Posted on 01/02/2022 1:18:36 PM PST by nickcarraway
Sir Frank Atherton, the chief medical officer, said it will be preferable for people to say home and get better when they have a cold in future
Wales' top doctor has warned that anyone with a virus in the future, even after the pandemic ends, should self-isolate for a few days.
Sir Frank Atherton, who was knighted in the Queen's New Year's Honours, admitted it will be difficult for everyone to do it but said it would be safer for society going forward.
Speaking to Times Radio on Sunday he said: "Looking beyond the current wave [of the Omicron variant] we have to work as a society. We need to move to a position where anyone who has a virus has to self-isolate for a few days. We would be safer as a society and more protected economically. Anyone who has a cold should ask themselves if it is really appropriate to go on a train or a busy airport. It would be better to stay home and get better."
Read more:Mark Drakeford warns Wales to brace for 'difficult' January as he shares latest Omicron case predictions
He acknowledged that it would not be easy for everyone to do this but said that talks needed to take place with employers and unions. Sir Frank added: "We need to think beyond the pandemic. There is a huge piece of work to do in public health about how we can prevent this sort of issue in the future. The principle of when you have a viral infection, don't go and pass it around, is a solid, good one."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tasked ministers in his cabinet with developing "robust contingency plans" for workplace absences as the UK Government acknowledged high Covid levels could hit businesses hard over the coming weeks.
Public sector leaders have been asked to prepare for a worst-case scenario of up to 25% of staff off work as the virus continues to sweep across the country, the Cabinet Office said.
Steve Barclay, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is chairing "regular meetings" with ministers to assess how the highly-transmissible Omicron variant is affecting workforces and supply chains.
Sir Frank, who described his knighthood as a real privilege, said that while Wales was seeing an increase in hospitalisations from Omicron the "dynamics are different" at present.
"We do have very high levels of community transmission and we are seeing people going into hospital but it is of a milder nature," he said.
"We are not seeing significant numbers going into intensive care or people dying. It seems to be a different beast – a milder, more upper respiratory condition, rather than lung. Hopefully it will cause less harm and the other thing is that the vaccination programme has been very successful in building immunity."
Several scientific reports have found that the Omicron variant is more likely to infect the throat than the lungs. Scientists believe it may explain why it appears to be more infectious but less deadly than other variants.
Six studies – four published since Christmas Eve – have found that Omicron does not damage people’s lungs as much as Delta and other previous variants of Covid. The studies have yet to be peer-reviewed by other scientists.
Deenan Pillay, professor of virology at University College London, told The Guardian : “The result of all the mutations that make Omicron different from previous variants is that it may have altered its ability to infect different sorts of cells.
“In essence it looks to be more able to infect the upper respiratory tract – cells in the throat. So it would multiply in cells there more readily than in cells deep in the lung. This is really preliminary but the studies point in the same direction.”
Sir Frank warned that January and February are likely to be "difficult and busy" for the NHS in Wales and said that the overall feedback from the Welsh public had been that they have welcomed the fact they have taken a "more cautious" approach than some of the other nations in the UK.
The First Minister earlier reiterated his warning that Wales is set to experience "challenging weeks" in January as the Omicron variant has become dominant in all parts of the country.
Mark Drakeford said infection rates continued to rise but added that modelling shows the peak is still expected towards the end of this month.
Speaking on BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement show he said: "The data shows us that Omicron is now apparent in all parts of Wales and has become the dominant form of coronavirus. On December 30, 10,400 new people fell ill with coronavirus in Wales on a single day and the positivity rate is now 37% – a really, really high figure.
"The difficult January that we could see coming is with us and the protections that are in place are necessary to help us get through the challenging weeks ahead.
"The modelling shows that we will see the peak towards the end of the month, that we will see a rapid rise to the peak, and then – compared to earlier waves – a relatively rapid decline as it goes through Wales and out the other side."
They want to use the threat of disease to control the population. The sad part is that it will probably work. Then it will take 2-3 generations before someone discovers that there is more to life than just remaining above room temperature for a long as possible.
The human race now officially worries me.
If we do this we will be setting the populace up for a tragedy, as there will be little herd immunity against anything.
I prefer to self-isolate in general. People suck.
And anyone who publicly sneezes will be shot on sight.
And here I always thought that self-isolating yourself after a cold was a pretty good idea anyway. Captain Obvious strikes again.
Everyone’s gone stark raving germophobe nuts.
Forgot to add that liberals take basically good advice and turn it into threats of a felony if not done. I really hate these guys/girls/whatevers/and other assorted foul creatures.
Agreed. But my wife likes to get out and mingle sometimes, and I like to have sex sometimes. So I tolerate everyone for my wife’s sake.
All of these “top doctors” are criminal, power-hungry quacks.
Insanity! This would serve, over time, to weaken the strength of individual immunity for many, many millions of people as well as to reduce the collective immunity strength of entire populations. Maybe that’s what THEY want!
We are going to have a population with immune systems which cannot handle a simple virus or eliminate a bacteria.
I wish we could safely ignore Drakeford and his troopers.
Unfortunately I imagine the Welsh will vote these Marxists in for another term.
When do they start offering/demanding euthanasia for anyone with a cold, you know, to protect others and to save the planet?
Loved the last sentence of your post, beef!
Self isolation after vaccination will ADE the Welsh!
People catch colds 5 to 7 times a year.
Wales is the trailer park of Great Britain. Young girls typically have 6-8 kids from different dads…all subsidized by the UK Government. I guarantee that Wales is the primary target for reducing those on the Dole.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.