WHAT IS THE STATUS OF COVID-19 TODAY?

From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

         DAY  USA  WORLD    Brazil    India    South Africa

2020

June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82

July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572

Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130

Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82

Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30       3880    14748       1224       299      465

2021

Jan     14       4142      15512       1151         189     712

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194

April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37

May     4        853     13667        3025      3786     59 

June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95

 July    7         251      8440        1595        817      411

Aug     4         656    10120        1118        532      423 

Sept   22      2228      9326          839       279     124

Oct      6       2102      8255          543       315       59

Nov    3        1436      7830         186        458       23

Dec     1       1633      8475          266        477       28

2022

Jan     7        2025      6729         148         285     140

Feb     2        2990   12012          946        991      175

Mar     2        1778     7756          335         173       28 

Apr     1          439      4056         290          52       12

May    5          225      2404         151            ?        64

June    2         216      1413         130           10        31

July    6          316      1627         335           35       12 

Aug    4          311       2138         258          70         ?

Sep    1           272       1732         174            ?         ?

Oct     6          281       1305         119            9         ?

Nov    3          167         980           16            ?         ?

        25            88         985           71             3        ?  

Dec    3          149       1029         131            3         ?

          8          194       1320         104             6       86

        15           147       1295         124             4         ?

        22          289       1637         165             9         ? 

        28          296       1768         337            2         ?

2023

Jan    4          346       1534         207             ?         ?

         5           220       1611          183             ?         ? 

       12            270       1470         128             ?         ?

       19            225       1775         480             ?         ?

        26           351       1361           92             1         7

Feb    1           221       1261         126              ?         ?

          8          329        999          50             2         ?

        15           211         999         132             1         ?

        22           177       1016         312              1         ? 

Mar   1            119         618           81              1         ? 

          8            116        605          34             0         0

         15           136        564             ?             5         ?

         23           137        386             ?             ?         ?

Summary:

• The USA had the most new deaths, 137, with Russia #2 at 39 and Japan #3 at 30.
• About new cases, #1 South Korea 13,081, #2 Russia 12,001 and #3 USA 10,906.
• New cases/million population:
• #1      St. Barth  1810
• #2      Austria  477
• #3      Guadeloupe  295
• #4      Slovenia  264
• #5      South Korea  255
• #6      Chile  216
• #24    USA  33

Why hasn't the World Health Organization called an end to the pandemic?  Six months ago WHO Director-General Dedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that the end was in sight.  Has been a long tunnel, for nothing official yet.

On February 23 Liang Wannian, co-leader of the WHO-China joint expert team, hailed China's political system, saying the pandemic is over.  But anytime that country says anything about everything, you just don't know.  The U.S. will end our public health emergency on May 11.  

So what's the latest about exactly where this pandemic began?  The two Wuhan origins remain the most likely.  That market or their research center.

• A couple of days ago, a new analysis of samples  taken from the Hunan Wholesale Seafood Market showed the strongest evidence yet that the original COVID-19 virus jumped from animals, now probably the raccoon dog, to humans.

• 
  But the U.S. intelligence community remains split, with the FBI and Department of Energy concluding that the origin was a lab accident.
• But then again, that research lab measuring the market specimens was also conducting some advance R&D on this general subject, so was the leak that market source or some secret military research?
• When China is involved, you never know for sure,

Asymptomaticity remains elusive, but the matter of long covid is sorting out.  When this article was written earlier this year, only 15% of Americans were up-to-date (meaning five shots, including the bivalent Omicron booster) on vaccinations.   A bit scary, but percentage of those who got long covid in June of 2022 was 35%, or more than a third, and 19% are today still showing symptoms.  These numbers have dropped, but remain high:  28% will suffer from long covid....and those who caught this virus, 11%, or 40%, still were not normal a few months later.

The report goes on to say that...

• ...as of January 16, 2023, 15% of all adults in the US reported having had long COVID symptoms at some point and 6% reported current symptoms.
• Among those with long covid, 79% reported having limitations to their day-to-day activities, while 27% characterized the limitations as significant,
• While the long covid symptom rate has been decreasing since 2020, today, 5% of those who caught this disease still are struggling.

• 
  Not clear if this decrease is because the virus is mutating for our better, or the effectiveness of vaccinations.  You would think that since vaccinations have available now for more than two years there would have been a better indicator of vaccinations having some effect, but I guess now one has done anything about this yet.

This Time article went on to say.

• A class of drugs called biguanides, Metformin, shows promise for being an accessible and affordable drug to provide relief.  This pill controls the amount of sugar in the blood and has been used to treat Type 2 diabetes. However, it also apparently can stop the virus from replicating.
• A test was made of 564 overweight or obese U.S. adults, and those who took Metformin had a 42% lower chance of getting long covid.  The earlier this medication is applied, the better, for those who took it four days of developing symptoms showed a 60% lower rate.
• 
  Similarly, Paxlovid also helps.  26% lower risk of developing long covid.
• A Japanese drug, ensitrelvir, sold as Xocova, also seems to work.

• 
  There is a range of other treatments that is being explored, using naltrexone, beta blockers, blood-thinning drugs and antihistamines.
• Other studies include using trans cranial direct current stimulation to reduce fatigue and depression.

• 
  The difficulty with getting a sure cure is that covid has 200-plus potential symptoms.
• One other problem is that there is wide variety of small studies, not yet peer-reviewed.

• 
  However, RECOVER, the National Institutes of Health's $1.15 billion Long COVID research project, has began two years ago to provide design trials and hopeful therapies.  Some things take time to organize.

Finally, here is a World Health Organization table of where the world is today on vaccinations.

• Persons boosted per 100 population:  
• World  31
• Gibralter  146
• Guernsey  108
• Chile  82
• Bhutan  82
• Singapore  79
• Japan  68
• China  55
• USA  35
• Israel  18
• South Africa  7
• Afghanistan  3
• Ukraine  2
• Iraq  1
• Syria 0.4
• Guinea-Bissau  0.05
• Deaths in last 7 days.
• World  4338
• USA  1741
• Japan  285
• Spain  254
• Russia  235
• China  227
• 
  Cases in last 7 days, with mortality rate in parentheses.
• World  657,841 (0.007)
• USA 126,613 (0.014)
• Russia  82,995 (0.003)
• China  54,449 (0.004)
• South Korea  52,630 (0.001)
• Interesting that in 2019, the world had 36 million flu cases and 25,000 deaths, for a mortality rate of 0.0007, slightly lower than South Korea.
• Thus, it seems that with vaccinations, the mortality rate of COVID-19 seems to be approaching that of the seasonal flu.

But of course, the cruise continues.  We departed from Moreton Island with a snack of caviar and hot dog, plus beer.  That third photo is of a Royal Caribbean ship.

Then after sunset we moved into our room to enjoy dinner with a movie.  Added bottles of champagne and  Bordeaux to our meal, of Spinach and Corn Fritters and Pan Fried Veal Sweetbreads.

I did not walk much today.  However, that pedometer is upside-down, and I actually walked 2621 steps.

The movie was Spin Me Round, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 47%/33%.  True, hardly worth the effort, but okay for the occasion.  

Tomorrow, we get to the Great Barrier Reef.

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