Omicron Check: Are you still hiring?

[CheckCar]

I’m curious to know if others on this forum are still hiring guys amidst the Omicron spike, and if you’ve noticed providers pulling back because of Omicron. 

[KrisParr]

I had an appointment set up with a provider for next week; just received a text from him that he tested positive so we’re rescheduling.  Starting to have a lot of second thoughts. Have had three friends now who were vaxxed and boosted, all got it. Two of them mild, the other, not so much. Scary.

[Luv2play]

I've definitely pushed the pause button. As I said elsewhere on this forum, I took advantage of the periods in the last two years when case counts were low in my region to see providers. When they spiked, I pulled back.

I had two great extended weekends in the fall, one in Montreal and the other Toronto. Restaurants and hotels were getting back on their feet. Now new restrictions are being put in place, as we speak, so time to batten the hatches.

Two of the providers I saw on those trips are now wintering in Puerto Vallarta and I hear they are still doing well.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Luv2play

[jtwalker]

Yes, absolutely, I would not hesitate to hire at all based on omicron.

[marylander1940]

1 hour ago, CheckCar said:

I’m curious to know if others on this forum are still hiring guys amidst the Omicron spike, and if you’ve noticed providers pulling back because of Omicron. 

 

Yes!

[marylander1940]

33 minutes ago, jtwalker said:

Yes, absolutely, I would not hesitate to hire at all based on omicron.

Are you fully vaccinated?

Don't know if you have answered the question on another threat but are you fully vaccinated?

[+ Tygerscent]

I’m stepping back from seeing Clients until after the first of the year~ I’ll wait for the holiday omicron and variant spread to settle down and then feel it out~ The more people that get it, the more mutation that occurs~ It don’t go when it can’t grow~ The concern I have is that vaxed people who feel like it won’t effect them in some severe way, will not worry about getting it, basically supplying themselves as a Petri dish for vaccine resistant variants to form and arise~ The vaccines don’t mean it’s okay to get coronavirus because you won’t get as sick. They are a tool that diminishes potential severity of disease and lessens duration of contagiousness by four or five days but, we still have an obligation to isolate the virus if we are to move beyond it where we don’t need to isolate intermittently or be vaxed every six months etc~ We don’t have to like that as an answer but, we have to deal with the reality of covid if we are to move into some life beyond it~ Covid doesn’t care what we think, what we do, where we go or don’t go~ It just needs a host to turn into a replication factory where it can proliferate and mutate~ Mutation is an inherent Survival factor in viruses~ Whenever it is in a host, it will mutate. It’s able to mutate and leap to other species~ (and back~???). The vaccines spare us discomfort but, don’t “kill” the virus~ Only we can prevent forest fires~ 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by Tygerscent

[+ augustus]

I don't worry about omicron at all.  It's not killing people and anyway you can't hide from it.  

[Luv2play]

31 minutes ago, augustus said:

I don't worry about omicron at all.  It's not killing people and anyway you can't hide from it.  

I admire but somehow deplore your insouciance.

[+ keroscenefire]

I think Omicron is going to burn out quickly. Already it's subsiding in South Africa. I think in a few weeks it will be mostly done. I'm probably not going to hire until I visit Washington DC for the forum events there. I think it's good to be prudent while Omicron does its thing but I think it's really not going to last very long. 

[+ nycman]

I’m triple vaxed and have been fully paused for 2 weeks now. 

Back in my "COVID family bubble" of only 5 people with whom
I survived the first wave and whom are all now triple vaxed and
once again committed to the bubble. 

Lots of double vaxed and a few triple vaxed friends who are mildly ill.
I know a few moderately ill double vaxed. Mostly bad headaches,
a few mildly short of breath with low pulse ox’s. I don’t personally
know anyone hospitalized.

The next 2-3 weeks will be like drinking from a fire hydrant. I predict
it will spike and ebb quickly. Omicron has already kicked Delta’s ass
locally. Now we just pray the firewalls hold and the fucker burns itself out. 

My advice: Get out your "First Wave" playbook and follow it for the next month. 
Well, that…..and pray. 

[+ Tygerscent]

On 12/22/2021 at 5:07 PM, nycman said:

I’m triple vaxed and have been fully paused for 2 weeks now. 

Back in my "COVID family bubble" of only 5 people with whom
I survived the first wave and whom are all now triple vaxed and
once again committed to the bubble. 

Lots of double vaxed and a few triple vaxed friends who are mildly ill.
I know a few moderately ill double vaxed. Mostly bad headaches,
a few mildly short of breath with low pulse ox’s. I don’t personally
know anyone hospitalized.

