Cartoon pic.twitter.com/WOAF6Mqnr0
— Bill Bramhall (@BillBramhall) January 26, 2022
More than 3,800 Americans died of Covid, as reported today @NewsNodes, bringing the cumulative US confirmed lost lives ~900,000. Half of these deaths occurred after February 1, 2021, when vaccines were widely available for high-risk individuals pic.twitter.com/1TeShNPe2a
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 29, 2022
Immunity against severe infection is holding up, especially after boosters. In December, the rate of Covid-associated hospitalization was 16 TIMES higher in unvaccinated adults than among adults who were up-to-date on their vaccination. https://t.co/OA5Efj95o6 6/ pic.twitter.com/QobIeuXPTf
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) January 29, 2022
Latest CDC weekly hospitalization data for Americans over 65 years old by vaccination status:
Unvaccinated: 239.7 per 100k
Vaccinated: 26.8 per 100k
Boosted: 4.8 per 100k— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) January 28, 2022
Covid’s omicron wave blew case rates and hospitalization to new national records as it hit the Northeast in January, but it has already turned elsewhere.
This story brings data and maps to compare how omicron and delta waves spread across the country. https://t.co/rglJw1zQPq
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 29, 2022
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Chinese are traveling to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest family holiday, despite a government plea to stay where they are. Beijing is trying to contain virus outbreaks ahead of the Winter Olympics which begin in one week. https://t.co/KUeQ8n2J4w
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 28, 2022
… The holiday, which starts with Chinese New Year’s Eve on Monday, usually is the biggest annual movement of humanity as hundreds of millions of people who migrated for work visit their parents and sometimes spouses and children they left behind or travel abroad.
Some 260 million people traveled in the 10 says since the holiday rush started Jan. 17, less than before the pandemic but up 46% over last year, official data shows. The government forecasts a total of 1.2 billion trips during the holiday season, up 36% from a year ago.
“I know we are encouraged to spend the New Year in Beijing, but I haven’t been back home for three years,” said Wang Yilei, whose hometown is Tangshan, east of the capital. “My parents are getting old and they are looking forward to seeing me.”…
China’s infection numbers are modest compared with India, South Korea and some other countries. But they challenge Beijing’s “zero tolerance” strategy that aims to keep the virus out of China by isolating every infected person.
Athletes, reporters and officials at the Winter Games are required to avoid contact with outsiders in hopes of preventing infection.
Some 106 of the 3,695 people who arrived from abroad for the Games so far tested positive for the coronavirus. Two are athletes or team officials…
Travelers are tracked by “health code” software on smartphones that records where they go and the results of virus tests.
“I called the government hotline of my hometown and they said I can go back, as long as my health code is green,” said Sun Jinle, a bank employee from Qinhuangdao, east of Beijing.
“If I live in Fengtai District of Beijing then I can’t (go home),” Sun said. “Luckily, I live in Tongzhou District,” which has no travel ban.
A lockdown has been quietly imposed in an area near Beijing as the winter Olympics approach. An economic zone about 62 miles southwest of Beijing was shutdown earlier this week. No one is allowed to leave home until further notice https://t.co/d78a8mgS4V
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 29, 2022
China reports 36 new COVID-19 cases among Olympics-related personnel https://t.co/UsSYyR6ylf pic.twitter.com/WVXicsSJm0
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 29, 2022
A 30-year-old security guard who lives at Yat Kwai House said he feared being forced into quarantine more than catching the disease. “I constantly worry that I will have to be quarantined just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time."https://t.co/jZdf8DN9gb
— Rachel Cheung (@rachel_cheung1) January 28, 2022
S.Korea reports 17,542 new COVID cases, new daily record -KDCA https://t.co/dn2ebCtTvd pic.twitter.com/3lx4Jmcady
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 29, 2022
New Zealand PM Ardern is self isolating after exposure to COVID positive case https://t.co/QNSNT8N47B pic.twitter.com/O9oORTUGOy
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 29, 2022
A plane carrying mostly Mormon missionaries brought #COVID19 to Kiribati — one of the last places without any outbreaks.
