95 Omicron cases, almost all vaccinated
Ninety-five cases of Omicron have been identified in Montreal – almost all vaccinated.
François Legault is hanging on hard to allowing 20 people to gather for that secular holiday that’s coming up.
-
Kate
Reply
Chris 22:10 on 2021-12-15 Permalink
Those 95 include *suspected* cases, if I’m reading it right.
Also, “cases” is a less interesting metric these days, with almost everyone vaccinated. How many of these 95 have any symptoms at all? sniffles? hospitalization? Article doesn’t say. I guess a less scary headline would get less clicks.
Kevin 22:39 on 2021-12-15 Permalink
Cases is always interesting because they’re the canary in the coal mine. Quebec has gone from no cases on Nov. 30 to 95 in Montreal in 2 weeks.
The symptoms among these few currently infected with Omicron don’t matter as much as you may think. As always with Covid, many have mild symptoms, a few need hospitalization, and fewer still need an ICU.
What matters is how many, over a short time frame, get infected. The game plan has always been to stretch out that time frame as long as possible so the hospitals are not overwhelmed. And two years into this war, a lot of resources are being stretched thin. There’s very little left to give.
What’s notable about Omicron is, according to the WHO in today’s meeting if I understood it correctly, a) It is far more virulent than other strains and b) those who have the mild symptoms are those who had Covid, and were subsequently given two doses of vaccine. The young age and better health of the average person in those areas affected until now is also a factor.
Chris 23:49 on 2021-12-15 Permalink
>Cases is always interesting because…
Sure, but *less* interesting, because more and more of the cases are less and less consequential. And for the article to say nothing beyond raw case count is quite, ummm, a disservice (I’m feeling charitable).
>What’s notable about Omicron is… It is far more virulent…
On the contrary, it is *less* virulent. I assume you meant to say it’s more transmissible.
nau 09:14 on 2021-12-16 Permalink
In terms of overwhelming the healthcare system, more transmissible can easily be worse than more virulent. If Omicron turns out to cause half as many hospitalizations from the same number of cases as the original strain, while causing three times as many cases, that’ll be more hospitalizations. Also, as it can infect people who are vaccinated, that means the vaccinated healthcare workers are susceptible. Even if their cases are personally mild, they’ll no doubt have to quarantine so as not to contribute to further transmission, which would reduce staffing just as demand for their services increases.
Kate 09:42 on 2021-12-16 Permalink
nau, news Thursday is that Notre-Dame hospital is dealing with an outbreak in its surgery department, meaning the postponement of a lot of procedures. As you say, that’s the kind of problem Omicron can cause.
Kevin 10:49 on 2021-12-16 Permalink
Chris,
Sorry, I meant infectious. It spreads easily even to those who have been vaccinated.
We don’t know for sure that it causes less serious disease because as the WHO points out, the people who have been getting it so far are the equivalent of being triply vaccinated, and they tend to be younger and healthier than the average North American and European populations that were hit hard by Alpha and are being hit hard by Delta.
Omicron hasn’t hit elderly populations yet, so nobody can say if it’s milder or not.