This doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll get hit as badly. Canada had more stringent precautions in the fall and early winter than we did, and so it didn’t have as large a BA.1 wave. Still, it did have a major BA.1 surge. So, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Unlike Canada, the UK’s mitigation policies have been the same as the US for quite some time. The UK had a massive BA.1 surge. Yet, it’s also experiencing a bad BA.2 wave. And, we’re clearly not, at least not yet.
Joshua, what are your thoughts about shutting down Shanghai? Seems cruel to separate children and parents. Is that really medically necessary?
This is such a fun video from the masters…..for all golfers and non golfers
Philip, I’m not a fan of the kinds of lockdowns China has imposed. They can be effective at reducing spread. But, there are many negative harms associated with them. On balance, I think such strict lockdowns do more harm than good. If I had to pick a country that’s found the right balance it’s Canada. They’ve opted for lockdowns at times, but not of the strict kind China has. They’ve had an excellent record in terms of Covid indicators, compared to the U.S. And, their economy hasn’t suffered much at all.
I agree. Although I know Chile was successful.
Yes, Chile was the best country in South America, I believe.
And had a complete lock down for quite a while
I am NOT a fan of conspiratorial thinking. In fact, I think it’s almost always a crock. But, I’m a little concerned that we are underreporting Covid in the U.S., and that there’s some kind of political `conspiracy’ behind it. This isn’t just a GOP thing. No, the Democratic Party has issued talking points saying that members must focus on the “victory over Covid” and that it’s “in our rear-view mirror.” I’m also hearing about and have seen several documents that suggest the CDC has apparently drastically changed the counting methodology for Covid patients, saying they must be on remdesivir or dexamethasone in order to be counted as Covid patients. That would be like only counting people with pneumonia who are on certain (very specific) treatments for pneumonia. That would lead to an undercount.
Why do I say this? Well, I’m hearing about many Covid cases in my circle of colleagues, and clusters are cropping up in the White House, among government officials, and on college campuses. All very recent, I might add. But still, we’re not seeing a rise in cases nationwide. Huh. Makes me wonder.
Please note, I did not think and do not think that this wave will be massive. And, after this BA.2 wave I expect smooth sailing through summer and most of the fall. Even then I don’t think next winter will be even close to as bad as it’s been.
But, the largely invisible BA.2 wave in the U.S. is perplexing.
Here’s what’s also weird. Average deaths – 7-day average – are down to 528 in the U.S. Good news, for sure. But, I would have expected that number to be much lower, given how low the official case count has been for weeks now. Something doesn’t add up.
Could part of the explanation be that more people with symptoms are self-testing, or not testing at all.
I have mentioned this in schools each week. I was remiss in not carrying it forth to the general public.
You are correct..it is exactly why we moved to not recording and reporting numbers ….in the general public and in schools….and why we moved to home tests.
If you saw my school positives…the least likely schools are reporting the highest numbers. A school admin of one of those districts believes it is because those districts are keeping track of home test positives. The number is still low, but closer to being accurate.
Joshua, it isn’t a conspiracy. It is simply fact and you are correct that it is left and right. Queue Biden’s home tests. I knew it at the time and mentioned it here.
Hospitals are one of the few barometers now.
Adding. My guess is some reported flu illnesses are actually covid. I know flu is out there. Ace has taught us that. But…..
Hospitalizations are a definite barometer. But, I just read on the Massachusetts dashboard that they’re only counting a hospitalization as Covid-related if the person is on dexamethasone. That’s a narrow way of counting.
This is really odd. Speaking of politicization of public health, which I wrote about and posted last weekend.
Dear heavens. Then waste water? I think Philip mentioned that a bit ago.
Your article was spot on. I had hoped the politicization …is that a word….would stop with Biden but it didn’t. He made up his mind on several thing before taking office….one was in person school. I always suspect his wife was instrumental in that.
What I do not get is now these people think they are fooling anyone. Bowing to anti maskers, etc. really isn’t much better than the bowing to trump for too many years for fear of what….losing office. Does anyone give a damn about people any more?
I’d say rant is over but I am sure it is not.
New Hampshire’s official tally of Covid patients is 4. Hospitals, on the other hand, report 36. And, if you include those who’ve been in hospital with Covid illness for more than 30 days (and are not counted officially any longer as Covid patients!) the number jumps to 87.
U.S. is cooking the books. Apparently it’s about an image the Dems want to project going into the mid-terms. Biden’s a better man than Trump. But in essence the policies have NOT changed. As The Who said “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
It’s why I can’t stand politicians. I think Democrats, Republicans, Independents, the whole lot are all a bunch of frauds. Sorry for the rant.
A rant is the least we can do. Biden is better than trump…a slug is better than trump. And Biden has done some really good things. And they are getting lost in the not really good things. And I won’t start on media. I’ve had it with all of it.
If slimy politics is what it takes to get elected, I’d say that the ship I keep mentioning has sunk.
C-19 for 4-7 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Thanks TK.
SHANGHAI SHUTDOWN – 25M kids and parents separated.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky has died of Covid-19 at the age of 75. He was an ultra-nationalist in Russia. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61008292?
Zhirinovsky was also a snollygoster.
I hope you get paid extra when you use a word like “snollygoster” in one of your published articles!
I had to “google” it. Never heard of that particular word.
