By K E Stone (Keystone)
TRAGICALLY, OVER 800K AMERICANS ARE DEAD FROM CHINA FLU A
GRIM MILESTONE. There are no words for the human carnage and misery that China
has brought upon the United States and the world. The filthy CCP must pay for
their nefarious deeds at the Wuhan Laboratories but first all other 200 nations
on the planet must heal from the pandemic.
49.3 million Americans have been infected with coronavirus
and 801,326 are dead as per the Worldometer data. The CDC is at 777K dead.
Johns-Hopkins is at 779K Americans dead from COVID-19. The Institute for HealthMetrics and Evaluation (IHME) is at 774K deaths but projects a number of 900K
when factoring in all deaths (overdoses, suicides, not receiving care for other
health issues, etc…) caused at least in part from the tragic ongoing pandemic.
The CDC, Johns-Hopkins and IHME American death counts from COVID-19
will exceed 800K by the end of the year; the chyron writers are already preparing
the red heads for 800K deaths (the scrolling news items at the bottom of the
television screen).
The pandemic is intertwined in US politics because former
President Trump, the orange-headed showman, was more concerned about his
reelection campaign than handling the virus. Trump loses the election and
Alzheimer Joe is now running the show equally inept as King Donnie. Tweedledumb
and Tweedledumber.
The United States deaths chart is shown above a sad chart.
You can see why they call it a once in a century pandemic. Over 801K souls meet
The Maker over the last 22 months; call it 2 years. It is jaw-dropping and
difficult to comprehend. Everyone in America knows someone that has died from
the China Virus. Of course, each corrupt political party spins the data in
their favor.
During 2020, the chart shows 370.0K Americans dead from
COVID-19. In 2021 thus far, 431.3K Americans are dead, over 61K more dead
bodies, and December still has to play out. The republican tribe puffs its
chest out advertising this narrative as proof that they can handle the pandemic
better.
During King Donnie Trump’s reign as POTUS through 1/20//21,
inauguration day, 434.2K Americans died on his watch. From Biden’s first day to
present, a little over 10 months, 367.1K Americans have died from coronavirus, 67K
less dead bodies. The democrat tribe puffs its chest out advertising this
narrative as proof that Sleepy Joe is doing a better job than the orange one.
It is a snapshot glimpse of crony corrupt America and the sick political games
in play daily. It is a political pandemic.
The Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant, dubbed the Omicron
variant by the WHO’s jackass Greek naming system, is dominating the US news
flow since Friday. All eyes are focused on the southern Africa nations of South
Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi.
If Angola, Zambia and Madagascar are lumped in with these countries that are
receiving the omicron scarlet letter, the entire southern Africa continent is
represented.
However, the focus should remain on the India B1617 variant
(delta) that continues wreaking havoc around the world decimating Russia,
bringing Europe to its knees and creating US waves 5 and the current wave 6.
Bolivia and Chile are fighting a rise in delta cases. Ditto South Korea, Laos
and Vietnam.
Handle, treat and defeat the delta devil you know in
real-time not the omicron monster hiding in the bushes. In sports, coach would
tell you to “keep your eyes on the ball (delta).”
The B11529 variant first appears in Botswana but that was
swept under the rug by the politically correct jackasses that control the news
flow. The WHO, university professors and other elite thinkers always place race
front and center these days, and the democrat-run media are glad to oblige, so
Botswana is buried in the news and the eggheads say the B11529 variant started
in South Africa.
Between you, me and the lamppost, it started in Botswana not
South Africa, although it may have been a stone’s throw from the border. For
nomenclature’s sake, the chronology refers to the new variant as Botswana/South
Africa B11529 variant, Omicron variant or omicron.
Isn’t it sick that some people think that virus names create
racism? It is stupid. This nonsensical claptrap from wealthy elite
intellectuals and professors wearing corduroy sports jackets with patches on
the elbows, divides people and fosters hatred since it highlights ethnic and
racial differences when folks do not care about such differences. Everyone has
friends, coworkers, neighbors, family, relatives that are all shapes, sizes,
colors, religions, ethnicities and races. Who cares? If a variant starts in the
US, it will be called the America Virus or America Flu. That’s fine. No biggie.
Botswana and South Africa are beautiful nations with great
people. It is doubtful that anyone would turn down a plane ticket to South
Africa. If you do, you are a fool. It is a fantastic place to visit, the cable
car rides in Cape Town are great fun. Johannesburg is inland and a notable city
due its history of political turmoil (apartheid) and activism by such figures
as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. There are great South African doctors
working in hospitals across the US.
The Delta variant remains the star on the covid stage but
the starlet Omicron variant, standing in the wings, is champing at the bit to
be the center attraction of the never-ending global pandemic. On a positive
note, what may be playing-out is the final stages of the pandemic when a virus
typically become more contagious, or virulent, but less deadly.
A virus seeks a host with a warm body so it can continue to
replicate and infect. Deadly diseases, such as Ebola, tend to burn themselves
out quickly since the person (host) dies too fast before they can infect
others. Viruses tend to morph over time resulting in a mutation that is more
contagious but less deadly. Perhaps this is how the pandemic will play its swan
song with omicron?
President Biden speaks yesterday (Monday) providing an
update on the Omicron variant. He repeats the same statements heard on
television by the talking head surrogates. Biden proclaims, “Please do not
panic.” He says there is “a cause for concern, not a cause for panic.” Hesounds like the flight controllers in the historic Airplane movie.
The president says the Omicron variant will show up in the
United States “sooner or later.” Biden promises to release a detailed plan on
Thursday explaining how to fight COVID-19 this winter. Biden proclaims that the
US will battle covid “not with shutdowns or lockdowns, but with more widespread
vaccinations, boosters, testing and more.” The new plan already sounds like the
same old plan.
Sleepy Joe says lockdown are off the table for now but he
talks in cagey language and cannot be taken at his word because of past broken
promises. He said he would not impose mandates all the way up until he imposed
mandates. The no lockdown commitment is bigtime. Biden’s bony feet, sporting
several ingrown toenails, will be held to the fire for this bold ‘no lockdown’
promise.
The president pimps the vaccines and booster shots
repeatedly. Biden says it will take a couple weeks to find out more about the
Omicron variant. The media will keep pumping the B11529 variant story this week
creating frenzy each time a tidbit of information is released. Fear attracts
eyeballs which sells advertising which makes money for rich people.
Biden finishes his short talk by saying, “I encourage
everyone to wear a mask indoors. Please wear your mask when indoors.” Sleepy
Joe then walks away maskless, indoors, with Vice President Harris and Dr Fauci,
that are wearing masks, at his side. You cannot make the stuff up. Rules for
thee and not for me.
Biden and First Lady Jill were videotaped in several
locations over the weekend not following the mask rules they decree and impose
on others. America’s nobility, the ruling class, instructs the huddled masses
to do as I say, not as I do. Leadership is as rare as hen’s teeth these days as
hypocrisy is hoisted onto a pedestal and adorned.
New Jersey democrat Governor Murphy, that imposes harsh mask
and vaccine requirements on his constituency, flies to Florida for a fun in the
sun vacation, where the family is laughing and smiling enjoying the indoors and
outdoors maskless. The hypocrisy is covered over by a suntan.
The B11529 variant has over 30 mutations in the spike
protein which creates concern over immune escape where the host body cannot
respond to the infectious agent. Both vaccines and natural immunities may be
less effective against the new Omicron variant but this is why the laboratory
lights are on all night long. In a few days or week or two, the scientists will
find out if the vaccines are effective, or not, and if omicron is ominous, or
not.
South Africa Medical Association National Chair Dr Angelique
Coetzee, located in Pretoria (Johannesburg), South Africa, says the world is
overreacting to the Omicron variant. She is one of the scientists first
identifying the B11529 variant in Botswana and South Africa and is treating the
patients on the front lines so her words carry clout.
Coetzee proclaims, “It’s (B11529) not that severe.” She says
most of the cases are in young people that are not severely ill. The doctor
says the Omicron variant is easily treatable at home. Patients experience
fatigue for a day or two, scratchy throat and aches and pains. She says if you
feel this way, “Go see a healthcare facility” to get tested. Dr Coatzee
downplays the severity of illness caused by the new Botswana/South Africa
B11259 variant (omicron) saying symptoms are mild to moderate with little
chance of severe disease (so far).
She moans that people overreacted but she was the one waving
her hands saying look what I found. The WHO is concerned since they placed
B11529 on the VOC (Variants of Concern) top warning list which creates a
worldwide frenzy. Dr Coatzee paints a rosy picture and downplays the fear of
omicron, however, does the South Africa tourism industry have any influence on
her remarks? Probably not.
Three key topics must be addressed for the Botswana B11529
variant; transmissibility, the seriousness of the illness and vaccine
effectiveness. The new variant appears highly contagious even more so than the Delta
variant. South Africa announces that B11529 has now become the dominant strain
in new infections in only a couple weeks time. Other variants take weeks or months
to progress that fast.
What were the communists mixing up in the Wuhan Laboratories
during 2019 when no one was looking? China knows a lot about the virus than
they are not telling the world. Perhaps this is why China is less impacted by
the global pandemic rather than crediting efficient testing, lockdowns and
vaccinations for their low infection numbers. Never trust a filthy communist
(CCP).
As Dr Coatzee says, the Omicron variant illness exhibits
only mild to moderate symptoms. There are no deaths from B11529 as yet. The
vaccine efficacy against omicron is the big looming question that will receive
lots of attention each day forward. Pfizer speaks optimistically about current
vaccines handling the new variant but Moderna is not as confident. The story
will be told over the next couple weeks as testing continues in the labs 24/7.
The vaccine efficacy results on B11529 will dictate the pandemic path ahead for
the northern hemisphere of planet earth.
President Biden says unvaccinated federal workers should not
be let go during the holidays. It is his own crazy vaccine mandate rule that is
sh*t-canning them! Now they get a reprieve until into the new year. The fix was
in for the vaccine mandate garbage. Tens of thousands of religious and medical
exemptions are filed by workers and the employers are slow-walking the sack of
papers to the HR Department, and by the way, Betty may not be back in the
office for a couple weeks.
Companies, federal contractors and others caught up in the
vaccine mandate ridiculousness, are trying to do the bare minimum to appease
King Biden while keeping all their workers, regardless of vaccination status.
The religious and medical exemptions are swept under the rug in the HR
Department, a few folders containing paperwork fall behind a file cabinet, but
no one cares. Let the unvaccinated keep working without harassment and simply
tell them to wear a mask if they are within 6 feet (2 m) of anyone.
New York hospitals are struggling since the state has been
forceful with its draconian vaccine mandates. 34K New York healthcare workers
are off the job, unemployed or underemployed because of the stupid vaccine
mandate. It is sickening. This is the real reason New York Governor Hochul
declared a State of Emergency; she needs help handling her stupidity. An
emergency room closes because of lack of doctors and nurses. How stupid can New
York be? Let those 34K healthcare workers work.
You will need them for the winter infection surge. Look around New York.
You are surrounded by stupid people.
The waning vaccine efficacy continues and is openly
discussed among all nations around the world. The mRNA vaccines last 6 months
and then a booster shot is required but global citizens are less enthusiastic
about following the new medical guidelines. They were told the initial vaccines
would take care of the pandemic but now a booster is needed and then probably
more future booster shots. Booster shot hesitancy is occurring.
Shamefully, the CDC does not track all breakthrough cases
only the hospitalizations and deaths. Isn’t the level of incompetence
sickening? Of course, if you do not count all the breakthrough cases, you can
say that the overwhelming problem in defeating the pandemic is unvaccinated
people rather than the vaccinated. Perhaps the main problem now in play is the
fact that the vaccines are not that effective after 6 months and some folks
have received their shots 10 or 11 months ago.
The CDC is pulling a Donnie Trump. Remember last year when the
former president wanted less testing to be performed because that would mean
less cases would be reported and he would look better heading towards the
election. It is comical, although tragic at the same time, to receive a glimpse
into the simple minds that hold massive power.
Leaders can choose to ignore or not collect vital data, but it
does not mean that the bad news does not exist.
It is the same as hearing a terrible noise coming from your car engine
or underneath the vehicle but you turn the radio on louder. You can no longer
hear the terrible noise so the problem is solved. It is stupid people in
charge. American mediocrity. The Whitehouse (under both Trump and Biden), CDC
and NIH are Three Blind Mice.
The CDC says everyone eligible “should get a booster shot”
revising prior language that said everyone over 18 years old “could get a
booster shot” and “may get a booster shot.” The Whitehouse, CDC and NIH are in
a full court press calling for more vaccinations and booster shots. They got
nothing except same-o, same-o, pimping the waning vaccines hoping for a better
result. A huge problem with the pandemic is that the mRNA vaccines are only
effective for 6 months.
The Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant is not yet
identified in the United States but the CDC warns that omicron could exacerbate
the expected winter infection surge. The average American is not paying any
attention to the nuanced ‘should, could and may’ words from the CDC or the
daily guidance.
Pfizer CEO Bourla is interviewed on CNBC and asked about the
potential effectiveness of the vaccines against the new B11529 variant. Bourla
says, “I don’t think that the result will be the vaccines don’t protect. I
think the result could be, which we don’t know yet, they vaccines protect
less.” There it is. The horse’s mouth says the vaccines will likely be less
effective against the new Botswana variant but he does remain hopeful.
The CDC is telling Americans to seek testing immediately if
they feel sick. One of the many failings of the pandemic is the 2 years of
incompetency in the testing arena. Folks of common means do not have the money
to spend on a covid test. The wealthy class is completely out of touch with,
and does not understand, the daily plight of the common class and America’s
working poor. Why are the South Africa scientists better at genomic sequencing,
that identifies variants, than the American scientists at the CDC?
A St Louis, Missouri, judge blocks President Biden’s vaccine
mandate forced on thousands of healthcare workers. 10 states joined the lawsuit
wining the initial battle against the big hand of government; Alaska, Arkansas,
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and
Wyoming. The vaccine mandate garbage will remain mixed-up in the courts for
many weeks or months.
The ongoing chaotic pandemic and new Omicron variant sends
Wall Street on a roller coaster ride. Major stock indexes mini-crash about -3%
on Friday, 11/26/21, but recover almost half the losses yesterday, Monday,
11/29/21. As this article is written, US futures are down about -1% so there
may be another rough day in store for stocks.
International traders and investors do not like uncertainty.
Overnight, in a Financial Times interview, the Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel is
saying that the vaccines may have difficulty in protecting against B11529.
Bancel says, “I think it’s going to be a material drop. I just don’t know how
much because we need to wait for the data. But all scientists I’ve talked to…
are like, ‘this is not going to be good’.” Hence, US futures and European stock
indexes are dropping like a rock.
Perhaps the stock traders also are aware of an Omicron variant
case in the US that the public is not informed about as yet? Always follow the
money. Wall Street will know first if a Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant
case appears in the US. It is already in North America with 2 cases in Ontario,
Canada.
Adding on more market negativity, Federal Reserve Chairman
Powell speaks today and he will remark that the Omicron variant is a threat to
the economy going forward. Powell says many American workers are not willing to
work in person with others due to the pandemic.
The CDC COVID Data Tracker reports 233 million Americans,over 70%, are vaccinated with at least one dose. No one can complain about that
number. 83% of the people 18 years old and older have at least one shot in the
arm a great number. 197 million Americans, over 59%, are fully vaccinated. Over
40 million booster shots are administered thus far which is 21% of the fully
vaccinated folks.
