Omicron is coming. It’s time for North Carolina to toughen up on COVID.

The holidays are here, and the typically cheery atmosphere is tinged with something else: deja vu.

COVID-19 is, once again, exploding ahead of the holidays. Case numbers have been steadily increasing since Thanksgiving, and with a more infectious and more vaccine-resistant variant on the horizon, experts say we can expect to hunker down for another tough COVID winter. One study estimates that North Carolina could see a record number of hospitalizations in the first few months of the new year.

“This is not a moment to throw our arms up in the air,” outgoing N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said at a news briefing Monday. “It is a time to act.”

If North Carolina can’t contain the spread, hospitals could become overwhelmed with COVID patients — jeopardizing care for everyone. But the hope that we once had has seemingly dimmed, and as we enter our third pandemic year, patience is wearing thin. How will a weary state meet the challenge?

It’s been clear for a while now that simply encouraging people to get vaccinated isn’t working — or at least not working quickly enough. Roughly one year after the first COVID vaccines were administered in the state, only 58% of North Carolinians are fully vaccinated. Even fewer have received their booster shot, which experts say is the best way to protect against the omicron variant.

At the same time, North Carolina currently has little to no statewide restrictions in place to prevent the spread of the virus. The state highly recommends — but does not require — mask-wearing in schools and public places. Cities that do have mask mandates don’t really enforce them, and many folks have slowly stopped complying. Meanwhile, a growing number of school districts have made masks optional again even as cases tick upward.

“People are sick of wearing masks. And they’re angry,” Raleigh Mayor Mary Ann Baldwin told the Editorial Board last week.

Now is as good a time as any for North Carolina to ratchet up its pandemic response. But state officials are simply emphasizing their usual “get boosted, get tested” message and encouraging the use of medical-grade masks, such as surgical masks and KN95s.

The best way for North Carolina to respond to the growing threat of the omicron variant is by incentivizing people to protect themselves and others — and providing them with the tools they need to do so. The CDC, for example, recommends the use of at-home tests before indoor holiday gatherings, but they’re fairly hard to find and cost-prohibitive for many people. And a pack of legitimate KN95s from a trusted retailer can cost a pretty penny, assuming you’re able to track them down.

If measures like at-home testing and medical-grade masks are part of the recommended solution, it must be easier for people to access them. The Biden administration plans to make 500 million at-home COVID tests available for free to any U.S. household that requests one. And while a handful of U.S. cities and states have begun distributing free at-home rapid tests and medical-grade masks to their residents, North Carolina is not yet one of them, though residents can obtain a free at-home PCR test from NC DHHS.

Getting ahead of the omicron variant might also require North Carolina to do what it has been reluctant to do in the past: toughen up on vaccine mandates. Many of the state’s public and private employees are not required to be vaccinated or tested weekly, and President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for large employers has had an uncertain start in court. Nor have any of North Carolina’s major cities moved to require proof of vaccination for indoor activities, such as dining, entertainment and fitness, as others have done.

Of course, any government intervention is wildly unpopular, especially in a purplish (but largely Republican-controlled) state like North Carolina. But erring on the side of personal freedom isn’t keeping us safer. It might be time for a new approach.