Picardo is not a scientist. He is a politician. What do politicians do? And who do they work for? And what do they want to do?
In the Chronicle article, Picardo brings up some of the variants, but does he really know what he's talking about or regurgitating what he's been told?
The Shaky Science Behind the “Deadly New Strains” of Sars-Cov-2
Public-health officials, politicians and the mainstream media around the world turned their collective headlights on the variants right after the publication of three theoretical-modeling papers on B.1.1.7, a variant originating in the U.K. None of the three papers was checked over for accuracy by objective observers – a process called ‘peer review.’ Nonetheless, all three were portrayed as solid science by many scientists, politicians, public-health officials and the press.
That the pronouncements about the dire danger posed by the new variants aren’t based on solid science.
They appear to be aimed more at scaring the public into submitting to harsher and longer restrictions than helping to create truly evidence-based policies.
COVID-19 has Mutated, But Questions Arise Over Real Hazards of New Strain
Of course there's another question for Picardo -
So far the CDC, PHE and Ireland's HSE haven't isolated it: