When will this overreaction stop?
[QUOTE=GoodEnough;2647765]Cities around the country are now bracing for the inevitable Omicron wave, which is just breaking in Manila but has not yet swept through other cities. There's no chance the Philippines will open again for tourists until the wave has ripped through the country. My best guess is that it will open sometime during the third quarter of the year, but that's merely a guess. If there's yet another varient that becomes dominant after Omicron, then all bets are off.
I live in Davao and have not been on a flight since the whole mess began, but I do retain close contact with friends living elsewhere including Manila. Here in Davao, panic buying, also known as hoarding, has already begun though the reported infection rate here is low and very few cases of Omicron have been reported. However, the general public, or large swaths of it, appear to know that a surge here is inevitable. Stores have already started to run short of staple items and they're much more crowded that usual. The local government has started to aggressively promote booster shots, and I think is doing its best to ensure a plentiful supply of vaccines. The streets at night are sparsely populated and bars and restaurants haven't been permitted to sell alcohol for about two years and those restrictions will not end anytime soon..[/QUOTE]Makes sense. Let's keep shutting down all of civilization over a variant with practically a 100% survival rate. WTF? Why? It's basically the seasonal flu at this point. When will these over-reactions stop?