Does the Mild Omicron Strain Signal the End of the Covid Pandemic? Will the World Return to Normal?

[publicduende]

I don't understand something. The Philippines announced that to prevent the spread of Omicron, they are not allowing unvaccinated people to enter many malls, restaurants, and bars. They can only sit in outdoor seating areas and venues. Why? If Omicron is harmless like a normal flu or cold, then why are they taking such drastic measures? Didn't anyone tell the Philippines government about the harmless variant?

I also heard the US government is giving the Philippines government free money and aid to maintain the pandemic, so to keep the gravy train going, the Philippines government doesn't want the pandemic to end. Is that true? If so, why doesn't the US end the aid and maintain some control over it? Especially since the US must know that any money they send there goes into the pocket of corrupt government bureaucrats, and not to the people. Right? The US government isn't that dumb right?

I don't get the logic in any of this. I'm like an alien on Earth, like in all those sci fi movies where an alien comes to Earth and expects everything to be logical and doesn't understand the illogical nature of everything on Earth. lol

You can't find the logic because there isn't any An insane amount of people here have caught Omicron between January and February and, even after respecting the self-isolation period of 2 weeks, have come out of it with no health trouble whatsoever and with a level of natural immunity that's far better than any first or second dose they might have received a few months ago.

Unlike Europe, the Philippines simply don't recognise natural immunity. You're either vaccinated or you're not. If you are unvaccinated, like me, and recently recovered Omicron (like me, in January), you will still pass as unvaccinated.

[Yohan]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/arti ... study.html

Ivermectin does NOT stop Covid patients from becoming severely ill, trial reveals

Medics tested the drug on 490 vulnerable Covid patients over the age of 50
There was no significant difference in the half of the patients given ivermectin
New Malaysian study is the latest to cast doubt on the drug as a Covid treatment

[Yohan]

I heard the new strain Omicron is mild and similar to a regular flu. Is that so? If so doesn't that mean the pandemic is almost over?

Unfortunately, at least what we see here in Japan, it is NOT like that.
The number of deaths did not change, about 800 to 900 per month.
What changed however is the peak of infection comparing delta and omicron.

Peak with delta variant was around 230.000 active cases in all Japan,
however
Peak with omicron was on 11/Feb/2022 with 872.594 active cases.
Many more patients...

The proportion of patients about deaths and also ICU remains the same:
Unvaccinated = 8 , 1 x vaccinated = 2, fully vaccinated (2 or 3 x) = 1

A very mild omicron infection is often observed with people who also have pneumonia and seasonal flu vaccination.

However patients, not fully vaccinated against covid-19 + Seasonal flu + pneumonia, getting infected with covid-19-omicron AND seasonal flu at the same time frequently end up badly with life threatening condition over weeks followed by long term affects or even death.

Many infected Japanese stay just at home in rural areas or book a quantine hotel in the cities for a few days, many of them do not notice anything except some headache or fever - but a few of them suffer significantly and some of them even die.

Covid-19 omicron is NOT the flu virus, it is a new virus and a new disease and has to be taken seriously.

[Winston]

But Yohan. I don't understand. Why does everyone who got Omicron said it was mild like a normal cold? Even @publicduende said that after getting it. How do you explain that?

How is @MarcosZeitola? Any update on him?

[publicduende]

Covid-19 omicron is NOT the flu virus, it is a new virus and a new disease and has to be taken seriously.

I think every seasonal flu must be taken serious by subjects at risk: elderly, those with severe respiratory or immune system diseases, etc.

So much of the disinformation campaign of the past couple of years has been focussing obsessively on the devastating damages brought about by Covid on fragile individuals.

Just as problematic has been, IMHO, the total obfuscation of the simple complementary truth, which is that particular seasonal flu strains that have appeared, from time to time, have been just as bad to those at risk as Covid-19.

In other words, going full throttle on the message that "Covid-19 is really bad" while keeping the brakes on the common-sense corollary that "many strains of seasonal flu are bad, too" has been the source of all the fear and paranoia.

About 5 years ago I lost an old uncle for "respiratory complications". At the time of death, my uncle had high fever and problems breathing, due to a flu that became pneumonia. Lo and behold, the coroner who certified his death wasn't even touched by the idea of putting "seasonal flu" as the cause of death. Now, how many of these kinds of deaths have, since 2019, been attributed to Covid-19, therefore feeding the sense of fear and panic in the general population, even in the well-educated medical professionals?

[publicduende]

But Yohan. I don't understand. Why does everyone who got Omicron said it was mild like a normal cold? Even @publicduende said that after getting it. How do you explain that?

How is @MarcosZeitola? Any update on him?

