Coronavirus, Early June, 2023

Coronavirus, Early June, 2023

 By the Numbers

The Numbers: 

The number of people hospitalized with Covid  in the USA has dropped from 17,000 in April to 7,000 at the beginning in June.

Source Covid-19 hospitalizations here...

Dominant Variants in the US: 

    XBB  98%    Up from 97%  in April
    FD.2  1.5%     Up from zero in April

    And the rest...

The XBB variant is immune to treatment with monoclonal antibodies.

Per CDC tracker...

Should you get your next booster?

The current booster is a combination of the original virus and the original Omicron variant (BA.##)  If you are immune compromised, or over 65 and feel like it, and your last booster is more than 4 months, it is recommended you get another.  See your doctor first before taking my advice.

The new boosters are being worked on will be against one of the Omicron variants.  I only heard it once in passing, and  cannot run down a source, so I cannot be sure if it is against the dominant XBB variant or not.

Excess Deaths.

Despite reduced number of cases and hospitalizations, the CDC count of excess deaths is still above the baseline. In Dec, the number of excess deaths was around 18% or 11,000 per week. In February it was 7,700 per week.  In the latest weeks measurable, it is 3,000 or 5.5%.  See here...