Passengers tested positive after arrival on the island nation, which closed borders for 2 years, despite being vaccinated. Cases there are now at least 181. pic.twitter.com/ivhEu8DUHb
— AJ+ (@ajplus) January 28, 2022
Russia has recorded almost 1 million excess deaths since the start of the pandemic, the world's second highest tally behind Indiahttps://t.co/OuVlCpLTU5
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) January 29, 2022
Russia has recorded more than 100,000 new daily coronavirus cases for the first time since the start of the pandemichttps://t.co/YhN71s0XBD
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) January 29, 2022
Austria to begin easing coronavirus restrictions on Feb. 5 https://t.co/CzgQSGhOV6 pic.twitter.com/p4tYLXpMRT
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 29, 2022
Ukraine reports record 37,351 COVID daily cases – ministry https://t.co/Bq4jQQU3jO pic.twitter.com/qvqMMA898K
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 29, 2022
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Nice to have some good news because we seem to get so little on the #Covid front: BA.2, the Omicron subvariant, does not appear to be able to evade vaccine immunity better than OG Omicron. @DrewQJoseph reports. https://t.co/NUekzkjE1q
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) January 28, 2022
Does #omicron pose as much of a blood clot threat as other variants? While more data are needed, the clot risk seems to have dropped. Dr. Peter Faries of Mt. Sinai in NYC says the level of clotting complications in earlier surges is not evident now https://t.co/mBgE6V1FVQ pic.twitter.com/hdhoJDBZch
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 28, 2022
Where did Omicron come from? It's so different from other variants—alpha & delta—that virologists estimate its closest genetic ancestor probably dates to more than a year ago, possibly mid-2020. It might have evolved in an animal host, maybe mice or rats https://t.co/FW72nPC3sa pic.twitter.com/ODo6o4BxEo
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 28, 2022
The #BA2variant is still prevalent at less than 2% of new #COVID19 cases in USA, but spreading quickly.https://t.co/pZDrhbLM7j pic.twitter.com/rEFWUHRh1U
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) January 28, 2022
In the study of cancer therapies' "chemo brain" researchers see clues to what's behind the brain fog associated with Long Covid, @cooney_liz reports. https://t.co/1cGWrpAxoy
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) January 28, 2022
From a long, data-heavy thread:
Omicron viruses can be divided into two major groups, referred to as PANGO lineages BA.1 and BA.2 or @nextstrain clades 21K and 21L. The vast majority of globally sequenced Omicron have been 21K (~630k) compared a small minority of 21L (~18k), but 21L is gaining ground. 1/15
— Trevor Bedford (@trvrb) January 28, 2022
Given differences in NTD between Omicron 21K and 21L, it may be possible to see some re-infections of individuals recovered from 21K by 21L. 13/15
— Trevor Bedford (@trvrb) January 28, 2022
This said, I would guess we'll see 21L create a substantially longer tail of circulation of Omicron than would have existed with just 21K, but that it won't drive the scale of epidemics we've experienced with Omicron in January. 15/15
— Trevor Bedford (@trvrb) January 28, 2022
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Deep government losses turn to big gains. States, counties and cities are now seeing surplus revenue after reporting more than $117 billion of losses during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. An @AP data analysis by @camfassett @DavidALieb. https://t.co/qjxUMbXfnM
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 29, 2022
Both the south and north of Boston COVID wastewater data have now plummeted by 86% since the #Omicron peak in early January. The regions’ average levels are now comparable to before the holiday surge. https://t.co/G0hdM5gYwH
— Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) (@MassMedical) January 28, 2022
It’s really shocking that @nytimes not only ran this, but is showcasing it on multiple platforms, including flagship podcast The Daily. @DLeonhardt commissioned a public opinion poll about Covid and is using it to bothsides response to the pandemic. The results are egregious. 1/ https://t.co/yyYHlyMxmq
— Jeff Yang (@originalspin) January 26, 2022
Leonhardt says Democrats want expensive continuing protections against Covid, even though its risk may be diminishing. Meanwhile, Republicans broadly refuse to get vaccinated and want everything to reopen with no restrictions. His framing: both sides are equally misguided. 2/
But he ignores the fact that the reason why Democrats want protections like distancing and masking is quite literally BECAUSE Republicans refuse to get vaxxed and boosted. Dem response and Republican response aren’t independent variables. 3/
A poll conducted by the same company Leonhardt used, Morning Consult, showed 40% of Republicans refuse to get the booster—which is now medically indicated to reduce transmission and protect against serious illness. Another 19% are “unsure” if they will. 4/https://t.co/rxxjJ9YkSW pic.twitter.com/n36VR18ZFN
— Jeff Yang (@originalspin) January 26, 2022
With vax mandates out of reach, what else can Democrats do but push for lesser protections against increasingly violent Republican defiance of basic science and consensus public health?
The bottom line is we aren’t just afraid of Covid anymore. We’re afraid of REPUBLICANS. 5/
Equating Dem reaction to Republican science denialism with Republican vaccine refusal—when the former is cautious but in line with CDC policy and the latter has sent deaths spiking to their highest levels since 2020—is hugely unethical. I’m shocked, but sadly not surprised. /E
Last month, Leonhardt guesstimated that about 85% of adults *around the world* were vaccinated. We have actual data on that, and… they’re not. This is so harmful for global vaccination campaigns. https://t.co/ipDgR5gba6
— Melody Schreiber (@m_scribe) January 28, 2022
What Goddamn stupid pathetic situation have we gotten ourselves where former fucking victims of polio have to come forward and remind us that polio was bad
— El Cid poem liker (@EnBuenora) January 29, 2022
COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Friday / Saturday, Jan. 28-29Post + Comments (41)