"Analysis: Why scientists have issued such a grim warning over Omicron
By Ashish Joshi, health correspondent
The language is stark. The warning is grim. But read carefully what the government's advisory panel is saying and it makes total sense. And you will see there are plenty of caveats.
The identification of a heavily mutated variation of a deadly virus that is left to run through a population could have very serious consequences. Of course it could. But that does not mean it necessary will. And the NERVTAG scientists make that absolutely clear too.
Any coronavirus that spreads at scale can possibly cause a surge in infections and if these cause severe illness then the NHS will be at threat of being overwhelmed. But without the data, for now, these are worst-case scenarios designed to prompt preventative action.
And that, the government says, is exactly what it has done. They were warned to take early robust action and they responded with travel restrictions, face masks and a boosted booster campaign.
The advisory group accepts the risks are uncertain because so little is known about Omicron. But given the devastating impact Delta has had, it would be unwise not to flag potential dangers and urge immediate action.
If later on Omicron is found to pose no significant threat then no serious damage has been done, except of course the impact on the economies of the South African countries affected by the travel bans and the disruption to families who were preparing to travel to the region.
But if it were the other way round, no warnings were sounded and zero interventions made, and the virus did turn out to be vaccine-resistant and hugely transmissible causing severe illness, then we would have been left totally exposed. "
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-ne...alysis: Why scientists,left totally exposed. 
www.irishexaminer.com
