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2022-01-01 at 8:46 PM UTCBloomberg
Cases Rise ‘Through the Roof’ as Omicron Sweeps Across U.S.
Carey Goldberg and Michael Smith
(Bloomberg) -- In Boston, coronavirus levels measured in wastewater are spiking to more than quadruple last winter’s surge. In Miami, more than a quarter of people are testing positive for Covid. And a San Francisco medical leader estimates that, based on his hospital’s tests, one of every 12 people in the city with no Covid symptoms actually has the virus.
As the omicron variant sweeps the country, daily cases are reaching unheard-of levels, crossing the half-million mark, and are only expected to go much higher.
Some projections are for a peak of more than one million cases a day by as early as mid-January. “That seems totally plausible to me, given that we’re already at almost 600,000,” said Sam Scarpino, managing director of pathogen surveillance at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Pandemic Prevention Institute.
On the plus side, hospitalizations and deaths have been rising more slowly, and it remains to be seen whether omicron’s casualty toll will reach levels of previous surges. The variant so far appears to naturally cause less severe illness, and widespread immunity, whether from vaccines or previous infections, has also been critically important.
However, the sheer numbers of those falling ill could continue to cause havoc in communities and in essential services ranging from schools and hospitals to airlines and subways.
“If the teachers and custodial and cafeteria staff are sick, if all the people who make the schools run are sick, it may be out of our hands whether we have the schools close,” Scarpino said.
Dependable Indicator
As more and more Americans rely on rapid tests, the results of which are not reported to public health authorities, the official case numbers become less reliable. That’s why other ways to measure the spread are gaining in importance. Wastewater, for example, has proven a dependable indicator of virus prevalence, and the latest measurements confirm an unprecedented spike.
Around this time last year, analysis found 1,500 copies of Covid RNA per milliliter in Massachusetts water, said Newsha Ghaeli, co-founder and president of Biobot Analytics, which is tracking wastewater Covid in 20 states. Now, it’s up to 7,000 copies per milliliter, she said.
Past research suggests virus spikes in wastewater precede spikes in clinical cases by four to ten days, she said, though those studies predate vaccines. “The data might look scary but we’re prepared,” she said.
Covid levels in sewage are spiking elsewhere in the U.S. In Florida’s Orange County, which includes Orlando, Covid levels this week were double previous record highs from the summer, as the delta variant peaked.
“Because both symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers of the virus shed remnants in their waste, this data provides an accurate picture of how the virus is spreading in our community regardless of the number of people tested,” Ed Torres, Director of Orange County Utilities, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Omicron’s aggressive assault pushed new daily Covid cases in Florida to a record 58,013 on Dec. 29, more than double pre-Christmas levels, according to the CDC. The surge is starting to stress hospitals, where reported daily cases have been breaking records all week. On Thursday, some 4,000 people were hospitalized for Covid in the state, almost doubling in three days, according to the Florida Hospital Association. That’s still a long way from the summer surge of the delta variant, when hospitalizations from Covid peaked at 17,121.
Testing Chaos
The arrival of omicron, though, has sparked chaos at Covid testing sites around the state. In Miami, cars have been lining up for 10 blocks or more at massive, drive-through testing sites in county parks that two weeks ago were nearly empty. When two dozen public libraries began offering free at-home test kits, people began lining up at 4 a.m., quickly emptying stockpiles. As of today, almost 28% of those tested were positive for Covid, CDC data shows.
In Puerto Rico, Covid cases have jumped 45-fold over the past two weeks, even as the island boasts being the most vaccinated U.S. jurisdiction. As of Friday, the health department said 80% of the eligible population has at least two shots.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott asked the federal government to send medical staff, therapeutic drugs and testing equipment to aid the state’s fight to help contain the latest wave. The request targets six counties that include the Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin areas, all of which are experiencing alarming growth in positivity rates and hospitalizations, Abbott said in an emailed statement.
Ultimately, said the Rockefeller Foundation’s Scarpino, the rise in cases is so steep that it looks to him and his colleagues like someone was playing with a mathematical model of disease spread, and tweaked a parameter to make infections “shoot through the roof.” -
2022-01-01 at 8:48 PM UTC
Originally posted by stl1 Bloomberg
Cases Rise ‘Through the Roof’ as Omicron Sweeps Across U.S.
Carey Goldberg and Michael Smith
(Bloomberg) – In Boston, coronavirus levels measured in wastewater are spiking to more than quadruple last winter’s surge. In Miami, more than a quarter of people are testing positive for Covid. And a San Francisco medical leader estimates that, based on his hospital’s tests, one of every 12 people in the city with no Covid symptoms actually has the virus.
As the omicron variant sweeps the country, daily cases are reaching unheard-of levels, crossing the half-million mark, and are only expected to go much higher.
