COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[emailking]

I don't think it's about the spotlight. He seemed genuine.

[GeorgiaModerate]

A new variant of Covid-19 has been identified in the southeast of England, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday, as he announced that London would return to a strict lockdown this week, after coronavirus cases there soared.

"Over the last few days, thanks to our world-class genomic capability in the UK, we have identified a new variant of coronavirus, which may be associated with the faster spread in the southeast of England," Hancock said in Parliament.

He said that more than 1,000 cases with this variant had been identified, predominantly in the south of England, and that "numbers are increasing rapidly."

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/14/uk/london-covid-tier-uk-new-coronavirus-variant-gbr-intl/index.html

[T'Chenka]

Of course Fauci will be saying that. He only cares about his spotlight now that he has been given his 15 seconds of fame he doesn't want to lose it. Fauci has always been saying we need to do ____ to end the pandemic and then not long after say that isn't enough and the pandemic will continue. If Fauci wants his way we will never return to normal.

Do you understand how health recommendations are formulated by scientists?

[Dr. Arch]

The updated numbers for COVID-19 in the U.S. are in for 12/14 per: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

I'm keeping track of these updates daily and updating at the end of the day, whenever all states finish reporting for that day.

ΔW Change: Comparisons of Weekly Day-to-day Growth or Decline of COVID-19 Spread/Deaths.

• IE: Comparing the numbers to the same day of last week, are we flattening the curve enough?

Σ Increase: A day's contribution to overall percentage growth of COVID-19 cases/deaths.

• IE: What's the overall change in the total?

Older Numbers (Hidden in spoiler mode to make the post more compact)

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

<Last Numbers for 3/26-3/28 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 3/29-4/4 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/5-4/11 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/12-4/18 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/19-4/25 in this post>
<Last Numbers for 4/26-5/2 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/3-5/9 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/10-5/16 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/17-5/23 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/24-5/30 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/31-6/6 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/7-6/13 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/14-6/20 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/21-6/27 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/28-7/4 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/5-7/11 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/12-7/18 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/19-7/25 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/26-8/1 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/2-8/8 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/9-8/15 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/16-8/22 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/23-8/29 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/30-9/5 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/6-9/12 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/13-9/19 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/20-9/26 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/27-10/3 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/4-10/10 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/11-10/17 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/18-10/24 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/25-10/31 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/1-11/7 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/8-11/14 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/15-11/21 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/22-11/28 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/29-12/5 in this Post>

12/6: <Sunday>

• Cases: 15,159,259 (+175,834 | ΔW Change: ↑25.55% | Σ Increase: ↑1.17%)
• Deaths: 288,906 (+1,081 | ΔW Change: ↑32.15% | Σ Increase: ↑0.38%)

12/7: <M>

• Cases: 15,369,046 (+209,787 | ΔW Change: ↑23.79% | Σ Increase: ↑1.38%)
• Deaths: 290,443 (+1,537 | ΔW Change: ↑21.98% | Σ Increase: ↑0.53%)

12/8: <T>

• Cases: 15,591,709 (+222,663 | ΔW Change: ↑18.05% | Σ Increase: ↑1.45%)
• Deaths: 293,398 (+2,955 | ΔW Change: ↑11.76% | Σ Increase: ↑1.02%)

12/9: <W>

• Cases: 15,820,042 (+228,333 | ΔW Change: ↑11.14% | Σ Increase: ↑1.46%)
• Deaths: 296,698 (+3,300 | ΔW Change: ↑14.23% | Σ Increase: ↑1.12%)

12/10: <Þ>

• Cases: 16,039,393 (+219,351 | ΔW Change: ↓0.86% | Σ Increase: ↑1.39%)
• Deaths: 299,692 (+2,994 | ΔW Change: ↑1.01% | Σ Increase: ↑1.01%)

12/11: <F>

• Cases: 16,295,458 (+256,065 | ΔW Change: ↑7.97% | Σ Increase: ↑1.60%)
• Deaths: 302,750 (+3,058 | ΔW Change: ↑12.39% | Σ Increase: ↑1.02%)

12/12: <S>

• Cases: 16,549,366 (+253,908 | ΔW Change: ↑20.29% | Σ Increase: ↑1.56%)
• Deaths: 305,082 (+2,332 | ΔW Change: ↑2.51% | Σ Increase: ↑0.77%)

12/13 (Yesterday): <Sunday>

• Cases: 16,737,267 (+187,901 | ΔW Change: ↑6.86% | Σ Increase: ↑1.14%)
• Deaths: 306,459 (+1,377 | ΔW Change: ↑27.38% | Σ Increase: ↑0.45%)

12/14 (Today): <M>

• Cases: 16,942,822 (+205,555 | ΔW Change: ↓2.02% | Σ Increase: ↑1.23%)
• Deaths: 308,089 (+1,630 | ΔW Change: ↑6.05% | Σ Increase: ↑0.53%)

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

Update to the Google Trends chart for searches of "loss of smell". This does look fairly consistent with the United States slowly reaching a peak for the current spike, although I'll want another week or two of data to be confident in that.

