Pandemic Report
The latest CDC weekly stats;
The short-term indicators{test positivity and ER visits) are down; we still aren't getting good numbers on hospitalizations. Some areas remain a serious concern, such as some Wisconsin beaches closed. The numbers are still high overall, but the flu numbers are dominating. We continue to see pandemic regulations rolled back, like a vaccine mandate in Chicago. you continue to see 5th year anniversary posts like for 2020 cruise ship breakouts.
Related news items include:
- " COVID vaccination saved more than 5,000 US lives in 7 months in 2023-24, CDC estimates"
- "In-person Sunday Mass attendance back to pre-COVID levels"
- "Novavax Seeks Full FDA Approval for COVID-19 Vaccine"
- "Novavax’s Updated COVID-19 Vaccine's Continue to Enhance Immune Response"
- "Nearly 30% of cats, dogs owned by COVID patients had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by 2021"
- 'Post-infection immunity may wane faster after SARS-CoV-2 Omicron than after previous strains"
- "Living Near Active Oil and Gas Wells May Have Increased Risk of Dying from COVID-19"
- 'Long COVID impacting more than 1 million children"
- "Medicare beneficiaries can receive Paxlovid at no cost through February 28, 2025."
- "COVID-19 speeds up artery plaque growth, raising heart disease risk"
- "Argentina says it’s withdrawing from the WHO, blames COVID-19 response"
- "Jeff Yau, an associate professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, in 2022, when he tested positive for COVID-19,began as a mild case of COVID seemed uneventful—fever, loss of taste, and other telltale symptoms that resolved within days. Yet about four weeks later, his body began to change. Tingling and numbness crept in, followed by tremors that disrupted his daily life. Doctors gave him a diagnosis: chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), a rare autoimmune disorder potentially triggered by his infection"
- Legal and political aspects of COVID continue, including
- "Court Orders San Francisco to Rehire Employees Who Refused COVID-19 Vaccine"
- "Pennsylvania College of Technology board votes to settle COVID-19 shutdown lawsuit for $1.85 million"
- "U.S. Rep. Shreve files bill to use unspent COVID-19 funds on southern border wall"
- "TN woman to receive $500k in COVID-19 vaccine lawsuit"
- "DHS Inspector General issues final report on Insufficient Oversight of FEMA COVID-19 grants"
- Misinformation about vaccines and other COVID data including
- false rumors that Moderna tested its mRNA on humans in 2017. before the breakout
- 'Social media users in China are spreading Elon Musk’s claim that Covid-19 was caused by a bioweapon created with US funding – an allegation the tech billionaire made on Sunday as part of an attack on the US Agency for International Development (USAID)."
- Prosecution of COVID relief fraud and other crimes continues, including
- " DOJ prepares trial against woman allegedly behind $250M COVID-19 fraud"
- "Illinois postal workers accused of faking business to cash in on COVID-19 relief"
- "Colorado Springs man gets prison in COVID-19 fraud case"
- "Pennsylvania man stole $8.4M from COVID-19 assistance program"
- "Delco man convicted of defrauding $8.4M in COVID-19 relief programs"
Other Notes
The blog continues to gather dubious high pageviews although lower than last month's. My Twitter/X feed's followers at present are back to the mid-70's. What's particular notable is how many solo-like tweets I publish; I don't know how common that trend is. I do get a percentage of multi-like tweets, but it's a minor percentage.
Somehow I found myself back on Amazon Prime again. Not intentionally: for several weeks now I've carefully avoided nominal trial period offers like 2 weeks for $2. For unfamiliar readers, I was a multi-year year subscriber, and last November they put an annual charge on my card which they didn't alert me to. The card issuer ended up canceling the card over suspected fraud. Amazon customer service botched the incident, including canceling my renewal on a different credit card. And it took me forever for Amazon to reimburse both transactions. Since then I've changed my Amazon shopping to hit the general $35 minimum to qualify for "free" shipping. So this past week I was printing my completed tax returns when my printer ink indicator went on Luckily my printing completed without incident. so I went on Amazon to replenish my black ink cartridge, and thought I had sidestepped the usual trial option; I'm not sure what happened. Maybe it was a bonus offer.
I tweeted briefly about this. We had a tragedy in the extended family this past week. My third sister has 6 kids; she has an education degree. Get this: her kids' given names start with ABCDEF respectively. The first 5 are guys and all became Eagle Scouts. like my BIL. I once called them their folks' basketball team. A responded, "Yeah, the world's shortest basketball team. " Not really. Like me, they're like mostly like within an inch or 2 of average, except for one. My sister is really petite. Ironically my best friend, the late Bruce Breeding, my UH doctoral student officemate, moved to the NE suburbs of Dallas after he left Murray State as a junior professor and volunteered in Scouts. He had no idea we were siblings. She has a sweet disposition; he once joked I was an "acquired taste" in friendship.
So B, like A. earned a BBA (I think) at Texas A&M .and like their Dad have had IT careers, although I think more on the functional/consulting side. I knew he has worked for a Michigan healthcare IT firm for the past decade, although I think he recently left the company. A few years back B fell in love with C., a local Michigan girl, and they married and soon had 3 young kids; I haven't met the rest of his family in person. .I last messaged C on Facebook this past year after the passing of her beloved dad. Over the past week, C, expecting their fourth child, had an aneurysm; she never regained consciousness, and she and her unborn child were declared dead days ago. She is an organ donor, so I think they are keeping her alive for organ harvesting. I wouldn't wish my nephew's heartbreak on anyone. How do you tell 3 young kids they'll neve see their mom again and have them share one last hug with Mommy?
