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/
by ezs | Mar 8, 2021 | evilzenscientist
Weekend – Almost 3MM vaccinations in the US yesterday. Phenomenal rate. This is the only way to beat the variants; run faster and vaccinate. Plenty of concern about the 50% who say they won’t get the vaccine however. 🙁 100M vaccinated. Concerns in Europe on blood clot risk of AstraZeneca vaccine.
Weekly graph from The Seattle Times. Positive test rate is picking up slightly. 20% with first dose, 11% with two.
Friday – All US adults eligible for vaccine by 1 May, “independence from Covid 4th July”.
Thursday – real concern in Brazil over spiraling cases and overrun hospitals.
Wednesday – Mixed directions in Europe, relaxed rules vs. increased lockdown and a “fourth wave”.
Tuesday – some excitement – as “extra” vaccines are being given at the close of day in many locations in Washington. We made appointments, then were told there was an error. Mid-March – and we must be just weeks away from open vaccinations.
Monday – the year rolls over. A year, 52 weeks, since I started the daily updates on COVID and capturing the news summaries for posterity. So what are my main observations? Firstly I’m glad that The Guardian, The Seattle Times and many other media outlets are still summarising the pandemic news on a daily basis. The BBC news website stopped this in the summer. Secondly – there’s sadly little shock value of dozens, hundreds or thousands dying on a daily basis. >500K deaths in the US – and that number really doesn’t resonate with many. Thirdly – everything is political. Masks, eating out, return to school, vaccination.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/series/coronavirus-live
https://www.seattletimes.com/tag/coronavirus/
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