[Suburbia]

My question is this:

Is the vaccine free, and if you don't have healthcare insurance, do you have to pay for it? Where? CVS? Rite Aid? Local pharmacy? Where?

[Dr. Arch]

The updated numbers for COVID-19 in the U.S. are in for 12/15 per: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

I'm keeping track of these updates daily and updating at the end of the day, whenever all states finish reporting for that day.

ΔW Change: Comparisons of Weekly Day-to-day Growth or Decline of COVID-19 Spread/Deaths.

• IE: Comparing the numbers to the same day of last week, are we flattening the curve enough?

Σ Increase: A day's contribution to overall percentage growth of COVID-19 cases/deaths.

• IE: What's the overall change in the total?

Older Numbers (Hidden in spoiler mode to make the post more compact)

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

<Last Numbers for 3/26-3/28 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 3/29-4/4 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/5-4/11 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/12-4/18 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/19-4/25 in this post>
<Last Numbers for 4/26-5/2 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/3-5/9 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/10-5/16 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/17-5/23 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/24-5/30 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/31-6/6 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/7-6/13 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/14-6/20 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/21-6/27 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/28-7/4 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/5-7/11 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/12-7/18 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/19-7/25 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/26-8/1 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/2-8/8 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/9-8/15 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/16-8/22 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/23-8/29 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/30-9/5 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/6-9/12 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/13-9/19 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/20-9/26 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/27-10/3 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/4-10/10 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/11-10/17 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/18-10/24 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/25-10/31 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/1-11/7 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/8-11/14 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/15-11/21 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/22-11/28 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/29-12/5 in this Post>

12/6: <Sunday>

• Cases: 15,159,259 (+175,834 | ΔW Change: ↑25.55% | Σ Increase: ↑1.17%)
• Deaths: 288,906 (+1,081 | ΔW Change: ↑32.15% | Σ Increase: ↑0.38%)

12/7: <M>

• Cases: 15,369,046 (+209,787 | ΔW Change: ↑23.79% | Σ Increase: ↑1.38%)
• Deaths: 290,443 (+1,537 | ΔW Change: ↑21.98% | Σ Increase: ↑0.53%)

12/8: <T>

• Cases: 15,591,709 (+222,663 | ΔW Change: ↑18.05% | Σ Increase: ↑1.45%)
• Deaths: 293,398 (+2,955 | ΔW Change: ↑11.76% | Σ Increase: ↑1.02%)

12/9: <W>

• Cases: 15,820,042 (+228,333 | ΔW Change: ↑11.14% | Σ Increase: ↑1.46%)
• Deaths: 296,698 (+3,300 | ΔW Change: ↑14.23% | Σ Increase: ↑1.12%)

12/10: <Þ>

• Cases: 16,039,393 (+219,351 | ΔW Change: ↓0.86% | Σ Increase: ↑1.39%)
• Deaths: 299,692 (+2,994 | ΔW Change: ↑1.01% | Σ Increase: ↑1.01%)

12/11: <F>

• Cases: 16,295,458 (+256,065 | ΔW Change: ↑7.97% | Σ Increase: ↑1.60%)
• Deaths: 302,750 (+3,058 | ΔW Change: ↑12.39% | Σ Increase: ↑1.02%)

12/12: <S>

• Cases: 16,549,366 (+253,908 | ΔW Change: ↑20.29% | Σ Increase: ↑1.56%)
• Deaths: 305,082 (+2,332 | ΔW Change: ↑2.51% | Σ Increase: ↑0.77%)

12/13: <Sunday>

• Cases: 16,737,267 (+187,901 | ΔW Change: ↑6.86% | Σ Increase: ↑1.14%)
• Deaths: 306,459 (+1,377 | ΔW Change: ↑27.38% | Σ Increase: ↑0.45%)

12/14 (Yesterday): <M>

• Cases: 16,942,822 (+205,555 | ΔW Change: ↓2.02% | Σ Increase: ↑1.23%)
• Deaths: 308,089 (+1,630 | ΔW Change: ↑6.05% | Σ Increase: ↑0.53%)

12/15 (Today): <T>

• Cases: 17,143,942 (+201,120 | ΔW Change: ↓9.68% | Σ Increase: ↑1.19%)
• Deaths: 311,073 (+2,984 | ΔW Change: ↑0.98% | Σ Increase: ↑0.97%)

[GP270watch]

Florida's Sun Sentinel found an odd gap in state COVID-19 deaths ahead of the election

 Florida has done a suspect job with Covid stats since this thing started.

