by ezs | Oct 21, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – slight uptick in cases in Washington State; but a good 6-8 weeks of downward trend now.
Friday – Plenty of reports on mixed boosters – anecdotally it looks like “MMM”, “MMP”, “PPM” in order are the most effective. One of the house is getting Moderna booster (“MMM”) next week.
Thursday – boosters, mixed boosters – both approved by the CDC and FDA. Children 5-11 will soon be eligible. That’s another big vaccination target to remove transmission vectors. If there can be >80% vaccination Covid will move from being a pandemic to endemic. As noted last year – that means an annual “covid shot”, probably in conjunction with a flu shot, targeted at the current variant of concern. In the UK >50k cases, much discussion about the real, non-symptomatic rate being above 100k. What this looks like (plans B and C) for winter isolation and protecting NHS and other key workers). New variant “AY.4.2” more infectious than delta.
Wednesday – 3% of Washington State employees are gone after not meeting the vaccine deadline. In context – that’s less than the “normal” attrition rate through retirement or moves. School north of Seattle closes because of Covid outbreak.
Tuesday – Washington State University fire their high profile football coach. Multiple Washington State Patrol staff leave WSP.
Monday – Tests for all of the family. Two positive, two negative. Isolating in the home.
This time last year – Continuing ramp of European cases, stable in Washington State.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Oct 19, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – positive test for the house member. That’s thoroughly annoying. I’ll save my rant for private.
NZ hosts “vaxathon” – over 2.5% of the population jabbed in a single day.
Cases in Washington State trending downwards.
Friday – Uh oh – a house member has been exposed to COVID through a potentially unvaccinated co-worker. Off to get tested in an abundance of caution.
Thursday – US travel restrictions lifting. Still >40k daily cases in the UK.
Wednesday – Russia >30k cases. Still generally high transmissions around the globe.
Tuesday – Moderna to join Pfizer in approval for booster shots. Mixed boosters also to be considered.
Monday – Cases still dropping in Washington.
This time last year – European wave, looking forward to Thanksgiving being a super-spreader event.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Oct 12, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – we’ve been out a few times in the last month – and every time it’s been to vaccination required, masks required venues. Bands, movies, sports. This is going to become the new normal; and it’s been made easier with the higher vaccination rates in the Seattle area.
In Washington State, positive cases are declining. In King County >80% adults and around 70% of all residents are fully vaccinated.
Friday – Good numbers coming from US CDC about vaccination numbers – but it’s still very skewed.
Thursday – flu shot. Good line of folk getting first, second or booster Covid vaccines.
Wednesday – flu shot booked for tomorrow, reported shortages.
Tuesday – UK still at >30k cases per day, 100k kids off school.
Monday – Russia urging vaccinations. Booster shots live in the US.
This time last year – the beginning of the massive Covid ramp in the UK.
I wrote this week retrospectively; so shorter notes.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Sep 27, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – “Worst to come” for UK. 5% of secondary school pupils in the UK had Covid last week. Locally case rates are trending down quite dramatically.
Weekly graphic from The Seattle Times.
Friday – UK continues to see >30k daily cases.
Thursday – we went to our first in-cinema film in over 18 months. Vaccinations required, masks required. Many bars, restaurants and venues are requiring the exact same protocols. This is going to become the “new normal”, and the sooner there is a standardised, non-paper vaccination record the better.
Wednesday – vaccine mandates are controversial; but United Airlines sees >99% vaccinated.
Tuesday – vaccination sites in Seattle and King County are re-opening for vaccine boosters. Lockdown and travel restrictions easing in Auckland, NZ.
Monday – good commentary on the US vaccination program and why it stalled.
This time last year – Trump had COVID, 200k deaths in the US, 1M globally
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Sep 20, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – Washington State cases are down, deaths are up.
Friday – Booster shots are back on the table in the US; over 65 – get a top up.
Thursday – On one side: Portugal fully vaccinates 85% of adult population; on the other: health care system collapse in Alaska, Idaho and other states.
Wednesday – many of the protections from the last 18 months are being unwound; eviction protection, furlough, quarantine pay. In the UK – UK Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, tells MPs that most transmission is currently in children: “There is definitely substantial transmission happening in this age group.”
Tuesday – super local – bunch of Issaquah High School kids positive, and spread at a football game. Waiting for these numbers to grow quickly – and then what? Back to distance learning? Data from ISD Covid Dashboard.
