Numbers for the last five in-school days are better. 28,151 students and 4,758 staff. Total of 32,909. 6,582 per day. Nearly twice as much as last years total but still. Just think what we could have saved has we closed for the two weeks after Christmas break that totaled 99,514 combined. Irresponsibility abounds.
Major cities came in high. Worcester 1,042/162, Boston 984/289, Springfield 786/89, Lowell 526/59.
Natick was the only non big city whose numbers went through the roof at 400/46. It had the fifth highest numbers
I see why your daughter was concerned JPD…not that I didn’t already know. Midfield was 78/10. How is she feeling today? I assume she is home.
She was at Home yesterday, but by days end she was feeling better. She was to test this morning and if negative and she feels ok was to go to school.
Thank you.
Very good news. I would like to say that I’m glad she can have a day off but know it must have been a day of more tension.
I do hope the rumors I heard that teachers are required to use sick days is not accurate.
Not at her school.
Good. I suspected it might have been just a rumor.
JPD, even though your daughter hasn’t been feeling well, has she been able to avoid actual “Covid” so far?
You absolutely cannot avoid covid in schools. Shame on us.
Such a difficult time for parents of younger children.
I heard on the news this morning that Somerville will not require vaccine passports in indoor facilities. Somewhat surprising to me considering it is a very Democratic/Liberal city much like Boston, Brookline etc.
Vicki, I concur with everything that was said in that post you sent on antigen tests. Lots of false negatives early on with Omicron, especially if only using nasal detection (instead of both nasal and throat).
Another sad story of an unvaccinated man (from Massachusetts) who died unnecessarily. See link below. While I understand apprehension regarding vaccines, I do not understand an ignorant comment like “I don’t trust vaccines.” Begs the question, what does a person trust? Vaccines for many different diseases have saved countless lives. Without them the world would be a much, much less healthy place. And the strange thing is that many who don’t trust vaccines do trust treatments, often treatments without proven benefit or with less data to support efficacy and safety. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/01/20/massachusetts-man-dies-covid-hospital-bed/6589953001/
Thank you, Joshua.
The story is painfully sad. I had Questions as I read the story that are moot since the man is tragically no longer with us. But I can’t help but wonder how much we have added to the horrific overcrowding of hospitals.
These people who don’t “trust” the vaccine, yet probably inserting all kinds of chemicals daily into their bodies such as over-the-counter pills (w/o medical approval) preservatives, fats, sodium, artificial sweeteners, etc. without a second thought.
Sad indeed.
Health Canada has authorized Paxlovid, a pill by Pfizer for adult patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 who are also at high risk of becoming more seriously ill.
I give up …
Round-up of today’s news.
Net hospitalizations continue to increase nationwide. Now at 158k. Probably peaking this weekend. Yet, I am seeing so much talk about this now being an “endemic” phase. It’s really mind-boggling, especially when the deaths were 2,700 two days ago, 3,400 yesterday, and who knows about today.
Congress has a bill on the docket – HR 5816 – that would ban federal, state & local governments from requiring employees to take ANY vaccination. The bill won’t pass, but shows how hostile many in Congress are to public health. It also shows how deeply troubled our nation is. I think we now revere death and misery. As the front man for Meatloaf said about vaccines “If I die, I die.” Well, he did die. And, I think a lot of folks are weirdly proud of that stance. He died a “free” man. Good lord.
Joshua, your post literally brings me to tears. The mother in law of a friend in CT has Covid for the second time. They didn’t expect her to survive the first time. If I recall, CT is the state asking nursing homes to take in covid patients.
Another friend has a relative who was exposed to covid in the operating room.
The Boston globe headline keep reading things like …we have peaked or covid number decline as we beat the virus. Paraphrasing since I can hardly read through the fury I feel
The mess with schools and leaders actually defending it disgusts me.
And the push back for Biden to do anything from the most repulsive folks imaginable in DC goes on no matter what
JPD is right. I love my country but at the moment I don’t have an ounce of pride in it
Just read about Massachusetts case, hospitalization, and deaths reported today, and the article made it seem like we’re doing fine. 102 deaths reported today, in a state our size. That’s horrifically bad. Cases have been decreasing, but we still had well over 13k today. Also, hospitalizations are declining, but 3,100 remain in the hospital with 475 in ICU. We have a lot more death and misery to go through. Coming down from the mountain top is obviously better than climbing up. But, these articles make it seem like this is all normal. It isn’t. The U.S. is unique, especially in its normalization of death and our stagnant and diminishing life expectancy. There isn’t anything normal about U.S. public health, or the fact that very few care about it. I’ve studied these issues for 23 years. Just to give you a non-Covid-19 example, we normalized and normalize deaths in the opioid crisis. Sure, it’s reported. Sometimes firms get fined, or doctors go to jail. But, very little gets done about it. We don’t even convene national conferences on it, at least not in which the President and the Governors are involved. It’s more or less accepted in the U.S. that we “live with [a gross amount of licit and illicit] opioids” and 100,000 deaths a year. No other country I know – and I’ve examined many – accepts this to the degree we do and it’s not even close.
