Wastewater analysis this week looks encouraging, but did not look good last week. I think we have to wait another week to detect a real trend. This said, Massachusetts is clearly one of the states that has not seen, nor will see, a dramatic spike in hospitalizations. There’s been a gradual increase, which may be enhanced in September by the return of school (therefore more transmissions within households). But, the high vaccination rate plus the beginning of a booster campaign should prevent an escalation that gets out of hand.
Ongoing theme throughout pandemic, too much emphasis on masks and too little on distancing and crowd limits. I was struck by the signage in Britain promoting masks, but also distancing. In fact, there were more signs on distancing than masks (including implicit messages on distancing when seats were marked off in restaurants and at the airport). We do not see that here in the U.S. I’m surprised, because there’s better evidence on distancing as a preventive than masks. https://twitter.com/bbchealth/status/1431240176077090820
Good point Joshua. Last year it was all about “social distancing” as well as masks. Now it’s all about the masks only. I don’t believe Dr. Fauci himself has even mentioned distancing this year at all. The supermarkets and most other businesses have taken up those distancing “marks” from their floors.
Come to think of it though, has the CDC decided that social distancing really doesn’t matter as much after all? It seems every week there is something new to discover about this virus.
With regard to today’s Boston indoor mask mandate, I find it interesting that “houses of worship” are exempt. I believe that regardless of the specific religion, they are public places as well, so membership is not necessarily required.
Not to mention that they can hold very large numbers of people at any given time. Even on just a typical Sunday service could easily have 100+ worshipers, not to mention huge weddings or funerals.
Any of these activities could just as easily become super spreaders.
I absolutely agree.
I think the mayor made a serious lapse in judgement
and she has lost my vote and my wife’s. That was a ludicrous decision!
The houses of worship exemption makes no sense. Public health is public health, wherever you happen to be. Come to think of it, what would Jesus think or say? I’m pretty sure he’d like to save as many lives as possible, with a minimal encroachment on people’s liberty.
Exactly. It will cost her.
There are churches near me doing all their services outside. They have been even though they’ve been allowed to do them inside. If you care about your parishioners and it’s still warm – why wouldn’t you do this?
My cpap journey thus far: last week sent a message to my pcp that I needed a new prescription so I could order one. Tuesday at 4:10pm I get a response from someone else that says “your cpap prescription is attached.” – there is no attachment. 4:13pm I inform them of this. No response and I’ve called, left messages, sent other messages online, etc. – it’s great.
Also about a month ago I mentioned coughing and wheezing, etc. – I got checked about a week and a half ago (another negative covid test) and am on a few meds (albuterol, benzonatate (look up the wikipedia for this – it sounds so scary) and some prednisone. Going in for chest xrays and being seen for something like this during a pandemic makes you skittish. Hopefully whatever ails me goes away fast. I don’t want to step foot in another docs office if I can help it during all of this.
Everything is frustrating me lately – But I can understand how much more burdened hospital systems are at the moment.
I am very sorry to hear that you’re going through this.
Best of luck. I hope you get more responses from your healthcare providers. That’s what they’re there for. Not good when they’re not responsive.
Arghhhhh so sorry. I have had a difficult time with allergies. I tend to this time of year as I get older. I’ve been really junky lately. My girls and both of their husbands have had a lot of trouble the past month or so.
My cocktail? mix is….
Albuterol for quick relief which is mostly what I use along with saline solution nasal spray. I’m always surprised how well that helps. Just being salt and water clears out phlegm and isn’t harmful …that is OTC
Cough pearls (benzo thing) have never seemed to help me but do help one daughter
I have a Flovent (steroid) inhaler which is not a use and forget but used regularly. It is fluticasone and is a corticosteroid. Gotta rinse after use. I don’t need it often but go thru spurts where I need it…late august and around the start of winter.
Flonase seems to work really well combined with the Flovent.
This works for me after a lot of trial and error but may not work for others. Always of course ask your pcp but you know that.
I’m surprised prednisone hasn’t kicked it out of you. Although it wasn’t working for my gout so dr switched yo methylprednisone. I know I murdered spelling of that but am too lazy to get up to look 😉
I sure hope you get some answers and improve.
Ohhhh I forgot. There are personal inhalers that you can use with a Vicks pad. And I swear by Vicks
Good Lord I sound like I’m a mess. This is really only a couple times a year when my asthma or whatever it is acts up.
Macs oncologist recommended this to him. They are great
Vicki, this can be peak season for some allergy sufferers. I noticed the golden rod, for example, in full bloom. Good luck and take care.
