IS COVID GONE?

Checking Worldometer, there were 122,971 new World Covid cases this past week, 84,153 for just the USA.  This probably means that many countries are just not reporting anymore.  Japan and South Korea had for the past few months always been at or close to #1.  They must have given up keeping score.

The World on 21 January 2022 had 3,847,291 new cases, just on that date.

• On a daily basis, the world new cases/day dropped by a factor of 219 from the peak last year.  
• The deaths/day fell to around 700,000 around mid-December of last year.
• I can count eight to ten waves, with the final one this summer unworthy of being included.
  

The USA had 108,386,688 total covid cases, with 1,174,847 deaths.

• Thus 32% of Americans have been infected.
• Actually, probably closer to one in four, for many got it more than once.
• There was only a 0.3% chance that you died from covid if you were in the U.S.
• The mortality rate was 1.1%

Since the beginning the World had 695,250,823 total cases, with 6,915,134 total deaths.

• Nearly 9% of the world population got infected with covid.
• There was a 0.1% chance of death in the world.
• World mortality rate was 1%

Comparing the U.S. to the world:

• Why did 3 times more Americans/person catch covid compare to the world?
• Also, around 3 times more Americans/capita died compared to the world.
• These two numbers are about the same because our mortality rates were similar.
• Are Americans weaker?  How can we have an infected and death rate three times more than the world?
• I think the answer is that we reported the truth.  Many nations, especially undeveloped ones, had spotty checks.  
• The most likely answer to why a factor of three is that in reality, three times more people in the world got infected with covid than was reported, and three times more people in the world died than was reported.  Thus, instead of 7 million world covid deaths, it was closer to 20 million.
• The Spanish Flu of a century ago killed an estimated 50 million.  
• Consider that the population of the world was only around 2 billion, today, 8 billion.
• Thus this would be be the equivalent of 200 million deaths in 1920.
• Thus, comparing the Covid-19 Pandemic with the Spanish Flu, we today suffered only 10% the world death rate of a century ago, if we count the unreported data.  The recent pandemic we suffered was only 3.5% of the equivalent deaths/capita of the Spanish Flu using reported data.
• Finally, the U.S. is currently experienced around 50 covid deaths/day.
• In a bad flu year, 35,000 die from this ailment in the USA.
• That is around 1000/day during the flu season.
• So the flu is today much more dangerous than covid, and by a factor of 20.  In other words, get a flu shot.

So what is newsworthy about covid today?  Our CDC recommended that everyone in the USA get the new COVID-19 updated vaccine when it becomes available this month.

• By the way, did you know that the director of the Centers for Disease Control is now Mandy Cohen.  She is 44-years old and comes from Yale and Harvard.
• Another aside, 15 Craigside residents and staff took the new flu shot yesterday.  Smallest injection needle device I've ever seen.  You know how they first wipe your skin surface with alcohol?  Soon thereafter a bandage was applied.  I thought maybe the clinician forgot to vaccinate me, as for the first time in my life, I felt nothing.

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  This will confuse you, but there are three vaccines you can consider taking this fall.  For the flu, covid booster and RSV.
• Flu, also for anyone from six months and older.  Most insurance companies cover the cost.  The Southern Hemisphere went through a fall/winter, and the flu shot worked well.  Essentially the same coming us.

• 
  About the new RSV (respiratory synctual virus), vaccine, it is for anyone, but especially for babies 8 moths and younger, plus adults 60 and older.  Coverage will be variable.  If you don't have the right insurance, could cost you $300.  Supposedly, okay to take the flu and RSV shots at the same time, but today unclear if you can or should take ALL three vaccines together.  I don't plan to get this shot.
• 
  But about the updated covid vaccine:
• Again from Moderna and Pfizer.
• Targets Omicron XBB.1.5, but works for new subvariants which have taken over.
• Not really a booster but what will become an annual fall update.
• If you recently got the old booster, wait a couple of months before taking the updated vaccine.  You can take both the flu and updated covid vaccinations at the same time, by being injected twice.
• Listed at around $125, but should be covered by your medical insurance.  Basically, almost everyone will get it for free if you know where to go.  At 15 Craigside, the injectors come to us.

After all that, hate to further confuse you, but there is supposedly a new current covid surge, with Eris, or variant BA.2.86, being the dominant subvariant.  But don't panic.  While cases are increasing, hospitalization is lower.  Plus, if you were once infected or have kept up with all the vaccines, you should be safe.  One problem is that only 28% of adults 18 and older are now up to date with vaccinations today in the U.S.  For these individuals, go get that updated covid vaccination soon.  Also, wear a mask in crowded venues.

So you're confident that you are immune, or that covid has gone away.  Nope.  Still here, with a current surge, and there is that matter of LONG covid.  If you do get infected today, there is a 10% chance you will develop LONG COVID.  This was once as high as 20%.

• Symptoms persist from 4 to 12 weeks, and sometimes longer.
• Respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological, mental, sexual, fatigue, headache, brain fog, shortness of breath and...thirst.  There are 200 and more symptoms.
• Females tend to more often get long covid.
• Black people have more symptoms.
• There is no sure treatment.  In fact, no treatment at all.
• A lot research currently ongoing.  The National Institutes of Health will spend a billion dollars.
• THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT COVID IS STILL AROUND, AND IN VARIOUS EVOLVED FORMS, WILL BE WITH US  FOR A LONG TIME TO COME.

There are two hurricanes in the Atlantic.  Hurricane Margot became a hurricane a week ago, and remains so today, but is going around in a circle and threatening no one.

Once a super hurrricane at 165 MPH on September 8, Lee has weakened down to 85 MPH.  Landfall over Nova Scotia will occur on Saturday as a tropical storm.

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