Originally posted December 1, 2021.

Should you be worried about Omicron? The variant contains a “set of sophisticated mutations in its spike protein, which could help it slip past immune systems and even evade vaccines.” Meaning, the elderly and unvaccinated may be at risk, forewarns Matt Purple in Spectator.World.

An Exhausting Byproduct

How hysterically, Mr. Purple asks readers to consider, do our elites think we need to react this time around?

The answer, according to researchers who have studied the virus, is not very hysterically at all. “Their symptoms were so different and so mild from those I had treated before,” said Dr. Angelique Coetzee, a South African doctor of omicron patients. Coetzee noted that omicron had so far been detected mostly in men who reported feeling tired for a couple of days. That this makes it medically identical to a hangover may warrant further study.

Who Runs the World?

Politicians and health departments run the world, not people who can actually help, like researchers. Will omicron call for all the usual mania?

Shortly after news broke, British prime minister Boris Johnson imposed a mask mandate on all shops and public transport. Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, declared a state of emergency and mandated that hospitals limit elective surgeries (!!!). For the crime of uncovering omicron, South Africa was slapped with travel bans by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

Trust Flatten the Curve?

But the question of transmissibility isn’t the only one worth asking here. Another is, are we really going to ruin another Christmas over Covid? And what effect will another round of restrictions have on the economy? And a year and a half after “two weeks to flatten the curve,” is there any public trust left to build on?

Not surprisingly, Mr. Purple wonders, will we ever return to the way things were before?