Everybody calm down.

Yes, the scientists advising the government of South Africa – where Omicron is now the dominant strain – say tracing and quarantining the contacts of infected people is a waste of time.

This cool-headed advice is exactly the opposite of the panic in wealthy European countries (and certain blue states).

Of course – unlike wealthy European countries – South Africa has tens of millions of extremely poor people. It can no longer afford to engage in viral theater to satisfy public health fanatics over a strain that looks more and more like a cold.

The prospect of nationwide food riots will tend to concentrate the mind.

Hysteria, thy (new) name is omicron.

So far, there have been reportedly seven recorded deaths in the UK — and when MP’s demanded details about the first death, they got the same treatment Peter Doocy does every day at the White House.

I had Dr. Marty Makary of Johns Hopkins University on my radio show this week and he described omicron as “a pandemic of lunacy which is dominating the airwaves.”

In Florida and many other parts of the US, though, life is back to normal. The hysteria is being promoted, yet again, in the blue states.

And it’s easy to understand why — the Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) would rather talk about anything other than Dementia Joe’s dismal performance this year.

From column by Howie Carr, of the excellent Boston Herald, h/t the irreplaceable Instapundit.

BTW, omicron is 15th letter of the Greek alphabet, in case you were wondering.

Hit man for gummint, but what by now did we expect?

Recently disclosed emails show how political hack Anthony Fauci was enlisted to bully scientific voices on the coronavirus into silence:

New emails released by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealed that last year, outgoing National Institutes of Health Dir. Dr. Francis Collins instructed Dr. Anthony Fauci to carry out a “quick and devastating” takedown of The Great Barrington Declaration, a document authored by experts who advocated for herd immunity to stop the pandemic, and “focused protection” for the most vulnerable populations over universal lockdowns.

With hindsight, the tens of thousands of medical professionals who signed the Great Barrington Declaration were plainly right, and Fauci and Collins were wrong.