It sure is. And oddly as I didn’t have allergies or asthma when younger, I also have winter asthma …mostly around December. Although, I mentioned goldenrod to my son a few weeks ago and he said the believe now is that it isn’t goldenrod but is ragweed. Don’t hold me to that as I had not heard it
The studies from Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE are interesting. These are highly vaccinated countries, with meticulous record-keeping and a strong public health agency. The latest Qatar study confirms mRNA’s declining efficacy against infection, and also some loss of efficacy against severe disease. https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1431355127747674112/photo/2
Coronavirus has found its groove in Delta. It’s much more transmissible and it has breached the defenses established by vaccines (and it causes more reinfections). The fact that it leads to more severe disease doesn’t really help its cause (survival). But it does make things even more troublesome.
The reported deaths from states like Florida are suspect, to say the least. Here is a comparison with Texas and Massachusetts over the past two days:
TX reported 34,388 cases and 554 deaths.
MA reported 3,547 cases and 20 deaths,
FL reported 48,767 cases and 16 deaths (8/day)
Even considering the lag between cases and deaths, it is hard to believe that the people in FL are really that robust.
That seems crazy. And last I heard, they were not reporting accurately of their own Choice. Are they playing a game?
Florida reporting is not only flawed, it’s misleading. They’ve backlogged deaths, do data dumps periodically. Utter craziness. Worldometers and Johns Hopkins have been able to gather the correct data. Florida is losing at least 300 people a day this week.
Moreover, the news nationwide is grim. We still haven’t peaked. Close to it. But, Scott Gottlieb was so off base, first when he said there would only be “pockets” and “hotspots” of virus this summer. Then, 6 weeks ago he boldly asserted that the nation would be peaking within 2 weeks or so. Still, they invite him on to the shows, and he never admits he was wrong. Always flabbergasted by this. I like Scott. But, humility is a sign of strength, and glossing or over or just never saying you’re wrong is a sign of weakness and suggests a lack of credibility.
Cases are approaching 200,000; deaths already at 1,800, will approach 2,000 at some point next week. God awful. Shameful for a nation like ours to be this bad at public health. Our deaths are 15 fold Germany’s; 12 fold Canada’s; 5 fold France’s, etc … As I’ve said before the U.S. will wind up the worst wealthy country in terms of death rate. It’s already close to being number 1, and will surpass Belgium later this fall. More people have died from Covid–19 in America in 2021 (already!) than all of 2020. https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1431438126640103424
The country comparisons are for the Delta wave, not the entire pandemic.
C-19 for 8-28 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Thank you, TK.
Wastewater analysis this week looks encouraging, but did not look good last week. I think we have to wait another week to detect a real trend. This said, Massachusetts is clearly one of the states that has not seen, nor will see, a dramatic spike in hospitalizations. There’s been a gradual increase, which may be enhanced in September by the return of school (therefore more transmissions within households). But, the high vaccination rate plus the beginning of a booster campaign should prevent an escalation that gets out of hand.
Ongoing theme throughout pandemic, too much emphasis on masks and too little on distancing and crowd limits. I was struck by the signage in Britain promoting masks, but also distancing. In fact, there were more signs on distancing than masks (including implicit messages on distancing when seats were marked off in restaurants and at the airport). We do not see that here in the U.S. I’m surprised, because there’s better evidence on distancing as a preventive than masks. https://twitter.com/bbchealth/status/1431240176077090820
Good point Joshua. Last year it was all about “social distancing” as well as masks. Now it’s all about the masks only. I don’t believe Dr. Fauci himself has even mentioned distancing this year at all. The supermarkets and most other businesses have taken up those distancing “marks” from their floors.
Come to think of it though, has the CDC decided that social distancing really doesn’t matter as much after all? It seems every week there is something new to discover about this virus.
With regard to today’s Boston indoor mask mandate, I find it interesting that “houses of worship” are exempt. I believe that regardless of the specific religion, they are public places as well, so membership is not necessarily required.
Not to mention that they can hold very large numbers of people at any given time. Even on just a typical Sunday service could easily have 100+ worshipers, not to mention huge weddings or funerals.
Any of these activities could just as easily become super spreaders.
I absolutely agree.
I think the mayor made a serious lapse in judgement
and she has lost my vote and my wife’s. That was a ludicrous decision!
The houses of worship exemption makes no sense. Public health is public health, wherever you happen to be. Come to think of it, what would Jesus think or say? I’m pretty sure he’d like to save as many lives as possible, with a minimal encroachment on people’s liberty.
Exactly. It will cost her.
There are churches near me doing all their services outside. They have been even though they’ve been allowed to do them inside. If you care about your parishioners and it’s still warm – why wouldn’t you do this?
My cpap journey thus far: last week sent a message to my pcp that I needed a new prescription so I could order one. Tuesday at 4:10pm I get a response from someone else that says “your cpap prescription is attached.” – there is no attachment. 4:13pm I inform them of this. No response and I’ve called, left messages, sent other messages online, etc. – it’s great.
