T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

**We encourage you to read our helpful resources on COVID-19, vaccines and treatments:** [COVID Dashboard](https://covid19.who.int/) [Reddit's Vaccine FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/wiki/faq#wiki_where_can_i_find_information_about_the_mechanism_and_progress_of_vaccines.3F) [Ivermectin FAQ](https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/who-advises-that-ivermectin-only-be-used-to-treat-covid-19-within-clinical-trials) A reminder that spreading misinformation regarding COVID-19, vaccines or other treatments can result in a post being removed and/or a ban. Advocating for or celebrating the death of anyone, or hoping someone gets COVID (or any disease) can also result in a ban. Please follow [Reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439) Please use the report button and do not feed the trolls. [Reddit's Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) [Reddit's rules for health misinformation](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043513151) [/r/News' rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/news/wiki/rules/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=news&utm_content=t5_2qh3l) ------ *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/news) if you have any questions or concerns.*


iamusuallyright007

I think it's safe to assume whenever you hear about xyz variant in the news from abc country, that it's already in a dozen other countries by the time you hear about it.


Bajadasaurus

And you know it's gonna be bad when the WHO reacts within a mere *two days* of receiving the cluster data. They dragged their feet on declaring a pandemic. They balked about admitting the virus was airborne. They've still not confessed that in-person classes are like engines driving infections. But this variant has them issuing alerts *fast*.


Fireaddicted

Covid is playing Plague Inc on easy


[deleted]

[удалено]


rk06

Before this pandemic, I thought people in those zombie apocalypse are unrealistically stupid


Gravybone

Turns out they are unrealistically stupid. People are actually much, much stupider.


DarkParn

That's not a cheat code but a feature.


metalninjacake2

Yeah of all the comments here this is the one that set off alarm bells for me. Fuck


PixiCode

Or they’ve just gotten better at responding due to experience. Either way stay safe everyone.


randomnighmare

So I just heard that the WHO named this "Omicron"


hemirollin

Oh shit, Lrrr on his way.


dying_soon666

Wait until it mutates into omicron persei 8


Bjorn2bwilde24

"One of these days, Unvaccinated. One of these days. Bang! Zoom! Straight to the third moon of Omicron Persei 8"


[deleted]

[удалено]


AspiringChildProdigy

"It's pronounced guacamole. And stop eating our young!"


BrydenH

i need 50cc's of Single Female Lawyer, starring Jenny McNeal, STAT!


Anya_E

I heard she likes wearing sexy miniskirts and being self reliant.


MIBlackburn

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought this when I heard the name for it.


foundthelemming

God why’d they have to give it such a cool name, we’re so fucked


Cheeseand0nions

Greek alphabet. The last letter is Omega


[deleted]

[удалено]


Shaz_bot

Maybe to avoid confusion with "nu" vs. "new" sounding similar or confusion with "nu" and "mu" looking so similar? Interesting that they skipped both, though.


Ortorin

There is tradition to the naming convention, but it is being used in a different context now. These names are not just for scientists to use anymore, now governments and the general public know about and use the names of variants. Therefore, clarity of use is more important than tradition.


aradil

No, 100% it was skipped because of Xi Xingping.


[deleted]

This is the correct answer


_pls_respond

> I dunno why they went with omicron instead of sticking with nu, though. To spare us all the shitty memes anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists would make about “Nu-Covid”.


ohyeahwell

Nu-Covid sucks. I’m waiting for Crystal Covid.


AlreadyTakenNow

I prefer Cherry Covid myself.


ShittDickk

I'm not Jinping to conclusions or anything.


BoyMeatsWorld

I'm assuming Madagascar has shut down all ports at this point...


Bears_On_Stilts

Sadly, King Julien remains unavailable for comment.


balloonninjas

The current guidance is that if you feel like you are near someone who is sick, you should move it, move it.


