I share your opinion. I can’t imagine how anyone doesn’t. Tragically, I believe some of these numbers were avoidable
Tom, are you able to go back to school?
Tomorrow.
Looking forward to it !!
best of luck.
Good luck, Tom.
Ditto 🙂
Philip, not to diminish your point (because we are dealing with grim milestones), but the 1 million cases included a lot of backlog from the holidays. I think that on average we’re now at a staggering 400,000 cases a day. And these are not all Omicron. There are still plenty of Delta cases, too. In France, for example, where they do far more sequencing than here, Omicron takes up 65%-75% of cases. I think our percentage is roughly that. In Massachusetts it will be higher; closer to 80%-85%, in NYC closer to 95%, while in, say, Missouri it’s closer to 55%.
Joshua are these daily numbers we are seeing like yesterday’s incredibly large number going to be the case all winter or should we see a decline soon . Covid is going through my place of employment pretty hard right now ( scary) thanks .
Oh boy, SSK. While it is distressing to see any place of employment have large number, your place, SSK, is incredibly upsetting.
Thanks TK.
These were the comments by our superintendent at last nights open school committee meeting. The bullets don’t translate to word press. But I think my notes can be followed.
– [ ] 28 staff out today
– [ ] 207 students absent today with the largest large number in the high school (Nearly 60 HS students alone testing positive right now despite high number of vaccinated) although 53 in the youngest grades and the remainder in between
– [ ] 3 more resignations. None in teaching staff or STA union. All three in SCSA union.
– [ ] Lack of nursing staff is a HUGE problem. He had multiple calls from blackstone valley schools today looking for nurses. And We rely on them to administer tests and isolate in school positive cases, etc. We are Overtaxing them. Parents take it out in school nurse when nurse calls.
– [ ] One area district called a covid snow day tomorrow. No nurses and too many staff out
– [ ] Snow days will not count this year toward 180 days. NO SNOW DAYS Period
– [ ] Remote will not count toward the 180 days No exceptions
– [ ] He told Sutton staff to turn computer off during vacation. If they don’t take care of themselves, they can’t care for their students
– [ ] 148 active covid cases in town , but home tests don’t show up on that number
– [ ] A SC member asked what the procedure will be with the new 5 day guideline. In other words, After 5 days and the student comes back and what does that student do re masking during breaks and lunch
– [ ] He does not agree with the testing put in place yesterday. He thanked a staff member for driving to Franklin to pick up the tests for Sutton Unfortunately, After last minute testing today, there are only about 30 tests remaining for the school to now use
– [ ] Some communities had 25-30 positives from the tests today so Sutton was fortunate in that respect
Sad
I have a problem with this one:
– [ ] Remote will not count toward the 180 days No exceptions
This is ludicrous! INSANE! PATHETIC!!
When necessary, remote days MUST count! What a RIGID policy with absolutely ZERO forethought! What a bunch of imbeciles!
I cannot deal with this kind of BACKWARDS thinking!
It is beyond belief, JPD. And snow days are gone so all is made up. But that may be revisited if we have many snow days.
It used to be that if a child were to be absent more than three days, that child needed a doctors note to explain the reason. No one can tell me how important in-school is and in the same breath justify the huge numbers of kids missing school now being denied some form of remote support.
Another that really bothered me was the test program completely depleting the supply for testing going forward.
I have heard three teachers say they have to use their sick time for covid absence. PLEASE NOTE I’m asking for verification on that and not stating it as fact
Speaking of tests, when will the Biden tests arrive at our residences? I assume via U.S. mail?
I haven’t heard a peep from the WH lately other than the Putin talks.
It is important for me to add that we have a remarkable superintendent of schools. He has led Sutton, along with our amazing teachers and staff, to many exceptional years, especially these last two years. I am beyond sad that he has decided to retire at the end of this school year.
All I know is yesterday’s daily 23 hour count was throughly the roof , I could not believe it
Yikes. My granddaughter had a scheduled test there for next week. Her mom rescheduled it two days ago until late august. Sure seems as if it were the right decision.
