COVID – week 99 – January 31 – February 6

by ezs | Jan 31, 2022 | evilzenscientist

Weekend – Omicron starts working through NZ; hopefully the vaccination drive means the impact is low.

Cases are on the rapid decrease here in Washington State; tests and N95/KN95 masks are now readily available. I hope the stockpiles get replenished for the next wave.

Friday – US health systems are "broken", full hospitals, understaffed.

Thursday – following record cases, Europe set for a spring and summer of "tranquility" WHO

Wednesday – COVID hospitalisations dropping in Western Washington State.

Tuesday – BA.2 subvariant of Omicron is picking up; re-infections seem to be picking up.

Monday – Spotify vs. Joe Rogan and misinformation vs. Neil Young. Downing Street parties.

This time last year – "US is blind to mutations and spread"

This time 2020 – the quiet between "first case" and "panic".

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/

COVID – week 98 – January 24 – January 30

by ezs | Jan 24, 2022 | evilzenscientist

Weekend – well – the case count is literally off the chart, again. This may be bad date for one day, but there are still 24k+ cases being detected and reported. The case rate per 100k shows most of the case density is in the east of Washington.

Friday – UK cases, hospitalisation and deaths dropping. Continued indication that the main wave of Omicron is past in parts of the US and UK. On the flip side, the lagging indicator – deaths – are reaching record levels across the US.

Thursday – free N95 masks coming to local pharmacies – as a result of the 400M mask federal effort. These are from the National Strategic Stockpile. I hope these get cycled into first line, health care, educator and then community use – and the stockpile gets rebuilt quickly.

Wednesday – King County Omicron cases are dropping, by over 40% in the last week, hopefully a positive sign that vaccinations, boosters, immunity will give us a healthier summer. Many places emerging from Omicron and removing restrictions.

Tuesday – Possible conflict in Ukraine and the woes of Boris Johnson are pushing Covid news below the fold.

Monday – US federal and state governments are shipping N95/KN95 masks and lateral flow tests to homes. Our WA State tests arrived within 2 days, via Amazon.

This time last year – vaccines, supply and demand, variants and testing. Watched the documentary "76 Days". Mask wearing is hyper partisan.

This time 2020 – the daily blog pre-amble. Looking back at diaries, planners and notes – this was still "in the office" and there was some nervous talk about the "Chinese flu" and the recent case in Washington. One of the team had recently flown through SE Asia returning from vacation, and spread a virulent cold/cough through the team.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/

COVID – week 97 – January 17 – January 23

by ezs | Jan 18, 2022 | evilzenscientist

Weekend – Omicron is spreading in New Zealand; hopefully the previous lockdowns and vaccination drives (>93% fully vaccinated) mean this is as uneventful as possible.

UK Omicron cases peaked in adults, continue to build in kids, who are now passing it back to parents. (@ProfColinDavis)

Weekly look at Washington State. A couple of days lag on the reported data; but hopefully the peak in cases has passed us.

Still only 63% of the State fully vaccinated; still very patchy and closely aligned with voting patterns.

Friday – "2 shots and a booster"; or to be more succinct – a three course immunisation. New Omicron variant "BA.2" in the wild.

Thursday – US Gov starts to provide N95 masks and lateral flow tests; good, but tbh three+ months late. Looking forward, there is a distinct "post omicron" sense that masks, restrictions and testing are going to go away, and Covid just becomes endemic. I predict a quiet summer and another combined "flu/covid" winter. Boosters and flu shots delivered in one.

Wednesday – We managed to get lateral flow tests from Target (a miracle!) negative on both. PCR tests done yesterday, waiting for those results.

Tuesday – 500k new cases in France, Italy 230k cases. UK on the down side of the curve. More Covid exposure in the house; and similar "numb nose, strange smell" symptoms. PCR test done.

Monday – "majority of Seattle areas 200k unvaccinated, will not get the vaccine" meaning variants, breakouts and one of the mutations will kill thousands.

This time last year – two years sine the first COVID case in Washington State. Mutations and concern about breakouts. Vaccinations ramping up. The Seattle Times link naming goes around again – adding -2 to urls.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/

COVID – week 96 – January 10 – January 16

by ezs | Jan 11, 2022 | evilzenscientist

Weekend – the usual glimpse at state data, and there are a lot of cases, hospitalisations, and the death rate is flat. 77% omicron. UK case rates are still 80k+; but falling rapidly.

Friday – school districts locally continue to move to remote learning due to staff shortages. That rapid peak of cases, the wave of hospitalisations and deaths is coming behind.

Thursday – UK cases are dropping; virus traces in sewage in Boston, MA show that cases may also have peaked.

Wednesday – rapidly approaching the two year anniversary of the first cases of Covid in the US, here in Washington State. Schools are closing because of cases in teachers, support staff, bus drivers, etc.

Tuesday – record breaking case counts across Western Europe; UK looks to be declining; SA see omicron rapidly burning out. CDC now recommending N95/KN95 masks. “Up to 60% of KN95 masks are counterfeit”

Monday – record hospital admissions in the US – over 132k hospitalised. Work from home mandate in Sweden. New Zealand preparing for omicron; there’s a lot that can be learned.

This time last year – “will variants evade the current vaccines”, the shock of 60k+ cases per day in the UK, 2500 cases in Washington State.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live

https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/