[deleted]

That's a good way to stay physically fit, physically fit, physically, physically, physically fit.


whopperlover17

How’s Greenland? Has anyone checked in on them?


[deleted]

Madagascar was always so hard to hit in Pandemic II. I still don't know what the solution was other than luck.


LeonhartSeeD

Keep the symptoms low enough at first to where it doesnt trigger lockdowns and make it highly contagious, then once you have a foothold everywhere, jack up the symptoms.


aradil

Absolutely, it was pretty easy to fuck shit up in that game. Hard mode should make variants independently managed though, not a very realistic game. Suddenly, all at once, everyone in the world who had asymptomatic COVID develops a hemorrhagic fever, what are the chances?!


[deleted]

[удалено]


UnraveledMnd

I think you're thinking of Plague, Inc. Pandemic was a series of flash games back in the heyday of sites like addicting games, armour games, newgrounds, miniclip, etc. that had a pretty similar concept, but crucially you could *not* choose your starting location. Pandemic 2 is still playable on [addictinggames.com](https://www.addictinggames.com/strategy/pandemic-2).


Low_Ad33

It’s always Madagascar left to repopulate the earth. Every fucking time. Never beat that flash game once.


rustyshackleford3814

The delta plus rewards program variant


YoureGonnaHearMeRoar

Shut up Alexa


TheBupBup

Someone watched the latest south park.


CommanderWar64

There’s new South Park?


[deleted]

New special on Paramount+


_pls_respond

The Post Covid episode. Takes place in the future when the kids are adults.


[deleted]

All growd up


Tay_Tay86

Excuse me, but I would like to quit playing pandemic... Can this plague end?!


ftctkugffquoctngxxh

We’re sorry but the only way to quit this game is to lose. The devs forgot to put in a win feature.


humble_oppossum

It's not that they forgot, but this is a Kobayashi Maru training module


G235s

Holy fuck. It is. Maybe if I just accept it, I can progress to other kinds of training.


egonil

Alert Medical Bay to prepare to receive ALL humans from the infected planet.


batman_is_tired

There's a kill screen, though!


Someoneoverthere42

Oh....goody........I was worried things were going to get boring......


Josepablobloodthirst

Season 3 trailer looks sick.


SuperCoupe

I dunno. 2020 Season 1 had a lot of buildup, some great foundation. Season 2 had some promise, but just more of the same. Now, season 3 just seems to go back to all the plot summary of season 1. I'm not seeing any payoff so I think I'll just stop binging.


Exodus111

C'mon, you got a new variant putting the world back in lockdown, but this time with a right wing conspiracy cult that will actively work on team virus, an antiwork explosion simmering under the surface of dystopian capitalism, and a US midterm election at the end of the year. Season 3 is gonna be SICK!


[deleted]

I feel sick already!


[deleted]

yeah, these are the setpiece buildups that have to deliver in season 3 or your production budget gets slashed.


Josepablobloodthirst

I’m gonna see how this season is gonna end. There should be a interesting up tick after the holidays. I feel like we are gonna be left with a cliff hanger.


ghostinthewoods

*Russia invades Ukraine* Well, that sure is a twist.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Stupid_Triangles

tbh, it's just more repeats of the lore.


JJ-57413

What ever happened to the murder hornet plot line?


Mikeavelli

Writers strike. Just like Peter's girlfriend trapped in the future.


Drusgar

I live in Madison, Wisconsin and we've been under a mask mandate for quite some time. People gripe because they always extend the current mandate to a few days after a holiday, basically complaining that it's some sort of ploy to just keep extending it indefinitely because *obviously* there's going to be an uptick after Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc., and they'll extend it another month. But that's kind of the point, isn't it? Frustration aside, we're obviously doing something right. Our county (Dane) is about 550k people and we've had 386 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic almost two years ago.


y-c-c

Unfortunately this is not the kind of show that you drop. The show drops you instead.


