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An end to our daily COVID-19 roundup (for now, at least)

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Illinois

* IDPH reported 5,019 hospitalizations as of midnight last night, which gives us a seven-day rolling average daily decrease of 2.83 percent.

* We’ve been doing this for almost two years now and some folks have yet to figure out that deaths are a lagging indicator. Hospitalizations have been in obvious decline for ten days to two weeks, so deaths will eventually catch up with that downward trend. Also, as we’ve known for a very long time, one- or two-day death spikes can sometimes have more to do with how and when local coroners report the deaths…

COVID-19 is killing Illinoisans at the fastest rate seen since December 2020, but cases, hospitalizations and positivity rates are showing a “very rapid decrease” that suggest the worst of the Omicron resurgence has passed, Chicago’s top doctor said Tuesday.

The statewide numbers backed up that cautiously optimistic view, with cases up slightly — but down from last week’s sky-high numbers — and hospitalizations dropping again.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 13,706 new cases, lowering the average to just over 24,000 infections per day over the last week — a 13% decline compared to the previous week. And with 5,183 beds occupied, hospital admissions have dipped 23% over the same period.

But deaths notched up to 121 after two days of double-digit tallies, raising the statewide seven-day average to 132 COVID fatalities per day. Not since late December 2020 have Illinois families been hit with tragedy at such a rapid pace.

Also, Dr. Ezike said recently that she’s no longer watching case numbers because of all the at-home testing that’s being done now.

* We are clearly in a solidly downward hospitalization trend, the vast majority of deaths for the past several months were preventable, my main concern has always been overloaded hospitals, and so I’m done with doing this every day for a while. I’ll probably do one every Friday, when IDPH releases its weekly report, unless something newsworthy happens or the trend looks like it may be reversing, and that’s always possible, or even probable…

A version of the omicron variant dubbed “stealth omicron” is being monitored by scientists and health experts around the world as it has been detected in more than 40 countries, but what is it and what does it mean for the pandemic?

This version of the coronavirus, which scientists call BA.2, is widely considered stealthier than the original version of omicron because particular genetic traits make it somewhat harder to detect. Some scientists worry it could also be more contagious.

But they say there’s a lot they still don’t know about it, including whether it evades vaccines better or causes more severe disease.

Get your shots.

* As we discussed yesterday, the weather could be an issue in Illinois, but the fear of omicron appears to be subsiding as the downward trend becomes more well known and more people are infected…

The COVID-19 booster drive in the U.S. is losing steam, worrying health experts who have pleaded with Americans to get an extra shot to shore up their protection against the highly contagious omicron variant.

Just 40% of fully vaccinated Americans have received a booster dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the average number of booster shots dispensed per day in the U.S. has plummeted from a peak of 1 million in early December to about 490,000 as of last week.

If you haven’t been boosted, now is always a good time.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jan 26, 22 @ 1:09 pm

Comments

Key state in Illinois (courtesy @JSahly of Shaw Local). And note that this does not take boosters into account: “Of the fully vaccinated population in the state, 99.912% have not been hospitalized with a breakthrough COVID-19 infection.”

Comment by Menardian Wednesday, Jan 26, 22 @ 1:25 pm
get your shots, all of them. there’s lots more work to be done. to make more available those treatments that work, to create more treatments, to fight anti vaxxers…anti vaxxers of all kinds. there’s also a need to analyze the differences in disease spread between countries. it’s puzzling but there are real differences. more work for scientists.

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Jan 26, 22 @ 1:26 pm
Plug for the booster. My family and I all got COVID two and a half weeks ago. Wife and I are vaxxed and boosted. Oldest got his two shots and the middle kid was in the process of getting his shots. Youngest is too young.

I probably had the worst symptoms, with a sore throat and runny nose. Youngest has a sore throat and some trouble sleeping. Everyone else was a couple of sniffles at most. I was back at the gym yesterday with no lingering effects.

I’m fully convinced that A: Omicron doesn’t care about vaccines but B: it would have been way worse if we weren’t boosted.

Comment by ChrisB Wednesday, Jan 26, 22 @ 1:28 pm
I thought I understood politics, and human behavior. This pandemic has taught me how willfully was ignoring the crackpots- and how shockingly many there are.

Comment by West Sider Wednesday, Jan 26, 22 @ 1:36 pm
That should be “stat,” not state. Sheesh.

Comment by Menardian Wednesday, Jan 26, 22 @ 1:37 pm
When reports are written on the response to COVID, social media may well be called the most most negative contributing factor to the outbreak and number of those impacted.

Billy Six Pack sitting at the end of the bar making posting about medical issues he has no clue about, have been taken as “gospel” by way too many.

Factor in a President and staff who simply ignored the truth and encouraged every uneducated citizen to challenge the experts, and you have the makings of what we have been fighting.

Comment by Give Me A Break Wednesday, Jan 26, 22 @ 1:48 pm
SM is bad in some ways. Crazy Fred gets a bigger audience and meets up with all the other crazy Freds add in algorithms to promote the crazy Fred movement, etc. Then before you know it the angry fred movement is having torchlight parades in real life.

On the other hand, clinicians are able to communicate real world findings they have seen with others, and this is harmless stuff like, check these levels with your Omicron patients, etc. Not have your patients take Opiods and chase them down with booze.

And there is a direct channel between scientists and the public in a way there wasn’t before via mediating SM presences like Dr. Topol, where he presents Papers and Research (and adds caveats about preprint vs peer reviewed.)

Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Jan 26, 22 @ 2:15 pm
The decline in hospital stays for covid is great to see. They have been getting inundated over the last couple months. Maybe healthcare workers will get a bit of relief.

Comment by Lew Wednesday, Jan 26, 22 @ 2:20 pm
===An end to our daily COVID-19 roundup (for now, at least)===
Good riddance. May we never again need this.

Comment by Bruce( no not him) Wednesday, Jan 26, 22 @ 3:07 pm