Preparing for Omicron – 8 Steps You Can Take to Prevent Infection

Given the rapid spread of Omicron in countries like South Africa, Denmark, and the United Kingdom, it’s unlikely that anything short of major immediate health measures will halt the growth of Omicron.

Omicron does not appear to be a variant that can be stopped by reducing capacity in high-risk environments like bars, gyms, and stadiums. Whether you catch it is another matter, but it’s spreading so fast that unless you work from home and get your groceries through contactless delivery, you are highly likely to come within a few steps of someone with Omicron at some point in the next few months.

Covid-19 cases in some cities have doubled in the last week. If the majority of these are Omicron cases, we can expect them to keep doubling. Possibly as fast every two to three days. While 25 to 50 doesn’t seem bad, this turns into 3,200 cases in three weeks. (Doubling every three days.) If it doubles every two days, that’s 38,400 cases in three weeks. Testing limits might prevent you from seeing these high numbers, but they’re there. Just keep an eye on the positivity rate. If the positivity rate stays high while cases flatline, then your area has likely reached it’s testing capacity. The cases are still there, but you don’t have the resources to detect them.

Since the beginning of this pandemic most governments have been largely reactive as opposed to proactive. Any preventative health measures are likely to be too late to stop the spread of Omicron

For example, most people are still wearing cloth or surgical masks. While these help prevent you from giving the virus to others, they will not help much at protecting you from Omicron. It’s just that contagious.

If you only have two MRNA vaccines, then your protection against an Omicron infection is probably close to zero. Fresh studies show that a third shot will provide some protection but probably for only a few months. It’s unknown currently whether the vaccines prevent severe disease from Omicron, but scientists are optimistic. (No info on long Covid yet.)

If you wish to protect yourself and your family against an Omicron infection, here are some steps you can take.

1. Booster Shots.

If eligible, get your booster shot. While the studies vary in effectiveness, all of them conclude that getting the booster will provide you with great protection against an Omicron infection. How long they keep you protected is still unknown, but some protection is always better than no protection.

2. Better Masks

Swap all cloth and surgical masks for something better, like N95s, KN95s, KF94s, etc. Wear these anywhere indoors that isn’t your home. Wear outdoors in busy areas like main streets or public markets.

These masks are designed to filter out 95% of tiny particles. Cloth masks help to stop you from giving the virus to others, but they will do little to prevent an Omicron infection.

Most of these better masks are disposable. The manufacturer says they last for eight hours of use. Not eight hours from when you open the package, but eight hours total. So if you’re wearing it at work all day, toss it at night. If you’re only using it for trips to the store, it will last for 16 trips that take 30 minutes.

However, that’s just what the manufacturer says. They might last as long as 40 hours.

See here: How long does an N95 mask last?

3. Eyeglasses or Protective Eyewear

A study showed that only 5.8% of hospitalized Covid patients wore glasses, whereas 31.5% of the general population wore glasses every day. We can either infer that glasses block Covid particles from entering your eyeballs, or people who wear glasses get invited to less parties.

4. Air Purifiers

A high-quality purifier (with a HEPA filter) can remove dust, pollen, mold, bacteria and particles from the air. NASA did a study and found that HEPA filters can capture particles as small as 0.01 microns. The virus that causes Covid is 0.125 microns.

Install air purifiers in all large rooms, or rooms where people congregate, like your main lobby, conference room, etc.

5. Humidifiers

This Harvard op-ed suggests that keeping the humidity in your room between at 40-60% can help the body fight infection. If you want to slow the spread of Covid-19, you don’t want the room to be so dry your hands are cracking.

Don’t have access to a humidifier? Run the shower on the hot and turn the bathroom into a bedroom. Re-live your college days of sleeping in the tub. (Don’t do this.)

6. Door Blocker

If you live in apartment, block the bottom of your door if the gap is large. This might sound crazy, but there is a documented case in Hong Kong of the virus drifting across a hallway and infecting another guest in another room. Yes, Omicron is that contagious.

7. Simulated Lockdown

Just because the government hasn’t instituted a lockdown, doesn’t mean you can’t behave as though there is one. This means skipping parties, restaurants, sports events, etc.

8. Social bubbles

Remember bubbles? Those largely vanished with when the vaccines rolled out. But just because the government isn’t mandating them doesn’t mean you can’t form one.

Establish a small group of trustworthy friends/family and see only these people. While this won’t make it impossible for you to get Omicron, it will limit the spread.

“Wish for sunshine, but build dykes.”

Now is time to proactive with these measures. Most of the products listed above are still for sale at reasonable prices. In a few weeks they might not be. Omicron is extremely contagious and as cases pile up we are likely to see some panic buying. Most people still don’t understand how exponential growth works, and this can come as a shock as Omicron shatters previous case peaks.

Don’t be slow and reactive like the government. Take your family’s safety into your own hands and be quick and proactive.

Good luck out there and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.