Forget about how the Grinch stole Christmas. Let’s talk about how the Omicron Variant is about to steal Christmas!
Health
Here in New York City, Omicron is running through the streets of Manhattan like a gazelle fleeing for its life from a surging tiger. What’s interesting is that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and their boosters appear to be no match for Omicron, as breakthrough COVID cases are spiraling out of control just in time for Santa’s arrival on Saturday.
Many places of employment in NYC (such as my own) have required at least 2 vaccines in order to report to work. The same goes for universities, restaurants, theaters, gyms, and other entertainment venues. Additionally, many employers have instituted regular testing procedures so as to fend off COVID before it can spread through the workplace.
My job in New York is one such place. We are tested 3 times per week and for months, every employee has regularly tested negative. Then, something strange happened last week. One co-worker, then 4, then more tested positive for the coronavirus. Interestingly, I happened to be one of them!
I successfully avoided getting COVID during all of 2020 and for 11 months in 2021. I was extremely vigilant about wearing masks, staying socially distanced, washing my hands, all of that. I got 2 doses of the Pfizer vaccine only a month after it was available. I ever got the booster shot just before Thanksgiving.
Still, Omicron got me — and an unprecedented number of my coworkers, too. It’s also trampling every workplace and employee in its path.
My place of employment closed down due to the unusually high number of cases. Several universities — including Princeton, Cornell, and NYU — also shut down and switched to online classes for the remainder of the year. A frightening number of Broadway shows (including “Hamilton,” “Moulin Rouge,” “Tina,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” and several others) also shut down due to an unexpected number of breakthrough cases. The NBA, NFL, and NHL have postponed or canceled dozens of games (with more to come) due to teams not having enough healthy players available. Additionally, some restaurants in the city have been forced to close due to too many employees testing positive and leaving the restaurant understaffed.
In New York, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office closed last week due to a series of breakthrough cases. And in Washington, Congress is mulling its next steps after Sens. Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren each tested positive over the weekend.
Thankfully, I am vaccinated and thankfully I recognize that the vaccine does NOT prevent getting COVID — but prevents hospitalization and death. So, I am grateful that aside from an ongoing headache, a few body aches, and congestion, my symptoms have been surprisingly mild. I’m also grateful that my future almost certainly doesn’t include being hospitalized on a ventilator and facing death. I am quarantined at home for 10 days and will hopefully emerge healthy and back to normal soon.
However, the surge in cases in NYC and cities across the country is already beyond concerning.
According to The New York Times, the CDC says the US is averaging 127,643 new COVID-19 cases per day — which is an approximate 51% jump from just a month ago. Additionally, a new study from Johns Hopkins University has concluded that 1,326 COVID-19 deaths are being reported per day — which is a 12% increase compared to last month.
In New York City, the number of COVID cases doubled over a 3-day period just last week, which caused great concern among health officials, as well as the mayor and the governor.
“Um, we’ve never seen this before in #NYC,” Dr. Jay Varma, NYC’s public health advisor, tweeted. He also noted that the daily positivity rate on December 9th was 3.9% and appeared to have doubled by December 12th to 7.8%.
“This is #SARSCoV2 evading both vaccine & virus-induced immunity *against infection* unlike any variant before. That’s the only explanation for dramatic jump in positivity. Consensus for now (but subject to change) is that immunity *against severe disease* should be far better,” he added.
.
Um, we’ve never seen this before in #NYC.
Test positivity doubling in three days
12/9 – 3.9%
12/10 – 4.2%
12/11 – 6.4%
12/12 – 7.8%Note: Test % is only for PCR & NYC does more per capita daily than most places ~67K PCR/day + 19K [reported] antigen over past few days (1/2) pic.twitter.com/PhxsZq55jn
— Jay Varma (@DrJayVarma) December 16, 2021
The Omicron variant is considered to be more contagious than all the other variants and is already proving its might. Regrettably, portions of the country are already under what they’re calling a “temporary” shutdown. However, that “temporary” moniker could soon be extended as cases continue to rise — all just in time for Christmas.
So, you better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout, I’m telling you why. The Omicron Variant is already in town!
AP: New York State today recorded the highest single-day total of new Covid cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The count of 21,027 new infections is well above the previous recorded high of 19,942 on January 14, at the absolute peak of the winter 2021 surge. That does not bode well for the winter of 2022, which is only just getting underway. That point was underscored when NY Governor Kathy Hochul told MSNBC’s Katy Tur this evening, “The surge is here. It’s going to get worse….We know it’s going to get worse, especially after Christmas Day.” The governor went on to observe, “We saw a 70% increase in cases from Thanksgiving to two weeks later. The same thing’s going to happen [after Christmas].” Even before that, however, “We are seeing an increase in the number of our cases that are Omicron,” said the governor. “We went from 50 to… Read more »