New South African variant.

[Kremmen]

That Omicron running parallel with Delta is what Whitty said during yesterday's 17:00 press briefing.

[JimSh]

That Omicron running parallel with Delta is what Whitty said during yesterday's 17:00 press briefing.

Yes. He is right. At the moment it is as if we are facing two epidemics at the same time but as omicron spreads faster than delta it is becoming the more dominant variant.
Cases of omicron are expected to outnumber those of delta tomorrow in Scotland.
At some stage it will completely displace delta just as delta replaced previous variants.

[Kremmen]

88k new cases.

[culzean]

88k new cases.

In reality cases mean nothing - but it is all the media focus on ( because cases can be real scary numbers ), and testing has been increased by about 12% so more cases bound to be found. Unless you test everyone every day you do not know how many cases there are, you only know how many cases amongst the people tested, so we never knew how many Delta cases there were from one day to the next.  The only thing that matters is hospitalisations, and how long people have to stay in hospital, if they need oxygen or mechanical breathing aid like a ventilator, and of course if they die 'from covid' and not 'with covid'.   Quite a few people die from common cold, some people are already that sick with multiple other conditions that a cold can be 'the last straw' and knock them over.

[JimSh]

The more cases the more hospitilisations.
There will be more cases than there are confirmed cases. In fact there might well be many more. Therefore there are potentially many more hospitalisations.
Some people might not be submitting samples, especially if there symptoms are mild perhaps out of necessity to earn money or to selfishly go to some entertainment.
The scientists know that it spreads much faster than delta and will out compete it.
It is not yet known how serious the disease is  ie how the number of cases relates to the number of hospitalisation and ultimately deaths.
If it is much less severe than delta and omicron replaces delta then that would be great but if it is only slightly less severe
the extra numbers of cases would more than compensate for the lesser severity and the NHS might well be overwhelmed.
Until the scientists know, it is best to err on the side of caution.
The more the number of cases can be kept downn by minimising contacts , mask wearing ventilation etc.the longer it gives for the scientists to find out and for the vaccinators to inject more people.

[Jocko]

The NHS could be overwhelmed due to the numbers of frontline staff testing positive, never mind a heavier caseload.

[Kremmen]

What I've also wondered is how many are actual new cases.

Could some be the same people from the previous day who have tested again ?

[Jocko]

What I've also wondered is how many are actual new cases.

Could some be the same people from the previous day who have tested again ?

Once you have been tested and found positive the system won't allow another test result unless it is a negative result.

[JimSh]

Omicron is now the dominant variant in Scotland.
Nicola Sturgeon urges people to consider their priorities in the run up to Christmas. Is the football or the party worth the family Christmas dinner?
Pledges £100m to support businesses but calls for UK government to step up.

"The First Minister announced an extra £100 million of funding for businesses earlier this week.

At a coronavirus briefing, she confirmed £66m of this will go to the hospitality sector, £8m to the food and drink supply chain, £20m to the culture sector, £3m to the wedding sector, and £3m to the "worst affected parts of tourism".

Ms Sturgeon said this support was "significant" but conceded it would not "fully compensate these sectors for the impact they're suffering right now".

She said: "The UK Government has to get its finger out. It has to step up and it has to provide this support." 

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/covid-scotland-nicola-sturgeon-tells-uk-government-to-get-its-finger-out-as-she-provides-funding-breakdown-3498954

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/dec/16/boris-johnson-go-out-catch-covid-ignore-the-science-or-trust-in-chris-whitty

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-59701008

Edit added BBC link

[JimSh]

This week's Indie Sage Omicron update from about 3min.--23min. Scary biscuits.
Looks like we're heading into another crisis while Boris delays again.
See the main points on the slides.

"We cannot prevent infections that have happened this week but we can prevent them next week.
Doing so would save lives, protect the NHS and enable people to have a much safer Christmas."

[JimSh]

The NHS could be overwhelmed due to the numbers of frontline staff testing positive, never mind a heavier caseload.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/dec/17/hospitals-in-england-draw-up-plans-for-significant-covid-staff-absences

[Kremmen]

If this new variant is that transmissible then before and after they get dressed up has to be an issue.

There have been lots of earlier reports of patients catching covid in distant hospital wards so it does travel.

[JimSh]

Sage agreeing with Indie Sage.

Covid: More measures needed to limit hospitalisations - Sage scientists

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59707252

"According to those leaked minutes, the Sage advisers say that without intervention measures beyond the Plan B rules currently in place, modelling indicates that hospital admissions could peak at at least 3,000 a day in England."

More measures are needed even if it upsets Tory back benchers and the gutter press.
What is needed is more compensation for small businesses.

Scotland and Wales want to implement stronger measures but are being restricted by lack of funds from UK government to compensate businesses.

[nowster]

The source of the article is Bank of England putting interest rates up...

Could that not be something to do with the B word instead?

There is now talk of a Circuit Breaker in the New Year. Too late, of course, but heaven forfend anyone disrupt Christmas again.

[JimSh]

The source of the article is Bank of England putting interest rates up...

Could that not be something to do with the B word instead?

There is now talk of a Circuit Breaker in the New Year. Too late, of course, but heaven forfend anyone disrupt Christmas again.

Yep.
Even better would have been 3 weeks ago when even less restrictions would have been necessary. Somebody needs to try to explain exponential growth to these eejits.
They have learned SFA in the last two years.
There's been no progress in "learning to live with it" just "ignore it and hope it will go away"
The later they take action the worse it is for health and  for the economy since the restrictons need to be more severe and longer lasting.
3 weeks ~10 X2day doublings ~ 1000 times worse
The money they wasted on contracts for chums could have been invested in better ventilation for schools and work places and a decent system of sick pay so that people are not forced into work when sick.

Edit added at 2.30pm
Circuit-breaker lockdown needed before Christmas, expert warns

The most effective way to stop the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus would be to have a circuit-breaker lockdown before Christmas, a leading government adviser has said.

Stephen Reicher, professor of social psychology at the University of St Andrews and member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said it was clear Plan B measures alone would not be enough to stop the spiralling numbers of cases.

Prof Reicher, who was speaking to Times Radio in a personal capacity, said the time to act was now.