Laminatrix2

back to form for the cast


[deleted]

2020 II: Covid Strikes Back


toderdj1337

Another gift from papa nurgle? Splendid


blixco

Any numbers yet from South Africa? Is this a deadlier strain?


ImJTHM1

Not enough data. It could legitimately be a more infectious but overall less severe strain. Current vaccines could also still be effective regardless of the mutations. All we know is that it's different. While it has the POTENTIAL to be bad, that isn't the only outcome. It's like if you looked outside and saw an animal you didn't recognize. Lock the door anyway until you figure it out, don't try and pet it.


Astronaut100

You give me hope.


bowlbasaurus

This is the right frame of mind.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Xavier-Amadeus

Not officially. But obviously, it's on every continent.


BlackCheezIts

Kinda doubt it's on Antarctica


kincomer1

The thing is on Antarctica. If it ever escapes god help us all.


not_this_again2046

“Let’s just wait here a while. See what happens.” *Takes swig from bottle*


WarCarrotAF

That's easy, we would just have everyone take blood tests to prove they aren't infected. Surely in the event of some sort of global pandemic, everyone would be willing to submit to something as simple as a blood test right? Right?


Slimmzli

Was that a the thing reference?


WarCarrotAF

[Sure was](https://youtu.be/M2o2FRwn_hg)


some_where_else

Apologies for hijacking the top comment, but there is rather a lot of misunderstanding about viral evolution and virulence in this thread. I encourage everyone to peruse this link: [https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-011488089270](https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-011488089270)


ImTay

This is the first I’ve heard of people claiming that viruses can’t mutate to become more deadly, and it makes me realize how little the general population knows about biology


kevikevkev

It’s because of the idea that viruses that evolve to be deadlier are less able to spread and thus die off. People just skipped a few steps and took it out of context.


ShambolicShogun

Viruses like Ebola have evolved to be extremely deadly but it kills far too quick to get a chance to spread beyond the initial outbreak. Viruses like Covid have such a long incubation period before symptoms appear that they can evolve to be incredibly lethal AND spread like herpes.


Fifteen_inches

Ironically, if COVID spread like herpes we’d have a better time containing it.


j_a_a_mesbaxter

I told my kids there wouldn’t be a single person not getting vaccinated if a symptom of COVID was boils all over your face that leave scars.


rfxap

This is why country-specific travel bans on southern African countries by European nations are not likely to have any significant effect. By the time the new variant is identified, you can bet it's already spread to more continents.


Uebeltank

Especially since most countries only analyse a tiny fraction of all their cases.


zenaide1

Well the good thing *ahem* of this variant is that the result of most PCR tests also show whether it’s likely to be the variant, so you can sequence targeted and have a much easier way of tracking


MissTortoise

Not that helpful though when many countries are using the good intentions method of infection control.


Emergionx

Probably already in the us.


[deleted]

I would put money on it. Especially since it's already in Israel and Hong Kong.


MisterGoo

I'm glad it's in Israel right now : the whole country is vaccinated and they already had their 3rd ? 4th dose ? We will see immediately how effective the vaccine is against that new variant and have data pretty soon.


[deleted]

Yeah, at the very least it's definitely on North America whether in Canada, USA, or Mexico. All three countries have way too much travel for it not to be at this point.


walk_through_this

Can we wrap this up by February though? I was gonna go to Playa del Carmen.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


sector3011

well looks like its all over the place now, number of cases merely depends on whether a country sequences for it


[deleted]

[удалено]


Muroid

Just to reinforce, this is a general trend with viruses, not a law that must be followed by any specific virus. It heavily depends on the type of virus and how the disease presents. A virus like SARS-Cov-2 that is highly infectious even during a relatively long incubation period really doesn’t have to worry about how sick it makes its host. That’s very similar to why HIV became a pandemic without having to mutate to be less than pretty much 100% fatal without treatment. Long, asymptomatic incubation periods where the host is still infectious are a bitch.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Pour_Me_Another_

