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COVID – week 108 – April 4 – April 10

Weekend – the BA.2 strain is dominant. Locally there are a lot of cases close to home. The Washington State cases have picked up.

Friday – Federal mandate for vaccination is upheld. Masks, vaccination and everything related are starkly political.

Thursday – two years after the panic about PPE, tests and government support for business, the fraud cases are starting to come to court. So much grift, malpractice and just straight theft.

Wednesday – Covid cases soaring in the UK. NHS pressure. Second booster done. Yay.

Tuesday – much concern about Omicron/BA.2 spread in China. Shanghai on lockdown.

Monday – fourth shot/second booster booked for mid-week.

This time 2021 – Washington State picking up new cases. UK emerging from a major wave and lifting restrictions.

This time 2020 – UK NHS at near breaking point. Boris Johnson with Covid. Visible changes: no planes in the sky. Less roadnoise.

  The Seattle Times
4 Apr here
5 Apr here
6 Apr here
7 Apr here
8 Apr here
9 Apr here
10 Apr  

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

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

COVID – week 107 – March 28 – April 3

Weekend – locally, cases are low, hospitalisations are low, and the general population seems to think the pandemic is over. Anecdotally – Covid is still taking kids out of school.

Friday  – as war continues to dominate the news cycles, the continued Omicron surge in South Korea, Hong Kong SAR and PRC is generally unreported. The growing number of cases in the UK and now the US is not getting any attention. Meanwhile the number of hospitalised in the US is at a pandemic low.

Thursday – UK stopping free tests, now similar to US in tests being sold in retail stores.

Wednesday – How to Survive a Pandemic looks to be the latest in documentaries giving narrative of the pandemic.

Tuesday – FDA approves second boosters for 50+. UK Partygate fines issued.

Monday – Shanghai, PRC in lockdown.

This time 2021 – the start of a new wave, Covid spreading faster than vaccination.

This time 2020 – blood draw to see if I had early Covid in January (I did not), lockdowns being relaxed in the US.

  The Seattle Times
28 Mar here
29 Mar here
30 Mar here
31 Mar here
1 Apr here
2 Apr here
3 Apr  

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

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

COVID – week 106 – March 21 – March 27

Weekend – positive cases are down dramatically since the start of the year. Unclear how many tests are actually being run now. UK cases keep trending up; disastrous timing of all protections being lifted, along with a surge of BA.2. It’s a balancing act to what happens next in the US.

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Friday – much discussion about vaccination rates, boosters, a fourth shot – and the timing of any fourth shot. Does this become an annual combination ‘flu and covid’ shot. I mentioned this two years ago.

Thursday – BA.2 keeps popping up as the next variant of concern. The "dance" of the Hammer and The Dance.

Wednesday – US airlines ask for mask mandates in airports and on planes to be lifted.

Tuesday – no funding in the budget for more COVID testing and boosters/vaccinations. BA.2 variant is now 25% of cases in Washington state.

Monday – New covid wave in the UK. Big jumps in positive cases. That peak is as bad as the end of 2021.

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This time 2021 – another wave. Spring break, no masks, variants.

This time 2020 – Fauci predicts 100-200k deaths in the US. (it’s now 1M), military field hospitals being built in Seattle, 3.3M file unemployment.

  The Seattle Times
21 Mar here
22 Mar here
23 Mar here
24 Mar here
25 Mar here
26 Mar here
27 Mar  

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

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

COVID – week 105 – March 14 – March 20

Weekend – The Seattle Times weekly graph – rapidly declining cases, hospitalisations and death rates. Much discussion of a "second booster" or "fourth shot".

Hong Kong death rates are insane. This from The Economist.

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Friday – Covid in over 70s in UK at record high. After two years, this is the pandemic that everyone is now forgetting.

Thursday – good listen from The Guardian on the coming wave of Covid.

Wednesday – Canada to drop testing requirement for visitors from the US from April 1.

Tuesday – BA.2 is starting to make news. ~100M people in PRC under lockdown or restrictions. Fourth dose (second booster?) will be needed, Pfizer CEO says an annual shot will be needed. I refer back to my comments from 2020. CDC Wastewater Surveillance System shows 1000% jump in Covid DNA in Seattle wastewater.

Monday – "UK should brace for rising cases", meanwhile all travel restrictions dropped in the UK. BA.2 Omicron variant starting to run fast. PRC locks down Jilin province. Concerns that Sinovac isn’t as effective against omicron and variant. Dropped The Guardian from the daily summaries – but no doubt another raging covid wave will force its return.

This time 2021 – another wave passes across Europe, Washington State following closely. 100M vaccinations in 58 days.

This time 2020 – the start of panic buying amidst FUD and calls for rationing.

  The Seattle Times
14 Mar here
15 Mar here
16 Mar here
17 Mar here
18 Mar here
19 Mar here
20 Mar  

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

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

COVID – week 104 – March 7 – March 13

Weekend – call for fourth jab in England, Covid cases rising again. Changchun, PRC on lockdown because of surge of Covid.

Locally – mask mandates end this weekend, many businesses still requiring masks and vaccine proof.

Friday – "one third of US Covid child deaths were from omicron". Hong Kong battling huge wave of Covid.

Thursday – Covid building up again in England.

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Wednesday – vaccination mandates, mask mandates – ending across the US and Europe. Meanwhile Hong Kong, Israel and others are seeing a fifth wave of Covid.

Tuesday – ah – the variants are coming back. "Deltacron" and BA.2 are starting to enter the vernacular. With war taking the headlines, and a weary populous; this could just be "let it run" – which is a disaster for public health, those sheltering, the immune compromised, and anyone with children under 5.

Monday – good read on the coalition of extreme groups forming across the US.

This time 2021 – vaccination and beating the variants. A year into working from home, and it’s the new normal.

This time 2020 – getting into the groove of weekly blogging with daily news aggregation. Restaurants and bars closing, statewide school closures, large gatherings banned.

  The Guardian The Seattle Times
7 Mar   here
8 Mar   here
9 Mar   here
10 Mar   here
11 Mar   here
12 Mar   here
13 Mar    

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

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