Nationwide declining cases, hospitalizations, ICU usage, and now deaths. All good signs. However, all 4 indicators are still at very elevated levels. And, B117 is now appearing in the majority of states. We only genomically sequence a tiny fraction of tests, so it’s likely that B117 is in all 50 states and will start proliferating by the end of this week. The Brazilian variant has been identified in 2 states. It will also begin proliferating. My guess is there will be a sizable number of reinfections associated with the Brazil and UK variants. By the way, most reinfections are not confirmed, because the first infection was never tested for or genomically sequenced. Vaccinations are at around 850k per day, which is virtually the same as last week. Must do better. Must get this number over 1 million/day; preferably 1.5 million/day.
Life expectancy in US has dropped by a record 1.3 years.
In UK and Ireland severe lockdowns have reduced case growth considerably, but deaths are extremely high, as are hospitalizations. Portugal is seeing the most rapid ascent in cases in Europe followed by Spain – likely caused by B117. Hospitalizations and deaths are increasing in these 2 countries once again, as they are in France.
In sum, while it’s better to have vaccines at our disposal and to hope that the worst is behind us, we’re still in for a rough ride in 2021.
C-19 for 1-27 is ready.
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Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Nationwide declining cases, hospitalizations, ICU usage, and now deaths. All good signs. However, all 4 indicators are still at very elevated levels. And, B117 is now appearing in the majority of states. We only genomically sequence a tiny fraction of tests, so it’s likely that B117 is in all 50 states and will start proliferating by the end of this week. The Brazilian variant has been identified in 2 states. It will also begin proliferating. My guess is there will be a sizable number of reinfections associated with the Brazil and UK variants. By the way, most reinfections are not confirmed, because the first infection was never tested for or genomically sequenced. Vaccinations are at around 850k per day, which is virtually the same as last week. Must do better. Must get this number over 1 million/day; preferably 1.5 million/day.
Life expectancy in US has dropped by a record 1.3 years.
In UK and Ireland severe lockdowns have reduced case growth considerably, but deaths are extremely high, as are hospitalizations. Portugal is seeing the most rapid ascent in cases in Europe followed by Spain – likely caused by B117. Hospitalizations and deaths are increasing in these 2 countries once again, as they are in France.
In sum, while it’s better to have vaccines at our disposal and to hope that the worst is behind us, we’re still in for a rough ride in 2021.
C-19 for 1-27 is ready.