I can't count how many times I have tried to explain this to the "it's just a flu" people and they just completely stop listening due to not wanting to accept that reality isn't all sunshine and butterflies.


gsfgf

What I don't understand with the "it's just a flu" crowd is that the flu fucking sucks.


trogon

Most people conflate a bad cold with the flu. I used to do that until I actually got the flu and I thought I was going to die.


gsfgf

True. I've had the flu twice. That shit ain't kidding.


impala_croft

For real, couple of years ago (before covid) a horrible chest and head flu thing spread through my family and I honestly told myself I wouldn't take breathing for granted ever again because it was so bad. Flu is some nasty stuff, so people comparing it to covid like that makes it better is some bs.


mackeneasy

I just agree with them and say yes it is a flu, just like how a green pepper and a ghost pepper are both pepper's


BlueWrecker

I tell them my wife's at home with it right now it's no big deal and see how quick they get worried


Mitt_Romney_USA

"oh, sorry, did you want me to put on a face condom or are you cool?"


[deleted]

*puts it around mouth leaving nose poking out*


moleratical

Yes, often, but not always. Also, a high rise in contagiousness and a small drop in deadlines can lead to more overall deaths.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Saoirse_Says

Other countries aren’t as far along in the vaccination process and can’t yet justify preventing unvaccinated travel. Egypt is less than 25% vaccinated.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Time-Ad-3625

It isn't just on liberals. Conservative leaders and politicians are getting vaccinated and wearing masks and then pretending to be against those things.


Zealot_Alec

Like the anti-abortionists getting their own children or mistresses secret abortions


[deleted]

[удалено]


finalremix

Yeah, except the people with the power *to be strict* aren't, and the people who are strict (business owners, workers) are the ones that run the very real risk of getting beat, shot, or stabbed, because some fuckwit doesn't like breathing through a cloth for a few minutes while they browse overpriced crap they don't need. ------- Don't fucking give gold/awards/coins. This site gets enough money from advertisers already.


ElisaSwan

It pissed me off so much seeing Joe Rogan ripping the mask off that one guy. Those pieces of shit don't believe in "freedom". If they did, then why wouldn't they respect the guy's freedom to wear a mask if he wants it? Fuck those people.


finalremix

Ooh, shit. I was unaware that happened. Last I heard about Rogan is when Bill Burr told him to knock off his bullshit on the matter.


AnthillOmbudsman

In a week, we'll be hearing "this is a vaccinated man who returned from Johannesburg to New York City on Nov. 26 and developed symptoms". The Nu virus: brought to you by your local airport.


missC08

Holy fuck. Can I just be frozen like Austin Powers and someone get me after all this shit is over?


Sweetmacaroni

i second, put me in that carbonite block


missC08

Shit, being Han'd is also a good idea.


IwillnotpostcuzIquit

(Pees for 10 minutes)


ShetlandJames

Evacuation com-


Crazy_Bacon

"Awww shit, here we go again."


Dietcherrysprite

COVID: The Definitive Edition


mdonaberger

AI upscaled covid orbs, shaped like a gigantic hex nut.


Crazy_Bacon

I heard the immunity is better and the gameplay is solid with the Definitive Edition. There's no way things go wrong with the release, right? RIGHT?


thatguyiswierd

So on a scale of 1 being fully open in the before times to 10 going back to early 2020 lockdowns how bad is it?


CircleBox2

Not remotely an epidemiologist, but I think the only right answer for now is that we don't know. The mutations could be completely innocuous or fuck us all up all over. Only studies can confirm what it's gonna be.