The next 2-3 weeks will be like drinking from a fire hydrant. I predict
it will spike and ebb quickly. Omicron has already kicked Delta’s ass
locally. Now we just pray the firewalls hold and the fucker burns itself out. 

My advice: Get out your "First Wave" playbook and follow it for the next month. 
Well, that…..and pray. 

Yes… get out the first wave playbook and wait until the next safety bubble~ The idea is to isolate it to keep from mutating and proliferating~  

Edited January 2, 2022 by Tygerscent

[+ Tygerscent]

No point in going out there, getting sick and then not being able to play, socialize, hire or be hired if you get sick unnecessarily for weeks or months on end, however long it takes to recover and clear the virus~ Plus… most people don’t want to take out their social circle mates or play mates~ 

[CheckCar]

7 minutes ago, Tygerscent said:

No point in going out there, getting sick and then not being able to play, socialize, hire or be hired if you get sick unnecessarily for weeks or months on end, however long it takes to recover and clear the virus~ Plus… most people don’t want to take out their social circle mates or play mates~ 

Do you have any sense of what other providers in your city or networks are doing?

[jeezifonly]

I last hired in 20….18, 19?? Not yet. Not now. Maybe later. 

Every time we think we know what this virus is going to do, it raises its middle finger and says, “I’m a virus - all I do is destroy the body’s defenses,  replicate and evade destruction until my clones and I find a new home” 

It’s a shame no virology experts have weighed in… why hasn’t the scientific community done research on this???????

 

[+ Pensant]

I last saw a regular in early November. I’m also on hold for a few weeks at least to see how this plays out.

[mike carey]

I'm not particularly avoiding hiring, but rather avoiding travel to any city where I might hire (no one excites he here in Canberra), Sydney being the obvious one, but also not going to Melbourne. I need a test to go to Brisbane or Adelaide and am not inclined to do that, in part because testing queues are insane. Not sure how I'd feel if I were in one of those cities, but would probably do it. Not a decision I actually have to make.

[Epigonos]

YES!!!!!

[keefer]

Fully vaxed, boosted - on pause until new year...

Suspect that's due as much to do with infection rates exploding in UK (and Europe), natural caution due to conflicting reports that even vaccinated people are getting ill, and distrust of how UK govt is handling this... as it is with having spent all disposable income on xmas presents, food, and alcohol, and mother-in-law selling the family home and moving in with us (last Sunday)... 

 

I suspect my enthusiasm and eagerness with the first hire of 2022 will be on par with losing my virginity a million years ago...

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by keefer
clarity

[+ Reisr30]

I am vaccinated and boosted and rescheduled a meeting scheduled for this month until next year.  I don’t think you can be to cautious with this 🦠 

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

I hired last night, so "yes".

 

[Alex93108]

Headed to Sao Paolo Jan 3. Absolutely plan to hire - are you crazy?  The question is which one. I have a dependable favorite there in Sao Paolo but I may hire someone new. We'll see.

Early 40s, reasonably fit, Moderna X3 , no major health issues. 

And how I love beautiful men….

That said : I think everyone should do their own risk assessment. If you are HIV+ ( even undetectable)  , have prior or current health issues, then yeah, maybe you should pause. I personally see no reason to.

 

[BSR]

23 hours ago, augustus said:

I don't worry about omicron at all.  It's not killing people and anyway you can't hide from it.  

I saw an interesting stat from Madrid:

12/23/2020:  2,621 new cases, 210 new hospitalizations 

12/23/2021:  20,195 new cases, 144 new hospitalizations

I wish they had a breakdown of how many of those 144 hospitalizations were Omicron vs. Delta.

[+ nycman]

3 hours ago, BSR said:

I wish they had a breakdown of how many of those 144 hospitalizations were Omicron vs. Delta.

No real clue, but based on what’s going on in the rest of the world I’d bet it’s 90% Omicron.

Omicron has pretty much smashed Delta out of existence in less than 2 weeks. 

Edited December 24, 2021 by nycman

[mike carey]

6 hours ago, BSR said:

I saw an interesting stat from Madrid:

12/23/2020:  2,621 new cases, 210 new hospitalizations 

12/23/2021:  20,195 new cases, 144 new hospitalizations

I wish they had a breakdown of how many of those 144 hospitalizations were Omicron vs. Delta.

Important to remember that the first number is pre-vaccine and pre-Delta, so there is a variety of reasons for the difference. Knowing the variant breakdown for yesterday's hospitalisations would be interesting but would not reveal very much. Having the same figures for six weeks ago to compare with yesterday's would be far more revealing. Comparing those six-week-old numbers with last years' would provide a useful way-point in the progression of hospitalisation over the year.