New heavily mutated variant B.1.1.529 in South Africa raises concern

[street]

Thanks, Gumby, for that article.

 

[Alan]

So, could a person be infected by more than one Covid variant at the same time? If so, then what's not to say a person could get infected with Delta then again with the new one?

I believe the answer is yes.

I listened to a RadioLab podcast some while back about a patient in England last year who was in hospital for several months, before eventually dying. The podcast had been approved by his family and the amazing thing was that at one point the virus started mutating like crazy and he did have many mutations of the virus in him by the time he died.

 

[Gumby]

So, could a person be infected by more than one Covid variant at the same time? If so, then what's not to say a person could get infected with Delta then again with the new one?

It is my understanding that scientists are working right now to determine that with certainty, but I suppose it's possible. Regardless, I can only do what I can do, as and when I can do it. So I got vaccinated and boosted. If a new vaccine is required due to the Omicron variant, I'll get that too. If I still have to mask and distance, I'll continue to do that as well.

 

[Sunset]

So, could a person be infected by more than one Covid variant at the same time? If so, then what's not to say a person could get infected with Delta then again with the new one?

(IMHO)
Yes, one can catch Delta, and then a distant variant.

If variants are close to each other in design, then the antibody developed fighting one would protect a person from the other variant. Might catch it but be somewhat protected so only a mild case.

When variants are farther apart the cross-protection decreases and depending upon the variation of design can go to zero. So no protection.

 

[Scuba]

Could be setting themselves up for a profitable winter.

My thought exactly!

 

[Freedom56]

The CDC is planning to tighten international travel COVID testing rules to 1 day before the flight. This will become very problematic if it insists on PCR tests. Right now fully vaccinated travelers have to test within 72 hours and unvaccinated or recovered travelers within 48 hours. PCR tests with 1-2 day turnaround cost about $200 in Europe. Antigen tests cost $50 with a 20 minute turn-around. Same day results PCR tests cost $400-$450. We are returning next week and have our antigen test scheduled within the 72 hour window at two days before departure. I hope they don't change the rules until the end of next week.

https://www.reuters.com/business/he...ernational-covid-19-testing-rules-2021-12-01/

 

[Sunset]

The CDC is planning to tighten international travel COVID testing rules to 1 day before the flight. This will become very problematic if it insists on PCR tests. Right now fully vaccinated travelers have to test within 72 hours and unvaccinated or recovered travelers within 48 hours. PCR tests with 1-2 day turnaround cost about $200 in Europe. Antigen tests cost $50 with a 20 minute turn-around. Same day results PCR tests cost $400-$450. We are returning next week and have our antigen test scheduled within the 72 hour window at two days before departure. I hope they don't change the rules until the end of next week.

https://www.reuters.com/business/he...ernational-covid-19-testing-rules-2021-12-01/

Hopefully it works out for you, besides causing some anxiety.

This dramatic change in rules, is the thing that has finally killed my desire to travel overseas. It's too hard to guess if everything in the world will be fine for some 2 month period.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Back on topic: I agree the media is playing this up. One well know person on her Sunday interview show commented about the total panic the world was in thanks to the new variant. Total panic I think not.

You aren't kidding. A quick glance of CNN.com shows "omicron" at least 6 times. Frankly, I am tired of hearing about it.

 

[disneysteve]

This dramatic change in rules, is the thing that has finally killed my desire to travel overseas. It's too hard to guess if everything in the world will be fine for some 2 month period.

COVID has definitely complicated travel planning. Even simple stuff like domestic dining plans. We’re going away next weekend l. Normally I’d just go on Open Table and book dinners. Some restaurants have stopped using Open Table, probably to save money. Some are limiting seating. Some haven’t reopened their dining rooms yet. Some have reduced hours due to staffing shortages. I had to go old school and make phone calls.

