Everything that’s old is new again, and that’s certainly an adage playing out in regards to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Ineffective mitigation that didn’t work for the first time? It’s all happening again because most world leaders are a mix of imbecile and power-hungry.

Now, the first death connected to Omicron has been confirmed in the United Kingdom. That led PM Boris Johnson to suggest that we should “set aside” any notion that this new variant is less virulent…even though it’s almost certainly less virulent based on what we’ve seen.

'At least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron'

Boris Johnson confirms the UK's first Omicron Covid death, adding: 'the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus, I think that's something we need to set on one side' https://t.co/XFvJJlmuPI pic.twitter.com/2R0zaR0vyh

— ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) December 13, 2021

Note that we’ve known about the Omicron variant for nearly a month and to this point, few have even gotten seriously ill. Most cases have actually occurred in those who are vaccinated. As to the person who died in the United Kingdom, we are talking about a single death out of what are now thousands of cases. Did that person have pre-existing conditions? What was their age? Were they overweight? Those are very prudent questions here that mean everything in terms of judging the severity, yet Johnson just brushes that all aside to proclaim panic anyway.

I just find it rather odd that the UK isn’t rushing to give details on who died. Why hide the person’s risk factors? Why not share their vaccination status? Did they actually die of COVID or did they die with COVID while battling another serious illness or injury? We could speculate why that information is being withheld, but it’d be easier if these world governments were just honest about it.

Meanwhile, California is already reinstating its indoor mask mandate for a variant that has, to date, killed a single person (and that person may have had comorbidities).

BREAKING: California will implement a statewide indoor mask mandate starting Dec. 15 through January 15. @Cal_HHS says Covid cases have risen 47% since Thanksgiving.

— Lara Korte 🎄 (@lara_korte) December 13, 2021

This isn’t about science. It’s about control and politicians covering their own backsides. “I did something!” they cry while refusing to acknowledge that what they did is asinine and had little to no effect. Florida currently has one of the lowest COVID-19 rates in the country and they banned mask mandates over a year ago.

Why? Because the coronavirus is obviously seasonal and moves into different parts of the country at different points of the year. You can not control it with cheap masks. Yet, governments just keep doubling down on failure because they see it as more advantageous to “do something” than to do what actually works, which in some cases may be letting people just live their lives.

The current data we have, including the lack of widespread hospitalizations and deaths, suggests Omicron is mild. Until and unless we have solid data suggesting it isn’t, governments have no justification to reimpose draconian measures. As I stated early on, someone dying from Omicron was inevitable, but that doesn’t mean anything if all context is thrown out the window. Leaders like Johnson, Joe Biden, and Gavin Newsom don’t care, though. They will choose to set fire to personal liberty every single time if it means they don’t have to be held responsible for their terrible policy decisions. That’s not leadership, it’s cowardice.