Some projections are for a peak of more than one million cases a day by as early as mid-January. “That seems totally plausible to me, given that we’re already at almost 600,000,” said Sam Scarpino, managing director of pathogen surveillance at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Pandemic Prevention Institute.
On the plus side, hospitalizations and deaths have been rising more slowly, and it remains to be seen whether omicron’s casualty toll will reach levels of previous surges. The variant so far appears to naturally cause less severe illness, and widespread immunity, whether from vaccines or previous infections, has also been critically important.
However, the sheer numbers of those falling ill could continue to cause havoc in communities and in essential services ranging from schools and hospitals to airlines and subways.
“If the teachers and custodial and cafeteria staff are sick, if all the people who make the schools run are sick, it may be out of our hands whether we have the schools close,” Scarpino said.
Dependable Indicator
As more and more Americans rely on rapid tests, the results of which are not reported to public health authorities, the official case numbers become less reliable. That’s why other ways to measure the spread are gaining in importance. Wastewater, for example, has proven a dependable indicator of virus prevalence, and the latest measurements confirm an unprecedented spike.
Around this time last year, analysis found 1,500 copies of Covid RNA per milliliter in Massachusetts water, said Newsha Ghaeli, co-founder and president of Biobot Analytics, which is tracking wastewater Covid in 20 states. Now, it’s up to 7,000 copies per milliliter, she said.
Past research suggests virus spikes in wastewater precede spikes in clinical cases by four to ten days, she said, though those studies predate vaccines. “The data might look scary but we’re prepared,” she said.
Covid levels in sewage are spiking elsewhere in the U.S. In Florida’s Orange County, which includes Orlando, Covid levels this week were double previous record highs from the summer, as the delta variant peaked.
“Because both symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers of the virus shed remnants in their waste, this data provides an accurate picture of how the virus is spreading in our community regardless of the number of people tested,” Ed Torres, Director of Orange County Utilities, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Omicron’s aggressive assault pushed new daily Covid cases in Florida to a record 58,013 on Dec. 29, more than double pre-Christmas levels, according to the CDC. The surge is starting to stress hospitals, where reported daily cases have been breaking records all week. On Thursday, some 4,000 people were hospitalized for Covid in the state, almost doubling in three days, according to the Florida Hospital Association. That’s still a long way from the summer surge of the delta variant, when hospitalizations from Covid peaked at 17,121.
Testing Chaos
The arrival of omicron, though, has sparked chaos at Covid testing sites around the state. In Miami, cars have been lining up for 10 blocks or more at massive, drive-through testing sites in county parks that two weeks ago were nearly empty. When two dozen public libraries began offering free at-home test kits, people began lining up at 4 a.m., quickly emptying stockpiles. As of today, almost 28% of those tested were positive for Covid, CDC data shows.
In Puerto Rico, Covid cases have jumped 45-fold over the past two weeks, even as the island boasts being the most vaccinated U.S. jurisdiction. As of Friday, the health department said 80% of the eligible population has at least two shots.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott asked the federal government to send medical staff, therapeutic drugs and testing equipment to aid the state’s fight to help contain the latest wave. The request targets six counties that include the Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin areas, all of which are experiencing alarming growth in positivity rates and hospitalizations, Abbott said in an emailed statement.
Ultimately, said the Rockefeller Foundation’s Scarpino, the rise in cases is so steep that it looks to him and his colleagues like someone was playing with a mathematical model of disease spread, and tweaked a parameter to make infections “shoot through the roof.”
It's Omicron, the end of covid.
Are you sad your pet disease is dying out?
What are you going to worry and shelter-in-place about now?The following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire! -
2022-01-01 at 9:53 PM UTC
Originally posted by Speedy Parker Do you know what a media analyst is? They watch people like Brian Stetler and Alex Jones so you don't have to in order to know that one of them has gotten a lot of shit right and the other one is paid to lie.
So you're too dumb to go right to the source but rely on others to spoon feed you because you're illiterate/fucking retarded?
like you would be able to tell truth from lies without some shill telling you what to think anyway. -
2022-01-01 at 10:16 PM UTC"We need to breathlessly report on every single person who comes down with the sniffles to try to terrorize everyone with a common cold." ~ The Left
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2022-01-01 at 11:39 PM UTCsomeone post the news from Australia bout how they are paying off over 600,000 cased of bad vax reactions
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2022-01-01 at 11:51 PM UTC
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2022-01-01 at 11:51 PM UTCThose people would be smart not to accept the money and sue for millions instead.
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2022-01-01 at 11:58 PM UTC
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2022-01-01 at 11:59 PM UTC
Originally posted by ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Those people would be smart not to accept the money and sue for millions instead.
Yeah, put up a million at least, and if you win, you're about 2x on your money, you lose, for any number of reasons, you're bankrupt.