[It’s so Joever]

Florida's Sun Sentinel found an odd gap in state COVID-19 deaths ahead of the election

 Florida has done a suspect job with Covid stats since this thing started.

I think we all know what this is...but if we say it we will get modded because the truth is “hyperbole”

[President Johnson]

Yees! Get the King a vaccine shot.

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1339226040225435657

[jamestroll]

Maybe long term there will be rethinking of the highly service based economy of The United States. It has clearly made this pandemic impossible to control especially with the lack of a robust social service infrastructure of the United States.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

Already over 3000 deaths today

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I don't understand the people in the media who keep insisting everyone is going to have to wear masks and practice social distancing for months after the vaccine is administered.

There are people on Reddit who have praised every covid restriction - no matter how ridiculous - and have attacked anyone who dares to oppose it. But even these folks say now they're pretty much done, now that the vaccine is out. Yet the media keeps interviewing "experts" who say the restrictions will need to continue for months, maybe over a year.

So they're saying the vaccine won't do any good? Then what was the point of even creating a vaccine?

I have noticed the goalposts have moved yet again. When states first locked down, it was "flatten the curve", and then it was "until a vaccine", and now it's...?

[emailking]

My understanding is that the first few months is for nursing home residents and medical workers. So we're not even getting the sick (or those with serious conditions) or elderly in general yet. They'll be up in the next few months after that.

[GeorgiaModerate]

This looks like a good prioritization scheme:

https://twitter.com/zeynep/status/1339245175835680772

[Bandit3 the Worker]

My understanding is that the first few months is for nursing home residents and medical workers. So we're not even getting the sick (or those with serious conditions) or elderly in general yet. They'll be up in the next few months after that.

They said that even after the last tier is vaccinated, it will still be many months or a year before we can let up. One of the "experts" actually said masks will continue into 2022.

[emailking]

I'm sure the expert you reference is an actual expert, but I don't know how to explain continued measures after everyone who wants the vaccine has had it. Fauci said the same thing.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

I don't understand the people in the media who keep insisting everyone is going to have to wear masks and practice social distancing for months after the vaccine is administered.

There are people on Reddit who have praised every covid restriction - no matter how ridiculous - and have attacked anyone who dares to oppose it. But even these folks say now they're pretty much done, now that the vaccine is out. Yet the media keeps interviewing "experts" who say the restrictions will need to continue for months, maybe over a year.

So they're saying the vaccine won't do any good? Then what was the point of even creating a vaccine?

I have noticed the goalposts have moved yet again. When states first locked down, it was "flatten the curve", and then it was "until a vaccine", and now it's...?

Because we need to wait until enough of the population needs to get vaccinated for there to be widespread immunity? When the only people getting vaccinated are hospital workers and whatnot there isn't going to be enough of that. Hopefully by late spring/early summer enough people will have had two doses where we can finally get back to normal.

This isn't complicated. But then again you are a troll.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

This looks like a good prioritization scheme:

https://twitter.com/zeynep/status/1339245175835680772

Certainly there has to be a trade-off between saving the most lives and saving the most years of life. 

The fatality rate of this virus grows so exponentially with age that I think in general it is better to vaccinate older people first. 

But I’m not sure about the wisdom of giving first priority to those in nursing homes given that the average nursing home resident dies within six months of entering the home anyway.  There’s a huge difference in my mind between an otherwise health 70-year old with a life expectancy of 15-20 years and a long-term care resident with a life expectancy of a few months.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

What the hell happened in CA today?  They are reporting 61k cases today.  Their previous daily record was 37k, and cases are declining in most other states.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

What the hell happened in CA today?  They are reporting 61k cases today.  Their previous daily record was 37k, and cases are declining in most other states.

Part of it is that there was a huge backlog in L.A. County. Part of it is just that Newsom is just completely incompetent.

[It’s so Joever]

I don't understand the people in the media who keep insisting everyone is going to have to wear masks and practice social distancing for months after the vaccine is administered.

There are people on Reddit who have praised every covid restriction - no matter how ridiculous - and have attacked anyone who dares to oppose it. But even these folks say now they're pretty much done, now that the vaccine is out. Yet the media keeps interviewing "experts" who say the restrictions will need to continue for months, maybe over a year.

So they're saying the vaccine won't do any good? Then what was the point of even creating a vaccine?

I have noticed the goalposts have moved yet again. When states first locked down, it was "flatten the curve", and then it was "until a vaccine", and now it's...?

As long as I and my family get vaccinated I don’t care anymore.
Unfortunately that will take a while.