Oh, but it is perfectly safe to have all those children in school.
Yup, sure is!
🙁
Disgraceful. 🙁
Safest place for kids don’t ya know 🙄
Philip, you make a good point. Biden first addressed “free at-home tests” on December 2nd! Then, he promised that insurance would cover such tests. Needless to say, that policy has NOT been implemented. Insurance does not cover at-home tests, at least as far as I can tell. I know that my insurance – Tufts Health Plan – explicitly says it will not cover at-home tests.
Then, on December 21st – that’s 2 weeks ago – Biden promised that 500 million tests would be mailed to Americans (some would be sent through pharmacies, I believe) and that this would happen in “January.” Talk about vague. January has 31 days. When, Mr. President, will these tests be made available? We have no idea, and the WH is silent, per usual. Again, this is a messaging problem. The WH could have made it clear on the 21st of December that tests would be mailed to Americans on, say, the 15th of January. Okay. At least we’d know what’s happening. Instead, we’re stuck not knowing anything, really about either `initiative.’ Until proven otherwise, I call these `initiatives’ empty promises. I am sorry to be so blunt. I pay a lot of taxes as an American citizen, and I am fine with that. But, I do want my government(s) to display a modicum of competence. Unfortunately, at the state and federal levels I’m not seeing that.
Great article – informative & laid out in an easy to comprehend way for this layman – thanks for sharing!
It seems Medicare does not reimburse for at home test…..I say seems as things are changing in the blink of an eye. Most not for the greater good, however
In my limited exposure, I now know of five restaurants that have had to close for two weeks due to staff covid. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
We fought mandates because we didn’t want to harm restaurants and businesses that were already stretched and struggling. And that is noble. But how did we, at any point, think forced closures would not happen. So while Rome burned…..well, you know the rest
Off to read Joshua’s article.
I took my Covid test at work last Thursday…still waiting for the results. It’s “supposed” to be within 24 hours.
Yikes
All is well. I just received it and it was Negative! 🙂
Good news!
Wonderful, Philip.
Joshua, another home run article. Well written so that even the average person (me) understands and very fair. I shared in FB. Thank you.
Boston Globe
“BREAKING NEWS ALERT
Mass General Brigham and Beth Israel Lahey Health said Tuesday they will require all employees to receive a COVID-19 booster dose amid rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Massachusetts that threaten to further sideline hospital staff.
Citing the Omicron variant and the additional protection the shots provide, Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest health care provider, said in a statement that employees will be required to receive their booster shots by March 1. Those who became fully vaccinated after Aug. 1, 2021, will be required to get a booster shot by June 30.”
SHOULD have been done long ago!
There is some good news to report. First, although hospitalizations continue to increase across the UK, the ventilator use (and ICU that goes along with it) has remained relatively flat. It has increased, but not by much. We see similar signs in the U.S., though there’s less decoupling here than in the UK, that is, more ventilator/ICU usage (could be related to worse underlying health conditions, lower vaccination/booster rates).
In the UK the deaths curve is flat, and even bending slightly downward (we’ll have to wait until tomorrow’s figures to see precisely which slope it has, as tomorrow the more comprehensive data will be released). So, the degree of decoupling – between cases and deaths, in particular – is greater than before, which is welcome news.
Suggests/reinforces that Omicron is milder than Delta.
Also, NYC appears to be cresting, albeit at a very high level of cases and hospitalizations. Hospitalizations are still rising, but test positivity has come down a bit. Still early to be certain whether this is a one or two day phenomenon. Keep in mind, NYC is about 10-14 days ahead of other regions, such as Massachusetts.
16,621 new cases + 2,224 probable new cases
95 new deaths
Now 2,372 hospitalizations
This just is not getting better. I suspect the next 3 days
will be worse still. We shall see.
I cannot count the number of folks who have taken home tests, been positive and are naturally unreported. I am praying that school number Thursday are lower. I think it’s possible. Yes I am a Pollyanna
Massachusetts dashboard is indeed not good, as JPD points out.
First, why is there so much discrepancy from state to state?
