COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357601565931094018

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357602323271417857

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357604816533487619

https://twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357605644254248960

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

https://mobile.twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357607068430196738

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

https://mobile.twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357609196074729474
https://mobile.twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357609579421589506
https://mobile.twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357613573422342146
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https://mobile.twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357619762809999360
https://mobile.twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357620216243617793
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https://mobile.twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357631435495133184
https://mobile.twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357633611332263939
https://mobile.twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357635578435694596
https://mobile.twitter.com/SenateCloakroom/status/1357638729255518208

[Sir Mohamed]

GOP science-deniers are horrible.

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1357641383176241152

[Bandit3 the Worker]

What's the exit strategy, folks?

If it goes on this long, it is by definition no longer an emergency that needs to have governors barking down orders. Instead, orders should have review by other branches of government.

[GeorgiaModerate]

What's the exit strategy, folks?

If it goes on this long, it is by definition no longer an emergency that needs to have governors barking down orders. Instead, orders should have review by other branches of government.

DEC. 7, 1942:  "Well, it's been a year since Pearl Harbor.  I guess we can stop all the wartime rationing.  If it goes on this long, it is by definition no longer an emergency."

[Inmate Trump]

Got my second shot of Moderna yesterday morning.

No issues until last night, about 10 hours after the shot.  Body aches, chills, fever.  I couldn’t sleep because of it.

Finally, around 2am I caved and took a tylenol.  I’d read you’re not supposed to take that before the vaccine but that it’s probably safe to take after.

So hopefully I didn’t totally screw up the strong immune response I was getting.


(I still feel achy and warm today but much less so than overnight.)

[ilikeverin]

Yes, Tylenol seems to be the right choice for folks who have a reaction, from what I've heard!

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Has anyone found a good link explaining why cases are down so much basically everywhere across the US?  As of today, we will down more than 50% from our national peak less than a month ago.  Some states like South Dakota are down nearly 90%.  But this hasn't been in the news nearly as much as when cases were rising.

[It’s so Joever]

Has anyone found a good link explaining why cases are down so much basically everywhere across the US?  As of today, we will down more than 50% from our national peak less than a month ago.  Some states like South Dakota are down nearly 90%.  But this hasn't been in the news nearly as much as when cases were rising.

Natural decline most likely. Waves come in cycles so this isn’t anything new.
As for why the news isn’t reporting on it...how do you report people not getting sick?
It’s just a weird paradox I guess.

[ilikeverin]

Has anyone found a good link explaining why cases are down so much basically everywhere across the US?  As of today, we will down more than 50% from our national peak less than a month ago.  Some states like South Dakota are down nearly 90%.  But this hasn't been in the news nearly as much as when cases were rising.

Well, it can't really be the inoculations; it's not penetrated fully enough into society to be able to move the needle. And, contrary to opponents of lockdowns, it's probably not entirely "herd immunity" or something like it, either; it's happening fairly uniformly across the country, and remaining hotspots are not necessarily places that were less affected early on (e.g., there's still lots of cases in the Rio Grande Valley, where there have been for while).

So, seems like it's behavior change on some level or another, which was probably the case for previous waves, too. It helps that we're out of a time of year with great family gatherings, which probably contributed to the wave in November/December (not as much as feared, but still did in all likelihood). It also helps that it's cold in the north, which helps incentivize people not to leave their house.

One explanation I've seen bandied about is that it actually is the vaccine... not the immune responses to it, but the fact that the pandemic suddenly seems temporary again. During the first lockdowns last year, in March/April, compliance was very good, in part because people were talking about the lockdowns in temporary terms. When it turned out we were in it for the longer haul, with things seeming indefinite, people probably just said, "screw it", threw up their hands, and partied. As we see vaccines being let out, suddenly we're in a world where the pandemic seems temporary again, and maybe people say, "eh, I can hold off on having this baby shower till the summer". Staying in seems bearable again. But I haven't seen hard facts about this. I'd love to see a poll asking people when they think they're going to get the vaccine and when they think social distancing restrictions will be relaxed.

