Christ, IL had 44,089 new cases today.
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Iāve read a few things that say cases is the wrong indicator to look at, and hospital visits, admissions, and ICU transfers is what we should be looking at.
Because cases are going to be effing high, but that doesnāt tell us a very good story of what is going on.
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Even hospitalizations with covid isnāt ideal- the conservatives are right that incidental cases are making that number complicated since infections are so high right now. Really hospital capacity and deaths are the closest to unsullied metrics it seems.
Canāt wait til the data scientists really shake some better info out of all of this.
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Right, you go into the hospital to have a baby, for instance, and they test you for covid (as my sister delicately put it, āchildbirth is an aerosolizing eventā) and you test positive, although you did not previously suspect you had covid. Then you are a hospitalized person with covid, but that isnāt why you showed up!
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Yeah exactly. And since SO many people are positive right now, thereās a huge number of incidentals. That doesnāt mean the āthis isnāt a surgeā people are right lol, it just really corrupts the data for ācases of Covid in hospitalsā
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Thatās true, but that still feels like a REALLY EFFING HIGH number and it doesnāt even tell the whole story because probably a lot of home tests go unreported.
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Iām at a bit of a loss at how school is supposed to work in Australia in three-ish weeks when it returns from summer break.
Our PM keeps going on and on about how schools must open and stay open, but how? We are already having supply chain issues because a high percentage of truck drivers are covid positive or close contacts and isolating and they are not working in poorly ventilated classrooms on close contact with 24 children 
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Not my original thought but definitely my mood: Every day that isnāt ruined feels like a miracle.
Right now, Thursday night, it looks like Kiddo will probably go to school tomorrow. I was not prepared to bet money on that Tuesday.
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A follow-up to this post, since there were questions about the source. A friend linked to this Your Local Epidemiologist post: A quick note on masks and CDC guidance... which gives a little context to the chart.
The chart was published in a Wall Street Journal article earlier this week. But it is based on ACGIH* data from Spring 2021, when the dominant variants required a higher viral load to infect. So the times may not still be the same.
Hereās a screenshot of the WSJ chart with the source info and editorial note included:
*American Council of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
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That part was cut off the one I saw. I didnāt realize it was from months ago.
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My sisters grandkids had very mild COVID recently. My sister felt bad then had a negative test and then quickly felt better about 10 days ago when they were supposed to travel to see the family. They changed plans to be traveling tomorrow to see the family. Now her SIL and DIL arenāt feeling well. We will see what happens now. Lol
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Thanks for the follow up!
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I got an email today that all early intervention visits have to be virtual for the month of January. Then Bās OT texted and said that 8 of her 13 families have confirmed covid right now 
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Uploading: 62ACFE9F-0103-4C91-8CCF-C2B415EF5C52.pngā¦
full text
Reimbursement for At-Home COVID Tests Will Start Next Week
Editorās note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscapeās Coronavirus Resource Center.
Starting next week, Americans struggling to get tested for COVID-19 will be able to get reimbursed for the cost of rapid at-home tests, according to The New York Times.
In upcoming weeks, people should also be able to order free tests online, White House officials said.
āWe know this remains frustrating for people getting tested in many parts of the country,ā Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said during a news briefing on Wednesday. āSo we are working to do all we can.ā
Two weeks ago, President Joe Biden said his administration would buy 500 million rapid tests to distribute to the public for free and that insurance companies would begin reimbursing people for the tests they buy on their own. At the time, Biden said the new initiatives would start āin the coming weeks.ā
So far, the Biden administration hasnāt released specifics for people to order the free tests online. With a massive surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, the demand for at-home tests has outpaced supply, and most retail stores have run out of stock.
Zients said Wednesday that test makers will begin delivering rapid test kits to the federal government next week and that Americans will start receiving free tests āin the coming weeks.ā The Biden administration will set up a āfree and easy system, including a websiteā where people can order them, he said.
In the meantime, new federal testing sites are opening this week in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Wednesday. Other testing sites will also open soon in Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Texas, and Washington, Zients said, and mobile testing sites are now available in New York City and New Jersey.
Last week, the CDC removed a testing requirement from its new isolation guidelines, which shortened the isolation period from 10 days to 5 days. Public health experts criticized the change, saying that a negative test should be required before people end their isolation.
On Tuesday, the CDC amended its guidance, adding that people who want to end isolation after 5 days can choose to take a test if they have access to one. If the test result is positive, they should stay home for another 5 days. But if the test is negative and they no longer have symptoms, they can end isolation and should wear masks in public for another 5 days.
The CDC took out the testing requirement because rapid tests arenāt authorized by the FDA to determine whether someone is infectious, Rochelle Walensky, MD, the CDC director, said during the news briefing on Wednesday. Instead, the tests are authorized to detect infection and are meant to be used back-to-back, as in schools, to confirm that people continue to test negative, she said.
But the CDC amended its guidance this week because āit became very clear that people were interested in using the rapid tests,ā Walensky said, and she wanted to āprovide guidance on how they should be used.ā
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The CDC guidance on isolation and testing has been so confusing and discouraging. Reminds me of when they were telling us that masks werenāt proven to be useful back in 2020. I hate feeling skeptical like this.
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I saw lots of articles about Project N95, but not OK with the pricing. I looked up some of the manufacturers from masks on Project N95 and found a direct retailer with masks in stock: https://aidwaycares.com/
Seems legit: The US has N95 masks available - you just can't find them - CNN
KN95 prices have doubled on Amazon since I last ordered masks in November.
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Yay, 1st vaccination for the 5 year old is done!
He made a HUGE fuss, wouldnāt even let the tech show him where the shot would go with her finger without freaking out, and had to be wrapped up in my legs, and now heās basically forgotten about it because they gave him a book, lol.
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My friend has been wearing a p100 respirator for most of the pandemic. I believe it complicates communication, but works for errands, flights, transit, etc. They do their research, so Iām pretty confident itās effective. Iām contemplating it but alsoā¦resistant to invest in the pandemic continuing?
Of course we also live in Fire Country USA. Le sigh.
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A couple of Florida headlines to make your heads explode (Iāll add links tomorrow)
- State government allowed a million tests expire waiting in a warehouse.
- State surgeon general says we need to āunwind the pyschology of testingā. Few days later new state guidelines for testing wants to limit it to those symptomatic and high risk.
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