So very sad.
We also normalize or excuse school deaths from shootings.
7-day average Covid deaths in U.S. has risen above 2,000. It is now 2,107.
U.S. reported 3,707 new coronavirus deaths today, the highest number since February 2021. In all likelihood January 2022 will be in the top 5 months in terms of deaths since March 2020. Only April 2020, December 2020, January 2021, and February 2021 will have been worse. In terms of death rate the U.S. now stands head and shoulders above every other wealthy industrlalized nation, and the gap widens every darn day. This is abject policy failure on the part of two Administrations and 50 Governors.
It’s now clear BA.2 – Omicron sub-variant – is driving a resurgence of the virus in Denmark and France, where sequencing is systematic. The UK has declared BA.2 a “variant under investigation.” My guess is other countries are also seeing a rebound due to BA.2.
The good news is that so far there is NO evidence that BA.2 is more transmissible or more severe. I doubt it is. However, reinfection, even after recovering from BA.1 (original Omicron) can and does happen, according to Danish scientists. Unfortunately, this may extend the epidemic in Europe and soon the U.S. So, despite cases being in decline now in Massachusetts, once BA.2 is here (it hasn’t been sequenced yet in MA), cases may rebound as they are in Europe.
We will indeed have to learn to live (and for some occasionally get very sick or die) with the virus.
Thanks Joshua. I was wondering where BA1 was. I hear you, but…
How do we live with one million kids testing positive in a week. Or how do we live with something that doesn’t resurface once a year in fall but resurfaces multiple times every year.
C-19 for 1-22 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Thanks TK.
Very interesting. Joshua, would be interested in your thoughts if time permits. Thank you
https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/antigen-tests-real-world-data?r=9noo7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&fbclid=IwAR18ZoFD99GRRwOD5GXOl1DitStOWEh1DkuSXGeYNknkcwBtz4WAkXv3dyc
Numbers for the last five in-school days are better. 28,151 students and 4,758 staff. Total of 32,909. 6,582 per day. Nearly twice as much as last years total but still. Just think what we could have saved has we closed for the two weeks after Christmas break that totaled 99,514 combined. Irresponsibility abounds.
Major cities came in high. Worcester 1,042/162, Boston 984/289, Springfield 786/89, Lowell 526/59.
Natick was the only non big city whose numbers went through the roof at 400/46. It had the fifth highest numbers
I see why your daughter was concerned JPD…not that I didn’t already know. Midfield was 78/10. How is she feeling today? I assume she is home.
She was at Home yesterday, but by days end she was feeling better. She was to test this morning and if negative and she feels ok was to go to school.
Thank you.
Very good news. I would like to say that I’m glad she can have a day off but know it must have been a day of more tension.
I do hope the rumors I heard that teachers are required to use sick days is not accurate.
Not at her school.
Good. I suspected it might have been just a rumor.
JPD, even though your daughter hasn’t been feeling well, has she been able to avoid actual “Covid” so far?
You absolutely cannot avoid covid in schools. Shame on us.
Such a difficult time for parents of younger children.
https://www.npr.org/2022/01/20/1074182352/unvaccinated-young-kids-child-care-parents-omicron-disruptions
I heard on the news this morning that Somerville will not require vaccine passports in indoor facilities. Somewhat surprising to me considering it is a very Democratic/Liberal city much like Boston, Brookline etc.
Vicki, I concur with everything that was said in that post you sent on antigen tests. Lots of false negatives early on with Omicron, especially if only using nasal detection (instead of both nasal and throat).
Another sad story of an unvaccinated man (from Massachusetts) who died unnecessarily. See link below. While I understand apprehension regarding vaccines, I do not understand an ignorant comment like “I don’t trust vaccines.” Begs the question, what does a person trust? Vaccines for many different diseases have saved countless lives. Without them the world would be a much, much less healthy place. And the strange thing is that many who don’t trust vaccines do trust treatments, often treatments without proven benefit or with less data to support efficacy and safety. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/01/20/massachusetts-man-dies-covid-hospital-bed/6589953001/
Thank you, Joshua.
The story is painfully sad. I had Questions as I read the story that are moot since the man is tragically no longer with us. But I can’t help but wonder how much we have added to the horrific overcrowding of hospitals.
These people who don’t “trust” the vaccine, yet probably inserting all kinds of chemicals daily into their bodies such as over-the-counter pills (w/o medical approval) preservatives, fats, sodium, artificial sweeteners, etc. without a second thought.
Sad indeed.
Health Canada has authorized Paxlovid, a pill by Pfizer for adult patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 who are also at high risk of becoming more seriously ill.
I give up …
Round-up of today’s news.
