You Can Spell "Moronic" Using the Letters in "Omicron"
Pay attention to headlines when it comes to the new variant of COVID-19 -- and COVID in general.
“Hospitalizations from COVID-19 are up,” the local newscaster declared at the very beginning of his segment. Because I was in the process of getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist’s office, I couldn’t turn off the TV or switch to a different channel. Luckily for me, I watched the entire segment, including the conclusion: “Most of the hospitalizations are not serious.”
To be clear, no one wants to be hospitalized, even if it’s for a day or two. But knowing that your chances of leaving the hospital alive and well after battling COVID-19 are much higher than they were in April of 2020 could save you from an anxiety attack. Yet, a lot of the headlines we read can keep us anything but calm.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Surveys show a major increase in the number of U.S. adults who report symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia during the pandemic, compared with surveys before the pandemic.” Because of this, the Mayo Clinic’s website continues, “it's important to learn self-care strategies and get the care you need to help you cope.”
Among the suggestions the Mayo Clinic’s experts offer for reducing COVID-related stress and anxiety and strengthening your mental and emotional well-being: Limit exposure to the news media.
Those currently residing under a rock may find this relatively easy to do; for the rest of us, ignoring media coverage of COVID-19 is nearly impossible. Whether you get your news from TV, radio, newspapers, social media or your office coffee klatsch, you’re going to be inundated with COVID-19 information. And since it looks like our nemesis coronavirus appears to be sticking around for a longer stretch of time than any of us had hoped (i.e., possibly forever), it’s imperative to know how to read and interpret the news and save your sanity in the process.
Watch out for words that act as stressors.
Surge. Go ahead and google the word and see what pops up under Top Stories. Here are a few examples:
“Omicron Surge Is ‘Unlike Anything We’ve Ever Seen,’ Expert Says.” What does this even mean without any context? The word “surge” here is designed to induce major concern, especially in regards to the Omicron variant, which experts predict is typically much milder than Delta. Thus a “surge” of cases does not necessarily mean gloom and doom, but you wouldn’t know that from the headline.
“‘Crazy’ Omicron Surge Could Peak Soon, but the Virus Is Unpredictable as the Pandemic Enters Its Third Year.” First of all, who allows a headline to be that long? Second of all, way to instill hope for two seconds and immediately deflate it with the second half of a sentence.
“Financial Markets Continue to Climb Despite Covid Surge.” A much more efficient headline than the one above, but with the same hooray-then-sadness effect.
Shattered:
“Another COVID Record Shattered as a Rough Year Ends.” Guess what? The current record will probably be broken in a few days. So should you split your panic attack in half and save the rest for the next shattering?
Record Hospitalizations:
“Ohio Reports Record Number of COVID-19 Hospitalizations, Daily Cases.” Yes, it’s concerning that hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are rising, and, no, we do not want our hospitals to be stretched thin with COVID patients. But here’s the thing, the number of per-case hospitalizations is actually quite low compared with other waves of the virus, according to the CDC. In fact, CDC director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing that, "While cases have substantially increased from last week, hospitalizations and deaths remain comparatively low right now.” (Disclaimer: Hospitalization rates may vary greatly from one region of the country to another.)
P.S. Be wary of words that AREN’T in headlines, especially the word “deaths.” The number of positive cases is important; the number of hospitalizations is, too. But the number one rate we need to be concerned about is death, and everything points to a lower number.
During a recent discussion between Dr. Amesh Adalja, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and MSNBC correspondent Katy Tur, a chart showed that while hospitalizations had increased 14% over the last week of December 2021, the number of daily deaths had actually DECLINED by 7%.
Read the entire article, not just the headline.
“US Children Hospitalized With COVID in Record Numbers.” This is not good news, for sure. But as we read farther down in the article, we find a lot of positives. “On a more hopeful note, children continue to represent a small percentage of those being hospitalized with COVID-19….And many doctors say the youngsters seem less sick than those who came in during the delta surge over the summer.” In addition, many of the children who are being hospitalized for COVID have preexisting conditions that make them more highly susceptible. A juvenile COVID patient mentioned in the article here, for example, has epilepsy and is considered “medically fragile.” This naturally suggests that parents of children with preexisting conditions take extra precautions to keep them as safe from COVID as possible.
Keep in mind that rising positive cases does not mean Omicron is deadly.
To date, there has been only one recorded death due to the Omicron variant, a reinfection in an unvaccinated man in his 50s.
In South Africa, where Omicron was first reported in November, health officials believe the number of cases is reaching its peak and that deaths related directly to Omicron have been “marginal.”
Be cautious, but not panicky.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a "tsunami" of infections from Delta and Omicron variants that could overwhelm health systems, according to the BBC article above. No one likes the word “tsunami,” but rather than paint a picture of despair, many health experts suggest we can ride out this latest wave of the Coronavirus by being sensible and logical.
“It’s not a time of panic,” Dr. Amesh Adalja told Katy Tur. “This is not the beginning of 2020….We’ve got tools: rapid tests, antivirals, monoclonal antibodies and life-saving vaccines.
“We have to get to a point where it’s the severity of the infection that matters,” he continued. “If we are fully vaccinated, if we use the tools like the antibodies and the antivirals, it becomes a much more manageable problem.”
COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere, but it looks like it’s gradually getting to the point where people will be able to avoid it or prepare for mild-to-moderate symptoms. If you’re relatively healthy and vaccinated, experts such as Dr. Adalja believe it’s okay to eat in a restaurant, go to the movies or hang out with your friends. Just know that you might come down with an upper respiratory illness with the nasty name of COVID-19, but that the chances will be very, very high for a full recovery. “It’s very hard to avoid a virus that’s not going anywhere,” Dr. Adlja said. “The key is to be infected with it after you’ve been vaccinated.”