Beginning Over, 2. Public Health Abandoned.
This new year is starting off the way last year ended, with illness everywhere. The good of it, is that most people are now vaccinated. The bad of it, is that the Omicron variant is now dominant, guaranteeing exploding contagion, even if most of it doesn't end up in the hospital. The further bad of it, is that after two years, we still haven't shored up our health system to withstand the shock. With the incredible numbers going up, we've been left more or less on our own. Protocall has changed, and I really have no idea what to do anymore if I suspect I've come down with Covid. Buy an antigen test at a pharmacy (if they have any)? Call my GP (if he or she answers)? Search for a special number that I have heard talked about (if it's still working)? Protocalls have changed because pharmacies can't keep enough antigen test kits on hand, and the labs are overwhelmed with the number of PCR's sent to test. Of course, knowing that Omicron was coming, nothing was do...