Net hospitalizations continue to increase nationwide. Now at 158k. Probably peaking this weekend. Yet, I am seeing so much talk about this now being an “endemic” phase. It’s really mind-boggling, especially when the deaths were 2,700 two days ago, 3,400 yesterday, and who knows about today.
On Paxlovid – which Philip mentions above – its availability is so bad that it’s hardly making a dent. It’s a good drug, but very hard to get. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/business/covid-pill-treatment-pfizer.html
States still pushing ineffective antibodies. https://khn.org/news/article/states-use-monoclonal-antibody-covid-treatment-ineffective-against-omicron/
Nursing home debacle. If we can’t protect the most vulnerable then we must ask ourselves what kind of society we are.
https://twitter.com/KFF/status/1484524436439117826
Congress has a bill on the docket – HR 5816 – that would ban federal, state & local governments from requiring employees to take ANY vaccination. The bill won’t pass, but shows how hostile many in Congress are to public health. It also shows how deeply troubled our nation is. I think we now revere death and misery. As the front man for Meatloaf said about vaccines “If I die, I die.” Well, he did die. And, I think a lot of folks are weirdly proud of that stance. He died a “free” man. Good lord.
Joshua, your post literally brings me to tears. The mother in law of a friend in CT has Covid for the second time. They didn’t expect her to survive the first time. If I recall, CT is the state asking nursing homes to take in covid patients.
Another friend has a relative who was exposed to covid in the operating room.
The Boston globe headline keep reading things like …we have peaked or covid number decline as we beat the virus. Paraphrasing since I can hardly read through the fury I feel
The mess with schools and leaders actually defending it disgusts me.
And the push back for Biden to do anything from the most repulsive folks imaginable in DC goes on no matter what
JPD is right. I love my country but at the moment I don’t have an ounce of pride in it
Just read about Massachusetts case, hospitalization, and deaths reported today, and the article made it seem like we’re doing fine. 102 deaths reported today, in a state our size. That’s horrifically bad. Cases have been decreasing, but we still had well over 13k today. Also, hospitalizations are declining, but 3,100 remain in the hospital with 475 in ICU. We have a lot more death and misery to go through. Coming down from the mountain top is obviously better than climbing up. But, these articles make it seem like this is all normal. It isn’t. The U.S. is unique, especially in its normalization of death and our stagnant and diminishing life expectancy. There isn’t anything normal about U.S. public health, or the fact that very few care about it. I’ve studied these issues for 23 years. Just to give you a non-Covid-19 example, we normalized and normalize deaths in the opioid crisis. Sure, it’s reported. Sometimes firms get fined, or doctors go to jail. But, very little gets done about it. We don’t even convene national conferences on it, at least not in which the President and the Governors are involved. It’s more or less accepted in the U.S. that we “live with [a gross amount of licit and illicit] opioids” and 100,000 deaths a year. No other country I know – and I’ve examined many – accepts this to the degree we do and it’s not even close.
So very sad.
We also normalize or excuse school deaths from shootings.
Big sighhhh
https://twitter.com/ahlgren_lab/status/1484668062938943492?s=21
One million kids in the last week.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/590695-nearly-1-million-child-covid-19-infections-reported-in-past-week
Absolutely horrific AFAIC.
Yes 🙁
7-day average Covid deaths in U.S. has risen above 2,000. It is now 2,107.
U.S. reported 3,707 new coronavirus deaths today, the highest number since February 2021. In all likelihood January 2022 will be in the top 5 months in terms of deaths since March 2020. Only April 2020, December 2020, January 2021, and February 2021 will have been worse. In terms of death rate the U.S. now stands head and shoulders above every other wealthy industrlalized nation, and the gap widens every darn day. This is abject policy failure on the part of two Administrations and 50 Governors.
I thought Hawaii had done fairly well
https://twitter.com/erictopol/status/1484687989716316161?s=21
It’s now clear BA.2 – Omicron sub-variant – is driving a resurgence of the virus in Denmark and France, where sequencing is systematic. The UK has declared BA.2 a “variant under investigation.” My guess is other countries are also seeing a rebound due to BA.2.
The good news is that so far there is NO evidence that BA.2 is more transmissible or more severe. I doubt it is. However, reinfection, even after recovering from BA.1 (original Omicron) can and does happen, according to Danish scientists. Unfortunately, this may extend the epidemic in Europe and soon the U.S. So, despite cases being in decline now in Massachusetts, once BA.2 is here (it hasn’t been sequenced yet in MA), cases may rebound as they are in Europe.
We will indeed have to learn to live (and for some occasionally get very sick or die) with the virus.
Thanks Joshua. I was wondering where BA1 was. I hear you, but…
How do we live with one million kids testing positive in a week. Or how do we live with something that doesn’t resurface once a year in fall but resurfaces multiple times every year.
C-19 for 1-22 is ready.