Post #7723 J

 Endemic Report

The latest weekly CDC stats:

The Sick Times:

We do see infections  up in Texas and Florida, although, as TST  concludes above, it's unclear whether it's a random event during a fading winter wave or the signs of an early summer surge. Probably the biggest news of the week was a multi-state settlement with a COVID test producer.

COVID-19 news this week:

• "Ensitrelvir Prevents Household COVID-19 Transmission in Phase 3 Trial"
• "COVID-19 era outdoor dining disappearing in downtown Norfolk"
• "FDA Approves Tocilizumab-bavi for CAR-T-Induced CRS, Pediatric COVID-19"
• "Leading OB-GYN society breaks from CDC on recommended vaccines for pregnant women, including COVID-19"
• "New study shows metformin given during acute COVID-19 infection reduced risk of clinician-diagnosed long COVID by 50%"
• "COVID-19 still kills over 30,000 a year in Japan; old people at risk"
• "Severe COVID-19 reveals distinct immune patterns tied to metabolism, not just antiviral response"
• "Study links menstrual cycle timing to COVID vaccine side effects"
• "Israeli, Czech scientists recreate COVID-19’s evolutionary journey in a test tube"
• "Lani Pallister Calls Catching COVID for 5th Time “So Random”"
• "Invivyd doses first participants in COVID-19 vaccine trial"
• "SARS-CoV-2 Infection Carries Greater Autoimmune Risk Than Vaccination"
• "AI-designed universal vaccine clears first human trial, targets future coronavirus threats with needle-free delivery"
• "Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic was especially high among older persons and men"
• COVID relief fraud/other crimes:
• " Nevada fraud case targets seven men over COVID-19 relief loan applications"
• "Georgia Man Gets Prison Time for SBA COVID Loan Fraud"
• "Moberly man pleads guilty to $284,000 COVID-19 rental assistance fraud"
• "Frisco couple gets 40 years for $30 million COVID-era pyramid scheme targeting thousands"
• "Former ATF Investigator Accused of Defrauding Covid-19 Program"
• "Chickaloon man sentenced to prison for COVID-19 fraud conspiracy"
• "Man accused of trying to steal $170K in COVID relief funds given prison time"
• "Marina del Rey Man Faces Sentencing for $3M COVID Loan Fraud"
• "Dayton-area case ends with nine convictions tied to COVID-19 relief fraud"
• Legal/political issues:
• "Judge questions US Attorney's Office as charges are dropped in Loretto Hospital fraud case"
• "White House response to hantavirus and Ebola contrasts with COVID criticisms"
• "Mercy Springfield faces lawsuit over COVID-19 vaccine requirement"
• "Department of Justice backs Catholic football coach suing university over COVID vaccine mandate"
• "Mamdani-backed candidate peddled crackpot COVID-19 claim pushed by Chinese Communists"

Other Notes

The blog continues to average nearly 1K pageviews daily. Maybe this is the new normal.. I'm somewhat surprised that my journal post, which is normally my highest-performing, wasn't up to expectations. I thought the write-up on my last federal contracting gig was compelling. As to X/Twitter, I was startled to see I lost 4 followers overnight. It's not necessarily losing followers, but it usually happens more slowly over time.

I haven't watched Hallmark to see if they've started to promote the annual Christmas in July interlude. But I've been on the competing Great American Family channels enough to realize they are doing the same.

I will not wait until the end of game 5 of the Finals with my Spurs down 3-1 and facing elimination. The Knicks had a horrible first half on offense, but the Spurs are only up by 5. The Spurs have blown double-digit leads in each game. Bad hot selection, too many unforced turnovers, etc. Blowing a 29-point lead in New York in Game 4 was unforgivable.