New variant from South Africa

[olliebean]

Went to Tesco yesterday, saw about half a dozen people in the store breaking the law by not wearing masks. I deliberately went at a quiet time, so this was at least 20-30% of the people I saw. Also no hand sanitiser at the door, despite having had an email from Tesco a couple of days ago claiming this is still one of the measures they're taking.

[MojoJojo]

I'm sort of clinging to the hope that the omnicron variant isn't that bad, and the government are bigging it up so they can bring back masks and restrictions without having to admit they should have done it earlier.

There's no real evidence that omnicron is particularly bad, just some reasons to think it might be.

[Milo]

I'm hoping it looks like getting bad enough to trigger a precautionary lockdown two weeks before Christmas that turns out to have been unnecessary. That'd suit me nicely.

[olliebean]

I'm hoping it looks like getting bad enough to trigger a precautionary lockdown two weeks before Christmas that turns out to have been unnecessary. That'd suit me nicely.

Not me. My housemate visits her parents for a couple of weeks over Christmas, and I get the house to myself and no need to even think about Christmas, and I'm dreading a lockdown being triggered in time to prevent this period of respite.

[Better Midlands]

Steps Superspread Scotland

[Ferris]

Steps Superspread Scotland

Quality deso gone begging.

[Dex Sawash]

Heta from Steps variant

[steveh]

Very early data suggesting Omicron is perhaps 60% as infectious / transmissible as Delta but the likelihood of reinfection is around 3 times that of Alpha or Delta. Might not outcompete Delta among the unvaccinated but could among the vaccinated?

Omicron could also still acquire the mutations needed for increased transmission, which the past has shown are easier for variants to acquire than those connected with immune evasion.

[bgmnts]

Omicron has officially hit Wales which makes it significant now.

[Ferris]

Omicron has officially hit Wales which makes it significant now.

Finally put the place on the map. Great news.

[shoulders]

Pretty sure Czechia, Hungary, Poland heading for something close to full lockdown in a few weeks. Not sure about Germany yet, I reckon they might try and ride out higher death numbers this time and blame the unvaccinated.

[poo]

This variant is fucking useless. Christmas is still on.

[Ferris]

Q: is this the one that puts us all in our graves?

Ans: no because there will be no one left alive to bury us.

[mothman]

Can easily be rebranded as Omega.

[Ferris]

Q: is this the one that puts us all in our graves?

Ans: no because there will be no one left alive to bury us.

For clarity - I don't think this gag is realistic (in fact, probably the opposite) but I thought it up while out for a walk and it made me chuckle so now you're all stuck with it.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Steps Superspread Scotland

How many deaths does this need to be responsible for in order for "H" to finally be declared the worst Ian Watkins?

[olliebean]

There seems to be quite a lot of people, including some politicians and medical people, who are calling it "Omnicron."

[shoulders]

How many deaths does this need to be responsible for in order for "H" to finally be declared the worst Ian Watkins?

It takes some planning or, Preparation, H

[mothman]

Some people might try to oppose it. An H Block.

[jobotic]

Fucking stealth omicron now

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/07/scientists-find-stealth-version-of-omicron-not-identifiable-with-pcr-test-covid-variant

Do they mean they can't identify it as an Omicron variant or they can't identify it all?

[MojoJojo]

It means they can only identify it as omicron by putting it into an expensive RNA reading machine. The non-stealth variant could be detected by PCR tests, more or less. There's a lot less capacity of RNA reading machines than PCR tests.

[Zetetic]

This is the most instructive bit in the article on the underlying mechanics, I think:

Scientists use whole genome analysis to confirm which variant has caused a Covid infection, but PCR tests can sometimes give an indication.

About half of the PCR machines in the UK look for three genes in the virus, but Omicron (and the Alpha variant before it) test positive on only two of them. This is because Omicron, like Alpha, has a genetic change called a deletion in the "S" or spike gene. The glitch means that PCR tests that display so-called "S gene target failure" [sometimes called "S gene dropout"] are highly suggestive of Omicron infections.

Informally, some researchers are calling the new variant "stealth Omicron" because it lacks the deletion that allows PCR tests to spot it.

[bgmnts]

Well the job centre are making you go into do something that can very very very easily be done by phone.

So fair to say government gives no fucks about this new variant and it will all be open.

I know this because the job centre was instantly shut in like March for a long time, way before it all went really bad, if memory serves.

[Ferris]

This is the most instructive bit in the article on the underlying mechanics, I think:

Scientists use whole genome analysis to confirm which variant has caused a Covid infection, but PCR tests can sometimes give an indication.

About half of the PCR machines in the UK look for three genes in the virus, but Omicron (and the Alpha variant before it) test positive on only two of them. This is because Omicron, like Alpha, has a genetic change called a deletion in the "S" or spike gene. The glitch means that PCR tests that display so-called "S gene target failure" [sometimes called "S gene dropout"] are highly suggestive of Omicron infections.

Informally, some researchers are calling the new variant "stealth Omicron" because it lacks the deletion that allows PCR tests to spot it.

Silly question - so the typical PCR comes back positive for covid (because 2 of 3 genes are still detected but possibly indicating a different variant), or negative for covid full stop?

[Zetetic]

Pos.

[Zetetic]

To be clearer: Triggering on two genes will get you a positive result.

It's also not a stupid question, given that certain English Government-commissioned labs seem to have no idea how to interpret their own fucking results half the time.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Does it make a difference to lateral flow tests?

[Ferris]

To be clearer: Triggering on two genes will get you a positive result.

It's also not a stupid question, given that certain English Government-commissioned labs seem to have no idea how to interpret their own fucking results half the time.

The older I get, the more amazed I am that people are unwilling to ask a question for fear of looking daft. I do it all the time if I don't follow something, and I'd guess at least half the time someone else in the room says "oh actually I don't get that either" and I suspect the other half the time people are too worried to even say that.

Worst case scenario - you can laugh it off in an informal situation and look personable; or reiterate it back to the person slightly differently in a formal setting and demonstrate active listening and visible understanding in a way that sticks with everyone ("he's the one who gets it!") far more than the other herberts who stay quiet in the meeting .

Used to drive me bonkers that, coming out a room and everyone deciding they didn't understand anything that was said or what they were supposed to do. Then fucking ask because the time to query it was ten minutes ago, not try and crib some notes off me.

Sorry. Pet peeve.

[bgmnts]

Yeah but it's okay for you to look stupid because you have nothing to lose.

[Ferris]

Yeah but it's okay for you to look stupid because you have nothing to lose.

When I ran 2 departments across 3 countries? Yes I suppose that's fair, I'd ask the question while being technically in charge, though I still tried to encourage everyone else to do the same.

What can you do eh?!