Only 1 in 5 Americans eligible for a booster shot has done
so. Only 47K booster shots have been administered to the under 18 young folks
while 31 million booster shots are in the arms of the people 50 years and older
that are fully vaccinated. 44% of the fully vaccinated Americans over 65 years
old have received their booster shots. Thus, not even one-half, 1 in 2, older
Americans have received their boosters. This may spell trouble for the winter
infection period.
The US vaccinations rate is 1.2 million doses per day but it
is mainly booster shots rather than new vaccinations. The shots have dropped
off a cliff during the Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend. There is no time for
jabs when a turkey feast is on the table and the wine is flowing like water.
The US daily new cases chart is shown above. The current
wave 6 surge may be rolling over, like wave 4, but the jury remains out.
Thanksgiving Day was last Thursday, 11/25/21, so the 4 to 14 day virus
incubation period is in play. Eight days is a sweet spot for new infections
after an event. Thus, hospitals are on high alert for new infections from
Monday, 11/29/21, yesterday, through Friday, 12/10/21, with a major focus on
how many new daily cases occur this Friday, 12/3/21, at the 8-day mark past
Thanksgiving.
The US reports over 70K daily new cases yesterday a pop
higher for Monday as the more reliable non-holiday data begins again. Numbers
will likely keep bumping higher with revisions. The good news is the 7-day MA
sloping lower again at 77K cases per day but the joy is due to the lower
reporting of numbers during the Thanksgiving holiday. The week ahead needs to
play out to see if the infections increase, or not.
The 3-day MA trend line has printed a lower high and lower
low breaking the uptrend of wave 6 which is fantastic news, however, it is
overshadowed by the holiday that has a thumb on the scale. Nonetheless, it is
great to see wave 6 rolling over. Even though the booster shot uptake is slow,
the third jabs may be helping stop wave 6.
Wave 4 was stopped as the initial vaccinations kicked-in so
perhaps wave 6 will end due to new vaccinations, people receiving boosters, and
many months of time passing where tens of millions of Americans and more have
had COVID-19 and now have some level of natural immunity.
The US is in the Thanksgiving Day infection window as
described above so this week has to play out through Friday’s case numbers
before the story can be written for wave 6. More will also be known about the
Omicron variant in the days ahead.
The US active cases chart is shown above. The peak in active
cases is projected for 12/21/21, or sooner, as per the Keystone Model explained
below. The wave 6 daily new cases peak at 115K on 11/19/21 but a robust 107K cases
occur on 11/23/21. Adding 28 days to the 11/23/21 date is 12/21/21 as the
projection for when the US active cases curve will peak.
Thus, doctors, nurses and medics will spend December working
shifts at the hospital. There is no joy in the covid ward. The path ahead
depends on the case numbers this week due to the holiday parties and
get-togethers. If all goes well without Thanksgiving a superspreader event,
wave 6 is done and the path ahead will display blue skies and rainbows for
America. The active cases curve will flatten out and be rolling over to the
downside by Christmas Eve. The Christmas carolers will be singing, “Joy to theWorld.” The only dark cloud is omicron off in the distance but the wind is not
yet blowing this way.
Conversely, if the US daily cases ramp higher this week from
the 70K cases yesterday with a big climax on Friday, well, there will be pain. Hospitals
will become packed and short-staffed. Cases, active cases, hospitalizations and
deaths will all rise. The bad outcome from Thanksgiving and superspreader event
can be modeled for the same thing to happen after the Christmas through New
Year’s holidays. December and January will both be lousy months with people
becoming nastier as they live the non-stop covid nightmare.
Here is very positive news. The hospital admissions and
hospitalizations curl lower for America. Rejoice. The jury remains out about
any new infections due to the holiday parties but as of right now, things are
looking bueno.
Th US daily deaths chart is shown above. The cumulative
deaths chart is the sad 801K mind-numbing deaths chart above. The daily deaths
chart is better news with the 7-day MA trending down at 816 deaths per day
finally sustaining below the 1K per day death rate. Perhaps a 7-handle is on
tap this week.
Americans would likely be less uptight and more relaxed if
the deaths numbers drop significantly. People will return to normalcy once they
see deaths dropping substantively to low numbers. It is already very unlikely
that you would ever die of covid but perceptions are everything in life and in
the pandemic game.
The Whitehouse should be selling monoclonal antibody
treatments to save lives, a la Florida, instead of hawking the same-o vaccine
snake oil with an expired 6-month expiration date on the vial. An integrated
approach to health is always better. If the death numbers drop, people’s
attitudes and outlooks will greatly improve. The pandemic would not appear so
dire anymore and it would open the door to normalcy. America placing all its
eggs in the vaccine basket only is one of the failings of the pandemic.
The New York state daily new cases chart is shown above. New
York reports over 7.5K daily new cases yesterday the most of the current wave
with the 7-day bumping sideways at 6.5K cases per day. Where’s Hochul? Bueller?
Hochul? She is screwing 34K healthcare workers over the vaccine mandate garbage
as a freight train of covid sickness is bearing down on the state.
Worse, the bonehead New York governor now proclaims a stop
to all elective surgery procedures in the state. New Yorker’s are idiots
placing Hochul in charge. She is creating a mess and throwing gasoline on the
fire. Tell those unvaccinated workers to get back to work and wear a mask. Be a
leader instead of a zero and ditch the vaccine mandate so New Yorker’s jobs and
health can be protected, otherwise, Hochul will have blood on her hands, like disgraced
former Governor Cuomo.
Florida’s deaths chart is shown above and it is a bright
sight. Florida is down to nil deaths per day due to COVID-19 the 7-day MA
trendline is at only 2 deaths per day. Florida set up 25 or more monoclonal
antibody clinics throughout the state that dramatically lessened the hospitalizations
and deaths. It is a great model to follow and yet other states ignore the
success.
Florida Governor DeSantis is a republican and a top
consideration for president in 2024 so the democrats will not provide any
credit. It is a political pandemic and the tribes play their baby political
games during the waning days of crony capitalism. The sicko’s of both parties pledge
allegiance to their corrupt tribes instead of the United States of America.
Minnesota, Michigan, New Mexico, Arizona, Missouri and other
states remain under siege but the numbers are not yet updating after the
holiday weekend. The list below highlights the worst US states.
The world’s daily new cases chart is shown above. The 7-day
MA is curling over which is great but it must continue. Europe may be
peaking-out with daily new cases faster than expected. The world reports 469K
daily new cases for yesterday with the 7-day MA trend line at 562K cases per
day. The behavior is encouraging as long as the Omicron variant remains at bay.
Everyone wants a look at South Africa due to the B11529
variant so the daily cases chart is shown above. South Africa reports the
following cases over the last 4 days starting on Friday at 2,828 cases, then
3,220, then 2,858, and then 2,273 yesterday, Monday, 11/29/21. The current wave
4 that is starting shows 3.2K cases on Saturday so it is key to see if the
cases for any day ahead surpass the 3.2K level, or not.
The 7-day MA for South Africa daily new cases has gone
parabolic already at 2.3K cases per day which is not good. It is encouraging
that the cases are slipping for 2 days, albeit a small amount. The wave 4
omicron scare may be a pig in a poke. The coming days will tell the tale. The
chart shows wave 2 when the South Africa B1351 variant (beta) was biting hard.
Then wave 3 was the India B1617 variant (delta) and now the jury is out if wave
4 has legs which is the Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant (omicron).
South Korea’s deaths chart is shown above. The daily cases
remain at record levels with the pandemic spiraling out of control. 56 South
Koreans die on Sunday, 11/28/21, the deadliest day of the pandemic. 32 die
yesterday. South Korea, a shining star last year that all countries wanted to
emulate, is in shambles this year. Seoul loses souls.
The USA has the greatest number of total coronavirus cases
in the world at 49.3 million. India is next with 34.6 million total virus cases.
Brazil, UK, Russia, Turkey, France, Iran, Germany and Argentina round out the
top ten ugly list. Germany nudged out Spain (number 11) last time and exceeds
Argentina’s cases this time.
COVID-19 has infected 262.5 million people worldwide. 5.2 million
people are dead from the Wuhan Flu. China has committed a heinous injustice
against the rest of the world and they must pay but first the planet must recover.
237.1 million global citizens have recovered from China Flu.
90% (237.1/262.5) of the people that become infected with COVID-19 recover in a
reasonable time frame. This percentage has been at 90% to 92% for many months.
About 10% of the people that contract coronavirus have lingering health effects
such as long-covid or die.
Worldwide, 2.0% (5.2/262.5) of the people that are infected
with covid die; 1 in 50. This number has sat at 2.1%-2.2% for many months and has
dropped to 2.0% over the last 5 weeks a positive development for the planet. The
vaccinations may be helping to lower world’s death rate.
3.4% (262.5/7670) of the world’s population of 7.67 billion
people have been infected with coronavirus; 1 in every 29 people on earth. The Wuhan
Virus has negatively impacted everyone on the planet. 0.07% of the world’s
population (5.2/7670) died from the pandemic; 1 in every 1,475 people.
In the United States, 49.3 million people are infected with covid.
801K Americans are dead. 39.0 million Americans have recovered from coronavirus.
This equates to 79% (39.0/49.3) of US citizens recovering after becoming
infected with COVID-19. The recovery percentage has been between 76% and 84% over
the last few months. Vaccines have not improved the recovery percentage.
America’s rampant obesity problem has greatly added to
deaths, hospitalizations and long-covid problems. If you are overweight or obese,
and unvaccinated, call your doctor. If you are fat and over 50 years old, run
to your doctor, but don’t give yourself a heart attack on the way.
In the US, 1.6% (801/49300) of the people infected with COVID-19
die. This number is sticky at 1.6% to 1.8% for many months. 1 in every 62 US
citizens that are infected with coronavirus die. 0.24% (801/330000) of
Americans have died from COVID-19 which is 1 in every 412 Americans.
14.9% (49.3/330) of the American population of 330 million
people, call it 15%, have been infected with covid. 1 in every 7 Americans have
been stricken with coronavirus. The minority communities are impacted disproportionately.
The 15% solidly contributes towards herd immunity and the number is likely far
larger (double) by the CDC’s own admission, providing natural antibody
protection.
The United States has 19% (49.3/262.5) of the COVID-19 cases
in the world. 1 in 5 people (5.3 to be exact which is 2 in 11) that become
infected with covid on planet earth are Americans. The US vaccination program
made an impact month’s ago, but not so much in recent weeks and months. The
number is flatlining. This percentage was 22% about 9 months ago.
The US accounts for 15.4% (801/5200) of the China Flu deaths
in the world. 1 in 7 people that die from COVID-19 around the world are Americans.
7 months ago, it was 1 in 5. The numbers are going in the right direction for
the US but the improvement has stalled and is going nowhere the last 5 months.
The Keystone Speculator Coronavirus Infection Rate Model,
the Keystone Model for short, is a simple model that predicts when the active
cases chart curves will flatten-out and roll-over lower. The active cases chart
is the ‘flatten the curve’ chart that represents the maximum stress and strain on
the medical system and healthcare workers. Once the active cases chart rolls
over forming the bell shape, the virus is being defeated and healthcare workers
can breathe easier.
The Keystone Model uses the peak in the daily new cases to
forecast the peak and flattening of the active cases curve. The ‘flattening of
the curve’ only pertains to the active cases chart. For communist nations where
the populations must do what they are told or they receive a bullet in their
heads (China), and for smaller authoritarian nations (Eastern European
countries, Africa and Middle East nations), and many Asian nations where
citizens follow government rules without questioning authority (South Korea,
Japan, Singapore, Australia), the active cases curve will peak, on average, 11
days after the peak in daily new cases.
For the Western countries, such as the US and European
nations, the so-called free societies, the active cases curve will peak, on
average, 28 days after the peak in new cases. It takes about 2 weeks longer for
a free society to tamp down a virus wave than a communist or authoritarian
state because lockdowns are not strictly enforced.
All projections below for countries and the US states
continue to use the 11 and 28-day periods for forecasting for consistency. When
the peak in daily new cases occurs, if a subsequent day is within 8% of that
peak top, it is identified as the peak in daily new cases day.
The peak in the daily new cases is easily seen on the bar
charts provided by Worldometer, the CDC and Johns-Hopkins. The daily new cases
bar charts are shown on television news channels with a 7-day moving average
(MA) line which is a smoothing mechanism that identifies the trend.
An update for The Keystone Model is provided since another
10-day period passes and more data and information become available to push the
Wuhan Virus story forward. The Coronavirus Chronology identifies the real-time
hotspots occurring around the world and within the United States. The
chronology serves as a historical document that will be referenced for decades
to come by those that want to experience the entire pandemic as it unfolds in
real-time.
The Coronavirus Chronology compilation of articles will be
published in the future by Amazon and distributed internationally. This is
Article 61 in the Coronavirus Chronology that provides real-time information for
historians, teachers, students, journalists, economists, market participants, corporate
executives, financial managers, Wall Street, doctors, nurses, medical personnel,
first responders, researchers, public officials, news organizations, traders,
investors and politicians studying the COVID-19 pandemic both domestically
(USA) and internationally.
This sixty-first article is published on Tuesday, 11/30/21,
the last day of November, with December starting in a few short hours. Winter
is here with dustings of snow appearing on the grass each morning in the
northern US states. The furnaces are running and humans are spending more time
in the warm house breathing each other’s recirculated air. Aunt Jane, that has
not been feeling well, practices her opera singing in the kitchen at dinner
time.
The coronavirus series of articles are the only real-time
source of information available continuously chronicling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
during 2020, and 2021, and in the near future, 2022. Readers live and breathe
the pandemic, the worst in a century, as it occurs in real-time, experiencing
the daily virus zeitgeist, good or bad, devoid of political correctness. This
is not revisionist history-telling.
It is the raw pandemic truth and human emotion occurring, recorded
and chronicled in real time, without any allegiance to political parties or
media sources. The information is direct and unapologetic. A chronology can be
written no other way.
All 61 Coronavirus Chronology articles are archived on The
Keystone Speculator blog. The last couple articles are linked below if you want
to come up to speed with the ongoing never-ending COVID-19 saga.
The Worldometer web site tracks the coronavirus (COVID-19) around
the world and its link is provided. Many charts in the coronavirus series of
articles are provided courtesy of Worldometer and annotated by Keystone. The
CDC COVID Data Tracker is another excellent source of information. The
Worldometer, Johns-Hopkins and CDC data track each other well with the
Worldometer data ahead of the Johns-Hopkins and CDC data by a few days. The
Worldometer data is far superior for forecasting since it is updated more
reliably in real-time.
The countries with rising active cases charts are
highlighted below with the worst nations at the bottom. The peaks in daily new
cases are shown and the projected peaks for active cases are based on the
Keystone Model. The peak and flattening of the active cases curves are
extremely important since it represents the maximum stress on healthcare
workers and the medical systems.
It will take longer for the active cases charts to roll over
to form the bell shape for those troubled nations at the bottom of the list
(they are still experiencing highs and peaks in their daily new cases).
Hospitalizations lag the daily cases by a week or two and deaths lag
hospitalizations by a week or two.
