Wow it does really spread fast

[Deadon]

Daughter said they had 16 kids out yesterday in one of her classes. We had it a couple weeks ago so no biggie. But, that's a lot of kids out on one day. The day before she said it was 14 kids.

We also have a test site next to the school that has had lines long as can be and each day it's been packed. Yesterday I noticed that there was no one there. I thought meh it's peaked. This morning I heard on the radio that site was shutdown as all staff have covid.

It was like a cold for us and nothing like when we had alpha. I was glad to get it over with actually lol.

Anyway, it seems like everyone is going to get this mutation. But like I said its very very mild.

[fettonya]

It’s spreading in the schools here as well. My two kids go to the same small private school and some kids from each grade are dropping out. Even if it’s the parents sick they are keeping their children home. My neighbor and his wife both teach in the city at different public schools and they said it has really up ticked. Maybe a 1/3. He got sick last Tuesday with sinus throat Chad chest, sweats off and on. Tested negative but was done for the rest of the week. It’s around that’s for sure.

[Dnele928]

Hmmmm, just like head cold season. Happens every year. Just wasn’t headline hysteria news.

[sealocan]

^ The Cold-vid-19 variant?

[five.five-six]

Too bad kids don’t have guns, I’d call dibs.

[as_rocketman]

What I'm seeing is a lot of parents choosing to stay home out of precaution, but yes, it's spreading quite fast.

My schools did a (voluntary) test-everyone push last Friday, with 85% participation. Among those who tested negative and came to school Monday, fourteen confirmed cases made it through that filter, ten in one school and four in the other. Both schools are off attendance about 25% right now, of which about a fifth is actual diagnosis or exposure and the rest is hysteria.

This is probably not too far off the pace of other schools -- the district had a 10.5% test positivity rate, about double ours, and unofficially their absent rate is higher as well, but a good part of that is probably caregivers who've tested positive and keeping everyone home.

Testing is not defensive for this variant -- we've already seen, in our limited sample, how symptoms can present before a positive test. This much more rapid growth no doubt also factors into the huge hit to sterilizing immunity; the immune system is inherently reactive, and response time is a factor.

[DaveInOroValley]

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/01/covid_hysteria_is_so_yesterday.html

[JohnnyMtn]

[Dan_Eastvale]

That article states COVID is so yesterday. Even in MSM.
Not what I see. MSM is ramping up the gloom and doom over OMICRON and companies are going full steam on their vax mandates. Flights cancelled, schools going back to virtual, reinstated mask mandates. Long testing lines.
It is so yesterday for me and many other conservatives but the panic continues to grow in the general public.

Why are people getting tested for OMICRON?
If postive what are they going to do about it that’s different from a cold or flu?

[Deadon]

Thats my question. We tested because of my parents being at our home at Christmas. But if it wasn't for that there's no need. You can stand in line for hrs then you shouldn't be testing. When we had alpha I couldn't even drive let alone stand for hours.

I don't understand the testing. Is your doc going to give you a magic covid pill or something?

[alpha_romeo_XV]

Back when the pandemic started I looked at a 2-D chart showing historical viruses with ease of spread on X axis vs severity of symptoms on Y axis. There is a very wide range on both axis. This omni or whatever it really is does spread fast/easy but symptoms were mild for most people including me.
I believe it is airborne as my 1st symptom was an irritated nose.

[Deadon]

Johnny, no I agree. Let everyone get it. I was glad to get it so early on. We were at the mall Saturday without masks. You should have seen the people looking at us like we had a death wish haha. No worries about giving it to our parents anymore. Wife's dad is vaxxed but my parents aren't. I know they would be fine but I didn't want to be responsible for giving it to them.

[as_rocketman]

While there's no longer any way to test defensively (and it's been impractical for some time), there is still value in reconstructing why an outbreak is occurring. If you have a child who is exposed and gets symptoms, living with an elderly or immunocompromised caregiver, a positive test will give you some advance warning to watch for more severe symptoms. Even the omicron flavor of SARS-CoV-2 is more dangerous to children than other common ailments, and now that we're experiencing shortages of treatments -- plus the rollout of Paxlovid -- foreknowledge is useful.

There are also legal requirements. The school is required to react differently to confirmed cases than to mere symptoms, and there is a grey area for no test result. A school cannot compel children or their families to get tested, but without a negative test they will default to a longer quarantine requirement.

[Kokanee]

It is COLD season.......
Moronic......
It is also fiddle season, the orchestra is playing.......

[OlderThanDirt]