Second, many nursing homes get federal financial support. Shouldn’t boosters be mandated, certainly by now, given that the vast majority of residents got their 2nd shot in mid to late winter 2021? I get it that we have a federal and state structure in which we don’t centralize much power in DC. But, to me, when an entity relies on federal support it should comply with federal rules and regulations. If not, the support should be cut. Simple as that.
Indeed
Daughter was exposed to yet another positive student and all students who sat near yesterday’s positive student were out sick today. it is pure lunacy to have schools open now!!! ^$@$#%/=#&%#$&$#:$$%:^&$##$=##$%#$$
I don’t begin to have the words to say how horrified I am that this is what our teachers and staff and children are being subjected to. No one can possibly claim this in any way resembles an example of excellent in education…or even a half assed one. Maybe it is time to recognize it for what it is
Boys we’re back in school today and everyone was excited to have school, teachers included.
I know this might not be the way people think but we need to get the Pfizer pills out and ready to go. Similar to Tamaflu, looking at all the data people aren’t dying or even being hospitalized that much from this wave so we need to start treating the virus. We can’t close school or businesses at this point for something similar to the flu.
C-19 for 1-5 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Thanks TK!
Welcome, David!
I am adding that your name is familiar to me. I’ve been racking my brain but darned if I can recall why. Either way, it is nice to see a new name.
Yes Welcome and another Dave to boot.
I think that makes 3 of us. 🙂
Thanks TK.
1 MILLION cases in U.S. within the last 24 hours. 🙁
325,000+ children
We are setting too many “grim milestones” of late, imo.
)@#(*!@)(#$*)!@&$*(!&@()$&)(!@_&$(_!&@$&!_@($&_!@($&!)$(@&!)&$!@&$!&
I share your opinion. I can’t imagine how anyone doesn’t. Tragically, I believe some of these numbers were avoidable
Tom, are you able to go back to school?
Tomorrow.
Looking forward to it !!
best of luck.
Good luck, Tom.
Ditto 🙂
Philip, not to diminish your point (because we are dealing with grim milestones), but the 1 million cases included a lot of backlog from the holidays. I think that on average we’re now at a staggering 400,000 cases a day. And these are not all Omicron. There are still plenty of Delta cases, too. In France, for example, where they do far more sequencing than here, Omicron takes up 65%-75% of cases. I think our percentage is roughly that. In Massachusetts it will be higher; closer to 80%-85%, in NYC closer to 95%, while in, say, Missouri it’s closer to 55%.
India has entered its own version of the O-line (not an offensive line, by the way). https://twitter.com/paimadhu/status/1478341140571172868
Joshua are these daily numbers we are seeing like yesterday’s incredibly large number going to be the case all winter or should we see a decline soon . Covid is going through my place of employment pretty hard right now ( scary) thanks .
Oh boy, SSK. While it is distressing to see any place of employment have large number, your place, SSK, is incredibly upsetting.
Thanks TK.
These were the comments by our superintendent at last nights open school committee meeting. The bullets don’t translate to word press. But I think my notes can be followed.
– [ ] 28 staff out today
– [ ] 207 students absent today with the largest large number in the high school (Nearly 60 HS students alone testing positive right now despite high number of vaccinated) although 53 in the youngest grades and the remainder in between
– [ ] 3 more resignations. None in teaching staff or STA union. All three in SCSA union.
– [ ] Lack of nursing staff is a HUGE problem. He had multiple calls from blackstone valley schools today looking for nurses. And We rely on them to administer tests and isolate in school positive cases, etc. We are Overtaxing them. Parents take it out in school nurse when nurse calls.