[DINGO Joe]

Personally, while I've been mostly diligent through this whole thing, I've been extra diligent in the last month or so because I'd be pretty pissed if I got the COVID right before my turn at inoculation comes up.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Behavior change might be part of it. But North and South Dakota went from having the highest case rates to having among the lowest, and it's not like they suddenly went into super-lock down, or even became moderately conscientious from what I can tell.

[DINGO Joe]

The updated numbers for COVID-19 in the U.S. are in for 2/4 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?

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1/24: <Sunday>

• Cases: 25,702,125 (+135,336 | ΔW Change: ↓23.11% | Σ Increase: ↑0.53%)
• Deaths: 429,490 (+1,855 | ΔW Change: ↓4.43% | Σ Increase: ↑0.43%)

1/25: <M>

• Cases: 25,861,597 (+159,472 | ΔW Change: ↑10.49% | Σ Increase: ↑0.62%)
• Deaths: 431,392 (+1,902 | ΔW Change: ↑34.13% | Σ Increase: ↑0.44%)

1/26: <T>

• Cases: 26,011,222 (+149,625 | ΔW Change: ↓17.15% | Σ Increase: ↑0.58%)
• Deaths: 435,452 (+4,060 | ΔW Change: ↑41.66% | Σ Increase: ↑0.94%)

1/27: <W>

• Cases: 26,166,201 (+154,979 | ΔW Change: ↓19.29% | Σ Increase: ↑0.60%)
• Deaths: 439,517 (+4,065 | ΔW Change: ↓7.78% | Σ Increase: ↑0.93%)

1/28: <Þ>

• Cases: 26,338,607 (+172,406 | ΔW Change: ↓12.53% | Σ Increase: ↑0.66%)
• Deaths: 443,769 (+4,252 | ΔW Change: ↓3.17% | Σ Increase: ↑0.97%)

1/29: <F>

• Cases: 26,512,193 (+173,586 | ΔW Change: ↓10.50% | Σ Increase: ↑0.66%)
• Deaths: 447,459 (+3,690 | ΔW Change: ↓5.19% | Σ Increase: ↑0.83%)

1/30: <S>

• Cases: 26,665,740 (+153,547 | ΔW Change: ↓13.13% | Σ Increase: ↑0.58%)
• Deaths: 450,381 (+2,922 | ΔW Change: ↓15.50% | Σ Increase: ↑0.65%)

1/31: <Sunday>

• Cases: 26,767,229 (+101,489 | ΔW Change: ↓25.01% | Σ Increase: ↑0.38%)
• Deaths: 452,279 (+1,898 | ΔW Change: ↑2.32% | Σ Increase: ↑0.42%)

2/1: <M>

• Cases: 26,911,375 (+144,146 | ΔW Change: ↓9.61% | Σ Increase: ↑0.54%)
• Deaths: 454,213 (+1,934 | ΔW Change: ↑1.68% | Σ Increase: ↑0.43%)

2/2: <T>

• Cases: 27,027,347 (+115,972 | ΔW Change: ↓22.49% | Σ Increase: ↑0.43%)
• Deaths: 457,856 (+3,643 | ΔW Change: ↓10.27% | Σ Increase: ↑0.80%)

2/3 (Yesterday): <W>

• Cases: 27,150,457 (+123,110 | ΔW Change: ↓20.56% | Σ Increase: ↑0.46%)
• Deaths: 461,930 (+4,074 | ΔW Change: ↑0.22% | Σ Increase: ↑0.77%)

2/4 (Today): <Þ>

• Cases: 27,273,890 (+123,433 | ΔW Change: ↓28.41% | Σ Increase: ↑0.45%)
• Deaths: 466,988 (+5,058 | ΔW Change: ↑18.96% | Σ Increase: ↑1.09%)

Indiana released a death audit yesterday and added 1500 deaths to their count yesterday an additional 1200 deaths in 2020 and 300 last month

https://www.wishtv.com/news/coronavirus/indiana-audit-finds-1500-additional-covid-19-deaths/

[jamestroll]

https://twitter.com/Patch_Virginia/status/1357743979467583491

Excellent!

