Newsflash: The COVID 19 Virus Wants You To Live

Omicron: More Infections, Less Virulent

Like living cells, viruses yearn to live forever. Like cells, they find ways to replicate. To do this they must enter a living host. And they must enter a cell of that host. And like genes in living organisms, changes sometimes occur to a virus. When changes occur this is called a mutation. With COVID-19, we have already seen two mutations: the Delta and the Omicron variants. 

Because they yearn to live forever, viruses do not want the host to die. This makes sense because if their host dies so too do they die. Sometimes, mutations occur in viruses. These mutations develop as the virus attempts to adjust to its new environment. With each mutation, the virus becomes more infectious. This makes the viruses increasingly capable of jumping from host to host. 

While they become more infectious, they become less virulent. With each mutation, the virus causes milder symptoms and becomes less deadly. And this seems to be the case with each mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Delta variant was more infections and less virulent than the original version of the virus. And the Omicron virus is more infections and less virulent than the Delta variant. (1)

As of this writing, I have not heard of any reported deaths caused by Omicron. Almost all of the cases have been treated at home. Of those who required hospitalizations, most were probably admitted for something other than COVID. And this makes sense, as this is the goal of any virus. They want to live! 

I say "live" loosely, as viruses are not considered living organisms. Still, if their host dies, they die. 

This is something for politicians to make note of. I see some politicians are already panicking about the Omicron virus. And they are using this as a reason to increase COVID mandates. Based on the existing evidence, I would say this is an overreach. That is unless their goal is to prevent every person from getting the sniffles. 

References: 

1. Weise, Elizabeth, "Omicron could be more contagious, less dangerous. That would be 'good news for the human race.'" USA Today, 2021, December 7, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/12/07/omicron-coronavirus-variant-more-contagious-less-dangerous/8886726002/, accessed 12/7/2021