Also about a month ago I mentioned coughing and wheezing, etc. – I got checked about a week and a half ago (another negative covid test) and am on a few meds (albuterol, benzonatate (look up the wikipedia for this – it sounds so scary) and some prednisone. Going in for chest xrays and being seen for something like this during a pandemic makes you skittish. Hopefully whatever ails me goes away fast. I don’t want to step foot in another docs office if I can help it during all of this.
Everything is frustrating me lately – But I can understand how much more burdened hospital systems are at the moment.
I am very sorry to hear that you’re going through this.
Best of luck. I hope you get more responses from your healthcare providers. That’s what they’re there for. Not good when they’re not responsive.
Arghhhhh so sorry. I have had a difficult time with allergies. I tend to this time of year as I get older. I’ve been really junky lately. My girls and both of their husbands have had a lot of trouble the past month or so.
My cocktail? mix is….
Albuterol for quick relief which is mostly what I use along with saline solution nasal spray. I’m always surprised how well that helps. Just being salt and water clears out phlegm and isn’t harmful …that is OTC
Cough pearls (benzo thing) have never seemed to help me but do help one daughter
I have a Flovent (steroid) inhaler which is not a use and forget but used regularly. It is fluticasone and is a corticosteroid. Gotta rinse after use. I don’t need it often but go thru spurts where I need it…late august and around the start of winter.
Flonase seems to work really well combined with the Flovent.
This works for me after a lot of trial and error but may not work for others. Always of course ask your pcp but you know that.
I’m surprised prednisone hasn’t kicked it out of you. Although it wasn’t working for my gout so dr switched yo methylprednisone. I know I murdered spelling of that but am too lazy to get up to look 😉
I sure hope you get some answers and improve.
Ohhhh I forgot. There are personal inhalers that you can use with a Vicks pad. And I swear by Vicks
Good Lord I sound like I’m a mess. This is really only a couple times a year when my asthma or whatever it is acts up.
Macs oncologist recommended this to him. They are great
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000TN7MY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_SFBP4RPP1XPC23DENS71?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Sorry. Hope I’m not being a PITA
Vicki, this can be peak season for some allergy sufferers. I noticed the golden rod, for example, in full bloom. Good luck and take care.
It sure is. And oddly as I didn’t have allergies or asthma when younger, I also have winter asthma …mostly around December. Although, I mentioned goldenrod to my son a few weeks ago and he said the believe now is that it isn’t goldenrod but is ragweed. Don’t hold me to that as I had not heard it
The studies from Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE are interesting. These are highly vaccinated countries, with meticulous record-keeping and a strong public health agency. The latest Qatar study confirms mRNA’s declining efficacy against infection, and also some loss of efficacy against severe disease. https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1431355127747674112/photo/2
Something I suspected several months ago, but needed to be confirmed with data. The Delta variant causes more severe disease, and in a younger cohort of patients. https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1431383569574744064/photo/1
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/25/pediatric-covid-hospitalizations-surge-to-highest-on-record-in-us-as-doctors-brace-for-more.html
Coronavirus has found its groove in Delta. It’s much more transmissible and it has breached the defenses established by vaccines (and it causes more reinfections). The fact that it leads to more severe disease doesn’t really help its cause (survival). But it does make things even more troublesome.
The reported deaths from states like Florida are suspect, to say the least. Here is a comparison with Texas and Massachusetts over the past two days:
TX reported 34,388 cases and 554 deaths.
MA reported 3,547 cases and 20 deaths,
FL reported 48,767 cases and 16 deaths (8/day)
Even considering the lag between cases and deaths, it is hard to believe that the people in FL are really that robust.
That seems crazy. And last I heard, they were not reporting accurately of their own Choice. Are they playing a game?
Florida reporting is not only flawed, it’s misleading. They’ve backlogged deaths, do data dumps periodically. Utter craziness. Worldometers and Johns Hopkins have been able to gather the correct data. Florida is losing at least 300 people a day this week.
Moreover, the news nationwide is grim. We still haven’t peaked. Close to it. But, Scott Gottlieb was so off base, first when he said there would only be “pockets” and “hotspots” of virus this summer. Then, 6 weeks ago he boldly asserted that the nation would be peaking within 2 weeks or so. Still, they invite him on to the shows, and he never admits he was wrong. Always flabbergasted by this. I like Scott. But, humility is a sign of strength, and glossing or over or just never saying you’re wrong is a sign of weakness and suggests a lack of credibility.
Cases are approaching 200,000; deaths already at 1,800, will approach 2,000 at some point next week. God awful. Shameful for a nation like ours to be this bad at public health. Our deaths are 15 fold Germany’s; 12 fold Canada’s; 5 fold France’s, etc … As I’ve said before the U.S. will wind up the worst wealthy country in terms of death rate. It’s already close to being number 1, and will surpass Belgium later this fall. More people have died from Covid–19 in America in 2021 (already!) than all of 2020. https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1431438126640103424
The country comparisons are for the Delta wave, not the entire pandemic.
C-19 for 8-28 is ready.