Next months almost everything in Virginia will be open expect for gatherings over 10 people (unless increased by governor) and bar seating!

[DINGO Joe]

Iowa’s House speaker said he can’t make lawmakers wear masks — but he did enforce a ban on jeans

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/04/iowa-mask-jeans-house-speaker/

Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley (R) has repeatedly pushed back against imposing a mask mandate inside the legislature, saying that he cannot force lawmakers to cover their faces — just as he cannot stop someone from voting on the House floor in their bathing suit.

But when one Democratic lawmaker attempted to speak during a floor debate on Tuesday — not in a bikini or one-piece but in jeans — Grassley called her out for violating the chamber’s dress code.

“You will not be recognized to speak for debate,” he told state Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D), according to the Des Moines Register. “You can continue to vote from the floor.”

I have kin in Iowa and on a Zoom call around Christmas my cousin's kid who plays high school basketball mentioned that they practice and play their games wearing masks. 

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Senate Version has passed the House:

[Not Me, Us]

What's the timeline for the bill actually getting passed? We need COVID relief yesterday.

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

What's the timeline for the bill actually getting passed? We need COVID relief yesterday.

House is on break for 2 weeks after today, during which the Senate will be busy with impeachment. Should happen fairly quickly after that period.

[Horus]

Has anyone found a good link explaining why cases are down so much basically everywhere across the US?  As of today, we will down more than 50% from our national peak less than a month ago.  Some states like South Dakota are down nearly 90%.  But this hasn't been in the news nearly as much as when cases were rising.

It's good news that can't be sensationalized so CNN won't report it. It's also good news for the new administration so FOX won't report it.

[The Free North]

I'm seeing a lot of people on twitter showing place in Florida that are completely open, no one wearing a mask, etc and then justifying it by showing places with universal mask mandates and huge restrictions (IL/NY) that have the same exact death rate per capita.

It really is insane how the letter next to your governors name determines what type of life you live these days.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I'm seeing a lot of people on twitter showing place in Florida that are completely open, no one wearing a mask, etc and then justifying it by showing places with universal mask mandates and huge restrictions (IL/NY) that have the same exact death rate per capita.

It really is insane how the letter next to your governors name determines what type of life you live these days.

More your Governor's personality than anything else.

Life in Colorado or Virginia is far closer to life in Florida than it is to life in NY/CA.

[It’s so Joever]

I'm seeing a lot of people on twitter showing place in Florida that are completely open, no one wearing a mask, etc and then justifying it by showing places with universal mask mandates and huge restrictions (IL/NY) that have the same exact death rate per capita.

It really is insane how the letter next to your governors name determines what type of life you live these days.

More your Governor's personality than anything else.

Life in Colorado or Virginia is far closer to life in Florida than it is to life in NY/CA.

Ehhh...Virginia isn’t super opened up is it?
My cousins in VA were still online and it seems more people take it seriously there from the few anecdotes I have heard.
(they live in suburban Richmond)
Maybe I’m wrong.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I'm seeing a lot of people on twitter showing place in Florida that are completely open, no one wearing a mask, etc and then justifying it by showing places with universal mask mandates and huge restrictions (IL/NY) that have the same exact death rate per capita.

It really is insane how the letter next to your governors name determines what type of life you live these days.

More your Governor's personality than anything else.

Life in Colorado or Virginia is far closer to life in Florida than it is to life in NY/CA.

Ehhh...Virginia isn’t super opened up is it?
My cousins in VA were still online and it seems more people take it seriously there from the few anecdotes I have heard.
(they live in suburban Richmond)
Maybe I’m wrong.

They seem to be keeping a close eye on the metrics and still have some restrictions, but most things are open at full capacity. Mask mandates are still in place, but they look a lot closer to a true "new normal" than the Forever Lockdowns.