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 | | Daily reported coronavirus cases in the United States, seven-day average.The New York Times |
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Omicron goes to Washington |
Omicron has ushered in a new and frustrating phase of the pandemic. Soft shutdowns, empty shelves and another pandemic winter spent at home have shortened tempers. |
This particular moment of frayed nerves was crystallized yesterday during a "hot mic" incident at the Capitol involving Dr. Anthony Fauci. During his testimony before the Senate Health Committee on Omicron, Fauci summed up his feelings for Senator Roger Marshall, Republican of Kansas. |
"What a moron," Fauci said. |
Omicron, it seems, is taking an already charged atmosphere on Capitol Hill and turning the dial up to 11. |
"People are tense," said my colleague Jonathan Weisman, who covers Congress. "Like the rest of the country, people thought they would be through with this, and they are still stuck with it. And it's just put everyone in a bad mood." |
Like the rest of the country, the virus has ripped through Congress. At least 129 House members and senators — nearly one in four — have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic. Thirteen were infected in the last week. Since the pandemic began, two Republican legislators have died: Ron Wright of Texas and Luke Letlow of Louisiana. |
All over Capitol Hill there are signs, written in capital letters, saying face coverings are required, Jonathan said. But adherence to the rules can often come down to your political persuasion. |
"If you're in the capital, and you see somebody without a mask on, you say, 'Oh — that's a Republican,'" Jonathan said. "It's a political statement." |
Partisanship is nothing new, Jonathan said, but what is new is that the threat of infection has never been higher. "There's the sense that everybody is going to get it no matter what they do," he said. "And instead of anger, it's demoralization." |
And yet, even as the hyper-contagious Omicron variant infects hundreds of thousands of Americans a day, the two sides can't agree on what to do. |
House Democrats put out new legislation today that would provide free at-home coronavirus testing, and Senator Bernie Sanders reintroduced a bill to send N95 masks to every home. Republicans, for their part, introduced a bill to block the District of Columbia from requiring vaccinations to enter establishments like restaurants, clubs and concert venues. |
"Now they don't even speak the same language," Jonathan said. "One party sees the victims of the coronavirus as those who are getting sick, and the other one sees the victims of the coronavirus as those who refuse to take the vaccine." |
South Africa had one of the world's first Omicron surges, which drove a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. The government there recently said that it had passed its Omicron peak, with few additional deaths. |
For a look at the aftermath of Omicron in the country, I spoke to my colleague Lynsey Chutel, who covers southern Africa for The Times. |
Catch us up on the last few weeks. What's happened? |
South Africa finds itself in a very different context from the last time we spoke. After the discovery of the Omicron variant and the exponential increase in new cases, we began to see clear signs that Omicron was less severe — and the outlook was far more positive. So much so that on Dec. 30, the curfew was lifted for the first time since March 2020. |
 | | New daily cases in South Africa, seven-day average.The New York Times |
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What's the situation now? |
We're still seeing new cases, but it is far less than in early December. The test positivity rate has decreased to 14 percent, quite a dip from previous percentages that hovered around 30 percent. Schools in the inland provinces reopened today, and so we'll be keeping an eye on that. |
What's the virus conversation like now? |
Some scientists are saying that this is the new phase of the pandemic, where the public should learn to live with the coronavirus, as it has with the flu or even tuberculosis. Some even believe it's time to scrap all forms of regulations, such as limits to public gatherings. Health officials are far more cautious, though. We'll know by next week, when government officials meet to discuss whether to renew the national state of disaster designation. The disadvantage of this more relaxed stance, however, is that vaccine uptake has slowed. |
What's a recent Omicron lesson from South Africa? |
As hospitalizations spike in the U.S. and Europe, we should be reminded of the caveats issued by scientists who observed Omicron's lower severity in South Africa. |
In South Africa, around 45 percent of the adult population has been vaccinated. But a recent study suggested that part of the reason the Omicron wave was less severe was due to South Africa's existing immunity — meaning that a large portion of the population had already been infected by the coronavirus, particularly in high-density areas. While populations in other countries have also had high existing immunity, what happened in South Africa may not be cleanly replicated in other countries. |
Covid regulations are at their least restrictive since the start of the pandemic, so there's a really relaxed sense across the country. Beaches are filling up, people are going out to restaurants and nightclubs — and of course, it's summer here. |
There's still some frustration with the remaining restrictions — for example, the limits of gatherings and funerals — but this is the closest the country has been to prepandemic South Africa. Health ministry officials are very resistant to letting go of remaining restrictions and they may be with us for a long while, or may become — if you'll forgive that hackneyed pandemic-era phrase — the new normal. |
Health workers: How are you coping? |
Two years into the pandemic, as Omicron sends cases soaring, more health care workers are at the breaking point. One in five health care workers left the field during the pandemic, and those who remain talk about an excess of stress, a lack of fair compensation and a dearth of hope. |
As hospitals across the country confront another surge, we'd like to check in with our readers who work in health care —- or those who recently quit — and ask you how you're feeling. If you'd like to share your thoughts, you can fill out this questionnaire here. We may use your response in an upcoming newsletter. |
What else we're following |
We've lost loved ones to Covid. We've lost the ability to comfort our friends and family as they exhaust themselves on the front lines or dissolve into emptiness after burying their departed. We've lost connection to our church. My wife lost both of her parents — not to Covid itself, but to broken relationships eroded by selfishness, ignorance and an astounding absence of compassion. But the loss has often been replaced with hope. Hope in the foundations of our faith and a new church community built upon truth and love. Hope in unplanned and deepening friendships with like-minded souls. Hope in individuals, organizations and resources (like this very newsletter) championing humility, grace, expertise and a nuanced approach to the most complex questions of our time. In short, we've experienced both crushing loss and restorative hope for humanity — though not always where we expected to find it. — Adam Knechtel, Hendersonville, N.C. |
Let us know how you're dealing with the pandemic. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter. |
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