1) There are at least two jurisdictions that are now in the grip of rising #COVID deaths from the so-called #Omicron stealth variant BA.2 – Denmark and Hong Kong. Each has taken a different approach to managing the #pandemic. In this thread, I will show the failings of each. 
2) First, though, let us focus on Hong Kong, where the BA.2 contagion is now so severe that a hospital in the city of 7 million has run out of space, with patients receiving care on gurneys. It’s the worst such outbreak in Hong Kong since the start of the #pandemic two years ago.
3) Hong Kong has taken the so-called Zero COVID approach throughout the #pandemic, using sophisticated track-and-tracing, quarantining entire apartment blocks, even culling 2,500 hamsters after a pet store worker and some rodents tested positive.
4) Yet despite those stringent measures, #COVID deaths in Hong Kong are now rising after the special administrative region reported few deaths for many months. This clearly confirms that BA.2 is far more contagious and far more lethal than previous #coronavirus strains.
5) But arguably the one missing element from Hong Kong’s #pandemic strategy has been the widespread vaccination of its elderly. Although young Hongkongers have mostly embraced vaccination, those over the age of 80 are resisting.
6) Only 36% of Hong Kong’s population above 80 has received a first dose, compared with Québec, where 95% of those over the age of 60 got the first jab. And as the chart below reveals, Hong Kong lags far behind Canada and Denmark in administering booster shots to counter BA.2.
7) Now let us turn to progressive Denmark, which for months had adopted the “vaccines-plus” strategy – widespread immunization along with track-and-tracing, #COVID testing and public health protections like vaccine passports and having to wear a mask while using public transit.
8) But on Feb. 1, Denmark ended vaccine passports to enter bars and restaurants, among other measures, after the Danish Epidemic Commission concluded #COVID19 no longer posed a “critical threat” to society. Meanwhile, the more pathogenic BA.2 strain was on the loose in Denmark.
9) As a result, Denmark has had to defend its lifting of public health measures following a spike in #pandemic deaths, asserting that many of these were “with COVID” rather than “from COVID.” Regardless, excess mortality seems to be trending higher, as the chart below suggests.
10) Time and again during this #pandemic, #COVID variants of concern have arisen (mostly in areas with low vaccination), causing surges in hospitalizations in many jurisdictions. People in much of the world still haven’t received a first dose, let alone a booster shot. See below.
11) Under such conditions, the examples of Hong Kong and Denmark serve as reminders the “vaccines-plus” strategy remains best option for now as we face what Scientific American has described as “the fastest-spreading virus in human history.” End of thread. scientificamerican.com/article/omicro…
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