The Omicron variant is now in Britain. Here's how webeat it

[applegrove]

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-britain-can-beat-the-omicron-variant

Richard Dobbs at the Spectator

The Omicron variant is now in Britain. Here’s how we beat it

"SNIP......

Fourth, we need to continue pushing on treatments. Operating at ‘government speed’ in April 2021, over a year after the arrival of Covid-19 in the UK, we launched our antiviral taskforce. This taskforce is bringing the focus and execution previously seen with the vaccine taskforce and building on the early UK success finding Dexamethasone. Operating almost at ‘virus speed’, orders for two new antivirals from Merck and Pfizer have already been placed. The taskforce needs to continuing operating at pace to expand the basket of available treatments, especially broad-spectrum antivirals as these are likely to work better on future variants (full disclosure, I have an investment in some vaccine, treatment and testing innovators). But we should also learn from the previous problems with manufacturing the vaccines and the unhelpful squabbles between countries on supply, by gearing up manufacturing though dedicated UK preorders.

Fifth, we need to establish a norm of using a home lateral flow test before attending mass events. We need to create a culture where it is not acceptable to attend large gatherings without having tested first, in the same way as we created a culture where it became socially less acceptable to drive drunk. A programme of self-administered mass-testing is considerably more cost effective than the eye-watering expense of test, trace and isolate.

And finally, we are going to be thoughtful about the early reintroduction of some of the Plan-B restrictions around social distancing and other non-pharmaceutical interventions. Historically we did this too slowly and so ended up needing a longer period of fuller lockdown. Instead we should try to introduce those with less pain sooner. For instance, we might want to start mandating the wearing of masks when moving inside buildings and on public transport in England, as they already have in Scotland. We might avoid super-spreading packed trains, undergrounds and offices by encouraging some working from home. We might require continental-style table service over Christmas, so as to avoid the infection sharing melee at the bar.

The Omicron variant could provide us with the jolt to get us operating at a different speed for our vaccinations, treatments, testing and non-pharmaceutical interventions. By doing that we reduce the risk of drastic further lockdowns and, importantly, are ready for what the virus next throws at us. The government might even learn to operate at a faster pace, which would put us in good stead as we set out to address some of the other challenges we face after the pandemic.

.......SNIP"