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Monday December 06 2021, @08:06PM
*I* did, actually. I personally advocated for a two week quarantine upon entry regardless of who they were. Testing would have been a great idea too, but we of course didn't do that either. Of course, I'm just a schlub that nobody would listen to anyway so, eh?
A first bumbling step that was effectively no step at all. It was motivated by "keeping the Chinese out" instead of keeping a virus out. Maybe if we didn't have a bumbling asshole in charge? Eh, probably not. I doubt HRC would have done much better.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @08:46PM (5 children)
Oh now you're fucking worried about Corona response. Fuck me, that's hilarious.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 02 2021, @10:23PM (4 children)
Dude. Coffee. You need some.
I've complained all along about the Dem response to Trump's early attempts to shut down travel. Remember "hug a Chinese"? Whatever bullshit either side wants to clutter the scene with, Trump tried to shut down travel in the very early days of the pandemic. Democrats screamed that meaningless refrain, 'DAS RACISSSSSS' and demanded that everyone in the US find a Chinese person to hug.
Trump buckled under pressure, and backed off shutting down travel, when he should have got more aggressive, and shut down all ports of entry into the United States.
Once we had confirmed cases here in the US, it was already too late to prevent the pandemic reaching us. But, it's still not to late to prevent the different strains from entering or leaving the country.
Problem is, NO ONE is willing to just shut it all down.
And, my position all along has been, if you aren't willing to quarantine completely, all the petty bullshit authoritarian measures from either party are just that - BULLSHIT! I refuse to take half measures to appease half assed fools.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02 2021, @10:37PM (1 child)
Parent said:
"hug a Chinese"
That's grammatically incorrect, as the object in that sentence is an adjective. The correct phrasing would be, "hug a Chinaman."
(Score: 2) by ChrisMaple on Friday December 03 2021, @01:37AM
It is common usage in U.S. English to optionally omit implied words whose presence is understood by most listeners:
"hug a Chinese [person]."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 03 2021, @05:27AM (1 child)
You should lay off the covfefe.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 03 2021, @05:31AM
And, you should lay off the CNN.