Let's see if I can get this written and remember to publish it on the same day. It seems as if there have been so many little things to deal with lately that some are bound to fall through the cracks. Publishing a blog post is a relatively minor little thing so if something had to go yesterday, the blog post was a good one. I wrote the one I posted this morning yesterday; I just got distracted and never hit the "publish" button.
It's getting nigh near impossible to keep a running count of the nations and US states in which Omicron has been identified. In some cases, there is a travel history to "blame." In others, community transmission is the only way someone could have contracted it. It's looking more and more as if Omicron laps Delta in the foot race of transmissibility, though solid proof is still lacking. In mid-November, South Africa was seeing about 260 new cases per day. On Tuesday, there were over 4,300 new cases; on Wednesday, over 8,600. Thursday, there were over 11,500 new cases. Over 75 percent of the new cases in South Africa are from Omicron, not Delta.
Over 120 people attended a Christmas party in Oslo on November 26; over 60 of those people have tested positive for covid. Omicron has been identified in 14 or 15 of those cases so far. One person at the party returned from a trip to the company's South African office before Omicron was announced. The date of the party was the day on which Omicron was labeled a variant of concern. This superspreader has led to additional restrictions in and around Oslo. Masks are now required where distance cannot be maintained, such as on public transport and in shops. People have been urged to work from home if possible. Crowds of more than 100 people are banned with the exception of theaters and other places with fixed seating; the limit there is 600. Only table service can be used to serve alcoholic drinks. Finally, restaurants and events need to register attendees. I'm thinking this last one is to help with contact tracing.
Can you imagine such measures coming back in the US? While POTUS's press secretary says that nothing is off the table, the course of action put forward by POTUS includes only a nationwide campaign for booster shots, expanded availability and use of at-home tests, and tighter restrictions on international travel. POTUS notes that, "In order to beat Covid, we have to shut it down worldwide." I'm not seeing that the measures proposed for the US will be as effective as some of the courses of action taken in other countries. Experts say that travel bans won't accomplish anything unless they are done in conjunction with expanded vaccinations, mask-wearing, and distancing.
Did you know that there is a profession or at least a job of international travel risk analysis? One such person at the University of Denver says people thinking about international travel need to consider whether the travel can be postponed and how flexible they think they can be. They need to think through all scenarios that could happen and think about whether they could or would want to handle what arises in each. A physician who advises organizations on how to manage health risks advises taking along a supply of at-home rapid antigen tests.
According to a study published in The Lancet, it probably doesn't matter which vaccine a person gets as a booster. The study looked at seven different vaccine brands as boosters. All gave strong immune responses with Pfizer and Moderna giving the highest. All the patients in the study had first doses of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer.
Because it's Friday and the weekend awaits, here's some relevant info about alcohol consumption. The French drink the most times per week--three--but the Australians are the champions when it comes to getting drunk. They average 27 times per year, almost double the world average of 15. Aussies drink an average of twice each week and become heavily drunk once every two weeks. The runners-up in terms of getting drunk are, in descending order, Danes and Finns, Americans, British, Canadian, Irish, French, Swedes, and the Dutch. The Professor was surprised to hear the Danes, Finns, and Swedes were in the top ten given how expensive alcohol is in those countries. Maybe the weather has something to do with it. It may take alcohol to get through those long, dark, cold winter nights and even days. Above the Arctic Circle, winter days greatly resemble winter nights, as we learned first-hand off the Norwegian coast for New Year's 2018-19.
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