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

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.