Chile (Fifth Wave)
11/14/21 New Case Peak Date
11/25/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (based on 11 days) (chart heads higher)
11/15/21 New Case Peak Date
12/13/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (based on 28 days) (flattening and rolling over but give it a couple
more days)
11/21/21 New Case Peak Date
12/2/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/22/21 New Case Peak Date
12/3/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/23/21 New Case Peak Date
12/4/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days) (flattening ready to roll over)
11/23/21 New Case Peak Date
12/21/30/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (based on 28 days)
11/24/21 New Case Peak Date
12/5/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days) (curve is flattening and rolling over but give it a
couple more days)
11/24/21 New Case Peak Date
12/5/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/25/21 New Case Peak Date
12/6/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/26/21 New Case Peak Date
12/7/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/26/21 New Case Peak Date
12/7/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/26/21 New Case Peak Date
12/7/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/26/21 New Case Peak Date
12/24/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (based on 28 days)
11/27/21 New Case Peak Date
12/8/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/27/21 New Case Peak Date
12/8/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/27/21 New Case Peak Date
12/8/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/27/21 New Case Peak Date
12/8/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/27/21 New Case Peak Date
12/8/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/27/21 New Case Peak Date
12/8/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/27/21
New Case Peak Date
12/8/21
Projected Active Case Peak Date (based on 11 days)
11/27/21 New Case Peak Date
12/8/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/28/21 New Case Peak Date
12/9/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/28/21 New Case Peak Date
12/9/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/28/21 New Case Peak Date
12/9/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (based on 11 days)
11/29/21 New Case Peak Date
12/10/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (based on 11 days)
11/29/21 New Case Peak Date
12/27/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (based on 28 days)
11/29/21 New Case Peak Date
12/27/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (based on 28 days)
There is lots of ugliness above but not as bad as would be expected with both the Delta and Omicron variants at play. Georgia, Iceland, Slovenia and Croatia are taken off the bad list because their active cases curves flattened and rolled over now forming the bell shape so they are on the mend.
Russia’s active cases curve is also rolling over but give it
a few days to make sure. Russia will continue battling covid but the worst is
likely in the rearview mirror. Russia, Greece, Austria and Chile will likely
disappear from the bad list next time so there are countries making slow
headway at beating back the covid monster.
Hungary is the worst on the list. Finland, Denmark and
Norway continue to struggle. The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Czechia,
Poland, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Denmark region, a connected land mass of
nations, is the epicenter of global covid misery. This region may be starting
to top-out but it is too early to verify. If so, it will explain the
improvement in the world’s daily cases chart above.
The France, Italy, Malta, Spain and Portugal collection of
nations is another covid quagmire. Morocco is in excellent shape and wants to
keep it that way shutting off its borders. Tunisia remans in good shape so the
infections have not jumped from Malta. The UK struggles unable to decrease the
daily cases for months.
South Africa is obviously of interest as is the other Africa
nations such as Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and Malawi but their charts and
data are behaving themselves so far. The South Africa chart is shown above and
the waiting game continues to see if wave 4 has legs, or not.
Chile and Bolivia remain challenged in South America. Vietnam, Laos and South Korea, in Southeast
Asia, are battling serious outbreaks.
The next list shows the US states that are struggling with
the worst states at the bottom. The peak in daily new cases and projections for
the peaks in active cases are provided as per the Keystone Model. The
flattening and roll over of the active cases curve forming the bell shape
indicates the virus is being defeated and the caseload on healthcare workers
will quickly improve.
The week ahead, and potential holiday party infections, will
dictate whether US wave 6 continues rolling over and dying, or, it perks-up due
to an increase in Thanksgiving Day-related cases creating a new round of misery
and mayhem. The coming days are critical and likely dictate America’s path
ahead for the next month or more.
Louisiana
(Fourth Wave) (data problem; Louisiana cases are down big for almost 4 months so
the active cases curve should have rolled over already)
8/13/21
New Case Peak Date
9/10/21
Projected Active Case Peak Date (curve is flattening but taking its good ole time)
8/24/21
New Case Peak Date
9/21/21
Projected Active Case Peak Date (curve is flattening but taking its good ole
time)
8/29/21
New Case Peak Date
9/26/21
Projected Active Case Peak Date (curve trying to flatten)
9/17/21
New Case Peak Date
10/15/21
Projected Active Case Peak Date (curve trying to flatten)
9/17/21
New Case Peak Date
10/15/21
Projected Active Case Peak Date (curve trying to flatten)
10/1/21 New Case Peak Date
10/29/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (curve continues higher)
10/14/21 New Case Peak Date
11/11/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (curve trying to flatten)
11/5/21 New Case Peak Date
12/3/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date
11/11/21 New Case Peak Date
12/9/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date (curve may have peaked)
11/18/21 New Case Peak Date
12/16/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/19/21 New Case Peak Date
12/17/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (curve is flattening)
11/19/21 New Case Peak Date
12/17/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (curve is flattening)
11/19/21 New Case Peak Date
12/17/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date (curve is flattening)
11/23/21 New Case Peak Date
12/21/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/23/21 New Case Peak Date
12/21/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/23/21 New Case Peak Date
12/21/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/24/21 New Case Peak Date
12/22/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/24/21 New Case Peak Date
12/22/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/24/21 New Case Peak Date
12/22/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/24/21 New Case Peak Date
12/22/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/24/21 New Case Peak Date
12/22/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/24/21 New Case Peak Date
12/22/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/24/21 New Case Peak Date
12/22/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/25/21 New Case Peak Date
12/23/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/25/21 New Case Peak Date
12/23/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/25/21 New Case Peak Date
12/23/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/26/21 New Case Peak Date
12/24/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/26/21 New Case Peak Date
12/24/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/29/21 New Case Peak Date
12/27/21 Projected Active Case
Peak Date
11/29/21 New Case Peak Date
12/27/21 Projected Active Case Peak
Date
The states are a mixed bag. Utah is removed from the bad list and is on the mend but New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Kansas are added to the bad list. The US East Coast is getting hit as evidenced by the trouble increasing in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut and ongoing woes in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.
It’s the port cities. Infections always spread around the
port cities. The United States relaxed travel restrictions a few weeks ago and
the hens are coming home to roost with increasing infections up and down the
East Coast.
New York Governor Hochul is getting picked on today but she
deserves it for her stupidity in not allowing 34K healthcare workers to work
and having to cancel surgeries because of her idiocy. At the same time a big
ole can of covid whoop-*ss is about to occur in New York with cases rising,
dopey Hochul is playing politics with New Yorker’s lives.
Her boss, Casanova Cuomo, that resigned in disgrace due to
the nursing home and sex scandals, was the same way, so the apple does not fall
far from the tree. Andrew Cuomo’s confused-looking bro on CNN, Chris Cuomo, is
sinking into the sex scandal allegations for potentially investigating his bro’s
accusers. All of you ladies know that us men are not like these two jablokes;
two silver-spooned adult children that need to learn a lot about how to respect
women. New York is set up to have a tough go of it into the holidays.
The arguments between Dr Fauci and republican Senators Paul
and Cruz continue with each side providing childish digs at one another but
some are quite funny. Cruz and Paul poke fun at Lord Fauci for saying he alone
represents science. Paul calls Fauci the “high priest” of science and says he
acts like the Medieval Church. It is funny stuff.
Fauci calls the two senators dangerous while Cruz says Fauci
is dishonest and a political partisan. The mahogany desks are overturned as
each side slings mud at one another. This activity by America’s leaders ought
to help end the pandemic, said cynically. Lord Fauci has lost his effectiveness
as a communicator for the COVID-19 pandemic. He needs to go.
The European and US stock markets take another dive today. European
indexes lose about -1% across the board and US markets lose about -2%. The Dow
loses 700 points. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell plans on cutting back on
stimulus so stocks tank. Stock markets remain nervous awaiting information on
the efficacy of the vaccines against the new variant. Markets will also be on
the move when a B11529 case is identified in the United States.
Recapping, the world is improving slightly but it depends how
Europe progresses. South Africa requires watching to see if the daily cases pop
above 3.2K this week.
In the States, this week it will be known if the
Thanksgiving Day get-togethers created any infections which would extend wave
6. Otherwise, the US may be in better shape than it seems.
A concern that may appear in the days ahead is the rise in
infection in the string of states along the East Coast from North Carolina to Maine.
All those states have rising cases which could create a winter wave that sweeps
westward across the US.
The US reports 70K daily cases yesterday so this number is
key. Rejoice if today’s cases come in below 70K. Concern will increase greatly if
the daily cases run higher than 70K for today and continue higher into Friday.
It will be interesting this week to see how many infections Thanksgiving Day
created. Hopefully, it will be nil cases painting a great picture for the
Christmas and New Year’s holidays ahead.
Whoa. Big news as this article is set to go to print. Dit ….
dit ….. dit …. dit…. CNN suspends Chris Cuomo indefinitely for helping his brother
Andrew handle the sex scandal by researching private information about the lady
accusers. Both Cuomo knuckleheads are tossed onto the trash heap of society.
They will have to answer to the courts.
What is an indefinite suspension? Back in Keystone’s day, you are called in on the carpet and unceremoniously fired, told to pack your stuff up, and get the Hell out. Those two bro’s are the worst kind of men but fear not fine American damsels, there is a “Better Man” out there as Eddieexplains.
The Omicron variant is in 20 countries on 5 continents.Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/1/21, at 4:30 AM EST: The Omicron variant is in 22 countries. This metric can be used to gauge the global spread of B11529 (omicron). There were 19 countries identifying the Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant (omicron) on Monday. There were 20 yesterday and now 22 today. Thus, about 1 or 2 nations per day are identifying the Omicron variant through genomic sequencing. Watch to see if this pace continues or if it increases exponentially. Will today's number of 22 nations with omicron cases remain steady or will there will 30 countries by the end of the day? Oh no. South Africa reports a spike higher in daily new cases to 4.4K well above the prior peak at 3.2K cases a few days ago (as described above). It is bad news for South Africa.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/1/21, at 4:45 AM EST: The world reports 588K daily new COVID-19 cases a bump higher above the 7-day MA trend line at 566K cases per day. Going forward, the world's daily cases need to stay below this 560K to 600K demarcation line. A case of the Omicron variant is identified in Brazil. The Netherlands continues struggling with cases remaining elevated and 65 Dutch folks perish yesterday due to China Flu the most since early March. The Netherlands says the Omicron variant was in the country sooner than thought identifying the variant in an 11/19/21 sample. Germany is in the same boat with elevated cases and 485 die yesterday the most since February. Germany is considering stricter rules targeting unvaccinated people. Idiots. That will surely lead to more protests and bloody violence. Germany may implement a vaccine mandate but this draconian edict would take a few months to implement. France worsens with a spike of over 47K daily new cases yesterdays teasing all-time record highs. Where's Macron? Bueller? Macron? France confirms a case of the Omicron variant as the Delta variant runs rampant. The French must put the wine, baguette and cigarettes aside and take the new outbreak seriously. Over 75% of France's population is vaccinated and over 90% of the elderly folks. Ahem. Cough. Vaccines are waning. Cough. Ahem. Cases pop higher in Spain. The UK remains challenged. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says booster shots are eligible to everyone and the goal is to have the shots in arms by the end of January. The waning vaccine efficacy is glaring around the world. It is too difficult a task to inoculate over 7 billion people in a 4 or 5 month time frame (since the vaccine efficacy falls off a cliff at 6 months) so the breakthrough cases rise. South Africa leaders continue complaining that the travel bans are excessive but the highest number of B11529 cases are in that neck of the woods so that is the way it goes. South Africa receives credit for informing the world about omicron but no good deed goes unpunished. Anyone that performs good deeds knows this. Karma will return blessings to South Africa in the future. A portion of the moaning about travel bans is a plea by poorer nations to receive aid and funds from wealthier nations. This is the way the political game is played on an international scale. Nigeria reports 3 omicron cases in people that traveled from South Africa. Japan is telling international airlines to stop reservations for flights into the island nation including their own nationals. A man from Peru and a man from Namibia test positive for the Omicron variant in Japan. The man from Peru gets your attention. How did he contract B11529? The omicron horses break out of the world's covid barn and are running free around the globe as politicians and scientists try to close the gate with travel bans.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/1/21, at 6:00 AM EST: The United States is considering stricter testing requirements for travelers entering the country. President Biden plans on announcing a new COVID-19 strategy tomorrow (which so far sounds a lot like the existing strategy with vaccinations and boosters). To identify the Omicron variant, the US is conducting genomic sequencing on 1 in every 7 samples that test positive for coronavirus. The CDC announces plans to disclose medical information on South African travelers to the authorities. Your papers, please, are shuffled from official to official. Last evening, CNBC media stock market commentator Jim Cramer, that looks like Vladimir Lenin, plays that role, declaring that vaccines should be mandated for all Americans and the operation enforced by the military. What's he smoking? He's channeling Lenin. Jimmy likely needs to bolster the ratings so he says something sensational and at the same time pimps the Big Pharma and stocks such as PFE, BNTX, MRNA, JNJ, GSK, VIR and MRK.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/1/21, at 11:00 AM EST: NBA (basketball) outspoken star player Lebron James tests positive for COVID-19 and goes into quarantine for 10 days. James is vaccinated so it is another breakthrough case. Former President Obama joins Dr Fauci in Washington, DC, encouraging and congratulating families that are getting vaccinated. It smells of desperation to bring Emperor Obama off the benches to help. The Whitehouse and CDC must believe that the people that are not vaccinated do not plan to get vaccinated and the booster shot hesitancy issue is real and large. Who knows what Obama was supposed to do? Bow to encourage vaccinations?
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/1/21, at 12:00 PM EST Noon: Some dirt is released on former President Trump. King Donnie tested positive for COVID-19 before last year's presidential debate but never self-isolated. He endangered people at a Rose Garden event (which turned out to be a superspreader event), a meeting with military families and then the debate. Of course he did. The orange one is a self-absorbed narcissistic clown. Is anyone surprised that Donnie lied and did not self-isolate for 10 days respecting covid protocol? Nope. Trump only thinks about one person on this earth and that is Donnie Trump. News flash. Trump lies. People yawn. Trump and Biden are in a long-term lying contest and sporting the same score.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/1/21, at 1:50 PM EST: Dit ... dit .... dit .... dit.. Big news. The first case of Omicron variant is identified in the US in San Francisco, California. The US cable news feeds switch over to Lord Fauci in the Whitehouse briefing room at 1:54 PM EST. Fauci says the patient is a man that traveled from South Africa. The US stock market tanks with the major indexes mini-crashing about -2% to -3% intraday. Airline and cruise line stocks crash since people will not want to travel with omicron around every corner. AAL (American Airlines) nosedives -10% and RCL (Royal Caribbean) hits a reef sinking -10%. The traveler is vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine but is not boosted because he is not at the 6-month time period. MRNA stock crashes -11% on news. The vaccine efficacy was not strong enough to protect him from omicron. Place another hashmark under the breakthrough category heading on the chalkboard that is now running out of space. The man arrived on 11/22/21 and tested positive for B11529 on 11/29/21. The man is isolating for 10 days and currently his contacts are all testing negative. The man is recovering from mild symptoms and he is not hospitalized. Reporters ask questions with Fauci repeating the same ole diatribe to get vaccinated, get boosted, jab the children and wear a mask in an indoor conjugate setting. The idiots consider vaccines the only solution. If you get sick with covid, the doctors will tell you to go home and isolate and if you get real sick come into the hospital for the Regeneron treatment. Then you are put on a ventilator and die. The hospitals make money on your carcass. THE KEY TO TREATING COVID-19 IS PRETREATMENT AND EARLY TREATMENT. AS SOON AS YOU BECOME SICK, ASK YOUR DOCTOR FOR MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY TREATMENT AND OTHER VALUABLE PROVEN THERAPIES IN USE ALL AROUND THE WORLD AND IF HE/SHE TELLS YOU TO GO HOME, TELL THEM TO GO TO HELL, THEN FIND ANOTHER DOCTOR, AND FAST, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. If you go home to see if you become sicker, you will, especially if fat or old. Your parting gift from this earth will be a vent down the throat of your comatose body. Your family will watch a tear drop fall from the corner of your closed eye as you leave this world and enter the next. Do not wait around to die if you become sick with COVID-19. You must be immediately proactive and work with a doctor experienced in early treatment of covid (many are not).
