Yes, because for schoolkids, Omicron is literally a cold, if that. The other variants, call it a bad cold. The only reason to stop them catching it is to stop them spreading it. Had someone three years ago been that concerned about someone with a cold, yes, that would be minutiae.

There are many cultures that strongly value parents, elders and extended family, and Covid is 'a cold' that could kill random loved ones in their extended family, such as their favorite grandmother or their aunt's best friend. For a teenager, being the vector of infection that leads to such a death would result in critical emotional trauma and lead to a much higher risk of suicide — a fact they are well aware of, given the significant uptick in suicides within their age group since Covid began.

They may be teenagers, but they're not wrong to attend to the minutiae; whether for selfish or for social reasons, that awareness may be all that is keeping them and their loved ones alive. It is cruel and unjust and wrong that they alone are attending to the minutiae of masking, but here in the United States our social support systems often require them to bear that responsibility, as the adults responsible for them often do not.

> The only reason to stop them catching it is to stop them spreading it

Like their parents, who could end up hospitalized, or worse? Seems like a good reason to be concerned.

It's about as bad as a flu, but that's quite bad. People underestimate the flu because they confuse it with a cold.

School kids live with their parents/guardians, and if they get it it will most likely mean that those guardians also will. That can be very serious for a kid who literally depends on them for everything including food, clothing, housing, essentials to life, etc. This is especially so if those guardians are older and at higher risk of death. A child is absolutely right to be more worried about it than they would be about a cold, because if it spreads to their family (and it likely will), that could well be a life ruining event.

In the context of the school, yes it does.

If you're in a school: you're catching omicron, and unless all of the students are wearing at least PAPR hoods all the time, everybody is catching it. Allowing yourself to get worked up about seeing a kid with his mask down in the bathroom is insane.

yes

Given that guidance has said that close exposure for 10-15 minutes is required for transmission, yes - it does seem a little overboard.

That guidance is pre-omicron. Someone talking in your face seems like extremely high risk these days.

Pre-delta, even: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-delta-variant-is-more-conta...

Guidance often lags behind or doesn't match science because of political influence. What's legal doesn't determine what's right, science does.

You can catch omicron from walking into an elevator someone else coughed in.