Monday – “Pfizer vaccine safe for kids 5-11” – emergency use authorisation soon, close followed by 6mo – 5. US to allow vaccinated non-citizens from UK and EU to visit from November
This time last year – the start of another wave in Europe; bleach as cure for Covid
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Sep 19, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Great write up from the MSRC
Additional Guidance Regarding OMI Vulnerabilities within Azure VM Management Extensions – Microsoft Security Response Center
- make sure the Microsoft repos are added for your distros
- update as part of your regular cycle
My SLES15 servers were patched in minutes. Reboot required – but that’s part of the process.
by ezs | Sep 12, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – 42 million COVID cases in the US, 1 million in the last week. Nowhere close to being out of this yet.
Weekly data from The Seattle Times. Cases at a plateau (and hopefully downward trend), deaths still climbing.
Friday – Washington cases may have peaked – above the rate of last winter.
Thursday – “over 90% of young adults have antibodies” – did the last wave of Delta in the UK bring about enough for herd immunity?
Wednesday – Covid deaths and cases in the US are at and above the levels of last winter. Healthcare crisis (and potential triage/rationing) in Idaho.
Tuesday – Pfizer looking for Emergency Use Approval for kids 5-12 and fast following 6 months – 5. That will certainly help with schools being a major vector for infection right now.
Monday – vaccine passports and vaccine mandates are starting to become required. This is the next round of politicisation of Covid.
This time last year – back to school, virus outbreaks, no vaccines “for a year”. BBC stopped doing daily updates
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Sep 7, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – deaths, protests, politics.
Seattle Times weekly status. Average case numbers seems to be stabilising at around 4300 cases per week – which is still higher than any point of the pandemic to date.
Friday – vaccine mandates announced in the US. Political firestorm follows.
Thursday – Microsoft “no return to office in foreseeable future, indefinitely delayed” – which seems to be the new normal with Delta cases across the State, US and world climbing still. Here in King County – cases per 100k population seems to have stabilised. Still too high by far.
Data from King County Health Key indicators of COVID-19 activity – King County
Wednesday – those UK case numbers look dreadful. More cases in the last month than over the 2020 winter break.
Tuesday – Chile approving Sinovac for over 6 year olds.
Monday – UK positive numbers are huge; big discussion on whether this will burn out quickly (October) or slowly (mid 2022). Mu detected variant across the US.
This time last year – vaccine trials, record cases in Europe. Rising cases in US.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Aug 30, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – UK deaths rising, continued mask and vaccine resistance.
Brazil – Argentina WCQ game called off because of Covid restrictions.
On a personal note – we attended our first live music gig since Covid started – fully vaccinated requirement, masks also required. This is going to be the new normal.
Weekly local data from The Seattle Times. 14 day average cases >4000 still.
Friday – UK NHS GPs are cancelling flu shots because of vaccine shortages.
Thursday – Delta still raging; average cases >3200 per day in Washington State, which is higher than the peak of last winter. Graph from The Seattle Times.
Wednesday – is mu the variant that will breakout? It’s the newest VOI.
Tuesday – Back to school, masks on. Washington State hospitals are full, with similar stories from Idaho, Oregon and beyond.
Monday – US travelers to the EU face restrictions again. Back to school in Washington State, across much of the US and Canada, and the UK and Europe. Fears of escalating cases.
This time last year – vaccine is on the way; half a year of blogging and working from home. News changing from hopeful to grim.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
by ezs | Aug 22, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – Washington State is now averaging more than 3000 cases per day; which is more than the peak of November/December 2020. Return to school in the northern hemisphere “will lead to sharp rise in cases”
Weekly graphic from The Seattle Times
Friday – UK cases, hospitalisations are rising again. EU moves to restrict travel from the US.
From The Guardian.
Thursday – 990% increase in hospitalisations since July 9th in Portland, OR. Washington State and Oregon State are adopting strict requirements for masking and social distancing.
Wednesday – the continued politicisation of vaccines and masking. Extremely polarising. Locally, King County positive case rates are starting to drop; mask mandate working? Back to school next week – so fingers crossed.
Key indicators of COVID-19 activity – King County
Tuesday – Hawaii heading to shutdown tourists; more US school districts move back to remote learning. School starts here in Washington next week.
Monday – FDA give full approval to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine – moving from Emergency Authorisation granted in December 2020.
This time last year – in the plateau before the fall wave; 500 or so cases per day and declining. Compare to a year later – and it’s over 3,800 cases per day.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
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