France has announced a new COVID variant, except it’s not all that new. The variant, dubbed “IHU,” actually predates Omicron.

IHU originated in Cameroon in mid-November, doctors speculate, when the infected person brought it back home with him to France. Twelve people have caught this variant so far. IHU has 46 different mutations in its spike protein, making it more difficult for vaccines to be effective against and heightening the level of contagiousness. This was the conclusion of one study, though it has not yet been peer-reviewed.

We are only just now hearing about IHU probably because the media, along with politicians, have a vested interest for the pandemic panic to continue. The thing is, though, COVID and each successive variant seem to be getting more mild but also easier to spread. When a virus does that, it becomes endemic.

Americans have had enough of the fearmongering media, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s shifting goalposts, unclear messaging from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and politicians making each step regarding COVID prevention a power grab.

The media have fanned the flames of pandemic fear by refusing to be actual reporters. Instead, they have acted like the propaganda arm of the radical Left, repeating the approved talking points over and over to the public and consistently ignoring the science. Social media also colluded in this echo chamber by censoring anyone who did not toe the line of approved messaging on COVID.

Dr. Fauci has lied to the American people over and over again. First he told us not to wear masks. Then he told us to wear masks — two of them, even. Then he told us that if we got the COVID vaccine we would go back to normal. Now to be considered “fully vaccinated,” you’ll soon need to have the original vaccine plus a booster shot. It’s almost like he wants to see what else he can make the guinea pigs do.

The CDC has now updated its isolation policies for those who have come in direct contact with an infected person. Quarantine has dropped from 10 days to five. The CDC also encourages asymptomatic people not to bother with a test. This is partially because there is a shortage of tests right now and partially because the tests may not even be accurate after day five.

Leftist politicians have been the absolute worst though when if comes to COVID fearmongering. Many of them whose locked-down states require what are effectively vaccine passports and other such dictatorial things flout their own rules and escape to Florida for vacation. Clearly, they aren’t really worried about the virus; they just need you to be worried about the virus.

Within the past few weeks, our hallowed institutions have started to walk back their anti-science authoritarian rhetoric. The change in the leftists’ tune was all at once and all of a sudden. As Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review noted: “Just like that, President Biden has moved out of his sickly savior mode and admitted that the federal government can’t do much to help after all. Just like that, the teachers’ unions have begun to take hits for their duplicity and their cynicism. Just like that, the efficacy of cloth masks and the workability of the zero-risk approach are being questioned, and some of our most influential voices are acknowledging that there might perhaps be some downsides to shutting down the world. Just like that, we’re hearing talk of previously downplayed concepts such as ‘endemicity,’ ‘seasonality,’ ‘risk tolerance,’ and — heaven forfend! — humility.”

They have finally realized what some of us have long suspected. This virus is something that will always be with us, not unlike the common cold or influenza. It will become part of our risk calculation (if it hasn’t already) of spending time with friends, family, or being at work and school. The pandemic is over. It’s time to start living our lives.