Cases continue to surge, thousands of flights canceled, pediatric hospitalizations increasing.
COVID update 12/24/2021
Hi everyone, welcome to my short, daily COVID update.
COVID cases continue to surge in the US and across the world.
The US reported 270,000 new COVID cases last night, which is the largest one-day increase since January. Over 70,000 patients are now in hospitals across the US, which is the highest number we have seen since early October. New York state had 44,000+ cases, which is also the highest ever recorded in the state. Most of these cases were in New York City (27,000+). See the excellent BNO News account below for more information.
Several other countries also reported record increases in their daily COVID cases, more than they’ve ever had before:
Australia reported more than 9,000 new cases
UK: 122,000+ cases
Italy: 50,000+ cases
Omicron surging
While we still don’t have specific Omicron case numbers for the US, the UK has been updating their dashboard on daily basis. They reported 24,000 new Omicron cases yesterday, that brings their total Omicron count to 114,625.
Travel havoc
Thousands of flights were canceled across the US and globally on Christmas eve, across multiple airlines, as the Omicron variant continues to spread in the US. Airline workers are falling sick, contributing to these cancellations.
COVID hospitalizations surging
As a I mentioned above, more than 70,000 patients are now in the hospital with COVID in the US, the highest since October. The majority of these are probably due to the Delta variant, which never went away and has been responsible for the majority of cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID in the US since this past summer. Unfortunately, we are still awaiting specific numbers on Omicron hospitalizations in the US. I will share that data as soon as it is out.
There is some data coming out (from the UK and South Africa) that the risk of hospitalization with Omicron is lesser than that with Delta. However, remember that this is specific to the UK and South Africa - these are very different countries compared to the US with different levels of immunity (from either vaccination or infection). And those who experience mild infection are likely going to be those who are vaccinated. COVID is still COVID, no matter the variant.
Pediatric hospitalizations rising
A common trope from the anti-vax camp is that children are at zero risk from COVID. That’s always been BS and continues to be BS. Children continue to be infected and get severely ill from this virus. The risk to children compared to adults is lower, yes, but it is not zero. See data from the UK below: almost 400 children were hospitalized in the last week in the UK. That’s more than ever before.
Pediatric cases in the US are also skyrocketing. Nearly 170,000 pediatric cases of COVID occurred in kids in the last week in the US. Our kids need to be protected from this virus. Please consider getting your kids vaccinated if you have not already. The risk benefit ratio is overwhelmingly in favor of the vaccine. The risk to children from COVID is far higher than any risk from the vaccine.
The pandemic is far from over
Please do not take Omicron lightly or just dismiss it, regardless of your vaccination status. COVID is still COVID. The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to get vaccinated + boosted, wear high quality masks, test if you have symptoms (and isolate), and social distance.
That’s all for now! Merry Christmas everyone, and please be safe! Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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Thank you for the up-to-date information in your newsletters and on TikTok. I am truly grateful for the updates.
I do have a question. A short time ago an article appeared in Forbes claiming that the nucleoside analogs, Remdesivir and Molnupiravir may have been responsible for the evolution of the omicron variant. Is that a plausible hypothesis? I’m guessing not.