Here is a newsflash (and it was news to me as well): the Omicron variant is not the Delta variant which simply mutated into the Omicron variant. These variants are not necessarily Alpha to Beta to Gamma to Delta to Omicron. When the genetics is carefully assessed, it turns out that Omicron actually evolved from the original Wuhan strain which appeared 2 years ago. As an FYI, today (Friday January 21st), marks exactly 2 years since the first official case of Covid was diagnosed in the US. We later determined, after reviewing stored lab cultures, that the virus actually reached our shores weeks earlier, but we lacked the testing, and information from China, to make that diagnosis.
Although there are outbreaks of variants in many different places, that does not mean that all the previous forms of this virus have died off. There are plenty of places where people are not vaccinated and even the Wuhan strain is still present in significant amounts. It’s also still circulating in the US.
ANY replication of this virus gives it the opportunity to mutate into a variant of concern. The fewer infections, regardless of which variant it is, the better.
Trying to rationalize how concerned you are about which variant you get or for how long you need to quarantine based on the variant you have is not useful. The CDC quarantine advice is too vague and general. Unless you are an essential worker AND had little to know symptoms all along, the 5 day rule may apply, but you still must wear an N95 for an additional 5 days. But for everyone else, stick to 10 days after symptom onset or a positive test. And do not use the antigen test as a rationalization to get out of quarantine. If you do it a few times, maybe, but there are too many false positive and negative results to be definitive after one test.
This virus is here to stay, in various forms. It’s not the flu virus whose previous versions die off season to season. Again, it’s a novel virus and we continue to learn about how it replicates, mutates and impacts our health. We know a lot but there is a lot more to learn.
Please get vaccinated and boosted and continue to do all the other important mitigating steps.
Wear a proper mask. The best one you can.
Distance and avoid crowds.
Be hygienic, but don’t overdo it.
Get healthy!
Have a great weekend.
Stay safe and be well.
AC