From the Province of Ontario, the signals aren’t good: https://twitter.com/mustafahirji/status/1511740067936714765
This doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll get hit as badly. Canada had more stringent precautions in the fall and early winter than we did, and so it didn’t have as large a BA.1 wave. Still, it did have a major BA.1 surge. So, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Regions in the UK are getting hit hard, so badly that rationing of hospital beds is in order. https://twitter.com/andrewgregory/status/1511770226127425540
Unlike Canada, the UK’s mitigation policies have been the same as the US for quite some time. The UK had a massive BA.1 surge. Yet, it’s also experiencing a bad BA.2 wave. And, we’re clearly not, at least not yet.
Joshua, what are your thoughts about shutting down Shanghai? Seems cruel to separate children and parents. Is that really medically necessary?
This is such a fun video from the masters…..for all golfers and non golfers
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CcBWkmPqovi/?utm_medium=share_sheet
Oops. Wrong blog
Philip, I’m not a fan of the kinds of lockdowns China has imposed. They can be effective at reducing spread. But, there are many negative harms associated with them. On balance, I think such strict lockdowns do more harm than good. If I had to pick a country that’s found the right balance it’s Canada. They’ve opted for lockdowns at times, but not of the strict kind China has. They’ve had an excellent record in terms of Covid indicators, compared to the U.S. And, their economy hasn’t suffered much at all.
I agree. Although I know Chile was successful.
Yes, Chile was the best country in South America, I believe.
And had a complete lock down for quite a while
I am NOT a fan of conspiratorial thinking. In fact, I think it’s almost always a crock. But, I’m a little concerned that we are underreporting Covid in the U.S., and that there’s some kind of political `conspiracy’ behind it. This isn’t just a GOP thing. No, the Democratic Party has issued talking points saying that members must focus on the “victory over Covid” and that it’s “in our rear-view mirror.” I’m also hearing about and have seen several documents that suggest the CDC has apparently drastically changed the counting methodology for Covid patients, saying they must be on remdesivir or dexamethasone in order to be counted as Covid patients. That would be like only counting people with pneumonia who are on certain (very specific) treatments for pneumonia. That would lead to an undercount.
Why do I say this? Well, I’m hearing about many Covid cases in my circle of colleagues, and clusters are cropping up in the White House, among government officials, and on college campuses. All very recent, I might add. But still, we’re not seeing a rise in cases nationwide. Huh. Makes me wonder.
Please note, I did not think and do not think that this wave will be massive. And, after this BA.2 wave I expect smooth sailing through summer and most of the fall. Even then I don’t think next winter will be even close to as bad as it’s been.
But, the largely invisible BA.2 wave in the U.S. is perplexing.
Here’s what’s also weird. Average deaths – 7-day average – are down to 528 in the U.S. Good news, for sure. But, I would have expected that number to be much lower, given how low the official case count has been for weeks now. Something doesn’t add up.
Could part of the explanation be that more people with symptoms are self-testing, or not testing at all.
I have mentioned this in schools each week. I was remiss in not carrying it forth to the general public.
You are correct..it is exactly why we moved to not recording and reporting numbers ….in the general public and in schools….and why we moved to home tests.
If you saw my school positives…the least likely schools are reporting the highest numbers. A school admin of one of those districts believes it is because those districts are keeping track of home test positives. The number is still low, but closer to being accurate.
Joshua, it isn’t a conspiracy. It is simply fact and you are correct that it is left and right. Queue Biden’s home tests. I knew it at the time and mentioned it here.
Hospitals are one of the few barometers now.
Adding. My guess is some reported flu illnesses are actually covid. I know flu is out there. Ace has taught us that. But…..
Hospitalizations are a definite barometer. But, I just read on the Massachusetts dashboard that they’re only counting a hospitalization as Covid-related if the person is on dexamethasone. That’s a narrow way of counting.
Well, this just came in on my twitter feed. https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1511847433235537924
The New Hampshire case is illustrative.
This is really odd. Speaking of politicization of public health, which I wrote about and posted last weekend.
Dear heavens. Then waste water? I think Philip mentioned that a bit ago.
Your article was spot on. I had hoped the politicization …is that a word….would stop with Biden but it didn’t. He made up his mind on several thing before taking office….one was in person school. I always suspect his wife was instrumental in that.
What I do not get is now these people think they are fooling anyone. Bowing to anti maskers, etc. really isn’t much better than the bowing to trump for too many years for fear of what….losing office. Does anyone give a damn about people any more?
I’d say rant is over but I am sure it is not.
New Hampshire’s official tally of Covid patients is 4. Hospitals, on the other hand, report 36. And, if you include those who’ve been in hospital with Covid illness for more than 30 days (and are not counted officially any longer as Covid patients!) the number jumps to 87.
U.S. is cooking the books. Apparently it’s about an image the Dems want to project going into the mid-terms. Biden’s a better man than Trump. But in essence the policies have NOT changed. As The Who said “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
It’s why I can’t stand politicians. I think Democrats, Republicans, Independents, the whole lot are all a bunch of frauds. Sorry for the rant.
A rant is the least we can do. Biden is better than trump…a slug is better than trump. And Biden has done some really good things. And they are getting lost in the not really good things. And I won’t start on media. I’ve had it with all of it.
If slimy politics is what it takes to get elected, I’d say that the ship I keep mentioning has sunk.
C-19 for 4-7 is ready.