Quote Originally Posted by Rainbowpie View Post
From what we are being told at this stage about Omicron varian is that it is very mild, doesn't not cause high hospitalizations or deaths. In fact 1 death so far reported of which we do not know the status of the victim
With this in mind wouldn't it have made sense to let this particular variant spread, giving everyone who catches it a natural immune response? Rather than taking up doctors and hospitals resources and time thus having a knock on effect of cancellations for patience treatments. This inevitably causing more deaths than the actual Variant?
I've heard a few virologists point out in layman's terms that the purpose of a virus is not to kill its host or render that host seriously unwell, because dead or immobile people don't help the virus to spread and thus survive. As a virus evolves, its longevity logically depends on it becoming increasingly transmissible, but gradually less lethal to the host. Therefore, Covid variants could be seen as a comparatively welcome development and a sign that the virus is going through this evolution.

The argument from those advocating tighter restrictions seems to be that the Omicron variant could indeed prove to be less severe, but the number it will infect will nevertheless be so high that even a comparatively small number of hospitalisations will still be a big number, in terms of the NHS's ability to cope. In terms of how to act and when, it then boils down to whether you assume the worst before the facts are known, or wait for the evidence and then respond.