Note Added Wednesday Evening, 12/1/21: Moderna Chief Medical Officer Burton says a booster shot will likely be needed each winter. How is this going to work when the vaccine is only good for 6 months? In the future, will the covid vaccine only target the winter months like a flu shot? Burton will not be invited to any holiday parties carrying around his wet blanket. The information on the Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant (omicron) is mixed. A couple weeks are needed to figure it out. Folks should remain focused on the Delta variant right now and not become distracted.
Note Added Thursday Morning, 12/2/21, at 3:00 AM EST: On 11/28/21, there were 19 countries that identified Omicron variant. On 11/29/21, there were 20 countries with omicron and 226 cases. On 11/30/21, there were 22 countries with omicron cases. On 12/1/21, there were 25 countries that identified the Omicron variant including the US yesterday afternoon. On 12/2/21, this morning thus far, there are 26 countries with omicron infections; United States (US), Canada, Brazil, Botswana, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland. Europe is blanketed with omicron while it is trying to battle the ongoing destructive delta wave. South Africa says the initial B11529 variant cases appeared in 4 people in Botswana at the South Africa border. Complaints continue over the travel bans imposed on southern Africa nations especially since the omicron cases are showing up in many countries. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres steps up onto a soapbox and proclaims that the travel bans are "travel apartheid." Politicians are good at inflaming the public these days.
Note Added Thursday Morning, 12/2/21, at 4:00 AM EST: THE UNITED STATES CROSSES THE 805K DEATHS GRIM MILESTONE. Don't forget to put roses on their graves as Mick sings. The US reports 120K daily new cases compared to yesterday's count that ran to 121K cases with revisions. Not good. The 120K will likely grow higher. Seeing the case numbers rise from Sunday to Monday, then Tuesday now Wednesday, is not good. 1.7K Americans die yesterday. Ohio is slapped hard with new cases. Cases in Massachusetts pop higher. The United States is devolving into a mess right now with the mid-Atlantic and Midwest states challenged as well as the states up and down the East Coast. Cases pop in North Carolina. Kentucky and Missouri are sliding down the covid rabbit hole. It is getting sloppy in the US and not improving. President Biden plans to speak today around 1:30 PM EST providing the winter strategy for handling COVID-19. Biden likes this time slot for his short speech vignettes that typically end with him turning his back on reporters and geriatric sprinting for the exit. Humorously, like any elderly soul, he likes to get stuff done early in the day since dinner is at 3 PM, then pudding for dessert, then under the covers by 4 PM.
Note Added Thursday Morning, 12/2/21, at 5:00 AM EST: Horrible news. The world reports over 670K daily new cases yesterday a new high for the globe's infection wave 6. The slight positivity displayed in the article above for the world's numbers are blown out of the water. The 7-day MA for the world's daily new cases is sloping higher again pointing the way to pain and misery. Oh no. South Africa reports a huge spike in daily new cases to 8.6K cases yesterday. Wave 4 is confirmed with the 7-day MA trend line, and the daily data, going parabolic (straight vertical which is extremely bad). The assumption can be made that many of those cases are the B11529 Omicron variant. South Africa ran genomic testing on 250 samples from the highly-infected Gauteng region yesterday and 74% of them show omicron. The Omicron variant is becoming the dominant variant in South Africa at breakneck speed. Scientists are concerned about potential immune escape (where vaccines and natural immunities are not as effective at combatting a new infection). About 36% of South Africa is vaccinated which is low compared to the world, however, a lot better than the Africa continent as a whole that is only about 7% vaccinated. The world's eyes are fixated on South Africa.
Note Added Thursday Morning, 12/2/21, at 6:00 AM EST: The trouble in France continues with 49.6K daily new cases yesterday the most of the current wave and not seen since early April and last November (teasing all-time highs). A man in Paris is infected with the Omicron variant and he arrived from Nigeria. Three more people in his group may be infected with omicron. The romantic Paris and Eiffel Tower trip is cancelled. The wine and baguette will have to wait. South Korea reports over 5.1K daily new cases a huge spike higher blowing away all prior days of the pandemic. South Korea identifies a case of the Omicron variant as the Delta variant continues crushing the nation's Seoul. The chronology highlighted a couple weeks ago how the outbreak waves were odd in that deaths were elevated as well. Perhaps the Omicron variant has been in these two nations far earlier than proven thus far. China is battling one of its worse outbreaks in Manzhouli which is at the northern border with Russia. Covid Vlad infected all of Europe because he cannot handle his virus mess at home and Russia now infects China its southern neighbor. Dozens of cases appear in Manzhouli so the communist authorities sweep in and begin testing 300K people which will be completed in a few days. The filthy CCP forces the Chinese people to stand in the snow for several hours waiting for a covid test, and this process is repeating with multiple tests over several days.
Note Added Thursday Morning, 12/2/21, at 11:00 AM EST: Fox News and Newsmax, republican-run media outlets, are both incorrectly stating America's death toll from China Flu. The republican tribe wants to paint a negative picture for bungling Biden, and proclaim that more Americans died under Biden than Trump. Wrong. This is explained in the article and chart above. It is true that more Americans died this year than last year and there is still the month of December to play out, but at the same time, more Americans died under Trump's watch than Biden's, for now. The former uses the end of last year, 12/31/20, as the line of demarcation while inauguration day, 1/20/21, is the dividing line for the Trump versus Biden assessment. In 2020, 370K Americans died. In 2021, 431K died. Under Trump, 434K died. Under Biden, 367K died. If the republican's want to get cute, they should wait a couple weeks because Biden's death count will continue higher from 367K to over 370K and higher. Thus, before Christmas, the republican tribe will be able to say that more Americans died under Biden than died last year (in 2020). King Donnie pouted like a baby for 80 days (Election Day to Inauguration Day) after he lost the presidential election during the destructive US wave 3. Keystone wrote a book that chronicled this fascinating period in American history; "President Trump's Final 80 Days; The Real-Time 80-Day Chronology of the Historic 2020 US Presidential Election, Biden Win, Trump Loss, Georgia Runoffs, Capitol Hill Riot, Impeachment & Inauguration." The 20 days in January make a big difference since the bodies were stacking up like cordwood during the first 3 weeks of this year in wave 3. When someone says more Americans died from COVID-19 under Biden than Trump the statement is wrong (more died under Trump). When someone says more Americans died last year versus this year the statement is wrong (more died this year, in 2021, than 2020).
Note Added Thursday Afternoon, 12/2/21, at 1:45 PM EST: Another Omicron variant case is identified in the United States. The second case is in Minnesota a man that has returned from the Anime NYV 2021 convention at the Javits Center in New York City less than 2 weeks ago. Maybe he was dressed as an anime superhero using his sword to interact with other players at the conference. It is an event conducive to spreading virus. The man is double vaccinated and received the booster, so triple-vaccinated, but it did not matter. It is disturbing since the patient is another breakthrough case, with the new Omicron variant, and he has 3 shots of mRNA serum pumping through his veins. The anecdotal evidence will make vaccinations and boosters a harder sell going forward. Omicron is now coast to coast from San Francisco to New York. Governor Hochul is telling New Yorker's to not panic as she has a panicked look in her eyes. Nothing to see here folks, move along, move along.
Note Added Thursday Afternoon, 12/2/21, at 2:00 PM EST: President Biden speaks at the NIH unveiling the new 9-point plan for handling COVID-19 this winter. The plan centers around vaccines and tests, not shutdowns. Biden jokes about seeing more of Dr Fauci these days than he sees of the First Lady and asks out loud, "Who's president? Fauci? All kidding aside. I sincerely mean it." The exchange is confusing but many things are these days with Alzheimer Joe. Biden proclaims, "The plan pulls no punches." The winter plan consists of 9 key points. The booster shot campaign will be expanded. Ditto for childhood vaccinations. Free at home testing kits will be provided to Americans. Free means the taxpayer pays. Stronger health protocols will be enforced for international travel including a negative test within 24 hours of flying regardless of vaccination status. The public does not like this since it may be difficult to find a test with that quick a turnaround. The airlines can do it in 3 days now but 1 day may be a bridge too far. Airlines are unhappy since it will be another reason for people to stay home and say to heck with that hassle. Mask mandates for public transportation remain in place until March. If you plan on flying, or taking the bus or train, or an Uber or Lyft, to grandma's house for Christmas, pack a bunch of mouth diapers. Biden's plan also offers protections to make the workplace safer. The plan provides 60 quick response teams to handle pockets of infection around the US. The winter strategy will also offer the oral pill treatments for covid. Global vaccination efforts will continue and lastly, the task force is making sure that all potential outcomes are considered going forward. Lord Fauci is in the audience taking in the Biden speech and the two yuck it up afterwards. Fauci is asked that if someone has both mRNA shots, and the booster, what else would he recommend to stay safe? Fauci says wear a mask in indoor conjugate settings. Oy vey. The pour soul has been shot 3 times with the mRNA serum and Lord Fauci tells the guy to also keep wearing a mask. Again, can someone explain why people get vaccinated? Will the shots protect against severe illness and/or death from the Omicron variant? Biden says his new plan "should unite us." People yawn. He says the pandemic has become "very divisive" and this is a "sad, sad commentary." That is true but Sleepy Joe Biden and King Donnie Trump made the pandemic political each providing equal amounts of stupidity and partisan decisions that help their tribes rather than the country. The crony capitalism system is in its last throes.
Note Added Thursday Evening, 12/2/21, at 3:45 PM EST: Dit ... dit ... dit ... A Colorado woman tests positive for the Omicron variant. She just returned from South Africa and is vaccinated. Another breakthrough case. The US has three B11529 variant cases with more to follow. Moderna walks back its recent negativite comments and instead proclaims that its vaccine will make a strong dent in the Omicron variant. That is a change of heart. Is it based in science or in political science with Biden in the Moderna laboratory twisting the CEO's arm? MRNA stock sells off -3% despite the upbeat news. Traders smell spin so the news is not trusted. The US stock market recovers from yesterday's drubbing and is stabilizing after a few days of losses. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, protesters demonstrate outside of Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald's home. Fitzgerald is imposing a vaccine mandate on Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) employees and the deadline occurs today to be vaccinated or lose your job. Protesters yell that Fitzgerald is ruining Christmas. Arguments between vaccinated and unvaccinated people become angry. Fitzgerald decrees, "To be qualified as an employee, you must be vaccinated." These people love to play king. Fitzgerald declares that without a vaccination, people will have "difficulty" in "finding employment." It is sickening to hear leaders talk that way. The guy screwing you tells you that it is a shame that you are screwed by him. It is the school bully sitting on your head, while he eats your peanut butter and jelly sandwich, opining that it is a shame that you cannot get up and eat the sandwich. It is cruelty, torture and mistreating fellow human beings playing around with their livelihoods and means to support their families. Politicians breed hate. Maybe that is what they want. Let the unvaccinated do what they have been doing for the past 2 years and put a stop to the vaccine mandate garbage.
Note Added Thursday Afternoon, 12/2/21, at 6:45 PM EST: Dit ... dit ... dit ... The clock falls off the wall in Governor Hochul's office. New York identifies 5 Omicron variant cases that are likely more of the anime superheroes from the convention that found out they aren't. Omicron is their kryptonite. Hochul is encouraging all the attendees of the New York anime convention to get tested. Community spread of omicron is in play. The initial cases came from other nations, specifically Botswana/South Africa, but now it appears the B11529 variant is spreading within communities. US stock futures were higher enjoying more upside after today's recovery but take a dip on the New York news; futures are now negative which dampens the mood in Asia as their markets begin trading for Friday. The Lancet journal reports that the booster shots of six vaccines are safe and effective including Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Curevac. The French Valneva vaccine did not provide a substantive increase in efficacy after the booster. France President Macron exclaims, "Sacrebleu!"
Note Added Friday Morning, 12/3/21, at 3:00 AM EST: The world reports 694.4K daily new cases yesterday another big pop higher and the most for the current wave 6. The planet is going to Hell in a covid handbasket. Oh no. South Africa daily new cases continue spiking higher to 11.5K cases yesterday the most for the current wave 4 now parabolic. The crazy acceleration higher in cases has to be due to the Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant (omicron). The South Africa government is discussing stricter rules to tamp-down the infection wave but the population is not going to embrace the measures and the wave is already out of control. The Washington Post reports that Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation Director Tulio de Oliveira proclaims, "Omicron is probably the fastest-spreading variant that South Africa has ever seen." The B11529 variant is very contagious but the cases are presenting as mild illness.
Note Added Friday Morning, 12/3/21, at 3:30 AM EST: South Korea is covid Hell on earth the troubled nation reporting 5.3K daily new cases the most ever. It makes you wonder what may be happening inside North Korea the hermit kingdom. Something is going horribly wrong in South Korea. Cases remain elevated in Vietnam where a problem with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine surfaces. 120 Vietnamese students 15 to 17 years old become sick with chills, fever, nausea and breathing difficulties after receiving vaccinations. The specific batch of Pfizer vaccine is isolated and set aside so investigators can figure out what went wrong. Three children died last week after receiving a vaccination but authorities say it is not due to the shots (the public is skeptical). The breakout in Vietnam is focused in the southern tip so the ports are again major areas where virus is transmitted. Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia need to remain vigilant and would be wise to take precautions with any Vietnamese crews interacting at the ports. Singapore reports 2 Omicron variant cases so add another name to the list of countries infected by omicron. This is just coming in across the wires. An Omicron variant case is identified in Malaysia and one in Cambodia. The cases in Chile and Bolivia are not getting worse so there is hope that the outbreak in South America will subside. France reports 2 consecutive days of daily cases over 48K per day big numbers. About 100 French die per day over the last 3 days. Italy exceeds the 134K deaths grim milestone and reports over 16.8K daily new cases yesterday the most for the current wave. Cases in Spain and Portugal are going parabolic so Europe remains engulfed with the delta wave that started in Russia. Germany daily cases and deaths remain elevated. Germany is locking-down the unvaccinated citizens. That will provide the population with an excuse to create violence. The world's political leaders keep lying to their people which only leads to increasing and more dangerous social unrest. If people want this kind of society, give it to them, shove it down their throats. Russia's active cases curve has flattened and is rolling over to form the bell shape so Covid Vlad's nation is finally on the mend after a year of misery.
