Not so much in Chicago, but . . . 

Across the country, people have stopped living in fear. They have stopped limiting their social interactions. They have reopened their businesses. They are not putting their masks back on between bites or sips — in fact, they have stopped wearing masks, let alone double masks or triple masks, and all businesses except airlines have stopped demanding them. They have kept their schools open. And you wouldn’t know it by looking at the front page of the New York Times each day, but nearly everyone has stopped obsessing and panicking over whatever the latest variant is.

As I say, Chicago no, especially among readers of that paper mentioned two lines up.

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.

Slippage among the worried men and women.

More than half of Americans now OPPOSE vaccine mandates, according to the poll, which Monmouth University released this morning. About 60 percent say they are “worn out” from Covid.

And support for President Biden’s handling of the pandemic has crashed, from 62 percent in April to 46 percent today.

The poll:

“Striking erosion in support for mandates.”

Only 46 percent of people said they supported “requiring people to show proof of vaccination in order to go to work in an office or setting where they are around other people,” compared to 50 percent who opposed such a rule. That’s a reversal from September, when 53 percent supported a mandate, while 45 percent opposed it.

“Vaccine hesitancy . . . rising slightly.”

About 22 percent of American adults are not planning to get the vaccine, compared to 20 percent in November.

“A final note”:

When asked if they were afraid of catching a new variant, 51 percent of vaccinated people said yes.

The figure was even higher among the boosted – 66 percent.

But only 12 percent of the unvaccinated were afraid.

For the whole poll, go here.