Congratulations to Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas for leading the nation in new covid cases per million population.
Data from Worldometers.
New Deaths Per Million
Congratulations to Louisiana and Mississippi for being 1-2 in boths cases and deaths per million.
Texas need to try harder. It was only number 5 and 8.
Only Eight ICU Beds in Arkansas
People in Their 20s are on Ventilators
In Texas, Hospitals Are Near Capacity as Covid-19 Surges Again.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday asked hospitals to delay elective medical procedures, as rising Covid-19 cases bring hospitals in many parts of the nation’s second-largest state to capacity.
In Austin, city and county officials used an emergency alert system over the weekend to text and call residents with the warning that the hospital situation is critical, as the number of available intensive care unit beds in a metro area of more than two million residents dwindled to single digits. In Houston, hospitals are into surge capacity and local officials tracking the city’s wastewater system are finding evidence of higher-than-ever levels of Covid-19.
The upswing in Texas Covid-19 cases mirrors that of other nearby states as the Delta variant of the virus surges through southern states with relatively low vaccination rates.
William McKeon, chief executive of Houston’s Texas Medical Center, a group of 60 hospitals that comprise the world’s largest medical district, said the current surge of Covid-19 patients has risen far faster than previous ones and he believes it will get worse. The number of Covid-19 hospitalizations has increased to about 9,500 this week, approaching a previous high of about 14,000 in January. People in their 20s are on ventilators, Mr. McKeon said.
“All of [the hospitals] are saying the same thing: We have never seen a surge like this before,” he said. “We have never seen them sicker when they walk through the door. We have never seen them younger. And they just keep coming.”
Wastewater Tracking
Houston, the country’s fourth-largest city with 2.3 million people, has developed a sophisticated system of tracking Covid-19 in the city’s sewer system, through weekly testing at 38 city wastewater plants. Tracking began during the first major surge of the virus, in July 2020. Last week, it measured 320% of the Covid-19 levels seen then—the highest, by far, since the pandemic began.
“The wastewater is a bellwether,” said Loren Hopkins, chief environmental science officer for the Houston Health Department, who said Covid-19 usually registers in wastewater a week or more before a person tests positive for the virus. “The numbers really are exponentially increasing.”
The wastewater data can be more accurate than testing data, because it registers Covid-19 being shed by people who may be asymptomatic or never get tested, Dr. Hopkins said. Local health officials are using it to target where to send educational and vaccine outreach, and are doing sampling at specific manholes to track Covid-19 rates in schools.
Reflections on Hypotheses
Untested Hypothesis
I do not doubt for a second that obesity and age play into problems.
But the faith Milton has in his hypothesis of his immune system vs mountains of real data is problematic.
As long as we are going to hypothesize, what about the possibility that healthy unvaccinated super-fit people might also be super spreaders?
Regardless, anyone who claims the short term efficacy of vaccinations is “increasingly murky” is off their rocker.
Dear Anti-Vaxxers Let’s Discuss the Best Covid Data That Exists Anywhere
The data is crystal clear.
In case you missed it, please consider Dear Anti-Vaxxers Let’s Discuss the Best Covid Data That Exists Anywhere
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healthy unvaccinated super-fit people might also be super spreaders?”
You always have to laugh the side that is constantly attacking California for it’s welfare addiction has Mississippi with its welfare addiction, lack of education, and obesity rates. California at least as a GDP that rivals most countries out there. Mississippi does not.Red vs. Blue continues to amuse me.
“Analyzing the government’s national health statistics, researchers estimated that the Pfizer shot was just 39 percent effective against preventing infection in the country in late June and early July, compared with 95 percent from January to early April. In both time periods, however, the shot was more than 90 percent effective in preventing severe disease.
Israeli scientists cautioned that the new study is much smaller than the first and that it measured cases in a narrower window of time. As a result, a much larger range of uncertainties flank their estimates, which could also be skewed by a variety of other factors.”
With that large of a denominator, the percentages are reassuring: 0.18% of fully vaccinated people had a breakthrough infection; 0.009% went to the hospital; and 0.002% died.
Politicians etc cant change course now. They would lose their base and audience. So they double down try to spin to things like obamas birthday party or immigration. Called a friend in fla. Told me one friend had died one spent 6 weeks in hospital. Bet know one considers medical expenses on when they consider the chance of it killing you. . .
Since actually getting the virus appears to offer far better protection against getting it again than a vaccine, perhaps Delta will allow Americans to get long term immunity with a lessor chance of death and long term effects. Getting the vaccine AND also getting Delta will likely offer excellent protection against other variants.
COVID’s not going away folks. It will be here for thousands of years and we’re all going to get it mutiple times in life. Far better to get DELTA than a more fatal version. Delta appears to be the least fatal of all the variants we’ve seen. Yeah, it’s more transmissable, which is why more people are going to the hospital….but that’s just an illusion of more people getting it. Of course, any death is tragic, but I’ll take a surge in short term deaths over a much larger number of deaths over the longer term. People need to think mathematically for the long term, not the short term surge.
In other nations that have had delta longer they have clearly (weeks ago) peaked in daily cases and falling rapidly. Assuming the USA follows the same path it’s likely we will peak this week and fall rapidly after that.
However, Delta is highly transmissible, probably at least 2x as transmissable as the first version, which was already high. That means far more people are getting it than just 3 months ago on a daily basis. That also means more people are going to the hospital. On a per capita basis far fewer people are seeking treatment than last winter. That’s what the math by itself shows. As far as people presenting sicker at the hospital, that’s anecdotal and subject to opinion. It could be people really are sicker, or….are just stupid for not showing up earlier (my vote is for that). It’s too early to tell and anyone who says they do know is an idiot.
What bothers me about the whole discussion with people around me is that people honestly believe COVID will go away. You can talk to them and make every reasonable argument you can think of, but people still believe it. There as many whackos in the anti-COVID crowd as there are in the anti-vaxxer crowd I’ve found. For every nutjob of a person who believes we need to make kids wear masks in school (There’s just been one death in anyone under age 24 in all of NC in the last 18 months from COVID) there’s a nutjob who believes the government is trying to kill people with the vaccine.
Personally, I will get the vaccine but I also accept that one day I will also get COVID. I’d rather get COVID while I’m still young, and I’d very very much prefer my kids get COVID while they are kids than that they get it while adults and their risks go up. nWe are ALL going to get it, multiple times. We need to accept that.
I could be wrong but that is what I have read and studied, pretty much everywhere.
How dare those people try to cross our border and take the jobs these people obviously can’t do! LMAO!
It’s not BS.