Omicron has hit and it could provide us with the biggest wave yet of Covid. This weekend we have seen scores of cancellations of sporting events from NFL, NHL and College Basketball games here in the United States, to Premier League and Football League soccer matches in England to other entertainment events in Europe. The next wave has hit and it will get progressively worse by the week.

A University of Florida model indicates our state could hit 40,000 new COVID cases a day by early February. By that point in time, the good news is that Omicron, thought to be a milder variant (however, some varying science indicates while milder than Delta it may not be milder than Alpha or Beta) almost certainly will replace Delta as the dominant Covid variant. The bad news is Delta is still spreading currently and any COVID is bad news.

Covid is not just about deaths as many conservatives and libertarians like to claim. Every single day on social media we are subjected to conservatives or libertarians saying the death rate is 1% or 2% or whatever, so this is like the common cold, live and let live, etc. Recently some on the left have joined them in this irresponsibility and some leftists have even joined the anti-vaccine chorus that grows stronger every passing day.

I personally know dozens of people who have contracted the virus and many claim lingering breathing issues, psychological problems and weeks of being in a virtual “fog” even after physical recovery. This thing is no joke, it’s not anything worth messing with for you, your friends or family.

We’ve spent much of 2020 and 2021 attacking Governor Ron DeSantis indifferent and reckless handling of this pandemic. But it is what it is at this point – DeSantis isn’t moving an inch toward more responsible mitigation efforts and has made it impossible for local governments to take their own actions. I remain indignant about DeSantis handling of the pandemic, but at this point the battle is lost to get government to take strong action here in Florida.

So today for Floridians, I am urging personal responsibility. Wear a mask, maybe two even if it makes you unpopular in a crowd. Please get vaccinated and get boosters if eligible. Take tests often (the lack of availability of testing when compared to other western democracies is the one real failure of the Biden Administration this year but it seems we might finally be getting there) and be smart when forced to interact with people you may not know. We’ll get through this as Floridians and Americans together.

Oh and also, please tune out the noise-creating, anti-vaccine, anti-mask gadflies who are using a pandemic of human suffering to increase their own social media status and personal brands. As this pandemic has worn on, the amount of fake news that is amplified by those trying to promote themselves and create some sort of far left, far right or libertarian brand has become insufferable. Don’t listen to them, but please listen to the scientists and doctors.