Today’s top analytical story comes, fittingly, from The Onion: “Everything Slightly Worse Than Yesterday.”
As for the particulars, over the past few days it’s become clear that Omicron is going to mess with the hoped-for scenario of putting Covid behind us this winter. It’s just too contagious and too many people remain unvaccinated for any hope of that.
So far, Omicron is exploding mainly in Europe, although New York City appears to be the main entry point in the U.S., even though the first recorded case was in San Francisco.
And if we’ve learned anything during the pandemic, it’s that local and regional surges will soon easily overwhelm our hospital system, overworking doctors and nurses in the process.
As a result, many front-line healthcare workers have been quitting, burned-out and very much casualties of Covid-19, along with the hundreds of millions who have been sickened and millions who have died.
Before it is “over,” i.e., consigned to a seasonal status much like the flu, Covid-19 will probably rank as the most consequential pandemic in history. Historians will argue that point, but we now have more people than ever before on the planet and they are inter-connected in ways previously unimaginable through trade, travel and other results of globalization.
Therefore the level of disruption exceeds all previous pandemic. You could say that this is the first truly global epidemic.
Accordingly, the global economy is going through another volatile stretch as markets and central banks react to Omicron. I’m not sure that economists can pinpoint a single cause for the inflation that has arisen during the pandemic but government stimulus payments certainly have played a role.
Meanwhile, the environmental impacts of Covid are difficult to quantify. With climate change already advancing in the form of rising sea levels, higher temperatures and extreme weather events, Covid has required national and international resources that could otherwise have been devoted to confronting the climate challenge.
If nothing else, we’ve lost valuable time in that battle.
Politically, as I’ve noted previously, the pandemic has intensified the divisions in many countries, accelerating tendencies toward extremism. A group of retired U.S. military generals are the latest to warn that the U.S. remains at risk of an authoritarian turn as soon as 2024, and that is not hyperbole.
Finally, there is the unspeakable tragedy that is Afghanistan.
These are grim times. As those of us who celebrate Christmas prepare to exchange gifts and gather for holiday meals, there is a palpable sense of exhaustion, a deep melancholy hanging over our homes and our families.
As much as we might wish for peace on earth at this season, we do not live in a time when that is possible.
TODAY’S HEADLINES:
Report: Everything Slightly Worse Than Yesterday (The Onion)
As Covid Surges, Experts Say U.S. Booster Effort Is Far Behind — The C.D.C. now recommends that all adults get a booster. But only one in six Americans has received that shot, worrying health officials. (NYT)
VIDEO: The Netherlands Locks Down to Combat Omicron Variant — Dutch leaders ordered all nonessential shops, bars, restaurants, gyms, schools, and cultural and outdoor-sports venues to close from Sunday until at least mid-January. (Reuters)
U.S. could see 1 million cases per day, warns departing NIH director Francis Collins (NPR)
Omicron may sideline two leading drugs against COVID-19 (AP)
Covid-19’s Omicron Variant Starts to Take Its Toll on Business (WSJ)
N.Y. cases hit record high for second straight day, upending holiday plans
— The rapidly climbing numbers have sparked concern that the state’s outbreak could spell a sign of what’s to come elsewhere. Citing the omicron variant, SNL said it would go on without a live audience, joining the Rockettes and Broadway shows in altering plans. (WP)
Omicron threat looms over winter holidays in Europe and U.S. (Reuters)
Why Los Angeles Delayed Enforcing Its Student Vaccine Mandate — As the deadline for compliance approached, the school board faced a difficult question: What would happen to the tens of thousands of students who were still not vaccinated? (NYT)
VIDEO: London Declares a ‘Major Incident’ as Omicron Surges — The declaration, which indicated that emergency services and hospitals could not guarantee their normal level of response, came as London faced a steep rise in coronavirus cases driven by the Omicron variant. (Reuters)
Covid boosters in rich countries outnumber all jabs among poor nations (Financial Times)
Don’t Panic About Omicron. But Don’t Be Indifferent, Either. — The next wave of the pandemic requires charting a middle course between dismay and dismissal. (Atlantic)
Congress Ends ‘Horrible Year’ With Divisions as Bitter as Ever (NYT)
Kinzinger says January 6 panel is investigating Trump's involvement in insurrection (CNN)
Disney and YouTube TV Reach Deal (YouTube)
Hidden Pentagon Records Reveal Patterns of Failure in Deadly Airstrikes — The promise was a war waged by all-seeing drones and precision bombs. The documents show flawed intelligence, faulty targeting, years of civilian deaths — and scant accountability. (NYT)
Once a Symbol of U.S. Strength, an Afghan District Now Faces Dire Times
At the war’s end, residents of Marja are growing increasingly desperate for any kind of help, a frustration that has turned to anger that the international community has seemingly abandoned them. (NYT)
Islamic world pitches ways to aid desperately poor Afghans (AP)
As their homeland fell to the Taliban, these Afghan women rose to lead a DC restaurant empire (WP)
At Every Step, Afghans Coming to America Encounter Stumbling Blocks — U.S. officials concede that the system was unprepared. (NYT)
Cold, heat, fires, hurricanes and tornadoes: The year in weather disasters (WP)
A Record Number of Journalists Jailed — Authoritarian leaders are waging a war against the free press. (Editorial Board/NYT)
LYRICS
“Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye”
Song by Leonard Cohen
I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm
Your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm
Yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new
In city and in forest they smiled like me and you
But now it's come to distances and both of us must try
Your eyes are soft with sorrow
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye
I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time
Walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme
You know my love goes with you as your love stays with me
It's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea
But let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie
Your eyes are soft with sorrow
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye
I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm
Your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm
Yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new
In city and in forest they smiled like me and you
But let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie
Your eyes are soft with sorrow
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye
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