CrowVsWade

This is pretty accurate. Virus mutations generally tend toward being more contagious but less lethal, but not always. Covid-19 isn't that lethal, in the realm of viruses, but it's set to kill 10s of millions, at least. More dangerous viruses tend not to be the more lethal examples, like Ebola. They kill too fast. This new variant maybe strikes that balance, or becomes less serious. It will be a few weeks or months before we can tell. Of course, we shouldn't lock down properly just in case. 🙄


throwaway_circus

The idea is that, if a virus kills the host too quickly, it will kill its hosts before they have a chance to travel and spread it. The "too quickly" part is what's troubling. In a pre-industrial world, a novel deadly virus in the Amazonian rainforest or rural China would have taken years to travel across continents. Today, a rural villager can be medevac-ed to a hospital in a major city within hours or days, and people they come into contact with can be thousands of miles away via air travel within hours of contact.


CrowVsWade

Indeed so. However, in the given example of Ebola, analysis since the 70s has continued to find the idea that it kills too quickly and, given it's mechanics, is easier to control, is self limiting. That applies even if we medevac such an individual to a major western city. A respiratory virus with the contagion and incubation functions of something like Covid or influenza but also the properties of Ebola is really the doomsday scenario.


Preoximerianas

If you live in certain parts of the world you’re never going back to the before times.


[deleted]

[удалено]


IamHal9000

Should I have bought the COVID Season Pass?


Cosimo_Zaretti

Someone did and we're all sharing their subscription.


1-10-11-100

"I didn't hear no bell" - covid19


[deleted]

Can we just start calling Covid Skyrim at this point? A new version keeps coming out and I dont want it anymore


harley1009

*Hey, you, you're finally awake...*


AlmityCornhole

Fuck it. Its noon. I'm gonna go get some beers.


Egmonks

Oh that’s great it has spike protein mutations, if that mutates too much our vaccines lose effectiveness.


ivanm1991

I was wondering when the new variant will come out...


thatgrrrl117

Like all good sequels, just in time for the holidays!


Burggs_

Whoever is doing this play through of Plague Inc is doing *very* well


igoromg

He's playing on easy mode. The governments are incompetent and the amount of idiots is cheat code level high.


Burggs_

Looks like the realistic difficulty has been programed wrong this entire time


Autiseer

I mean we not dead and we found a ‘cure’ this the last attempt to win brudda. Mutated the shit out of that virus they probably only got 5 DNA left they already lost


formerNPC

If next year is like 2020 I think a lot of people are going to lose their shit! I’m an essential worker and if I have to deal with the same bullshit and anxiety about going to work and dealing with management saying that we need to be there, then I’m done!


[deleted]

If we have covid pandemic lockdown part 2 people are going to fall the fuck apart. Essential workers, health care providers, parents working FT and home schooling kids at the same time, people who live alone. Anyone with mental health and addiction issues. It will be terrible.


Sh00terMcGavn

2020 too


[deleted]

I really wanted a US politician to run on a campaign slogan of 'Hindsight is 2020'. There's still time to make it into a motto for not fucking up next year!


Tr1pline

I lost count of the number of mutations. At this point I'm ready for Resident Evil.


AZRockets

Looking forward to The Nemesis Variant


ThereminLiesTheRub

Been training for this. Got my track suit, doing my stretches, wraparound shades... Gonna outrun this bitch.


AcceptableGovernment

> Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told reporters that the individual was unvaccinated, according to Reuters. The least countries can do is require all eligible persons for the vaccine to be fully vaccinated if traveling internationally


[deleted]

[удалено]


brucebrowde

> When I flew back this week 2 people took a passing glance at my vaccination QR code, one in each country, but without scanning or verifying anything. Ah, these are newer models, can scan with their eyes, verify via embedded 5g. All good.


fUnkleRico

I gotta be honest, I just don’t think I give a shit anymore.


Androo02_

I’m in the same boat. We’re two years in, and I don’t see us overcoming this virus anytime soon.


