It’s bad enough when public health authorities encourage doctors and scientists to shape their messages to manipulate the public, but it’s somehow worse when they’re suppressing good news.  That’s what South African Doctor Angelique Coetzee reports having experienced as part of the team that identified Omicron:

Speaking to Germany’s Welt newspaper, Dr. Angelique Coetzee, who is currently the head of the South African Medical Association, said that during discussions with European officials, she was told not to say that Omicron patients presented milder symptoms than prior COVID-19 variants.

“I was told not to publicly state that it was a mild illness. I have been asked to refrain from making such statements and to say that it is a serious illness. I declined,” she told Welt in response to a question about her initial discussions about Omicron with European officials.

Unfortunately, the odds are good that we’ll all regret that the public health establishment threw away its credibility and lost trust.  Or maybe the skepticism will turn out to save humanity.