Note Added Friday Morning, 12/3/21, at 4:00 AM EST: The US reports 133K daily new cases for yesterday. Not good. The Thanksgiving Day infections are ramping-up. There was apparently far too much hugging and kissing going on 8 days ago. The 7-day MA is now sloping higher again at 94K cases per day. It is not a pretty picture. 1.3K Americans die yesterday with the 7-day MA trend line at 937 Americans dying per day remaining elevated because Sleepy Joe Biden remains solely fixated on vaccinations and boosters as their efficacy wanes. Biden needs to instead focus on other pretreatments and early treatments that can greatly reduce hospitalizations and deaths such as HCQ, ivermectin, vitamins such as A, C, D-3, E and zinc, turmeric, selenium, monoclonal antibodies, oral pills and other treatments and therapies. Americans should at a minimum be educated on the many treatments available but instead are told there is nothing that can be done except stay at home and wait to to see if you become real sick. If so, you will be admitted to the hospital, put on a vent, and the hospital staff will watch you die. That is not a plan. It is another day in crony corrupt America. Cases continue higher in states such as Missouri and North Carolina. Pennsylvania reports 9.1K cases a big jump higher the highest of the current wave and most cases since early January. It's ugly. The data and charts are not encouraging for the current fight against the Delta variant. The problem is not the unvaccinated but instead the waning efficacy of vaccines that are only good for 6 months tops. Vaccinated folks without masks have been spreading virus since May but the unvaccinated, most of which are religiously following masking and social distancing guidelines since they do not want to become ill, continue receiving the blame for anything that goes wrong in the pandemic. The Omicron variant is identified in five US states thus far; California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York and now Hawaii.
Note Added Friday Morning, 12/3/21, at 9:00 AM EST: Three NFL (American football) players are suspended for using fake vaccination cards to verify their status. A talking head idiot on MSNBC opines that Spain and Portugal are doing great because of their high vaccination rate. Look at the daily cases charts, girly, and you will immediately see why you are wrong. The daily cases are going parabolic in both countries. Over the last 2 months, the chronology described how the infection wave moved westward from Russia to western Asia to eastern and central Europe and now western Europe. Spain and Portugal are the last two to get hit with the wave and they will be hammered like all other European nations. Open your eyes, missy. MSNBC and CNN, the Whitehouse water-carriers, the democrat-run media, continue cheerleading vaccinations saying that countries and US states with high vaccination rates have lower case levels. It is blatantly and provably wrong all around the world and within the US. The waning vaccine efficacy and booster hesitancy are creating headaches. Northeastern US states were cheered for their high vax rates but are in shambles now because most of the shots were over 6 months ago. The US Monthly Jobs Report is only a couple hundred thousand jobs a disappointment missing estimates.
Note Added Friday Afternoon, 12/3/21: President Biden speaks and his voice is notably hoarse. He is asked about his health and he says he caught a cold from his granddaughter. That's a good reason to get sick; as long as the little one had fun. The FDA approves Eli Lilly's monoclonal antibody treatment for use in children under 12 years old. This is great news and will help the chubby kids survive but Biden is the one-trick pony with vaccines and will probably ignore the great news. Treating COVID-19 should be an integrated approach with all treatments and therapies instead of the solo focus on vaccinations. It is one of the many failures of Trump and Biden in handling the pandemic. Nebraska reports 6 Omicron variant infections. Google delays employees returning to the office saying they can continue working remotely. Ditto UBS Bank in Europe.
Note Added Friday Evening, 12/3/21: Missouri is the ninth US state to identify omicron. The new Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant is already in America.
Note Added Saturday Morning, 12/4/21, at 3:00 AM EST: Planet earth wobbles. The world reports 706K daily new cases another record high for the ongoing wave 6. The news is bad for America as well. US daily new cases are at 147K per day the last 2 days and the 7-day MA trend line is at 107K cases per day above the 100K mark This is bad. The United States crosses the 808K deaths grim milestone and is a hair away from 50 million total COVID-19 cases. Johns-Hopkins, CDC and IHME American death tallies are at 783K to 780K. President Biden will have to handle the 800K death news in his near future. The US population is 330 million so 0.24% of Americans have died from covid (880/330000=0.0024 times 100 to make it a percentage is 0.24%) or 1 in 408 people. To visualize this horrendous pandemic, picture 400 Americans herded into a high school gymnasium. 1 person is pulled out of the crowd to die from COVID-19 and the others exit. Another 400 Americans enter the gymnasium and 1 is picked to die, and so on, you get the idea. Do you think you will be the 1 out of the 400? Are you willing to take your chances? Are you boosting your immune system to make sure you are not the one picked? Making these decisions yourself makes you an American. 15.2% of Americans have contracted COVID-19 over the last couple years (50/330=0.152=15.2%) or 1 in 7 people. There are likely many more Americans that had covid and did not realize it, or the symptoms were mild, so the natural immunity protection contribution to the herd immunity calculation is in the range of 15% to 30%. The CDC COVID Data Tracker says 71% of Americans, 235 million patriotic souls, have at least one shot so they have some amount of protection. Adding the two constituents of herd immunity, the natural immunity and the vaccine immunity, the 15% to 30% and the 71%, respectively, yields 86% to 101% for herd immunity. The USA is well-protected but the snakes in the covid woodpile are the variants. US wave 4 was the last hurrah until the ugly B1617 (delta) rose from India creating US wave 5 and prolonging the pandemic. As the delta wave subsided, the US is now in wave 6 jumping higher mainly due to the Thanksgiving Day celebrations. What the heck? You only live once so the hugging, squeezing, kissing, laughing, joking and good time, many will say, was worth it, covid be damned. Yesterday's Friday daily case data is the highest of the week along with Thursday, and it is no surprise since 8 days is a sweet spot for the infection incubation period after a superspreader event. The bad thing is that this pattern will likely repeat after Christmas and New Year's. It is starting to feel like a winter 2020-2021 redux (wave 3). As a virus seeks to survive, and runs out of hosts, since people have been infected or they are inoculated, it wants to make itself more contagious so it can spread easier, finding more hosts, but in so doing usually loses its virulence (ability to cause severe illness and death). For now, the new Omicron variant appears to be following this playbook. Scientists think the virus may be combining with the common cold. This development is concerning since President Biden has a cold and his voice was hoarse yesterday. It is important to see how the president's health is today so his first appearance and his speech will show if he is recovering from the cold.
Note Added Saturday Morning, 12/4/21, at 3:30 AM EST: South Africa is a mess as it crosses the 3 million total cases milestone and is a hair away from the 90K deaths grim milestone. South Africa reports 16.1K daily new cases yesterday a huge spike higher. It's bad and getting worse. There were only 1.3K cases on 11/24/21 so it is an over 12 times rise in cases in only 10 days. There were 2.9K cases on 11/29/21 so it is a 6-fold increase over the last 5 days. 10% of the omicron cases in South Africa are children even a few cases of 2-year old's sickened. Fortunately, no one has died from the Omicron variant and the illness presents mild to moderate symptoms. Reinfections are notable so both people that have had COVID-19 and those that are vaccinated are getting infected with the B11529 variant. There are cases in the States where people are double vaccinated, and boosted, and they contracted the Omicron variant. South Africa hospitalization data is lagging (or they choose not to inform the public). Almost 40 countries now report omicron infections; it only took one week's time. South Africa officials say vaccine efficacy against omicron remains an unknown (come on now; they are likely choosing not to inform the public; is it that bad?; officials are likely worried that if the vaccines are shown to be less effective against the Omicron variant, it may deter and discourage people from seeking vaccinations and booster shots).10 US states are now infected with the Omicron variant and likely many more.
Note Added Saturday Morning, 12/4/21, at 4:00 AM EST: Europe remains a mess. Germany declares that over 6K people will be in ICU beds by Christmas. And to all a good night. Germany's daily cases remain elevated at 70K per day. The EU is considering a vaccine mandate across the continent. As they say in Brooklyn, "Good luck wit dat." The leaders are too stupid to understand that they are creating blood and violence. They push the vaccines, that are only effective for about 6 months, as the golden panacea that will save humanity, but the data and charts do not support this directive. Officials blame the pandemic problems on the unvaccinated but it is likely that the vaccinated folks are playing a major role in spreading the virus. The vaccinated folks walk around maskless in social settings believing they are protected by the vaccine when in truth, after many months, they are likely not protected much better than an unvaccinated person (but the prevention of severe illness and death mantra is quickly mentioned by pro-vaccine pundits and politicians). Ireland imposes stricter rules against its population. Ireland is a highly-vaccinated country but it did not help. Why do Western leaders solely focus on vaccines? Because they are stupid? Handling COVID-19 should be an integrated approach to medicine using all treatments and therapies. People need to admit that the vaccines are not as good as originally touted. Open your eyes. Instead, Italy plans a "super green pass" further pressuring and limiting the unvaccinated (likely called 'super' because Prime Minister Mario Draghi's nickname when he was at the ECB was "Super Mario"). Of course they do because politicians will double, triple and quadruple down on their directives rather than admit mistakes. Unvaccinated folks will simply tell the PTB (powers to be) to shove their restaurants, movie theaters, gyms and events up their arse. The unwashed, un-inoculated modern-day lepers are still allowed to go to the grocery store and other essential places so most of the unvaccinated will probably wait-out the pandemic. The wealthy elite in the world want their jet-set lives back and force the vaccinations on the lowly huddled masses. The privileged class needs someone to clean their dirty sheets, serve meals, carry luggage and scrub the hotel toilets. Chop, chop, huddled masses.
Note Added Saturday Morning, 12/4/21, at 4:30 AM EST: Several US states are falling down the China Virus rabbit hole. Daily cases explode higher in Pennsylvania over 10.1K per day. It is obvious the waning vaccine efficacy is causing the problem. The old folks around here in southwestern Pennsylvania ran to get inoculated January through May which is now 7 to 11 months later. Duh. The vaccines are only good for 6 months when the efficacy falls off a cliff so obviously the Keystone State is now in big trouble. Keystone knows many folks that took the initial vaccines but are hesitant about the boosters. They have generally lost confidence in what they are told and are winging it going forward. Keystone is still unvaccinated and will have to provide an update on the funny escapades that have occurred over the last few months with Nurse Goodbody that is chasing him around with a hypodermic. Cases rise in Indiana and Illinois. Indianapolis hospitals say conditions are the worst in 2 months and expected to deteriorate. Officials say 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 hospital beds in Indianapolis are covid patients. Cases spike higher in California over 8.5K yesterday a 2-month high. Not good considering that the Golden State is highly-populated. New York is a mess with over 11.6K daily new cases not seen since January. Hospitals are going to get real busy as New York Governor, and resident airhead, Hochul, fires healthcare workers because they do not want vaccinated but worked in the trenches for the last 2 years. Ohio is in bad shape. The US is not looking good. It is time to stock-up and hoard again. Honey, put paper towels, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, wipes, masks and canned goods on the shopping list. We will have to make room in the garage because the pantry and closets remain filled with the stuff. Michigan is at over 11K cases per day a new record. Cases leap higher in North Carolina, Rhode Island, New Jersey and other East Coast states. It is a mess. People are fretting over the Omicron variant hiding outside in the bushes when the Delta variant slasher is in the bedroom, standing over Uncle Sam, raising the covid blade above his stove-pipe hat. A barn owl screeches. Wisconsin, Missouri and Arkansas are bad. The luster is coming off the Florida rose. Florida reports 2K daily new cases creating a potential lift in the trend and start of a new wave. It is too early to tell as yet but Florida faces a critical period in the days ahead. Florida continues to enjoy bragging rights with nil, or near zero, deaths per day. Other states need to ramp-up their use of monoclonal antibody treatments to keep people out of the hospital and lower the death count. But, if they offer mAb treatments, they can no longer stand over the corpse in ICU, wagging a finger at the dead stiff, telling the unresponsive body that it should have gotten vaccinated. Cases are popping higher all over the United States. At least everyone had a good time at Thanksgiving, although many, as they struggle to breathe, are not giving thanks now.
Note Added Saturday Morning, 12/4/21, at 6:30 AM EST: The Omicron variant is identified in 12 US states. 1 in 4 states have omicron. Nearly 40 countries have identified the Omicron variant that appears more contagious than the Delta variant. CNBC reports that WHO Executive Director proclaims, "Clearly the virus does appear to be transmitting efficiently." The WHO warns that even though omicron appears less deadly, prior variants, such as delta, started out the same way. The reinfection rate is a worry since the Omicron variant could overcome the Delta variant and infect the world regardless of vaccination status. The world needs to know the results of the vaccine efficacy studies for the Omicron variant but bureaucrats may be slow walking the information to the podium. Humorously, it takes a couple weeks to put together at least somewhat reliable data but in today's instant gratification era, people want to know now. The officials are likely asking think tanks about the scenarios forward. If the vaccines are shown to be less effective against omicron, people may put off vaccinations and boosters until a new formulation is available in a few months. If the data is rosy and worthwhile efficacy is proven against omicron, there is no problem and the pundits will keep pumping vaccines. If the efficacy data is not good, however, maybe they keep sitting on it and telling the public to be patient, and they got their best man on it (while continuing to encourage vaccinations). It is going to be a humungous news day when the vaccine efficacy data is released for the new Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant (omicron). The efficacy news will move world markets and chart the pandemic path ahead.
Note Added Saturday Morning, 12/4/21, at 7:00 AM EST: The article above highlights the slight roll over of US hospital admissions and hospitalizations, positive news, but that was short-lived. The big spike in US infections due to Thanksgiving Day celebrations sends the hospital data skyward ushering in negativity. The CDC shows hospital admissions jumping higher in all age groups no doubt a bunch of turkey eaters. US hospitalizations are also bumping higher as the Turkey Day infections increase. Many of those vaccinated and maskless relatives visiting grandma were carrying and offering coronavirus to others along with the pumpkin pie. Everyone agrees. Let's do it again for Christmas.
Note Added Saturday Afternoon, 12/4/21: Radio commercials in the United States are advertising the Vaccines.gov site where it is easy to find out where to receive vaccination and booster shots. The ad is interesting since the bar is once again lowered for the vaccines. At the start of the year, vaccines were touted as preventing infections, transmission, hospitalizations, severe illness and deaths. Over the last 10 months, the expectations are continually lowered. The mantra since summertime is that 'vaccines protect against severe illness and death' because it is now known that vaccinated people can be infected with, and transmit, COVID-19. This is the standard response if anyone dares diss the noble intent of the inoculations. The radio ad now says a vaccine "prevents 9 out of 10 serious illnesses and deaths." What does that tell you? Yes, more vaccinated people are getting sick. This is because they are 6 months beyond the initial shots where the efficacy falls off a cliff. The booster shots will pump the antibody protection back up to solid levels but some Americans have lost confidence as the vaccine promises are continually whittled-down. Booster shot hesitancy is a problem and leads to a huge jump in cases in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania where older folks were jabbed at the start of the year. Said cynically, in a month, the Whitehouse will probably say the vaccines prevent 4 out of 5 serious illnesses and deaths as the expectations are again lowered. The vaccine efficacy results for the new Omicron variant are immensely important and should be known any day ahead. The key to successful outcomes from a COVID-19 infection is having a strong immune system and seeking early treatment. If you have onset of symptoms, immediately seek medical help and if unvaccinated ask about mAb treatment. Also, if you are fat or old, call your doctor to discuss a covid vaccination. 80% of the China Flu deaths are people that are overweight and obese. If you are fat and old, run to your doctor, on second thought, walk, you do not want to give yourself a heart attack.
