President Joe Biden’s White House faces a dilemma rooted in increasing evidence that Omicron causes more mild disease than previous variants yet is so contagious that it has the power to cause massive shutdowns in the fundamental mechanics of daily life — by swamping hospitals and closing down shops, schools and transportation. Omicron, it appears, is so virulent that there is simply no way the protocols brought in to fight previous variants can remain in place and allow the country to function in any meaningful way.
Blizzards of new public health guidance on how long people should isolate after positive tests and when they should get tested risk further confusing a public that has already seen reversals and changes in such information — a downside of the battle against a pathogen that always seems one step ahead of efforts to combat it.
But the evolving administration approach is…