 

[tulak]

The CDC is planning to tighten international travel COVID testing rules to 1 day before the flight. This will become very problematic if it insists on PCR tests. Right now fully vaccinated travelers have to test within 72 hours and unvaccinated or recovered travelers within 48 hours. PCR tests with 1-2 day turnaround cost about $200 in Europe. Antigen tests cost $50 with a 20 minute turn-around. Same day results PCR tests cost $400-$450. We are returning next week and have our antigen test scheduled within the 72 hour window at two days before departure. I hope they don't change the rules until the end of next week.

https://www.reuters.com/business/he...ernational-covid-19-testing-rules-2021-12-01/

That will be a pain, but there’s no reason to believe an antigen test won’t be sufficient, since that’s what is currently accepted. I guess we’ll know soon enough.

It’s also 3 days before departure, not 72 hours. That provides a little more flexibility.

Fully vaccinated: The viral test must be conducted on a sample taken no more than 3 days before the flight’s departure from a foreign country if you show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

 

[captain3d]

PCR only when landing in the UK now. Quarantine until negative result.

What I don’t understand is that you are allowed to travel from the airport to your designated address where are you will take your mail in test. There will be thousands of people on public transport traveling from the airport before being tested.

 

[oiseux]

First US detection

It was inevitable -- first omicron case reported in the US, in California. The person traveled from SA on November 22nd. Fully vaccinated and showing mild symptoms. Confirmed now to be a resident of San Francisco. Omicron verified on 11/29.

It will take weeks for all of this to unfold, I agree. It is too early to be dismissive nor freaked out.

https://news.yahoo.com/first-confirmed-case-of-omicron-in-the-us-185518322.html

 

[Freedom56]

That will be a pain, but there’s no reason to believe an antigen test won’t be sufficient, since that’s what is currently accepted. I guess we’ll know soon enough.

It’s also 3 days before departure, not 72 hours. That provides a little more flexibility.



https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

72 hours = 3 days

 

[tulak]

72 hours = 3 days

Not for reentry to the US. It can be more than 72 hours as long as it’s 3 days prior to departure. From the CDC link I posted above:

The 1-day period is 1 day before the flight’s departure and the 3-day period is the 3 days before the flight’s departure. The Order uses 1-day and 3-day time frames instead of 24 hours and 72 hours to provide more flexibility to the air passenger and aircraft operator. By using a 1-day and 3-day window, test acceptability does not depend on the time of the flight or the time of day that the test sample was taken.

For example, if you are fully vaccinated and your flight is at 1pm on a Friday, you could board with a negative test that was taken any time on the prior Tuesday or after. If you are not fully vaccinated and your flight is at 1pm on a Friday, you could board with a negative test that was taken any time on the prior Thursday.

 

[Christine]

It was inevitable -- first omicron case reported in the US, in California. The person traveled from SA on November 22nd. Fully vaccinated and showing mild symptoms. Confirmed now to be a resident of San Francisco. Omicron verified on 11/29.

It will take weeks for all of this to unfold, I agree. It is too early to be dismissive nor freaked out.

https://news.yahoo.com/first-confirmed-case-of-omicron-in-the-us-185518322.html

50-60 new cases of omicron in Oslo, Norway after one person returning from SA went to the company Christmas dinner last week.


Source in Norwegian

https://www.nrk.no/osloogviken/omikron-smitte-i-oslo-etter-julebord-1.15754329


And I'm pretty sure many others all around the world did similar things before all those planes were grounded.



The variant cannot be stopped so all we can do is get vaccinated and use common sense. Wash our hands and use masks etc.


I am currently visiting friends in Oslo and have been eating at various restaurants this week.

 

[Hamlet]

And I'm pretty sure many others all around the world did similar things before all those planes were grounded.


The variant cannot be stopped so all we can do is get vaccinated and use common sense. Wash our hands and use masks etc.

Yeah, it’s not even clear that the new variant originated in SA. They may have just been the first to discover it.

The range of possible concern here ranges from this is good ( Omicron is milder and outcompetes Delta ), to meh ( Omicron doesn’t actually outcompete Delta ), to very bad ( Omicron outcompetes Delta, is just as serious, and avoids vaccines ).

We’ll just have to wait and see. There will be a vast amount of useless content about it produced in the meantime though.