Note Added Saturday Evening, 12/4/21: CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is fired as more revelations surface on how he allegedly used his position to help his disgraced brother Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, fight off sexual assault allegations and smooth-over the nursing home scandal where thousands of citizens died needlessly from COVID-19 early on in the pandemic. The Cuomo brothers will be tied up in legal issues for the next couple years and more. Good riddance.
Note Added Sunday Morning, 12/5/21, at 3:00 AM EST: The US reports 57K daily new cases for Saturday an expected lower weekend number. It is helpful to compare likes for likes in technical analysis so last Saturday was 62K cases, the Saturday before, 11/20/21, is 90K cases and 11/13/21 is 81K cases per day. Thus, the Saturday trend over the last month is 81K, 90K, 62K and yesterday at 57K. It is encouraging showing a 2-week downtrend in Saturday cases. For last week, the daily cases per day numbers for Monday through Friday ramped higher from 77K to 147K. Not good. Remember at the start of the week there were 70K cases per day for Monday, and a revision was expected, which pops it to 77K, and the hope was that cases would not travel higher from there. If the cases did rise, it would be due to the Thanksgiving Day superspreader event on Thursday, 11/25/21. The cases rise by 70K per day during the week, almost doubling, which is a model to forecast the behavior after Christmas. This is why a happier outcome was needed for Thanksgiving but instead, people are infected all over the US due to spending time with friends and family. This scenario will repeat so US cases would be expected to rise from 12/29/21 through 1/14/22 and since 8 days is a sweet spot for the infection incubation period, the 3 days from 1/1/22 through 1/3/22 will likely see a big surge in new cases in the United States about 70K more per day than where the case levels are at on 12/25/21. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Note Added Sunday Morning, 12/5/21, at 3:30 AM EST: The current US wave 6 is a psycho wave that is difficult to predict. If cases subside in the week ahead, it will prove that the main culprit in new infections was the holiday parties. Therefore, people can be educated better for the Christmas and New Year's celebrations to minimize a repeat event. If cases continue higher, however, it is going to be a nasty period ahead like wave 3 last winter. The Christmas cases will only increase the ongoing pain. The 7-day MA for US daily new cases is 106K cases per day. Not good. 492 Americans die yesterday. Cases pop higher in Pennsylvania a great example of waning vaccine efficacy. Delaware reports the most daily cases since early February. There is virus spread up and down the East Coast likely due to the relaxation of travel restrictions a few weeks ago. Cases are rising in North Carolina and now South Carolina joins the upside trouble. Colorado says 95% of the ICU beds are occupied. America is not looking good as people spend more time indoors breathing each other's hot infected air.
Note Added Sunday Morning, 12/5/21, at 4:00 AM EST: Oh no. South Africa reports 16.4K daily new cases for yesterday above Friday's 16.1K cases per day and the highest in 5 months. South Africa's wave 4 is parabolic so only the days ahead can tell how far the daily cases will increase. President Ramaphosa tells South Africans not to panic and proclaims that the hospital admissions are "not increasing at an alarming rate." What's he smoking? There is always a lag between cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Give it a couple weeks and South Africa may need more beds and a week after that, more caskets. Hopefully not. Scientists continue to say that the Omicron variant presents as a mild illness and there are no deaths as yet. The test positivity rate is 24% (1 in 4 people tested have COVID-19 a high number) but was only 2% two weeks ago! Ramaphosa is talking happy talk because he is worried about the tourism industry and he does not want foreigners to develop negative connotations about South Africa. Nobody will; it is a great place to visit. The low vaccination rate in South Africa aids the spread of virus. There are also a few million HIV positive folks that are not under treatment and the new variant is spreading at a faster pace in this community. HIV folks are at a higher risk for infection since the vaccines may not be as effective for their immunocompromised system. The infection may linger longer in the HIV bodies allowing the virus to evolve and mutate. 71% of the Omicron variant cases are in the Gauteng province which is Pretoria and Johannesburg. Daily cases are popping higher in Namibia although the numbers remain small. Oh no. Cases are launching higher in Eswanti. Ditto Mozambique. Oh no. Zimbabwe is hit with a big spike in daily cases over the last few days. Not good. Cases also spike higher on the island of Madagascar. Recapping the plight of southern Africa, South Africa identifies the Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant, dubbed omicron by the WHO, in 4 people in Botswana near the border with South Africa. Most of the omicron cases are in and around Pretoria and Johannesburg. The virus now spreads east to Eswatini. It also spreads northeast into Mozambique and Zimbabwe and across the ocean to Madagascar. This outbreak region is southeastern Africa and the only outlier is Namibia on the west coast. The covid infections are expanding in southeastern Africa. Remember, a week ago, South Africa was the only nation experiencing the bump in daily cases. Now there are 5 other neighboring countries experiencing a rise in cases. It is bad news for our friends in southern Africa.
Note Added Sunday Morning, 12/5/21, at 4:30 AM EST: Australia's cases are on the rise again so just when they thought the last wave was over a new wave is in progress. The Rio de Janeiro mayor cancels the New Year's celebrations. Brazilians are going to party anyway. The UK's active cases chart breaks out to a new high the highest since March so the outbreak headaches will continue for at least another month. The UK places all its eggs in the booster jab basket. It is a full court press (basketball talk which means everyone is working as hard as possible) to get as many booster shots in arms as fast as possible. Anyone over 18 years old and only 3 months from the initial jabs is eligible for the booster. PM Boris Johnson promises boosters available or in arms to everyone by the end of January. The Netherlands remains a disaster with daily cases refusing to subside. Ditto Belgium. That area of northern central Europe is a nasty infection zone. Lots of international leaders and travelers make trips to Brussels. Hundreds of protesters take to the streets demonstrating against Belgium's covid restrictions. Ireland remains a mess. Ditto Italy at 17K daily new cases per day. Police in Rome are stopping citizens on the street enforcing a mask mandate. Governments are constantly in crisis management because the leaders are generally stupid people. Politics is Hollywood for the ugly people. Greece officials decide it is a good idea to screw 600K unvaccinated folks over 60 years old forcing a mandatory vaccine down their throats. Anyone remaining unvaccinated will begin paying a fine of $113 per month (100 euros). A Norway Christmas party results in 13 Omicron variant positive tests with 60 more people that may be impacted. The B11529 variant spreads easily even among vaccinated people. The party is hosted by Scatec that has operations facilities in South Africa. 120 people attended the Christmas party, most with their hand out waiting to receive gifts or an envelope from the boss, so at 60 infections, it is the largest omicron superspreader event outside of South Africa. Norway daily cases remain elevated and the highest case day ever was only 10 days ago. Austria was smacked hard by COVID-19 over the last month but its active cases curve has rolled over and is dropping like a rock forming the coveted bell shape. It is good news. Austria is on the mend and the hospitals will begin seeing a serious drop in case loads going forward. Austria continues tightening its lockdown measures and is planning a vaccine mandate. Stupidos. The country is on the mend so why would you want to tear it apart further? Doesn't anyone look at charts? Nope, they do not. Over 40K protesters take to the streets of Vienna demonstrating against the government's draconian rules. That is a football stadium of people! Protesters ignite fireworks shooting bottle rockets at police. The cops respond with pepper spray. Fights break out. Chill-out everyone. Austria is on the mend. Relax.
Note Added Sunday Morning, 12/5/21, at 6:30 AM EST: 16 US states have identified the B11529 Omicron variant. A Boston woman is the first omicron infection in Massachusetts. Oregon is developing a set of permanent regulations and rules mandating masks indoors. Makes you glad you do not live there. It would be smarter to simply require masks only when the virus is spreading in a new wave higher but politicians do not look at charts to understand virus behavior. There are more omicron infections after the New York anime convention which is a superspreader event. Nearly 20 young people, that had contact with the first infected individual, test positive for COVID-19. The anime folks have fun dressing, presenting and interacting as superheroes and strong metallic robots but none of them are strong enough to resist the new Omicron monster. President Biden is incognito yesterday likely sleeping much of the day with a belly full of cold medicine. It is important to hear him speak today to see if he has recovered from the common cold he said he caught from his granddaughter.
Note Added Sunday Morning, 12/5/21, at 10:15 AM EST: CDC Director Walensky appears on the "ThisWeekABC" Sunday morning political talk show (democrat-run media). She says 99.9% of the current US cases are the Delta variant. Walensky says omicron is in 15 states (actually 16 so she is not up to date) with several dozen cases. She says the CDC does not yet understand omicron's transmissibility. South Africa says omicron is 2.5 times more transmissible than delta. Walensky is not pushing the conversation forward. Everything she says is already known. The director stresses the use of mask wearing but is hesitant to call for a US-wide mask mandate. The new US mandate requiring a negative covid test within 24 hours of an airline flight for anyone 2 years old and older (2 year old children!) starts tomorrow. The Einstein's change the travel rules in the middle of the busy holiday traveling season. Lord Fauci appears on CNN (the Whitehouse officials, Biden staff and CDC appear on the friendly democrat-run media outlets) proclaiming, "There does not look like there is a great degree of severity to it (Omicron variant)." The US travel ban on southern Africa nations receives criticism from African leaders and even Biden supporters. Of course, folks are tossing around inflammatory language like "racism" and "travel apartheid." The latter phrase is catchy and a favorite mantra at the college faculty meetings where wine and cheese is served and everyone holds their glass with a pinky finger extended. If the cases continue jumping in the South Africa's neighboring nations as explained above, the travel ban is smart. Africa nations have a point that with the cases appearing in 40 countries they should not be singled-out. Over time, days and a couple weeks, the extent and behavior of omicron will be better understood and then the travel banks can be reconsidered. It would be stupid if the US reversed the southern Africa travel ban right now as the cases rise in the other African nations. Hopefully, the B11529 Omicron variant is a pig in a poke not imposing a serious threat but a few more days are needed to see how the data and charts progress. Fauci says that the US travel ban on African nations is under review. This political dude has to go. Mr Science is telling Americans a travel ban is needed and Biden takes and implements the advice, but now Fauci is starting to backpedal because terms like racist and travel apartheid are being tossed around. This is called Fauci science where he changes his mind often but is never in doubt. Biden's approval rating would likely stop going down and may rise if he canned Fauci. The retiring NIH Director Collins says, "This (omicron) is certainly not the last variant." Mr Sunshine proclaims, "We will have to use other letters in the Greek alphabet." President Biden speaks today and sounds much better so his cold is in the rearview mirror.
Note Added Monday Morning, 12/6/21, at 4:00 AM EST: The US reports a low 35K daily new cases for Sunday. The rubber hits the road this week to see if the daily numbers bump back up to the horrible near 150K per day on Friday. The spike may be solely due to the Thanksgiving Day fun and the cases may subside. Last year, during wave 3, the US daily cases (see chart above) jumped higher in three pulses; after Halloween with people returning indoors, after Thanksgiving and after Christmas/New Year's. Vaccines were not available so wave 3 worsened into the first week of January where it peaked. This year, since 71% of the population is vaccinated with at least one shot and another 15% to 30% have natural immunities, the 3 pulses may occur again, but the overall path different. As Americans move indoors due to the colder weather and have Halloween fun (the second biggest commercial holiday after Christmas), the initial spike of the current US wave 6 occurs; pulse one. After Thanksgiving, clearly pulse two occurs with cases ramping higher every day last week into Friday's big 147K daily cases per day number. What may occur this year is that wave 6 may actually roll over and die and although pulse 3 is coming it may be from a lower case level. In other words, wave 3 was up and up and up as the Fall pulses occurred but this year, due to the protections in place, wave 6 may be a pulse up, and down, then up again (we are here), and perhaps a subdued 3 or 4 weeks ahead, then the pulse 3, but again, followed by a roll over lower and outcome nowhere near wave 3. The higher cases that would be expected after Christmas may not even be that bad since the levels of protection in the US are very high. The waning vaccine efficacy is the big problem right now. Older folks are well past the 6-month time period and walking around thinking they are protected and they are not. Health problems, illnesses and deaths are rising (slowly) among the vaccinated. This week's US daily cases data is key. If the cases are subdued, the picture will brighten. The worry is the East Coast states seeing wicked rises in cases. If this problem increases it will create headaches and an infection wave moving east to west across the US. For the last couple days, the democrat-run media, such as CNN and MSNBC, have been saying the US vaccination rate is over 2.2 million doses per day. Not according to the CDC's information but their data and charts are notoriously slow in updating. There is no excuse for the CDC, in this technological age, to not update data and charts in real-time. They do it to play games and make themselves look smart by releasing a statement and then lo and behold, a week later the data verifies their proclamations. Isn't the crony capitalism system sickening? The CDC says the US vaccination rate is at 1.1 million doses per day less than half the number touted on television. The 2.2 million may be a one-day spike but it remains a mystery because the source of the data is not mentioned. Most of the vaccinations are booster shots as older Americans see their friends become sick and realize the initial shots are wearing-off. 155 Americans die yesterday but it is an expected low Sunday number.
Note Added Monday Morning, 12/6/21, at 5:00 AM EST: The Omicron variant is identified in 17 states including Pennsylvania where a 30-year old man in Philadelphia tests positive. Pennsylvania polling shows Biden's approval down to 40% from 55% a few short months ago. People are unhappy with the handling of the never-ending pandemic, Afghanistan debacle and Mexico-US border crisis (even though Pennsylvanians are far from the southern border). Americans are unhappy that mandates are forced down their throats while illegal aliens (migrants) come across the southern border not subject to the same rules. In fact, the US government is bussing and flying the migrants all over the US for assimilation but most are unvaccinated and testing requirements are loose. 45% of Pennsylvanians (nearly 1 in every 2 residents) disapprove of Biden's handling of the pandemic and this number was only 28% (1 in 4) a few months ago. The US is not a pretty picture but if last week's huge pop in infections is due to Thanksgiving Day, there may be some hope for the week ahead. The East Coast states are a worry as infections rise. Ditto the mid-Atlantic states such as Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Don't forge the troubles at the southern border causing New Mexico, Arizona and California cases to pop. Ditto Texas that was looking good until a week ago. The cases in the Lonestar State are teasing higher so the Texas case numbers this week are important. On top of all those troubles, the western and northern states are also under siege including Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado and others. As the ole comedy line says, other than all that, things look great. Keep fingers crossed that the big bump higher in US cases last week is due to Thanksgiving and a paring back of the numbers in the week ahead will create a more positive path forward.
Note Added Monday Morning, 12/6/21, at 5:00 AM EST: The world remains in fear of the big bad Omicron variant monster but preliminary reports continue indicating that the disease is highly contagious, maybe 3 times more compared to the Delta variant, but presents as mild symptoms. It would actually be a good outcome if omicron took over delta and it is more like the common cold or flu. Time will tell. South Africa reports 11.1K daily new cases a welcome sight after 2 days of cases above 16K per day. However, as the ole chart analysis saying goes, 'one day does not make a trend'. South Africa is a youthful population and would be expected to fight illness better than aging populations. Initially, it was thought that omicron affected children more than adults due to rising hospitalizations but this is no longer the case and a South Africa health official says children are not impacted more by omicron. Tossing a wet blanket on the positivity, is the prior South Africa wave behavior. The daily cases are prone to pop strongly for a day or three, then pull back substantively for a day or two, but then leap higher taking out prior highs. Last December, South Africa cases popped to 15K but days later down to 9K then days after that were over 18K per day. Thus, the jury remains out on the Omicron variant in South Africa and southern Africa nations. Cases in Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique display the same behavior pulling back but a few days will need to pass to gauge how serious the spread is out from the Gauteng province (Pretoria and Johannesburg). The outbreak spreads in an eastern and northeastern direction to Ewatini, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Lesotho, which is south of the Gauteng epicenter is quiet with cases subdued so the contagiousness of omicron can be gauged if Lesotho cases rise. For now, the waiting game on the Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant (omicron) continues.