@Winston @Yohan

Omicron has been extremely contagious here in the Philippines. In January alone, almost all family, friends and acquaintances of mine and my wife's caught it. Making a degree of separation count, it's hundreds, perhaps a thousand people we're talking about. All of them, invariably, recovered after one to two weeks. Vaccinated, unvaccinated, those vaccinated with the apparently useless Chinese vaccines (Sinovac & C.), those who got the mRNA or deactivated virus shots, those with one, two and even three doses.

They all got it, and they all got over with it. It's simultaneously bad news for the vaccine, which effectiveness proved to be quite short-lived (3 or 4 months at most), and good news for those who got Omicron, which almost certainly got the best possible type of immunity against this particular strains, and perhaps a few subsequent mutations.

P.S. I don't think @MarcosZeitola stopped writing here because he has been struck out by Covid. As far as I remember him, he's one of the most wholesome, healthiest HA members I know!

[gsjackson]

Covid-19 omicron is NOT the flu virus, it is a new virus and a new disease and has to be taken seriously.

I think every seasonal flu must be taken serious by subjects at risk: elderly, those with severe respiratory or immune system diseases, etc.

So much of the disinformation campaign of the past couple of years has been focussing obsessively on the devastating damages brought about by Covid on fragile individuals.

Just as problematic has been, IMHO, the total obfuscation of the simple complementary truth, which is that particular seasonal flu strains that have appeared, from time to time, have been just as bad to those at risk as Covid-19.

In other words, going full throttle on the message that "Covid-19 is really bad" while keeping the brakes on the common-sense corollary that "many strains of seasonal flu are bad, too" has been the source of all the fear and paranoia.

About 5 years ago I lost an old uncle for "respiratory complications". At the time of death, my uncle had high fever and problems breathing, due to a flu that became pneumonia. Lo and behold, the coroner who certified his death wasn't even touched by the idea of putting "seasonal flu" as the cause of death. Now, how many of these kinds of deaths have, since 2019, been attributed to Covid-19, therefore feeding the sense of fear and panic in the general population, even in the well-educated medical professionals?

That's why the scam was always made apparent simply by looking at average age of death and comparing to the norm. I first became suspicious when they trotted out those hospitalized northern Italians back in March, 2020 and freaked everyone out, but then it was revealed that the dead were 81 on average.

[Yohan]

But Yohan. I don't understand. Why does everyone who got Omicron said it was mild like a normal cold? Even @publicduende said that after getting it. How do you explain that?

To answer your question with a question in return:
About Publicduende, he got the covid-19 omicron infection, but I did not... How to explain that?
How to explain that Philippines reports 56.000 deaths, but Japan claims only 23.000, despite both countries have a similar population size and it is said that hot weather is killing the Covid-19 virus?

Anyway I expect that the covid-19 virus will be treated in the near future without vaccine, as there are already some medication under review, at least here in Japan. See link below.

https://japantoday.com/category/nationa ... l-in-japan

Japanese pharmaceutical firm Shionogi & Co said Friday it has applied for approval of its oral COVID-19 drug, after mid-phase clinical trials showed efficacy in reducing the coronavirus in the body.

It is the first such pill developed by a Japanese drugmaker and will be administered to mild-to-moderate coronavirus patients, regardless of whether they are at risk of hospitalization, to prevent the virus from multiplying in the body.
-----
Shionogi has said it can start supplying between 400,000 and 500,000 doses of the drug in Japan by the end of February and 1 million doses by the end of March.

There is also research going on to replace the vaccination using a needle with oral vaccination.

About the Omicron variant, it is mild in many cases, but still in Japan there are about 800 deaths registered every month - not less and not more than during the last year with the delta variant. The omicron easily infects many more people (4 times more) than the delta variant.

You can play a political number-game with those statistics. Mild or not? For everybody?
Peak with Delta variant was around 230.000 infected patients, but peak with omicron-variant was 870.000 people in Japan.

-----

In Mexico, about same population size as Japan, about 317.000 covid-19 deaths are reported, but in Japan only 23.000 - why is it like that if it is just a normal cold? - For sure, the covid-19 variants are NOT a flu and not a cold, it's a new disease, for many harmless, but surely not for everybody.

---------

Here in Japan as said before, all is up to you, nobody is forced into any vaccination - but many are showing up and there are always waiting lists, so far about 22 million Japanese are 3 x vaccinated.

About myself and all family members and also my friends in Malaysia and in Austria (EU) - they all are 3 x vaccinated and NOBODY so far got infected with the covid-19.

My family is also vaccinated against seasonal flu and pneumonia.

In Japanese hospitals not vaccinated covid-19 patients in ICU outnumber 1x vaccinated patients 8:2 and full vaccinated patients 8:1.

I don*t care what others are doing. I am with the Japanese government which is clearly against any mandatory vaccination and it seems this policy works well. No demos, no anti-vaxxers, and even waiting lists for people who want to be 3x vaccinated...and of course no obligatory vaccine passport required.

