3 ms·

Serious question, what could possibly get the "covid media, government, HR (et al) complex" to give up on covid. It doesn't matter if it becomes mild and endemi

Serious question, what could possibly get the "covid media, government, HR (et al) complex" to give up on covid. It doesn't matter if it becomes mild and endemic, this seems to already have happened, but people only get more excited about it. Only when some major media event (Trump 2024?) takes people's attention away will we ever see this start to end, and it will live on in theatrical government and HR policies for decades. The rational aspect of a covid response is long gone, it really doesn't matter what changes wrt the disease itself now

PaulHoule 5y ago
How could we possibly get the armchair quarterbacks with no skin in the game to give up? People in positions of power are rational to "cover their ass". When COVID-19 rips through a nursing home so fast they have to park a freezer truck out back there's a good chance that the nursing home won't open up again and that everybody involved will be the recipient of a lawsuit. A major organization might well have its employees work from home next week. Whether or not it makes a difference on how many get COVID-19, if workers stay home the leadership can't get blamed for the outbreak.
- dTal 5y ago
  That sounds like the system functioning as intended, if the risk of these lawsuits is accurately calculated and the payout is fairly set.
dTal 5y ago
Omicron isn't "mild", and the sudden appearance of one of the most contagious viruses known (!) shredding through the population is not something to be brushed off lightly. Even if it were no more than a bad cold, we're on track for double-digit percentages of the population to be off sick from work in the coming weeks. That represents a serious disruption to society. But it's not just a bad cold. In some places, medical services are already "collapsing" under the strain, in the sense that treatment for anything else is unobtainable. And medical professionals, burned out after years of the constant deluge of people who didn't believe it was a big deal until they had to go to hospital, are quitting in droves.

PaulHoule 5y ago

How could we possibly get the armchair quarterbacks with no skin in the game to give up? People in positions of power are rational to "cover their ass". When COVID-19 rips through a nursing home so fast they have to park a freezer truck out back there's a good chance that the nursing home won't open up again and that everybody involved will be the recipient of a lawsuit. A major organization might well have its employees work from home next week. Whether or not it makes a difference on how many get COVID-19, if workers stay home the leadership can't get blamed for the outbreak.

dTal 5y ago
That sounds like the system functioning as intended, if the risk of these lawsuits is accurately calculated and the payout is fairly set.

dTal 5y ago

Omicron isn't "mild", and the sudden appearance of one of the most contagious viruses known (!) shredding through the population is not something to be brushed off lightly. Even if it were no more than a bad cold, we're on track for double-digit percentages of the population to be off sick from work in the coming weeks. That represents a serious disruption to society. But it's not just a bad cold. In some places, medical services are already "collapsing" under the strain, in the sense that treatment for anything else is unobtainable. And medical professionals, burned out after years of the constant deluge of people who didn't believe it was a big deal until they had to go to hospital, are quitting in droves.