đź”’ Premium: SA reaction to Omicron suggests we’re learning to live with Covid-19

My inbox this morning contained some upbeat reactions to last night’s address to the nation by SA president Cyril Ramaphosa. This was one “family meeting” that went well. CR has kept a cool head on the new Covid variant – including growing calls to introduce mandatory vaccines in SA.

FEDHASA’s national chair said the tourism body is “absolutely thrilled”. SATSA called it “the most powerful speech our president has delivered on Covid.” Even the liquor industry’s verdict was “broadly welcomes…”

It’s common cause that South African scientists identified the new Covid strain and now their global peers know what to look for, Omicron is being found all over the world. The knee-jerk reaction to immediately isolate SA reflects poorly on the Western political establishment.
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By contrast, last night Ramaphosa reflected maturity desperately lacking elsewhere. Pretoria appears to have reflected on the past two years and concluded Covid-19 is going nowhere, so best we learn to live with it. Nice one Cyril.

More on the subject to read today:

* New York Declares State of Emergency to Combat Omicron Variant. Precautionary measure allows hospitals to turn away patients seeking nonurgent care.

* Companies See Omicron Variant as Latest Unknown in a Pandemic Full of Shocks. Executives schedule calls and send questions to health advisers while considering how safety measures could be restored, if needed.

And something completely different…

* Why You Shouldn’t Use Emojis in Work Messages. Women are especially likely to interpret certain emojis more negatively than men do, according to a recent study

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