We don't know who is vaccinated or not if we see people in Japan walking in the streets...up to the individual, a private matter...

[Winston]

I see your point Yohan. I guess Covid is a little deadly to some people and has killed some people. However, everyday in America, people die in car accidents too. So why don't they lock down all cars and road traffic? I don't get it. What's the difference? Where is the consistency? Are you sure there is no hidden agenda or plan? Couldn't Covid be part of a wider agenda? Especially since Bill Gates was preparing for it in advance with Agenda 201 or something?

Also people die from alcohol too, and from unhealthy food. So why isn't alcohol and unhealthy food in America banned too? Where's the consistency in all this? Can you explain the logic behind it?

Do you believe this is a sane and rational world? If so, then why would the US government kill 3 million Vietnamese and let 60,000 Americans die in Vietnam for nothing and allow a pointless war like that to go on for 10 years? No sane government would do that right? An honest mistake would be corrected within a week, not last for 10 years. Don't you ever see the big picture or think about obvious questions like this?

[Yohan]

@Winston

Sorry, Winston, but I don't know how to compare traffic accidents, the Vietnam War or unhealthy food with Covid-19, but about hidden agenda or plan, I can only comment about what I see in South Korea and Japan. Both countries are not the best friends, but both countries come to about similar conclusions when publishing about their medical experience with covid-19.

Their data about infection, death, vaccine etc. are about the same, considering the size of population.

https://kosis.kr/covid_eng/covid_index.do
https://www.stopcovid19.jp

South Korea was very alarmed about Covid-19 when it showed up the first time and quickly considered any foul play from North Korea, any possible biological artificial created virus-weapon, but after countless research by military and civil private and public facilities nothing was found.

Just a corona virus, similar to SARS and MERS which acts similar creating variants etc.

Same in Japan, nothing was found that anybody created or manipulated something and Japan is not the best friend of China.
Plenty of research was done in Japan by its pharma industry, private and public facilities...nothing was found.

Do we live in a sane world? Surely not - this world is crazy, but compared to what I have seen as a child past WWII and about how my life is now, I think it is much better now for me than before.

[Winston]

Good news! Hope more nations follow suit soon, especially those in paranoid Asia!

UK to become first European nation to scrap all Covid-19 curbs | Latest World English News | WION

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out plans to scrap all covid-19 restrictions as part of a "living with Covid" strategy. Johnson's Conservative government lifted most virus restrictions in January, scrapping vaccine passports for venues and ending mask mandates in most settings apart from hospitals in England.

[publicduende]

That's why the scam was always made apparent simply by looking at average age of death and comparing to the norm. I first became suspicious when they trotted out those hospitalized northern Italians back in March, 2020 and freaked everyone out, but then it was revealed that the dead were 81 on average.

The average age of death of Covid patients, in most European countries including the United Kingdom (and, by a fraction of a year, even Italy), is higher than the average death age of the general population. This, plus other simple, obvious, common-sensical facts, have been systematically hidden from the public discourse.

Just as hidden, the fact that the average age of death by vaccine was WAY higher than the average death age of the general population. Adjusting for age range deaths (e.g. deaths of 15-25 year olds, per million inhabitants) more young people have died or had severe adverse effects from the vaccine than from Covid.

Again, truth by selective dissemination of information...

[flowerthief00]

Pandemic is pretty much over for everyone who didn't have a vested interest in it not being over. Unfortunately, the latter is a large number of people, civilians and elites.

Unbelievably, even at this late stage with the vaccines being more useless than ever before, I had a friend I've known for most of my life try to persuade me to get vaxxed recently, and had a negative emotional reaction to my stating my reasons not to, even implying that we might not be able to be friends any more.

It's a religion, this cult of the vaccine. As with many religions, it has its evangelists. As with some religious cults, it has a culture of disowning friends and family who don't practice your faith. Also, as with many religions, it has a few at the top profiting from the gullibility of the masses.

[Winston]

Why is China locking down 50 million people if the pandemic is over and Omicron is mild like a normal cold? I don't get it. What am I missing? Why would China want to hurt it's own economy? My friend @zboy1 says his city in China is locked down too.

[Winston]

I don't get something. I heard that Omicron is mild, like a normal cold or flu. If so, then why is Asia still freaking out about it? Especially China? What is their excuse or rationalization? Is it due to politics or real science or both? It's hard to know what's true anymore since everything is corrupted and a mix of truth and lies now.

I know Europe is toning down and easing off travel restrictions, so is America, but Asia is still on paranoia mode as if the pandemic is still dangerous and could kill many people. But if Omicron is like a normal flu or cold now, why are they panicking like that? Don't they know better?

It also seems Asians get paranoid and fearful easily. They are not taught to be confident or strong like John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. lol. I grew up in an Asian family so I know. Smile