Pandemic Report
The latest weekly stats from CDC
 |
| via CDC |
The virus is at near the pandemic low, although in some regions (see above) they are flirting with last winter's surge highs. Latest celebrity infections include VP Kamala Harris' husbamd, and key Danish and British cyclists had to withdraw from the Tour de France. I've seen reference to the 2024/2025 COVID FLiRT booster hopefully being available mid-September.
The latest news items of interest include:
- The Los Angeles surge intensity is thought to be related to too many peoople without last fall's monovalent omicron booster
- \Migrants (e.g., Southern border) are thought to be more vulnerable to infection or serious related health conditions
- Fraud continued to be prosecuted including
- a Kentucky couple was sentenced for EIDL loan fraud for businesses no longer operating
- a Louisiana school system employee was caght for violating the CARES Act for the benefit of fraudulent businesses
- a VA woman fraudulently applied for PPP loans and unemployment benefits
- In one case. a CEO fraudulently led investors to believe he had acquired millions of rapid COVID test kits from an Australian supplier
- Dr. Rochelle Walensky's successor at heading CDC, Dr. Mandy Cohen, gave an interview on her challenges, including political, in her first year of leading CDC
- Violet Affleck, celebrity daughter, who herself experienced (other) post-viral complications, spoke out against mask bans in medical settings
- A Heritage Foundation assessment includes over $18 T in damages related to COVID which it blames on the Chinese government: " That figure includes more than $8.6 trillion caused by excess deaths; more than $1.825 trillion in lost income; $6 trillion due to chronic conditions such as "long COVID"; and mental health losses of $1 trillion and educational losses of $435 billion pushed the total above $18 trillion."
- “The research shows that any mask is much better than no mask, and an N95 is significantly better than the other options"
- Gallup's latest poll shows about 60% of respondents think the pandemic is over. (I disagree.)
- One Medicare scam during the pandemic was companies shipping unwanted COVID test kits to senior citizens and charging the government.
- Catching COVID poses health risks to pregnant women: "Prior research has shown that pregnant women infected with the virus are more likely to suffer hospitalization and death compared to non-pregnant controls. COVID in pregnancy also leads to a higher risk of stillbirth and preterm birth. " In this study: "1 in 10 pregnant women with COVID-19 go on to develop long COVID"
- "NIH-funded analysis of health record data shows severe reinfections often follow severe first infections."
- A MA first responder's widow is being denied death benefits because they claim she can't prove he got COVID on the job.
- The latest anti-vaxxer lie claims COVID vaccinations are a complication in getting life insurance.
Other Notes
I'm still getting bloated blog statistics and puzzling enigmas like why one of my 2015 posts is suddenly drawing more interest than a more recent one. The Twitter/X account runs hot and cold. I can't get more than a handful of impressions and then some days I get write multiple 100+ impression tweets.
I finally got caught up on all PCs' Windows' patches although one of them really required dowloading MS Media Creation Tool, something really driven by error messages from a failed feature patch. I had to do it another time in the past I seem to recall it was something like a limited time free upgrade to Windows 10. I've mostly written this post on my Windows 11 desktop; I was doing cloud uploads and running into memory issues on my regular workhouse. E.g., the first (CDC) chart wasn't loading. But troubleshooting never seems to end. I initially first turned to my Chromebook but for some reason (probably some VPN issue) I was running into browser connection issues. I didn't have any issues the last time I used it. I also want to start on my next CE extension for my SEC+ this summer. And one of cloud computing services has a cap on the number of files it\ll do on an upload. So one workaround is to build containers and pack files into the containers. Another service will cache file uploads on available C drive space and I've run into situations where it runs out of space.
I did a recent gig on 1099, meaning I had to file estimated taxes to the feds and the state--including the full 15.3% payroll taxes. Not only that, but you don't get to charge for holidays and you don't see a penny for weeks. The government wants its cut on its own schedule. I remember I had to go into my savings to make my first quarterly tax payment to Uncle Sam. Not to mention I was on the road 3 hours a day. I cannot reveal the hell I went through on that gig, including unprofessional, disagreeable, volatile civilians. Not to mention I was on site more often than the civilians.