[Mr. Morden]

New YouGov poll on who's willing to be vaccinated:

https://twitter.com/ArgoJournal/status/1339217129581793284

[Dr. Arch]

The updated numbers for COVID-19 in the U.S. are in for 12/16 per: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

I'm keeping track of these updates daily and updating at the end of the day, whenever all states finish reporting for that day.

ΔW Change: Comparisons of Weekly Day-to-day Growth or Decline of COVID-19 Spread/Deaths.

• IE: Comparing the numbers to the same day of last week, are we flattening the curve enough?

Σ Increase: A day's contribution to overall percentage growth of COVID-19 cases/deaths.

• IE: What's the overall change in the total?

Older Numbers (Hidden in spoiler mode to make the post more compact)

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

<Last Numbers for 3/26-3/28 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 3/29-4/4 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/5-4/11 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/12-4/18 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/19-4/25 in this post>
<Last Numbers for 4/26-5/2 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/3-5/9 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/10-5/16 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/17-5/23 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/24-5/30 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/31-6/6 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/7-6/13 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/14-6/20 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/21-6/27 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/28-7/4 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/5-7/11 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/12-7/18 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/19-7/25 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/26-8/1 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/2-8/8 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/9-8/15 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/16-8/22 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/23-8/29 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/30-9/5 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/6-9/12 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/13-9/19 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/20-9/26 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/27-10/3 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/4-10/10 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/11-10/17 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/18-10/24 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/25-10/31 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/1-11/7 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/8-11/14 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/15-11/21 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/22-11/28 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/29-12/5 in this Post>

12/6: <Sunday>

• Cases: 15,159,259 (+175,834 | ΔW Change: ↑25.55% | Σ Increase: ↑1.17%)
• Deaths: 288,906 (+1,081 | ΔW Change: ↑32.15% | Σ Increase: ↑0.38%)

12/7: <M>

• Cases: 15,369,046 (+209,787 | ΔW Change: ↑23.79% | Σ Increase: ↑1.38%)
• Deaths: 290,443 (+1,537 | ΔW Change: ↑21.98% | Σ Increase: ↑0.53%)

12/8: <T>

• Cases: 15,591,709 (+222,663 | ΔW Change: ↑18.05% | Σ Increase: ↑1.45%)
• Deaths: 293,398 (+2,955 | ΔW Change: ↑11.76% | Σ Increase: ↑1.02%)

12/9: <W>

• Cases: 15,820,042 (+228,333 | ΔW Change: ↑11.14% | Σ Increase: ↑1.46%)
• Deaths: 296,698 (+3,300 | ΔW Change: ↑14.23% | Σ Increase: ↑1.12%)

12/10: <Þ>

• Cases: 16,039,393 (+219,351 | ΔW Change: ↓0.86% | Σ Increase: ↑1.39%)
• Deaths: 299,692 (+2,994 | ΔW Change: ↑1.01% | Σ Increase: ↑1.01%)

12/11: <F>

• Cases: 16,295,458 (+256,065 | ΔW Change: ↑7.97% | Σ Increase: ↑1.60%)
• Deaths: 302,750 (+3,058 | ΔW Change: ↑12.39% | Σ Increase: ↑1.02%)

12/12: <S>

• Cases: 16,549,366 (+253,908 | ΔW Change: ↑20.29% | Σ Increase: ↑1.56%)
• Deaths: 305,082 (+2,332 | ΔW Change: ↑2.51% | Σ Increase: ↑0.77%)

12/13: <Sunday>

• Cases: 16,737,267 (+187,901 | ΔW Change: ↑6.86% | Σ Increase: ↑1.14%)
• Deaths: 306,459 (+1,377 | ΔW Change: ↑27.38% | Σ Increase: ↑0.45%)

12/14: <M>

• Cases: 16,942,822 (+205,555 | ΔW Change: ↓2.02% | Σ Increase: ↑1.23%)
• Deaths: 308,089 (+1,630 | ΔW Change: ↑6.05% | Σ Increase: ↑0.53%)

12/15 (Yesterday): <T>

• Cases: 17,143,942 (+201,120 | ΔW Change: ↓9.68% | Σ Increase: ↑1.19%)
• Deaths: 311,073 (+2,984 | ΔW Change: ↑0.98% | Σ Increase: ↑0.97%)

12/16 (Today): <W>

• Cases: 17,392,618 (+248,676 | ΔW Change: ↑8.91% | Σ Increase: ↑1.45%)
• Deaths: 314,577 (+3,504 | ΔW Change: ↑6.18% | Σ Increase: ↑1.13%)

[Hnv1]

3.5K threshold crossed. At current rate we should be at 4K in two weeks.