– [ ] One area district called a covid snow day tomorrow. No nurses and too many staff out
– [ ] Snow days will not count this year toward 180 days. NO SNOW DAYS Period
– [ ] Remote will not count toward the 180 days No exceptions
– [ ] He told Sutton staff to turn computer off during vacation. If they don’t take care of themselves, they can’t care for their students
– [ ] 148 active covid cases in town , but home tests don’t show up on that number
– [ ] A SC member asked what the procedure will be with the new 5 day guideline. In other words, After 5 days and the student comes back and what does that student do re masking during breaks and lunch
– [ ] He does not agree with the testing put in place yesterday. He thanked a staff member for driving to Franklin to pick up the tests for Sutton Unfortunately, After last minute testing today, there are only about 30 tests remaining for the school to now use
– [ ] Some communities had 25-30 positives from the tests today so Sutton was fortunate in that respect
Sad
I have a problem with this one:
– [ ] Remote will not count toward the 180 days No exceptions
This is ludicrous! INSANE! PATHETIC!!
When necessary, remote days MUST count! What a RIGID policy with absolutely ZERO forethought! What a bunch of imbeciles!
I cannot deal with this kind of BACKWARDS thinking!
It is beyond belief, JPD. And snow days are gone so all is made up. But that may be revisited if we have many snow days.
It used to be that if a child were to be absent more than three days, that child needed a doctors note to explain the reason. No one can tell me how important in-school is and in the same breath justify the huge numbers of kids missing school now being denied some form of remote support.
Another that really bothered me was the test program completely depleting the supply for testing going forward.
I have heard three teachers say they have to use their sick time for covid absence. PLEASE NOTE I’m asking for verification on that and not stating it as fact
Speaking of tests, when will the Biden tests arrive at our residences? I assume via U.S. mail?
I haven’t heard a peep from the WH lately other than the Putin talks.
It is important for me to add that we have a remarkable superintendent of schools. He has led Sutton, along with our amazing teachers and staff, to many exceptional years, especially these last two years. I am beyond sad that he has decided to retire at the end of this school year.
All I know is yesterday’s daily 23 hour count was throughly the roof , I could not believe it
Yikes. My granddaughter had a scheduled test there for next week. Her mom rescheduled it two days ago until late august. Sure seems as if it were the right decision.
Quality education at its finest
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/union-boston-teachers-given-expired-covid-19-tests/2604488/
Oh, but it is perfectly safe to have all those children in school.
Yup, sure is!
🙁
Disgraceful. 🙁
Safest place for kids don’t ya know 🙄
Philip, you make a good point. Biden first addressed “free at-home tests” on December 2nd! Then, he promised that insurance would cover such tests. Needless to say, that policy has NOT been implemented. Insurance does not cover at-home tests, at least as far as I can tell. I know that my insurance – Tufts Health Plan – explicitly says it will not cover at-home tests.
Then, on December 21st – that’s 2 weeks ago – Biden promised that 500 million tests would be mailed to Americans (some would be sent through pharmacies, I believe) and that this would happen in “January.” Talk about vague. January has 31 days. When, Mr. President, will these tests be made available? We have no idea, and the WH is silent, per usual. Again, this is a messaging problem. The WH could have made it clear on the 21st of December that tests would be mailed to Americans on, say, the 15th of January. Okay. At least we’d know what’s happening. Instead, we’re stuck not knowing anything, really about either `initiative.’ Until proven otherwise, I call these `initiatives’ empty promises. I am sorry to be so blunt. I pay a lot of taxes as an American citizen, and I am fine with that. But, I do want my government(s) to display a modicum of competence. Unfortunately, at the state and federal levels I’m not seeing that.
AGREE! Very disappointing!
My latest Forbes piece is on mRNA vaccines NOT being gene therapies. Misinformation – well, disinformation sometimes – is rife, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many people persist in calling mRNA vaccines “experimental gene therapies.” They are not. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2022/01/04/pfizer-biontech-and-moderna-mrna-vaccines-are-not-gene-therapies/?sh=3570fb10229a
Excellent Joshua and thank you!
Great article – informative & laid out in an easy to comprehend way for this layman – thanks for sharing!
