We had high hopes that the Omicron panic was set to die down, but that doesn’t look likely now President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has just tested positive for COVID-19:
BREAKING: President Cyril Ramaphosa tests positive for #COVID19
The President says he started feeling unwell after leaving the State Memorial Service in honour of former Deputy President FW de Klerk in Cape Town earlier today. #eNCA— Heidi Giokos (@HeidiGiokos) December 12, 2021
And, yes, he was fully vaccinated:
In a statement released it indicated the President is in good spirits but is being monitored by the South African Military Health Service of the South African National Defence Force.
The President, who is fully vaccinated, is in self-isolation in Cape Town. #eNCA— Heidi Giokos (@HeidiGiokos) December 12, 2021
Ramaphosa has delegated all of his responsibilities to the deputy president:
The President has delegated all responsibilities to Deputy President David Mabuza for the next week.
On his recent visit to four West African states, President Ramaphosa and the South African delegation were tested for #COVID19 in all countries. #eNCA— Heidi Giokos (@HeidiGiokos) December 12, 2021
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that “there’s no proof yet that Omicron is less severe”:
*JOHNSON SAYS THERE'S NO PROOF YET THAT OMICRON IS LESS SEVERE
*JOHNSON URGES U.K. TO GET BOOSTERS TO AVOID MANY OMICRON DEATHS
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 12, 2021
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And he’s pushing for the entire population to get boosted by the new year:
“There is a tidal wave of Omicron coming.”
Boris Johnson says two doses of the COVID vaccine are “not enough to give the level of protection we need”, but scientists are “confident” that with a booster dose we can bring our level of protection “back up”https://t.co/WQK7BVTc9y pic.twitter.com/lwBVSGnOQf
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 12, 2021
With that said, here in America, even Dr. Anthony Fauci raised the possibility that Omicron infections are less severe, possibly due to prior immunity from a previous infection:
On ABC, Fauci brings up "anecdotal information" that Omicron's "severity appears to be maybe a bit less" than Delta's.
He notes that this might be due to prior infections. But it's significant that he feels confident enough to raise this idea unprompted. https://t.co/6DcKJ2lvmm
— Will Saletan (@saletan) December 12, 2021
Now, the reason that even Fauci is optimistic is because he’s seeing the data out of South Africa just like everyone else.
“At some point it stops being hopium and just becomes the most plausible explanation of events”:
At some point it stops being hopium and just becomes the most plausible explanation of events https://t.co/Ecc5mK1zIN
— Mike Bird (@Birdyword) December 12, 2021
Before the president’s diagnosis, South African health experts were even begging the world to accept that Omicron infections were mild:
"There's no reason why you can't trust us when we say to you 'it's mild disease!'"
Dr Angelique Coetzee of the South African Medical Association details the Omicron situation in the country that alerted the world to the variant.@TomSwarbrick1 | #SwarbrickOnSunday pic.twitter.com/xkKp9btT8L
— LBC (@LBC) December 12, 2021
“A blessing in disguise,” even:
Omircon is now the dominant covid variant in South Africa, for at least 1 month. Covid deaths in South Africa have plummeted to lowest level since start of pandemic. Omicron is a blessing in disguise. pic.twitter.com/8YCPSqP1VM
— Ghanem Nuseibeh (@gnuseibeh) December 11, 2021
“If,” that is:
Omicron is a Christmas miracle (if we decide to)….
— Ghanem Nuseibeh (@gnuseibeh) December 11, 2021
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