Coronavirus, September 2023
By the Numbers
The Numbers:
The weekly hospitalization numbers with Covid was 19,600 for the week ending Sept 19. This is up from 12,600 around Aug 12. For perspective, the lowest weekly hospitalization numbers was in June, 2023 at 6,200. The highest was over 100k last year.
Source Covid-19 hospitalizations here...
Dominant Variants in the US:
XBB's 42% Down from 60% in Mid Aug
EG.5 24.5% Barely moving from 23.9% in Mid Aug
FL 1.5 13.7% Barely moving from 13.3% in mid Aug
HV.1 8.4% New in September.
And the rest...
Per CDC tracker...
The New Booster is Available
Various pharmacies have the latest booster available by appointment. I got mine from CVS. You can make your appointment here...
The cost was covered by my insurance. They will try to upsell you with a flu shot as well.
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| 3 more and my next one is free! (wait a minute...) |
Updates on Long Covid
From NBC News ... A study has been published about sufferers of long Covid have common features in their blood work. The study was with 268 people who are a mix of fully recovered, never infected and the remainder having symptoms associated with long Covid like fatigue, shortness of breath, trembling, memory problems.
The Long Covid group has decreased amounts of cortisol, a hormone that makes people feel alert. Also noted was patterns of T cells acting "irregular". I'm sorry, that is how the article described it and I realize it is not helpful.
More significantly, the study found that dormant viruses, like mononucleosis, reactivated in long Covid patients. Different viruses would manifest in different ways, which could explain why long Covid patients have a variety of symptoms.
The CDC reports that 7.5 percent of Americans have been affected by long Covid. It is not clear how many of those have fully recovered.
Free At Home Covid Tests
