Another wave of Covid – the ‘virus for all seasons’

And so RTÉ tells us this:

Ireland is in the middle of another wave of Covid-19, driven largely by Omicron sub-variants, according to the HSE’s Chief Clinical Officer.

Dr Colm Henry said the sub-variants now comprise about 90% of cases that they are doing genomic sequencing on.

Speaking on RTE’s New at One, he said: “These new variants mean that the people who were previously infected with Delta, such as in summer, autumn of last year, or even that we call the BA.1 variant earlier this year, don’t enjoy that protection from reinfection from these variants. He said this shows that Covid is not seasonal, but is a “virus for all seasons”.

There’s the news that 12 Aer Lingus flights were cancelled yesterday due to a spike in Covid cases amongst crews. Of course a highly intensive work context like that with workers in close proximity would be particularly vulnerable to such spikes. After all Covid is an illness, if one contracts it – however mild or severe, it will take time to get over it. An airline can’t muddle by like some workplaces. Ironically Aer Lingus itself ‘welcomed’ the news that mandatory mask-wearing on flights was to be dropped back in May. That’s not looking so clever now. But as someone on twitter noted recently the overall approach has been one of ignoring the constraints of the present situation.

And the government? Well the government is looking, looking mind you, at legislation that would allow reintroduction of mandatory masking in some limited areas. Seems late in the day, doesn’t it? And then there’s the issue of numbers at the moment which are considerable. Andrew Flood notes that there has been no respite from the rise in cases.  

Already this last seven days I’ve been in two contexts where people I have some connection with have come down with Covid. In both instances I’ve been very close to them. It will be interesting to see how matters progress.

I’m being careful, I limit my social interactions sharply in the seven days before any family or other social event as best as is possible – had to forego two gigs for precisely that reason in the last two weeks. But I’m fortunate that where I work outside the house I’m able to keep contacts fairly low in any event (actually truth is where I am tends to be deserted much of the time). Others do not have anything like that luxury. 

So it’s a crapshoot really. And as has happened to me this week I can’t be sure that the mitigations will be sufficient. In a way for me the problem is more focused on those I know, family and otherwise, who are older.  The last thing I want to do is trail Covid into their lives. Mind you, as Andrew Flood notes:

Unfortunately my hope that that we might be approaching a peak in this #Covid19Ireland wave was too optimistic – positivity continues to rise. Some of those I know on their 2nd infection now are quite sick, hard to see how this can be sustained every 3-4 months /1 https://t.co/fFTiCCE9vj pic.twitter.com/RbxNWgERXI

— Andrew Flood 👨🏻‍💻📝🕺 (@andrewflood) June 28, 2022

This seems to me to be impossible to argue against. I know people on their second infections. Some who are on their third. Every three to four months. And then one has to ask what is the impact of repeated infections. So there’s no respite. And particularly not for those at the front line in hospitals who have to contend with rising case numbers. 

Returning briefly to holidays and international travel, Andrew Flood points to another very strange dynamic: Currently on my 2nd holiday involving a flight this year & the lack of n95 (or any mask) wearing by people flying out is weird. Getting symptoms mid holiday seems like something very worth while to reduce the odds of whatever about flying back /5

I was thinking about this in relation to a week off in Ireland later in the summer. The last thing I’d want is to come down with Covid away. I’d only been discussing how in advance of that it would make sense to wind down interactions a little. Why ruin a holiday, or worse? But what is the dynamic at play here? Why is it that people would board an aircraft (or a bus) or any public transport while travelling to or from abroad (and while there) and not wear a mask? What possible sense does that make? Moreover, why increase the possibility that aircrews might be impacted, leading to potential cancellation of the flight home?