 

[Montecfo]

Certainly the early indication is this new variant causes mild symptoms. Time will tell but I'm remaining optimistic.

 

[disneysteve]

Certainly the early indication is this new variant causes mild symptoms. Time will tell but I'm remaining optimistic.

It's great if it doesn't make people as sick, but that won't keep it from overwhelming the system. That still means more sick people, more doctor visits, more tests, more quarantines, more time out of work and school, etc. And we are now fully into flu season, around here at least, so this just builds on top of that. I think we saw 10+ flu cases on Monday at my clinic.

 

[Montecfo]

It's great if it doesn't make people as sick, but that won't keep it from overwhelming the system. That still means more sick people, more doctor visits, more tests, more quarantines, more time out of work and school, etc. And we are now fully into flu season, around here at least, so this just builds on top of that. I think we saw 10+ flu cases on Monday at my clinic.

If doesn't mean any of those things-yet. And it seems a bit dubious to project that people who aren't very sick will be "overwhelming the system".

Note that the first documented case out of SA involved someone who was seeking medical care for another matter, not Covid.

Time will tell.

 

[disneysteve]

If doesn't mean any of those things-yet. And it seems a bit dubious to project that people who aren't very sick will be "overwhelming the system". .

Around here, if you have any COVID symptoms, mild or not, you can’t return to school or work at many places without a negative PCR test.

 

[Gumby]

Around here, if you have any COVID symptoms, mild or not, you can’t return to school or work at many places without a negative PCR test.

That's a human made rule, not an immutable fact of nature. If necessary and warranted by changes in the virus, the rules can be changed.

 

[disneysteve]

That's a human made rule, not an immutable fact of nature. If necessary and warranted by changes in the virus, the rules can be changed.

For sure. I certainly hope that's the case soon. Right now, every kid who comes in with cold symptoms is automatically out of school for 3 days until their COVID test comes back negative. I'd love to see that no longer be necessary.

 

[jj]

Not for reentry to the US. It can be more than 72 hours as long as it’s 3 days prior to departure. From the CDC link I posted above:

Precisely! The link is quite clear. I had a British Airways agent (little Hitler on the check-in desk) argue with me that it had to be 72 hours and not 3 days. In fact, the guy was so mathematically challenged that he couldn't even work out that my result was within 72 hours anyway! I wanted to get my test as early as possible so that I had time to cancel an airport hotel room that I had booked in case a positive test made it so I couldn't travel. No sense in wasting yet another $200!

Now that they've changed the rules so the test has to be within 24 hours, or is it one day it makes traveling back to the US even more stressful than it already was.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Traveling is just to exhausting at the moment. I do not know why folks torture themselves just to get on a plane or not miss out on a vacation. Plenty to do at home that is way more fun and inviting than travel. Even though I do miss our Mexico trips.

 

[oiseux]

50-60 new cases of omicron in Oslo, Norway after one person returning from SA went to the company Christmas dinner last week.


Source in Norwegian

https://www.nrk.no/osloogviken/omikron-smitte-i-oslo-etter-julebord-1.15754329


And I'm pretty sure many others all around the world did similar things before all those planes were grounded.



The variant cannot be stopped so all we can do is get vaccinated and use common sense. Wash our hands and use masks etc.


I am currently visiting friends in Oslo and have been eating at various restaurants this week.

I saw something similar out of Portugal with a pro football/soccer team. One teammate infected almost the entire squad, and the team doctor, who brought it back to the hospital.

There is another case in Minnesota, but this person likely caught it on a trip to New York, where they attended an anime conference. I'm guessing there will be many more in the days to come, given the speed of spread. They were vaccinated and have mild symptoms. ETA: There were 53,000 attendees at the conference.

The data that needs to be watched is the outbreak in SA's Gauteng province, where the numbers have been growing strongly and the variant is now dominant. Reinfections are also being seen at a higher rate than prior variants. The hospitalization data will be a key, as the disease progresses in those that are infected. There is no wonder why the WHO has dispatched a surge team to the region.