C-19 Chat Post – January 1 to March 21 2023

16 Comments

This is the final Covid 19 chat post. The comment section will be open until March 21 basically taking us to the 3 year point since the start of the pandemic. Starting 5 days after this post was made, you can find it by going to the Archives section and scrolling to the first post under January. After January, make sure you go to the January section of the archive and scroll to January 1.

16 thoughts on “C-19 Chat Post – January 1 to March 21 2023”

    1. Thanks Joshua. There is also smoking to consider as well with regard to our life expectancy. While it’s likely nowhere near the rate of the 1960s I imagine, I still see quite a number of smokers on the street, and when the T is crowded I still smell the reek of smoke on occasion while standing or sitting beside them. I believe there are more smokers out there than one would think in this day of age.

        1. Thanks for asking. He’s relatively stable, though he’s living with me full-time (he was living on his own). His mother is coming here next week while I travel.

      2. Smoking is an interesting case. The U.S. has actually done a reasonably good job compared to most of our peers.

        But, as you mentioned, it’s still a problem here.

        1. I do wonder though if these stop smoking programs (“Nicorette”, etc.) really work for most. New generations of smokers are still being produced and the few old timers left still can’t kick the habit.

          Glad that your son is improving. I hope that he can at least be on his own while you leave your home to go to work, recreation, errands etc.

  3. Well this is a surprise.

    Most of Mass. is now at ‘high’ community COVID levels, says the CDC
    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention elevated Suffolk County’s community risk level for COVID-19 from “medium” to “high” Friday, as public health officials urged residents to take increased precautions.

    More than half of Massachusetts counties are now at the highest community risk levels, including Middlesex, Worcester, Barnstable and Nantucket.

  4. Covid news isn’t exactly bright and sunny, much like the weather. As a nation, we’re now well over 500 daily deaths. I think we could reach 600 or perhaps even 750 later this month. Two months ago, modelers did not predict this accurately. They said we wouldn’t go above 350 deaths a day.

    In other news, there’s some ambiguous language in the text of the Inflation Reduction Act. In itself this isn’t unusual. Bills of this nature tend to be both unwieldy and often unclear. What is unusual is that Medicare is enlisting the public’s help in trying to sort through the details of how to interpret and implement drug price negotiations (a main pillar of the IRA’s drug pricing provisions). Wrote about this in my latest Forbes post: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2023/01/12/as-cms-asks-for-the-publics-feedback-on-implementing-the-inflation-reduction-act-unresolved-issues-related-to-drug-price-negotiations-remain/?sh=4203adf42fb2

    1. Thank you for all your contributions to this discussion over the last nearly few years now. While I never wrote much in this particular section, I did learn a lot about the pandemic and its behavior from the information you provided, and found it to be my most useful resource.

      1. Thanks, TK. I didn’t see your post until today. Hence the late response.

        I wrote a piece on Social Security and life expectancy, in light of all that’s happened with Covid-19 but also the concurrent trends of excess mortality. I’ve changed my mind on Social Security (and Medicare) age-eligibility. Ten to 15 years ago, I thought it made all the sense in the world to increase age-eligibility of both programs. Now it does not, at least not yet. Let’s wait with changes until we really turn the corner on life expectancy. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2023/02/14/changes-to-social-security-age-eligibility-cut-benefits-and-run-counter-to-troubling-decline-in-us-life-expectancy/?sh=555eea964f6e

    1. A great article as always, Joshua. This was mentioned by several, including Denise Dewald, on twitter.

      We have developed a history of ignoring or half heartedly investigating what can’t be explained or requires too much “effort.” The media is in part, not wholly, responsible. Sadly, maybe it takes a well know figure to bring it to light.

      But are we damned if we do and damned if we don’t.

      I asked a week or so ago about a link between titanus and the Covid vaccine. Other counties are taking this seriously. True to form, our CDC has decided to stop research and is being criticized by at least one other country. And by well respected physicians in our country.

      There is a fair amount out there from reliable sources. This is one short article from National Geographic. A subscription is needed to I took screen shots.

      https://imgur.com/a/MbJswcb

  7. Thanks Joshua for all your articles these past 3 years. They have been very informative with regard to Covid-19 and other health concerns.

    Unless Covid suddenly re-emerges out of control, I would still like to have brief discussions on occasion over on the main WHW page as needed and hopefully still able to ask for your input. You have done a great service here. Thanks again Joshua. 🙂

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