Note Added Monday Morning, 12/6/21, at 6:00 AM EST: Austria and Belgium are experiencing violent protests against government edicts and mandates. Austria reports 5.2K daily new cases for yesterday well off the peak of nearly 16K on 11/19/21. Austria needs to relax since daily cases have been dropping for over 2 weeks. Austria's active cases curve is forming the bell shape verifying that the outbreak is on the run and being defeated. Belgium is a different story. Daily cases remain elevated and the active cases curve continues higher. Ditto Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Czechia and Slovakia. Interestingly, Austria's success at defeating the current outbreak wave is due to its draconian measures on the public because other surrounding nations continue struggling. Riot police use water cannons against citizens in Brussels that are protesting the mandates. Two dozen are arrested. People are asking what is the point of living in a so-called free society that is not free? The UK remains in covid hot water as daily cases continue moving higher now at 45.5K per day as per the 7-day MA. PM Johnson is trying to convince Brit's to take their booster shots. The UK tightens travel restrictions requiring additional testing. That will make people want to stay home. Germany says their case numbers are likely underreported because they cannot keep up with the rise in cases. This is occurring in the US and is the expected behavior as an infection wave takes off higher. However, usually only one extra day is required for the data to update, so Germany may be embellishing the impact perhaps as a means to keep stoking fear to encourage people to take booster shots. Coronavirus is a political pandemic, a psychological pandemic, a Fauci weird science pandemic, a China-created pandemic and a never-ending pandemic. Cases in Canada are starting to edge higher. Vietnam remains a disaster. Ditto Laos. South Korea cannot catch a break with cases running at over 5K per day for 5 days running the highest ever. 70 Koreans die on Saturday the deadliest day ever.
Note Added Monday Morning, 12/6/21, at 9:00 AM EST: Lame-duck New York City Mayor de Blasio is imposing a vaccine mandate on all private sector employees. What? By decree, all private sector employees in New York City must have at least one dose of vaccine by 12/27/21. Mayor Blowhard's term is coming to an end at the end of the year but someone should tap him on the shoulder and ask him to bow out early. De Blasio bloviates, "We've got omicron as a new factor, we've got the colder weather, which is really going to create additional challenges with the Delta variant, we've got holiday gatherings. Omicron is here, and it looks like its very transmissible. The timing is horrible with the winter months." Lions, and tigers and bears, oh my! De Balsio calls the draconian proclamation a "preemptive strike." There are 8 omicron cases in New York state 7 are in NYC. De Blasio is also forcing parents to provide proof of vaccination for their 5 to 11 year old child if they want to go shopping, eat in a restaurant, attend an entertainment venue or sporting event, or workout at a gym. De Blah-sio is a sick control freak. It is George Orwell's 1984. Are New York City residents going to bow each morning and kiss King de Blasio's feet in his remaining days? New York City is the first to force vaccines on the private sector. De Blasio is way out there in left field forcing draconian rules on employers already experiencing staffing shortages. Incoming Mayor-elect Eric Adams will be in power on 1/1/22 and de Blasio is out. Adam's office issues a statement; "The mayor-elect will evaluate this mandate and other covid strategies when he is in office and make determinations based on science, efficacy, and the advice of health professionals."
Note Added Monday Afternoon, 12/6/21: A man in Italy uses a synthetic fake arm to receive his vaccination. He is a dentist that does not want the jab so he tries to fake his way through the process. The nurse administering the shot said the arm color looked a little off but she was hesitant to say anything because she thought it may be a prosthetic arm, but then she realized he was pulling a scam. The dentist asked the nurse to simply say he got the shot and let him slide through. She did not and the authorities were summoned. You must kneel and take your shot. You have no choice. Communism.
Note Added Monday Evening, 12/6/21: Two tigers at the Pittsburgh Zoo in Pennsylvania test positive for COVID-19 but are doing fine and expected to recover. Two lions were previously infected. The zoo thinks the animals contracted the virus from an employee. Other zoos have identified coronavirus in their animals and nearly all recover without problems except for two lions in India that died in June. The B11529 Omicron variant is identified in 19 US states with Texas joining the group. Wall Street senses that the Omicron variant is not a significant threat with the major stock indexes rebounding between +1% and +2% today. Ford delays the return to work of 30K office employees until March due to concern over coronavirus.
Note Added Tuesday Morning, 12/7/21, at 3:00 AM EST: The United States exceeds 50 million total cases of China Virus and suffers 810K deaths a grim milestone. 680 Americans croak yesterday. The US reports 89K daily new cases for yesterday. It is not a good number no doubt due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday parties. Last Monday was 70K revised higher to 77K and this Monday far exceeds that tally. It des not look good but we need to get into the meat of the week to see how the cases are moving. The next couple days will tell a lot about the future direction of wave 6. South Africa remains on everyone's radar screens and reports 6.4K daily new cases below Sunday's 11.1K cases below the 2 prior days over 16K per day. Is the Omicron variant a pig in a poke? Was all the fear-mongering for nothing? If South Africa cases do not exceed 16K per day for any day ahead, the worries about omicron are overblown. If 16K cases per day is exceeded, the big trouble begins. The coming days are important and of course the day the vaccine efficacy results are released for the Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant (omicron) will be a watershed event charting a course forward for the pandemic and also greatly impacting the world's financial markets. The medical folks would be wise to release the news Friday evening in the States so traders have a couple days to digest the information. The forex markets (currency), however, trade 24/7. Eswatini and Lesotho are key to gauging the spread of omicron since these small countries are east and south of the Gauteng epicenter, respectively. Oh no. Eswatini reports 347 daily new cases, a small number compared to other nations, but it reflects a big spike higher in cases and confirms the start of a new wave. Are these omicron cases in Eswatini? Russia remains on the mend with their active cases chart rolling over to form the bell shape but their hospitals and clinics likely remain full of misery. There will be many tragic stories about the pandemic from Russia in the months and years ahead. Covid Vlad, that sent his sick infections westward to all of Europe, controls the news on Russia's pandemic, hiding the daily pain and misery, while he lives a life of luxury. 175K Russian troops and equipment are at Ukraine's border creating fear that Putin is about to begin a military offensive. Putin is a formidable strategist that will keep Europe, and the United States, guessing. Due to the ongoing outbreak across Europe, France closes nightclubs for the next 4 weeks. No wine and baguette for you! Germany's health minister says the rules should be different for vaccinated versus unvaccinated people. Governments continue singling-out and blaming unvaccinated folks for everything that goes wrong with the pandemic.
Note Added Tuesday Morning, 12/7/21, at 11:00 AM EST: European and United States stock markets catapult higher with record setting rallies. Most indexes are up form +2% to +3% adding on to yesterday's gains. Global stock traders and investors believe that the Omicron variant is not a concern and the selloff in stocks last week is overdone. The vaccine efficacy studies on omicron are less important now that it appears the illness is mild. Fauci runs to a camera proclaiming that the Omicron variant is "almost certainly not more severe than delta." The GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology antibody treatment under development is successful at fighting omicron. The stock market is joyous with the Dow up 600 points and S&P 500 gaining 100 big points. GSK pops +2% and VIR pops +4%. According to a local radio broadcast, about 1 in 4 patients (25%) in the Butler Health System near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and about 1 in 5 or more (20% or more) patients in the UPMC hospitals in southwestern Pennsylvania are breakthrough cases. Obviously, the increase in breakthrough cases is due to waning vaccine efficacy. Remember a month or two ago, the media outlets, CDC and Whitehouse staff boasted that 99% and even 100% of the serious covid cases were unvaccinated people. They do not say that anymore. Is omicron omi-gone? The cases in the Gauteng province of South Africa, the epicenter, and the neighboring nations of Eswatini and Lesotho, will dictate the path ahead for omicron. Lame-duck New York City Mayor de Blasio receives heavy criticism over his universal vaccine mandate. Businesses are unhappy that the edict came out of nowhere. De Blasio does not provide specifics on the vaccine mandate for private businesses or plan on how it is to be enforced. King de Blasio takes a dump on the carpet in the lobby of Gracie Mansion on his way out the door. Instead of singing the "12 Days of Christmas," New Yorker's will be singing the "Last 25 Days of De Blasio."
Note Added Tuesday Afternoon, 12/7/21: CDC Director Walensky says the Omicron variant is in 50 countries and 19 US states. She says the vaccine should "provide some level of protection against omicron." Jeff Zients says 12.5 million shots are administered during the last week so that equates to 1.8 million doses per day on average a great number. 7 million are booster shots but it is unclear if the 5.5 million other shots are first-time jabs or people returning for their second shots, or a combination. It is probably a lot of second shots. Zients decrees, "That's the highest weekly total number of shots since May." He puffs his chest out declaring, "We're now vaccinating people in numbers we haven't seen since the spring." He wants everyone to join him on the fun vaccine bandwagon. Fauci says the vaccine efficacy data for the Omicron variant should be available the middle of next week," and "we are doing animal studies to evaluate immune protection as well as efficacy of antivirals." Beagles are running for their lives.
Note Added Tuesday Evening, 12/7/21: On KDKA radio out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the first radio station in America, an UPMC hospital system spokesperson provides more information on the pandemic. 50% to 60% of the hospital patients are unvaccinated. Thus, 40% to 50% of the hospital patients are vaccinated a far higher number than anyone realizes. This number matches a statistic reported by Massachusetts a week ago where 44% of the patients in their hospital systems were vaccinated. Obviously, it is the waning vaccine efficacy creating the illnesses. It is not rocket science, and Keystone knows rocket science. An UPMC official says the vaccinated folks are typically sick for 3 to 5 days and released to go back home but the unvaccinated are more seriously ill taking 10 to 15 days or more to recover, and some do not make it. This afternoon at one of the UPMC facilities in Da Burgh (Pittsburgh), an unvaccinated man in his 30's gasped his last breath, ending his slow suffocation, and a man in his 70's, that also refused the jabs, met The Maker a short time ago. Two body bags are on their way to the 7th floor. A small early study shows that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine may be less effective against omicron but it is raw data and not peer-reviewed as yet. The Botswana/South Africa B11529 variant (omicron) partially evades the protection offered by vaccines. Researchers say that omicron shows "much more extensive escape." Of all the variants known, omicron is the most resistant to the Pfizer vaccine. It is bad news but will be sloughed-off as initial data. US futures are flat so the financial markets are unresponsive, so far.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/8/21, at 2:00 AM EST: US courts block Biden's vaccine mandate targeting federal contractors. There are at least four major lawsuits putting the kibosh on Biden's unconstitutional mandates. Even if the vaccine mandates in the United States are lifted, Sleepy Joe will view it as a victory since he forced millions of Americans to kneel before him and receive a jab while holding their jobs, careers and lives over their heads. This is what America is all about, a great way to breed hatred, mistrust and social unrest. When the courts shoot down the vaccine mandates, how will the millions feel that were forced to give up their liberty and kneel before power; some think it is taking on the Mark of the Beast? Will Americans feel guilty that they bowed instead of fighting against something they knew was wrong (unconstitutional)? America is a sick country and not only from COVID-19. The crony capitalism system has run its course like other ism's throughout the ages. Biden never had the authority to declare vaccine mandates.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/8/21, at 3:00 AM EST: The Omicron variant is in 21 US states almost one-half the country. The US exceeds 812K deaths with 1,722 Americans croaking yesterday. What is going on? Why is so many Americans continuing to die needlessly? People likely do not know that monoclonal antibody treatments and many other therapies are available. The doctors and hospitals tell them to stay at home unless they get real sick and when they do get very ill, it is too late. At that point, they only have a date with a vent and a body bag. After nearly 2 years, American mediocrity still cannot figure-out or properly manage the pandemic. The US reports 108K daily new cases yesterday above the revised-higher 92K on Monday. Not good. Cases need to stay well below the 147K peak last week but the path from Sunday thus far is up probably due to more Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend partiers. The 7-day MA of US daily new cases is at 117K cases per day and moving higher. Hospitalizations are over 4K each day for the last week the highest ever for Michigan and active covid cases are the highest ever. Michigan hospitals are asking for more help and the federal government has already sent help. Maine is in the same boat with record hospitalizations. Many states remain challenged which does not paint a rosy path ahead. Minnesota reports another spike in new cases. Kentucky is likely heading into serious trouble so any healthcare workers in the Bluegrass State need to put their banjo's down and get ready for long shifts. Interestingly, deaths are elevated in Kentucky over the last week. Why? Pennsylvania is in lousy shape with daily cases remaining elevated. Same-o for Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and others. Rhode Island, New Jersey and other East Coast states are reporting elevated cases. Cases remain elevated in Maine and the northeastern states continue battling the virus Everywhere you look is a pile of covid sh*t. Alaska is a bright spot with its active cases curve continuing lower displaying the coveted bell shape. What did Alaska do right? Did they use a lot of monoclonal antibody treatments like Florida which saved the day? Maybe it is the caribou stew or seal soup? The CDC needs to find out why Alaska is successful at beating down coronavirus and adopt those methods to other states. Hurry. Chop, chop.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/8/21, at 4:00 AM EST: South Africa cases pop higher with 13.1K cases yesterday. Not good since it is teasing the 16K cases per day that occurred twice last week. Trouble is at hand if the cases exceed 16K per day taking out the prior highs. Today's cases are key. 27 South Africans die yesterday which is maintaining low numbers although 27 families will never be the same. One of the ways to gauge the spread from the Gauteng epicenter is to watch Eswatini and Lesotho as explained above. Oh no. Eswatini reports a big 507 cases yesterday for a new wave that has already gone parabolic (vertical). Lesotho's data remains benign. Since the omicron trouble has obviously escaped the Gauteng province and infects Ewatini, the progress of China Flu must be studied in the next neighboring countries in line for the spread which are Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Mozambique reports 120 daily new cases yesterday which may not sound like a lot but it is the most in 3 months. Oh dear Lord. Cases in Zimbabwe explode higher over 4K per day the highest ever. The spread to Zambia and Malawi has not yet occurred. Botswana's data is erratic so it is hard to gauge what is happening there. The Omicron variant spreads out from Pretoria and Johannesburg (Gauteng) via the major road routes. The highway leads eastward to Eswatini then roads lead north into Mozambique. The major Highway 1 route extends from Pretoria northward straight into Zimbabwe. The bigwigs at the WHO and CDC should look at more detailed data, unavailable to Keystone, that will likely show the bulk of the Zimbabwe infections occurring in the southern portion of the country. Charts always tell you what is occurring. The Omicron variant is on the move.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/8/21, at 4:30 AM EST: Australia says it has identified a new Omicron variant mutation in a man traveling from South Africa. Other experts say more information is needed before such a declaration. Experts have been identifying the B11529 variant by S-gene dropout. This simply means that the chart is supposed to rise and then level off as it does for all other variants but for omicron, the S-gene curve is way below other curves leveling-off at a lower level. Australia says the new omicron-like variant does not display S-gene dropout. Other experts say 70% of the omicron variants do not have S-gene dropout. When experts have different opinions and argue over the 'science', and the baseline rules appear to be changing, a common person's eyes glaze over and he stops paying attention to confused eggheads. Some countries are promoting a fear campaign over covid and the Omicron variant as a means of cajoling people into getting vaccinated which only breeds more societal distrust. Cases remain elevated in Germany at 52K cases yesterday as Chancellor Merkel's 16-year tenure ends and the new Chancellor Scholz is installed. 68 die in the Netherlands the most since February. Sacrebleu! France reports over 59K daily new cases blowing past all prior days of the pandemic except one day back on 11/7/20. France is in big trouble with deaths also beginning to rise. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under fire after a videotape surfaces describing a Christmas party last year. Dozens of staff and lawmakers attended the booze party after they imposed a lockdown on the population. Hypocrisy is in full bloom around the world as the ruling classes enjoy the power trips telling peons what to do while they laugh at and ignore the regulations behind closed doors. There will be payback. Johnson is considering stricter covid rules to handle the current infection wave and he may quickly implement changes to divert attention from the hypocrisy scandal. South Korea and Vietnam remain a mess with South Korea reporting the second deadliest day ever. Going into 2022 in only 23 days, it is already starting to look a lot like 2021.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/8/21, at 7:00 AM EST: Pfizer is cleaning-up yesterday's message that their vaccine is not as effective against omicron as hoped. Pfizer says a booster shot will increase protection and provides strong resistance against the Omicron variant. The Whitehouse probably told Pfizer to get out there and cheerlead but the messaging only becomes more muddled. The pandemic remains a chaotic and confusing mess under both Trump and Biden, the bungling boobs. Pfizer spokesperson Dr Mikael Dolsten is interviewed on CNN media and he is not the best mouthpiece to right the ship. He makes you dizzy when he talks. Dolsten proclaims that three Pfizer/BioNTech shots will cover people through the winter season (yesterday, 2 shots sucked against omicron, but lo and behold, a few hours later, 3 shots are the best thing since sliced bread). US futures did not take a big swing lower on the negative Pfizer news last evening and does not rally to any extent on the positive news this morning. US futures are marginally positive. PFE is a hair positive while BNTX trades marginally negative in the pre-market. People are more confused after listening to Dolsten. After nearly 2 years of a pandemic, we have vaccines that only last 6 months (efficacy drops at 3 to 6 months where it then falls off a cliff), booster (third) shots of unknown longevity, ongoing variants mutating daily, and the mask-wearing continues indoors. Sounds like same-o, same-o.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/8/21, at 9:00 AM EST: The financial media is pumping the news that three shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab protects against the Omicron variant. At the same time, the WHO says omicron is identified in 57 countries and continues to report as mild symptoms for the majority of patients. Most hospitalized patients do not require oxygen which is fantastic news. US futures remain only slightly positive but PFE pops over +1% and BNTX gains over +3%. The Pfizer cheerleaders appearing in the media this morning are making money for their shareholders. Interestingly, an unvaccinated person that decides to become vaccinated, will not be protected from omicron until 3 shots are obtained which will take 7 months or more.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/8/21, at 11:00 AM EST: A school in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) vaccinates a 13-year old boy without parental consent. The boy is offered pizza to take the shot and told not to say anything. Mom discovers the situation because he is given a vaccination card. Mom has a juicy lawsuit. Sue the *ssholes for everything they got, Mom. COVID-19 is an extremely low risk to children so forcing an injection into kids is wrong and obviously sick and illegal. The pandemic is making people nutso.