Great idea.
Anyone else watching the Monsanto/Bayer Roundup lawsuits? Basically Roundup causes cancer, yet it's going Bayer's way for now. Money talks. -
2022-01-02 at 12:01 AM UTC
Originally posted by aldra pre-registration, I don't think they've actually set the fund up yet
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/government-to-establish-vaccination-injury-compensation-scheme-1.4645797
We're waiting for it here, I'll be doing a claim for sure. -
2022-01-02 at 12:12 AM UTC
Originally posted by Donald Trump Yeah, put up a million at least, and if you win, you're about 2x on your money, you lose, for any number of reasons, you're bankrupt.
It's a sure bet. 100%. Extorting experimental medical procedures onto people is ILLEGAL. Even a blind man can see that. Personally, I'd tell them to shove their pittance of a bribe up their ass and go for $10,000,000 + all legal fees. The ONLY reason they are trying to bribe their way out of it now is because they know for a fact their ass is soon going to be grass. -
2022-01-02 at 12:38 AM UTCmy friend got the covid shot for 100$ gift card which i thought was pretty cool, i won't sell my soul for a mere 100$ so u guys who got the vaxxine have you documented your accrued damages? Is it just you complaining after the fact? I don't think you'll get paid for that.
Should get more vaxxines nd have more complications to get more money. -
2022-01-02 at 12:43 AM UTCDr Robert Malone, the guy who invented the mRNA technology used in the jabs, issues dire warning...
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2022-01-02 at 1:19 AM UTC
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2022-01-02 at 1:27 AM UTCDELTA OMICRON anagram is MEDIA CONTROL
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2022-01-02 at 1:39 AM UTC
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2022-01-02 at 1:42 AM UTC
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2022-01-02 at 5:18 AM UTC
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2022-01-02 at 5:50 PM UTCUS Coronavirus: One dangerous way the Omicron surge is different than previous surges in the US
By Christina Maxouris, CNN
The US kicked off 2022 amid a massive Covid-19 case spike -- driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant -- that some experts warn will be different than any other time in the pandemic.
"What we have to understand is that our health system is at a very different place than we were in previous surges," professor of emergency medicine Dr. Esther Choo told CNN on Saturday. "We have extremely high numbers of just lost health care workers, we've lost at least 20% of our health care workforce, probably more."
"This strain is so infectious," Choo added, "that I think all of us know many, many colleagues who are currently infected or have symptoms and are under quarantine."
The high number of health care staff out with the virus will also have an impact on Americans' doctors appointments and could make for dangerous circumstances when people are hospitalized with Covid-19, Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of Baylor University's National School of Tropical Medicine, said Friday.
"That's a different type of one-two punch: people going into the hospitals ... and all of the health care workers are out of the workforce," he told CNN.
But the latest variant isn't just shrinking health care staff numbers. As the virus spreads like wildfire across American communities, staffing problems are already altering parts of daily life.
Plagued with staffing issues, New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced last week several subway lines were suspended.
In Ohio, the mayor of Cincinnati declared a state of emergency due to staffing shortages in the city's fire department following a rise in Covid-19 infections, saying in the declaration that if the problem goes unaddressed, it would "substantially undermine" first responders' readiness levels.
And in the middle of a busy holiday season, thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed as staff and crew call out sick.
"We're seeing a surge in patients again, unprecedented in this pandemic," Dr. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University Hospital, warned on Saturday. "What's coming for the rest of the country could be very serious and they need to be prepared."
Vast majority of patients still the unvaccinated, expert says
health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic say that unvaccinated Americans continue to drive Covid-19 hospitalizations in the latest surge, much like the summer surge, when the Delta variant was ravaging parts of the country.
Despite a year of calls from public health experts to get vaccinated -- and now boosted -- only about 62% of the US population is fully vaccinated, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And about 33.4% of those who are fully vaccinated have received their booster doses, the data shows.
"If you're unvaccinated, that's the group still at highest risk," Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN Saturday. "The adults that are being admitted to my institution, the vast majority continue to be unvaccinated."
Dr. Catherine O'Neal, the chief medical officer at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said their facility has seen hospital admissions and emergency department visits triple in the past week.
"What we're seeing is that... our vaccinated patients aren't getting sick and our frail, multiple co-morbidities vaccinated patients do need admission, but their admissions are shorter and they're able to leave the hospital after several days," O'Neal said. "Our unvaccinated patients are the sickest patients, they're the patients most likely to be on the ventilator."
The hospital is stretched so thin by the surging numbers, they're concerned they may not be able to "take care of patients the way we want to take care of them by tomorrow," O'Neal added.
"We're running out of tests, we're running out of room, we're inundated in the ER," she added. -
2022-01-02 at 5:54 PM UTC
