Coronavirus, Early August Edition, 2022

 Coronavirus, Early August Edition, 2022

By the Numbers

The Numbers: 

Nationwide, the estimated number of cases, using official numbers, continues to hover around million active cases.  The estimated under count is unknown.  But could still range from 3 to 10 times the number of officially infected. 

More in keeping with reality, the number of people hospitalized with Covid is also climbing.  To about 39,000 for this week, up from 27,000 last report, 10,000 in April. The peak was 150,000 in January.  The deaths per day average continues to climb to over 300.  As deaths are a lagging indicator, this kind of implies that this current "wave" of Covid BA4 and BA5 has peaked and is now in decline.

New Vaccines Available Soon:

Vaccines tuned specifically to the BA4 and BA5 variants of Omicron should be available next month. See WebMD.

Monkey Pox:

I am not going to provide any sort of regular updates on Monkey Pox.  But it is getting the press treatment to get you needlessly good and scared.  This is not anything like Coronavirus, which was a hill I was willing to die on.  Monkey Pox is not.  Everything about Monkey Pox is well known.  We have been living with it for 50+ years, and standard treatments are available.  

Of the 7,500 or so victims in the US so far, none have died from the disease.  It is not easily transmissible.  It is passed by skin to surface area contact, usually extensive contact, usually intimate contact, but also from contact with any surface area.  Sheets, table tops have been shown to carry the disease.  

Monkey Pox is endemic in Africa, as it exists in animals there, and occasionally makes the leap to a human.  The reason we need to quarantine and  eradicate it here is we don't want it leaping to our native animal population.

Biden's Covid Case:

Joe Biden caught Covid and it followed a predictable pattern for someone that was vaccinated and over 80 years old.  He quarantined and after testing negative, came back to work.  A day or two later, like so many others, he tested positive again.  I reported on this rebound effect, incorrectly named Paxolovid Rebound,  in an earlier edition.  His signing of the latest bills from congress was marred by frequent coughing. 

All the Covids save the early versions of Omicron settle deeply in the body, most notably, in the heart, kidneys and lungs.  Delta and the current versions BA4 and BA5 tended to settle deep in the lungs.  Omicron settled in the bronchial tubes.  There they damaged cell tissue for the effects referred to as "Long Covid". 

While I appreciate him going back to work, this is something you do not want to push.  Just testing negative does not mean you are well.  Even if you are younger, it may take months for full recovery.  You have to give your self time to recover from Covid.  But don't go back to work two days after your latest negative test.