the no-nonsense, nothing-but-the-facts-m'am C19 thread

[jeremyp]

We are approaching, and some sites say we have passed, the 1 million death mark in the U.S. The true count is considerably higher. Somber statistic.

[bad hammy]

The written word is sometimes hard to interpret. I can't tell if this is sarcasm or actual celebration of living in a "nanny " state.

Some of both. I used the term to own it because some folks use it as a pejorative, and believe me, I much prefer living in a state where the folks in charge usually try to keep their population alive as opposed to one of the many fuck-you states where the aholes in charge seem to do whatever they can to kill the population off . . .

[scottmitchell74]

Here in Oregon, thankfully one of the nanny states, the politicians read the election tea-leaves and dropped most mask mandates this week (medical & public trans still on). My initial subsequent trip to the grocer was a bit of a surprise in that most customers were still masked but most of the employees were not. Seems like folks working with the general public would be more cautious than the folks they are serving but my small sample says no.

The written word is sometimes hard to interpret. I can't tell if this is sarcasm or actual celebration of living in a "nanny " state.

[18.99s]

Here in Oregon, thankfully one of the nanny states, the politicians read the election tea-leaves and dropped most mask mandates this week (medical & public trans still on). My initial subsequent trip to the grocer was a bit of a surprise in that most customers were still masked but most of the employees were not. Seems like folks working with the general public would be more cautious than the folks they are serving but my small sample says no.

There might be some peer pressure, whether explicit or implicit, at some workplaces to stop wearing a mask when most other people there aren't wearing one. People don't want their co-workers and supervisors to view them as the odd one out who is still wearing a mask. But customers have no such accountability or pressure from other customers or employees.

Also, customers are only wearing the mask for the few minutes when they're in the store, not several hours a day like the employees.

[bad hammy]

Here in Oregon, thankfully one of the nanny states, the politicians read the election tea-leaves and dropped most mask mandates this week (medical & public trans still on). My initial subsequent trip to the grocer was a bit of a surprise in that most customers were still masked but most of the employees were not. Seems like folks working with the general public would be more cautious than the folks they are serving but my small sample says no.

[jeremyp]

Here we go again?

"In the past couple of weeks, the UK and several countries in Europe, including Germany, France and Switzerland, are experiencing a new wave. At least 12 countries, geographically extending from Finland to Greece, are experiencing new increases in cases, some quite marked, such as Austria exceeding its pandemic peak, and Finland with an 85% increase from the prior week. Many of these countries are also showing a rise in hospital admissions.

Indications within the United States support the idea that new wave is already getting started. Wastewater surveillance is relatively sparse in the United States, but 15% of the 410 sites where it was conducted between 24 February to 10 March 2022 showed a greater than 1000% increase compared with the prior 15-day period. Also, the BA.2 variant is gaining steam in the United States and is now accounting for more than 30% of new cases.

As with the first five warnings from the UK and Europe, the United States did not take heed. Instead of proactively gearing up with non-pharmaceutical interventions (masks, quality of masks, distancing, air filtration, ventilation, aggressive testing, etc.), it just reacted to the surges when they were manifest. Now we are at a point with very low vaccination and booster rates, only 64% of the populations has had two shots, and 29% three shots. That puts the United States at 65th and 70th in the world ranking of countries, respectively.

Indeed, the people who need protection the most, besides those who are immunocompromised, are the 65-plus group. The US has a booster rate of 65% in this age group, whereas the UK and many European and Asian countries exceed a 90% booster rate for people 65 and over.

This is a critical issue, because there is a substantial dropdown of protection, from 90-95% with a third shot to 75-80% without a booster, versus Omicron hospitalization and death.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/16/once-again-america-is-in-denial-about-signs-of-a-fresh-covid-wave

[jeremyp]

Meanwhile in South Korea: Keep in mind they have 51 million people to our 330 mill.

"According to Our World in Data, the number of cases in the country has increased 104 percent over the past two weeks, logging an average of more than 300,000 new cases a day as well as about 200 new deaths daily over the past week. With the United States averaging roughly 34,000 new known cases a day as of Saturday, according to a New York Times database, South Korea is now reporting 10 times as many cases a day, although new U.S. deaths remain much higher, at about 1,300 daily. About 86 percent of South Korea’s population is fully vaccinated."

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03...ntial-election

[Halfmiler2]

The real number of deaths in China alone might triple the number.

[TN1965]

Global pandemic death toll is three times higher than reported Covid-19 deaths suggest, study finds

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/10/health/covid-pandemic-excess-mortality/index.html

Researchers estimate in a new study that from the start of 2020 through the end of 2021, there have been at least 18 million more deaths than they would typically expect over the course of two years. But official reports through the end of 2021 show that less than 6 million people had died directly because of Covid-19, according to the study.

[El Toro]

I'm not sure if this belongs here because we don't know if it's anti-vax or COVID disruption caused. Anyway, whatever the cause, we do know that COVID has disrupted many other disease control initiatives around the world, so we should expect more of this in the future.

A four-year-old Israeli child from Jerusalem tested positive for polio after it was revealed he was not vaccinated against the life-threatening disease, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-700510

[Halfmiler2]

Last year in March at the anniversary of pandemic in the USA, we shifted from daily reports of the COVID stats to weekly reports. Now that in NJ, the pandemic has officially shifted to an endemic, we are shifting to monthly reports. Our next one will be for the end of March. Of course, if numbers stop being reported, we will stop,

[Halfmiler2]

NJ Governor Murphy finally called off the emergency just shy of two years.

[Tuariki]

Let's hope you won't have to go in.

Me too. I live over the mountains in the Wairarapa on our little farmlet on the slopes of the Tararua mountains. Our local hospital is in Masterton - a small regional hospital. People this side of the mountains only end up in Wellington Hospital if they are deep in the crap.

[jeremyp]

I regularly drive past Wellington Hospital as Wellington’s TnF stadium is just 600 metres past the hospital.

Let's hope you won't have to go in.

[jeremyp]

I am sure this will not be considered definitive evidence by too many.

"Scientists released a pair of extensive studies over the weekend that point to a large food and live animal market in Wuhan, China, as the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.

Analyzing a wide range of data, including virus genes, maps of market stalls and the social media activity of early Covid-19 patients across Wuhan, the scientists concluded that the coronavirus was very likely present in live mammals sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in late 2019 and suggested that the virus spilled over into people working or shopping there on two separate occasions."

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/26/science/covid-virus-wuhan-origins.html