Thread by @yoginho

The current #COVID19 media coverage around me seems to agree on three things: (1) there is nothing we can do against #omicron, (2) this variant is mild & the wave will be over soon, (3) we're soon going "endemic," to "live with the virus," & back to normality. /1

There seems to be very little push-back against this narrative, which is something that really surprises me. But worse than that: it does *not* bode well for the next pandemic (whether the next #COVID19 variant or something altogether more worrisome). /2

Re (1): we can't do anything & #ZeroCovid was never an option.

Well, we never really tried. Those few countries that did were isolated (either geographically or surrounded by countries who didn't implement any low-incidence measures). /3

There is so much criticism out there that "measures don't work," which ignores a simple fact: most country never implemented the right kind of measures at the right time. We can take Austria as a prime example: compared to Swtizerland, its death toll was on the same order... /4

... despite drastic differences in measures like lock-downs, school closures, pressure on unvaccinated people etc. Therefore, we conclude that measures are ineffective. This is totally wrong. /5

First of all: Austria's measures always came too late (lockdowns), were lifted to early (mask mandates), or were never really implemented (the infamous lockdown for the unvaccinated). Of course, this sort of half-assed "implement measures to appear to be doing something" .... /6

... didn't work. It was more political theater by a gang of useless irresponsible politicians who were/are more interested in message control than in public health. Also, the main focus in Austria was always on keeping mass tourism going, which acted as massive superspreader. /7

When the next pandemic comes, we'd better be prepared to lock down early, shut down global travel & learn that successful measures prevent cases (instead to concluding that they were not necessary since there were no casse after all). /8

My conclusion: in this regard, we have learned absolutely nothing. If there is a more severe pandemic coming down the line, we'll be just marginally more prepared than we were for #COVID19. This may, quite literally, be fatal for humanity. /9

Re (2): it's mild & soon over.

The cynicism behind this is just baffling to me. There are millions of high-risk people on this planet that are acutely threatened by this "mild" disease, many children among them. We are sacrificing the vulnerable for our convenience. /10

Frankly, I wind the most troubling aspect of how we "deal" with the pandemic. Not having to change anything, not sacrificing even the slightest comfort, seems to be more important than to protect the vulnerable. That is a frightening amount of egotism. /11

The same could be seen internationally: each country for itself. Once we are able to get our shots & boosters, we do not worry about the world's poor. They have never interested us. The problem: of course, we can't get rid of the virus this way. /12

Even worse, we probably won't go "endemic" with it for quite some while. Letting it rip, at home or elsewhere, increases the chances of new variants arising. Selection is effective in proportion to population size. We're currently helping the virus evolve. /13

And all those "experts" telling you about the evolutionary potential of the virus? They don't know what they are talking about. I am an evolutionary biologist & I can tell you that we have no idea how this virus is going to evolve next. No idea. /14

So: keeping incidences low worldwide should be our top-most priority. Instead, we hear bullshit about how #omicron is nothing but a poor-man's vaccine really & our exit out of the pandemic. Which brings me to the last point. /15

Re (3): we're going endemic.

Now that's just a word most people don't understand. And politicians use it in a way which is simply not correct: to live with the virus means that case numbers & long-term consequences are under control. We can't "go endemic" in the middle of... /16

... the biggest wave of infection so far. That's just crazy talk. As I said before, there is no guarantee that we won't have additional waves. This virus is not yet under control. The pandemic is unlikely to be over soon. /17

To "live with the virus" we cannot go back to the old normal. We need to get used to new ways of behaving in crowds & public spaces, we need better infrastructure (air filters, new building techniques, etc), we need more responsible interactions. We can never go back. /18

What this pandemic has revealed to me is that "normality" was crap before the pandemic. Our society was dominated by neurotic egotistical narcissism. What the pandemic should teach us is that we can't survive without taking care of each other. /19

Your individual freedom ends where other people's freedom & health start. Anything else is just childish egotism.

It's maddening that this simple message does not come through. The media have failed us in a big way here. /20

But this goes beyond media: we need to re-learn what it means to be human if we want to live in a complex interdependent society. Instead, the tribal instincts this society caters to are from a pre-modern age. They are not able to cope with the modern world. /21

There is no way back: we can either grow up as a species, or we can perish, because our behavior, cognitive abilities, and social codes were not able to keep up with the complexification of our society. It's as simple as that. /22

Addendum: always interesting to see how the troll armies are triggered after a certain amount of mentions of a tweet. Be warned: I block liberally. Not interested in wasting my time with trolls or idiots.