It seems Medicare does not reimburse for at home test…..I say seems as things are changing in the blink of an eye. Most not for the greater good, however
https://www.axios.com/covid-rapid-test-lobby-medicare-e231cc6d-d3a3-4452-b198-4ead1cb5e269.html
This is truth.
https://twitter.com/tracynovick/status/1478401283614773254?s=21
In my limited exposure, I now know of five restaurants that have had to close for two weeks due to staff covid. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
We fought mandates because we didn’t want to harm restaurants and businesses that were already stretched and struggling. And that is noble. But how did we, at any point, think forced closures would not happen. So while Rome burned…..well, you know the rest
Off to read Joshua’s article.
I took my Covid test at work last Thursday…still waiting for the results. It’s “supposed” to be within 24 hours.
Yikes
All is well. I just received it and it was Negative! 🙂
Good news!
Wonderful, Philip.
Joshua, another home run article. Well written so that even the average person (me) understands and very fair. I shared in FB. Thank you.
Boston Globe
“BREAKING NEWS ALERT
Mass General Brigham and Beth Israel Lahey Health said Tuesday they will require all employees to receive a COVID-19 booster dose amid rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Massachusetts that threaten to further sideline hospital staff.
Citing the Omicron variant and the additional protection the shots provide, Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest health care provider, said in a statement that employees will be required to receive their booster shots by March 1. Those who became fully vaccinated after Aug. 1, 2021, will be required to get a booster shot by June 30.”
SHOULD have been done long ago!
There is some good news to report. First, although hospitalizations continue to increase across the UK, the ventilator use (and ICU that goes along with it) has remained relatively flat. It has increased, but not by much. We see similar signs in the U.S., though there’s less decoupling here than in the UK, that is, more ventilator/ICU usage (could be related to worse underlying health conditions, lower vaccination/booster rates).
In the UK the deaths curve is flat, and even bending slightly downward (we’ll have to wait until tomorrow’s figures to see precisely which slope it has, as tomorrow the more comprehensive data will be released). So, the degree of decoupling – between cases and deaths, in particular – is greater than before, which is welcome news.
Suggests/reinforces that Omicron is milder than Delta.
Also, NYC appears to be cresting, albeit at a very high level of cases and hospitalizations. Hospitalizations are still rising, but test positivity has come down a bit. Still early to be certain whether this is a one or two day phenomenon. Keep in mind, NYC is about 10-14 days ahead of other regions, such as Massachusetts.
Thank you, Joshua. Any positive is VERY welcome
Today’s Covid Dashboard
https://ibb.co/TDfc7gp
16,621 new cases + 2,224 probable new cases
95 new deaths
Now 2,372 hospitalizations
This just is not getting better. I suspect the next 3 days
will be worse still. We shall see.
I cannot count the number of folks who have taken home tests, been positive and are naturally unreported. I am praying that school number Thursday are lower. I think it’s possible. Yes I am a Pollyanna
Massachusetts dashboard is indeed not good, as JPD points out.
Also, this map shows the percentage of nursing home residents who’ve received a booster shot. https://twitter.com/thehowie/status/1478377825522569222/photo/1
First, why is there so much discrepancy from state to state?
Second, many nursing homes get federal financial support. Shouldn’t boosters be mandated, certainly by now, given that the vast majority of residents got their 2nd shot in mid to late winter 2021? I get it that we have a federal and state structure in which we don’t centralize much power in DC. But, to me, when an entity relies on federal support it should comply with federal rules and regulations. If not, the support should be cut. Simple as that.
Indeed
Daughter was exposed to yet another positive student and all students who sat near yesterday’s positive student were out sick today. it is pure lunacy to have schools open now!!! ^$@$#%/=#&%#$&$#:$$%:^&$##$=##$%#$$
I don’t begin to have the words to say how horrified I am that this is what our teachers and staff and children are being subjected to. No one can possibly claim this in any way resembles an example of excellent in education…or even a half assed one. Maybe it is time to recognize it for what it is
Boys we’re back in school today and everyone was excited to have school, teachers included.
I know this might not be the way people think but we need to get the Pfizer pills out and ready to go. Similar to Tamaflu, looking at all the data people aren’t dying or even being hospitalized that much from this wave so we need to start treating the virus. We can’t close school or businesses at this point for something similar to the flu.
C-19 for 1-5 is ready.