In the face of Omicron uncertainty, focus on resilience

Chart from the FT, who have been doing amazing reporting on Covid (and charts!) throughout the pandemic.

Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UKHSA, warned that the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus was “probably the most significant threat we’ve had since the start of the pandemic”. Speaking to the Commons transport select committee, Dr Harries said the infection rate was doubling in less than two days in most parts of the UK, adding: “The numbers that we see on data over the next few days will be quite staggering compared to the rate of growth that we’ve seen in cases for previous variants.”

FT.com December 15, 2021

After those two pieces from the FT came out, later yesterday we saw announced that the UK had 78,000 cases in one day, by far the highest number ever in the pandemic. The Omicron wave is a tsunami already.

Also yesterday, I saw a business leader ask for this in a post online:

“What we immediately require is absolute clarity and a timetable of proposed restrictions to allow us all to plan our lives, businesses and future commitments”

To which I responded:

This is simply not a tenable request at this particular time, we are in a highly VUCA environment as the Grey Swan of Omicron is an overwhelmingly powerful influence on the environment.

Add to that the politics of…