Select Page

COVID – week 80 – September 20 – September 26

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.

image

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

The Guardian The Seattle Times
20 Sep here here
21 Sep here here
22 Sep here here
23 Sep here here
24 Sep here here
25 Sep here here
26 Sep here

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

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

COVID – week 79 – September 13 – September 19

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.

image

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

The Guardian The Seattle Times
13 Sep here here
14 Sep here here
15 Sep here here
16 Sep here here
17 Sep here here
18 Sep here here
19 Sep here

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

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

COVID – week 78 – September 6 – September 12

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.

image

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.

image

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.

The Guardian The Seattle Times
6 Sep here here
7 Sep here here
8 Sep here here
9 Sep here here
10 Sep here here
11 Sep here here
12 Sep here

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

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

COVID – week 77 – August 30 – September 5

Weekend – UK deaths rising, continued mask and vaccine resistance.image

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.

image

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.

The Guardian The Seattle Times
30 Aug here here
31 Aug here here
1 Sep here here
2 Sep here here
3 Sep here here
4 Sep here here
5 Sep here

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

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

COVID – week 76 – August 23 – August 29

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.

image

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.

image

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.

The Guardian The Seattle Times
23 Aug here here
24 Aug here here
25 Aug here here
26 Aug here here
27 Aug here here
28 Aug here here
29 Aug here

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

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

COVID – week 75 – August 16 – August 22

Weekend – Still huge numbers of cases in the UK; >30k per day. Graph from The Guardian.

image

Locally – over two weeks of >3000 cases; hospitals are filling. The death rate is still relatively stable.

Good write up from The Seattle Times on “ZIP code hesitancy” – echoes previous notes here.

image

Friday – After last years UV light, bleach and then hydroxychloroquine; now we hear of Ivermectin (used to control stock parasites) being taken. 70% of recent calls to the Mississippi Poison Control Center are regarding Ivermectin poisoning.

Thursday – Local hospitals are full; mainly with younger, non vaccinated patients. From Portland, OR where there is a city-wide ambulance triage and rotation in place.

Wednesday – Delta variant is spreading in NSW, Australia; case numbers are low – but after 18 months of strict border control and late vaccinations – there’s a real risk.

Tuesday – UK numbers are still high. NZ reports first case in months. Strong lockdown has high approval in NZ.

Monday – Florida, Texas – cases, mask mandates, politics, schools and full hospitals.

This time last year – news of vaccine trials, mutations, folk rushing back from vacation to avoid lockdown.

The Guardian The Seattle Times
16 Aug here here
17 Aug here here
18 Aug here here
19 Aug here here
20 Aug here here
21 Aug here here
22 Aug here

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

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

COVID – week 74 – August 9 – August 15

Weekend – King County is exploding with new cases. Data from King County Health: Key indicators of COVID-19 activity – King County Incidence rates are about where they were in November, before the vaccines. The overwhelming majority of these cases are in unvaccinated people.

No photo description available.

There are areas (Mercer Island, Issaquah, Sammamish, Redmond, Kirkland, parts of Seattle) with vaccination completion at >90%. The majority of the county is at >70%. There are some very specific outliers in South King County and the more rural parts. There is strong evidence showing this is both via race/ethnicity; as well as political allegiance.

image

Friday – Away from the PNW for a moment – and Delta driven cases are surging everywhere. UK, France, Japan, Thailand. The huge concern is a new variant being vaccine resistant; I’ve written about this for over a year. Lambda variant, first detected in Peru, looks to be of concern. Still flagged as a Variant of Interest; if not this one – then soon.

Thursday – Covid test results back – negative (phew!).

Screenshot_20210812-102416

Wednesday – There is a surge in Covid cases in King County – and there are no appointments to be had for days. Eventually went to the UW/Bellevue drive through testing without an appointment, and got tested. Very busy.

Tuesday – Notified by the WA Notify app that I was potentially exposed to Covid. Concerning because working from home, carefully masking when out, avoiding crowds – and still someone was within 6 feet/2m for >15 minutes; and tested positive.

Screenshot_20210810-153759

Monday – Delta surge, back to school and already we have children sick and dying in the US. Delta related cases and deaths soar across the globe – Philippines, Iran, Europe. IPCC report on Climate Change bumps Covid from the headlines.

This time last year – UK quarantine chaos (nothing changes), work from home “for at least six months”.

The Guardian The Seattle Times
9 Aug here here
10 Aug here here
11 Aug here here
12 Aug here here
13 Aug here here
14 Aug here here
15 Aug here

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

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

COVID – week 73 – August 2 – August 8

Weekend- large rush for Covid tests reported in WA; and the cases are really skyrocketing. Push to vaccinate Latino population across Washington. More and more anti-vaccine, Covid-hoaxers are dying.

Friday – Amazon pushes any return to office to January 2022. That’s almost two years! Long list of Seattle area bars/restaurants now requiring vaccination or negative test.

Thursday – UK cases are back at 30k/day. France looks to be approving a nation wide vaccination passport.

image

Wednesday – “visitors to the US may require vaccination”

Tuesday – multiple Seattle areas companies – including Microsoft – will require vaccination for return to office.

Monday – 70% of US Adults have now received 1 or more vaccines. There is a rush for both testing and for vaccinations as Delta hits hard in the US South

This time last year – all over by “early summer [of 2020] changes to early 2021”.

The Guardian The Seattle Times
2 Aug here here
3 Aug here here
4 Aug here here
5 Aug here here
6 Aug here here
7 Aug here here
8 Aug here

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

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

COVID – week 72 – July 26 – August 1

Weekend – The Seattle Times seems to be cutting back on daily updates; the graphic (below) is now updated a few times per week; and for the second week no Sunday summaries. Here in Seattle bars and restaurants are starting to self-impose “vaccination required” to enter. Florida and Texas continue to see record cases. Fauci warns “things will get worse”.

Friday – this seems very similar to last summer; except that the new outbreaks and deaths are all in the non-vaccinated parts of the country.

Thursday – US Eviction ban ends this weekend. 6.4M Americans are late on rent payments.

Wednesday – Tokyo cases at all time high. Olympic Games still progressing with few new cases. Israel approves Pfizer vaccine for some children 5-11. Mask mandates returning across the US.

Tuesday – much discussion of State and Federal worker mandated vaccination.

Monday – UK cases from Delta variant; look to be a sharp peak; rapid rise, rapid fall.

This time last year – after five months the rhythm of daily updates was set. US cases flattening. Initial fiscal impact of COVID >$320BN.

The Guardian The Seattle Times
26 Jul here here
27 Jul here here
28 Jul here here
29 Jul here here
30 Jul here here
31 Jul here here
1 Aug here

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

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