Pirate's Cove

This one is super stealthy

New Omicron Offshoot BA.2 Arrives In U.S. After Spreading In U.K., Denmark, India

Just as the Omicron wave may have broken across the U.S. comes word of another version of the more transmissible variant, dubbed BA.2. It’s been nicknamed by some “stealth Omicron” because it seems to evade identification better than its predecessor.

While other new variants that seemed worrisome — like Mu or Lambda — have had little impact, and details remain sketchy, early indications are that BA.2 seems to be spreading even in countries where the original Omicron lineage, BA.1, is dominant.

In Denmark, a country whose Covid policies are often contrasted with the U.S., BA.2 now accounts for nearly half of the test samples sequenced. In the final week of December, according to data from Statens Serum Institut under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of Health, the subvariant accounted for 20% of all Covid cases in Denmark. By the second week of January, its share had risen to about 45% of the total.

An initial analysis instances of BA.2 in the country “shows no differences in hospitalisations,” according to SSI. It’s also unclear how effective the current vaccines are against the subvariant.

The map at the article shows that BA.2 is hitting the U.S. as a medium, on a scale of meh, medium, and big. Has anyone heard of this before?

BA.2 “has been designated a variant under investigation” by the UK Health Security Agency. The new version of Omicron was first detected in the UK on December 6, 2021, per a HSA report. To date, there have been 426 confirmed cases, with the greatest concentration centered around London.

426. That’s what they’re getting worked up about? Britain is in the big category on the map. Is this something important, or a way to continue sowing fear to control the population?

One anonymous Biden administration official, however, told the Washington Post on Monday that “there is concern about the omicron BA.2 variant.” Because of the increase in cases overseas, the person said the U.S. is gearing up and “paying close attention to the BA.2 variant.”

I’m leaning towards fear.

New York judge strikes down state mask mandate

A New York judge struck down the state’s mask mandate on Monday, one week before it was due to expire, ruling the governor overstepped her authority in imposing a rule that needed to have been passed by the state legislature.

Judge Thomas Rademaker of New York State Supreme Court on Long Island found that the state legislature last year curbed any governor’s ability to issue decrees, such as a mask mandate, amid a declared state of emergency.

Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, vowed to fight back, saying in a statement, “We strongly disagree with this ruling, and we are pursuing every option to reverse this immediately.”

“My responsibility as Governor is to protect New Yorkers throughout this public health crisis, and these measures help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and save lives,” Hochul said.

She can yammer about her responsibility, but, she must follow the law. Period.