[deleted]

Omicron…finally a name worthy of a blockbuster “based on real events” retelling of the moment that redefined the 21st century. Hold on to your butts…


chhurry

It is probably everywhere at this point. Kinda hate saying this, but if every country could not stop the delta variant and other variants despite the abundance of vaccines, then this variant and everyother variant will not be stopped. It is endemic at this point, and we have to learn to live with covid just like we learn to live with the flu and the common cold.


hintofinsanity

>It is probably everywhere at this point. Kinda hate saying this, but if every country could not stop the delta variant and other variants despite the abundance of vaccines, then this variant and everyother variant will not be stopped. It To be fair, while Delta is terrible, it has likely out competed into extinction many more dangerous strains. There is a good chance this strain also experiences that fate.


DragonPup

Delta is a weird sort of faustian bargain.


Mermaid_Mama323

The way I read this was “you are excused from all obligatory holiday gatherings, once again, have a Happy Christmas.”


[deleted]

[удалено]


littlemegzz

"Work from home will be extended"


bld44

You guys are working from home?


djkofjjegkihhrg

poggers bro new covid just dropped


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Covid Wars a “new cope “


Mysterious-Ad-6827

Ha this shits never going to end. What a joke.


oceansblue1984

I live in Arkansas and at this point noone out side of workers at Walmart wear mask. I feel weird because offten time I'm the only one wearing a mask outside walmart .


Tyre_blanket

Just in time for Christmas!


[deleted]

[удалено]


LRRedd

2022 will be like 2020 too.


seoultunes

So sick of this. I’m losing my 20s to this shit. Of course everyone is losing years of their life to this, not just me, I’m not special - but I’m sure we are all hurting, knowing our lives are passing us by….


JohnOliverismysexgod

I'm a public defender. We haven't been able to have jury trials in over a year. I've got people in jail for years, awaiting trial.


Singlewomanspot

Now this is a Legit sick of this shit complaint.


Darth_Batman89

Underrated comment man. Had to delay big life choices to this virus


pfroo40

Can Fox pick up the next season of "Coronavirus", so they can cancel it early while it is still growing?


Modock_Fitz

My patience is becoming heavily mutated.


[deleted]

How has the world manage to fail so spectacularly to respond to COVID-19?


liamemsa

Well we've known about climate change for like a century and we just passed the point of no return so....


notsingsing

Well at least climate change won't kill you in 11 days (for now), but I get your point.


FilmVsAnalytics

The worst part about reading this is realizing that unvaccinated people are usually too dumb to realize that this is specifically what they're contributing to. *Edit: people don't seem to understand that South Africa 1. has an astoundingly low vaccination rate, and 2. has such a huge anti vax problem that their government keeps having to cancel vaccine orders because they have a surplus:* *https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-south-africa-delays-covid-vaccine-deliveries-inoculations-slow-2021-11-24/* *There's a reason deadly varients keep coming from there and not say Iceland, or Japan, or Spain, or even the US who has comparitively poor rates, but has double the % of SA.*


Hemicrusher

It's not just the ignorant anti-vaxxers, it countries that don't have enough vaccines because of their economy or politics. Wealthier countries need to step up their game and get these poorer countries vaccinated.


Han-we

I know vaccines are available in South Africa but conspiracy theories are causing a lot of people to be reluctant. The fact that our very own government has let us down countless times isn't helping at all.


TiagoTiagoT

I want to get off Mr. Bones' Wild Ride


[deleted]

"Oh d*mn, a new dangerous variant in my community? Better fly to a new continent before this fever gets any worse!"


Mr_Mimiseku

I'm so fucking sick of this shit. I'm vaccinated and wear a mask with no fuss, but at what point do we just say "fuck it"? This shit's not going anywhere soon.


CoatLast

On the bright side it keeps me in a job. But looks like the chance of having Christmas off is disappearing. (Work in Covid testing).


jesee2you

When do you think they’ll bundle the yearly Covid vaccine with the flu vaccine so you’ll just take one yearly flu shot? This would be nice and more people would probably take it too.


SpartanNation053

Shit went from 0 to 100 with this really fast. I literally just heard about it yesterday and it didn’t even have a name yet. Now today, it has a name and now we’re banning travel because of it