Note Added Wednesday Morning, 12/8/21, at 11:30 AM EST: The media rumor mill is making no secret of the Whitehouse meeting with friendly news outlets telling them to pump up the economy (to boost Biden's sagging poll numbers). Americans are unhappy because they elected a moderate to calm things down, handle the pandemic, and not do much else. Instead, they get Sleepy Joe that is a whacko out in left field touting climate change and socialist-style policies while mishandling the pandemic equally as bad as King Donnie. Biden relies on the democrat-run media (CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, etc...) to do his cheerleading, hide bad stories and protect him from ridicule, just as the republican-run media (Fox News, Newsmax, OANN, Breitbart, AM talk radio, New York Post, etc...) carries water for the orange one (Trump). Isn't crony capitalism sickening? Be glad it is on its last legs.
Note Added Wednesday Afternoon, 12/8/21: The definition of fully vaccinated is receiving a lot of attention today. Since the Pfizer/BioNTech booster shot is protective against the Omicron variant (3 shots total), says the companies making the vaccine, medical officials are leaning towards calling three shots of the mRNA vaccines a full regimen. The CDC continues to sidestep the issue since redefining what it means to be fully vaccinated will have lots of ripple effects for employers and employees. Comically, Pfizer CEO Bourla keeps pimping a fourth vaccine that can specifically target the Omicron variant. Ka-ching, ka-ching. When the US declares 3 shots as a full vaccine regimen they will already then be considering 4 shots to be the future regimen. Lord Fauci, that never saw a camera he did not like, proclaims that "it is a matter of when, not if" the 3 shots of mRNA vaccine make up a full COVID-19 vaccine regimen. The FDA approves AstraZeneca's antibody treatment for helping immunocompromised folks sick with COVID-19. It is another valuable tool in the covid treatment and therapy tool box that will help people with health problems or allergies that become infected by the China Flu. Too bad the Whitehouse and CDC do not promote all treatments and therapies instead of solely promoting vaccines that are only effective for 2 to 7 months. Humorously, it will be interesting to see what happens in February and March when Americans are told to line up for their fourth shots.
Note Added Wednesday Evening, 12/8/21, at 6:00 PM EST: The US Senate passes a bill to block President Biden's vaccine mandate on private employees. The unconstitutional edict is currently tied-up in the court system. Two democrats break ranks and vote with the republicans. The vote is symbolic because the democrat-controlled House will not approve the bill and the president would obviously veto (not sign) it anyway. Americans do not want the vaccine mandate garbage. Get with the program Sleepy Joe. It is bad when your own democrats begin deserting the sinking vaccine mandate ship. In Michigan, democrat Governor Whitmer meets with employers where she disses the mandate. The Greenville Daily News reports that Whitmer opines, "We're going to lose state employees" because of the mandate and "that's why I haven't proposed a mandate. It's going to be problem for all of us." Biden promised that he would not impose a vaccine mandate on Americans all the way up to the day that he imposed a vaccine mandate on Americans. The president's poll numbers are circling the toilet drain because he lies just like Trump. Democrats and republicans are simply two sides of the same corrupt Washington, DC, coin. The NIH says it owns part of the rights to Moderna's patent on the COVID-19 vaccine. When the government gives you money, they own you. Kneel, Moderna. This is why Pfizer used its own research money to develop a vaccine. Pfizer was first to offer a COVID-19 vaccine in the US. Former President Trump puffed his chest out claiming credit for the feat but was summarily knocked-down by Pfizer that told him government money was not used in the development of the vaccine. The US government did provide money to Pfizer for logistics and distribution of the vaccine across the country. Moderna will wake up tomorrow and realize it is lying in bed with Collins and Fauci.
Note Added Wednesday Evening, 12/8/21, at 8:00 PM EST: The United States crosses a major milestone; a positive one this time. OVER 200 MILLION AMERICANS ARE FULLY VACCINATED (let's forget for a minute that the medical eggheads may change the definition of fully vaccinated from 2 mRNA shots to 2 jabs and the booster (3 shots)). 200.4 million Americans is 60.4% of the 330 million population. 237 million Americans, 71.4% of the population, has at least one shot. From 15% to 30% of Americans have been infected with COVID-19. Herd immunity is the combination of vaccine protection and natural immunity protection. Thus, adding the percentages touting the fully vaccinated percentage, the US is at 75% to 90% herd immunity a great range. Using the vaccine percentage for those that have at least one shot, since they have at least some amount of protection, is 86% to 101% herd immunity. This range should tamp-out the pandemic so US wave 6 this December may not be as bad as feared. When a virus is running out of suitable hosts, it mutates making itself more transmissible, so it can reach more bodies, but in so doing the bug loses its virulence (ability to cause severe illness and death). This may be occurring now in South Africa with the Omicron variant. Only about 36% of South Africans are vaccinated but much of the population has had COVID-19 and has natural immunities. The nation has a large young adult population. Perhaps omicron is trying to find more hosts, the scientists say it is more transmissible than the Delta variant, and by mutating in that manner it loses its ability to create serious illness and death, and the illnesses are presenting as mild to moderate cases.
Note Added Thursday Morning, 12/9/21, at 3:00 AM EST: The US reports 127K daily new cases yesterday so the trend from Sunday remains up. There is a glimmer of positivity since the increase from Tuesday's number is only 5K cases. Thus, it is important to see if today's number is 5K higher than 127K, which is 132K cases per day, or not. Also, last Friday's 149K cases per day, the peak for the current wave 6, remains key. America will be okay if the 149K is not exceeded in the coming days and then the only blip in cases will be during early January due to the Christmas and New Year's parties. However, if the 149K is exceeded, today or tomorrow, there will be covid pain this winter and the slap will be cold and hard. The Omicron variant is now identified in 22 US states. New York, New Hampshire, Maine, Wisconsin and Indiana send in the National Guard to help handle the pandemic. The highly vaccinated northeastern US states, that were placed on a pedestal as the southern states suffered through the delta wave, are now in shambles. A high vaccination rate is worth buptkis if the mRNA vaccines begin losing efficacy at 3 to 6 months and the protection falls off a cliff at 6 months. That is like bailing out a leaking boat with a coffee can. If the vaccines lasted a year instead of 6 months, America would be on easy street. Instead, Uncle Sam is on a dead-end road stuck in the covid mud. Pennsylvania is struggling with the recent outbreak. Geisinger Health System, in the Keystone State, says it is at 110% bed capacity with no end in sight. Over one-half the patients are unvaccinated (which means many patients are vaccinated these folk likely sick due to the waning vaccine efficacy). Millions of vaccinated Americans are walking around maskless each day each interacting with dozens of people and not realizing they may not be as protected as they think let alone understand that they may be carrying the virus. The US charts are lousy and if the daily cases surpass 149K today or tomorrow, Katy bar the door.
Note Added Thursday Morning, 12/9/21, at 3:30 AM EST: The UK reports 51.3K daily new cases teasing at new highs. England's got problems. PM Boris Johnson implements "Plan B." Brit's are told to work from home, vaccine passports will be required at more venues and stricter indoor masking rules will be enforced. The Christmas party scandal from one year ago, where Johnson's staff was partying at Number 10 while the UK was in lockdown and people were not allowed to say goodbye to dying relatives, continues and has legs. Press Secretary Allegra Stratton, that made comments about the wine and cheese at the party, resigns. If people are drinking wine they are not working or social distancing. Boris plays stupid saying he had no idea what was occurring at that party one year ago but comically the party was at Number 10 where he lives. He was the one wearing the lampshade. Boris should have heard the music, laughing and singing so his story is flimsy. Johnson loses credibility when he is trying to muster the people's cooperation with new COVID-19 guidelines. Brit's wonder if Boris and the gang will party again this year after he imposes the new Plan B restrictions. The UK says omicron cases are doubling every 2 to 3 days and they expect the new variant to take over the Delta variant. Merry Christmas. Oh no. France reports 61.3K daily new cases a big number. Ditto Italy at 18K cases. Western Europe will be hit hard now including Spain and Portugal. Germany is unable to turn the corner with cases remaining elevated and 571 Germans dying yesterday the most since February. Holy smokes. South Korea reports an explosion in cases to 7.2K yesterday. Something has gone horribly wrong in South Korea with the deadliest days of the pandemic occurring.
Note Added Thursday Morning, 12/9/21, at 5:00 AM EST: Oh no. South Africa reports over 19.8K daily new cases blowing away the 16K from 2 days last week a terrible development. Oh no. Eswatini reports nearly 900 cases a sharp spike higher. Mozambique cases pop to 206K the most in 3 months. Oh no. Zimbabwe reports 5K cases the most ever a big spike higher. The Omicron variant is riding on hosts that are riding in all those vehicles on Highway 1 heading north from Gauteng province to Zimbabwe. Zambia cases are perking up by a tiny hair so trouble may be afoot if omicron keeps spreading north. Same behavior in Malawi that sees a tiny pop in cases. On the southwestern side of Africa, cases rise in Namibia. The omicron outbreak is spreading north and northeast out of Gauteng (Pretoria and Johannesburg) so it makes sense that Eswatini is hit, then Mozambique, Zimbabwe and next Zambia and Malawi. The Gauteng epicenter is closer to the southeastern coast of Africa so omicron is now moving up the southeastern side of Africa.
Note Added Thursday Morning, 12/9/21, at 8:00 AM EST: KFF data continues to indicate that about one-third of parents have or plant to have their child vaccinated, one-third are on the fence with a wait and see approach, and one-third say definitely not or will only have their child vaccinated if required. About 3 in 10 parents have already had their child vaccinated. Fauci is interviewed by the Washington Post (a democrat-run rag owned by King Bezos) and suggests that holiday party hosts and participants should know each other's vaccination status even ask for proof. Fauci's parties must be a drag, a bunch of stiffs standing around and the ladies are bored. Come to a real party a Million Miles Away where everyone has fun and no one will ask for 'your papers, please'. New York state reports 20 omicron cases and 13 are in New York City. CDC Director Walensky says 75% of the 43 confirmed omicron cases in the US are fully vaccinated people; more breakthrough cases.
Note Added Thursday Afternoon, 12/9/21: The FDA authorizes the Pfizer vaccine booster shot for use in 16 and 17 year old teenagers. CDC Director Walensky signs off on the recommendation; no need to convene the slow-moving advisory panel. The CDC strongly recommends the booster shots for young people sweeping myocarditis under the carpet. High schooler's quickly tell Mom and Dad that a vaccination is not a Christmas present. The teenage years can be awkward times as young folks struggle to develop their own identity and figure-out their place in the world. Will the peer pressure be on the teenagers that take the vaccine, or on those that do not? Or both. A San Diego man that is double vaccinated and has the booster shot (3 jabs) tests positive for the Omicron variant. The man is isolated but not hospitalized. Omicron is identified in 24 US states, Michigan is the latest, and 67 countries. Jefferies, the large Wall Street banking firm, says dozens of employees are sick with COVID-19, telling them to work remotely. Wells Fargo and Citigroup are modifying plans due to the rise in infections in New York City and elsewhere.
Note Added Friday Morning, 12/10/21, at 3:00 AM EST: The US reports 111K daily new cases an encouraging sign since it is below hump day's 129K cases per day the high number for this week. The big test is today since the Friday data is typically the most robust. The 7-day MA peaks and drops slightly to 115K cases per day another encouraging sign. If today's cases are over 149K (the high last week on Friday, 12/3/21), the US faces a long cold winter ahead with lots of covid snow. If today's cases are between 129K and 149K, the path ahead remains challenging but not as bad as feared. If today's cases come in below 129K, that would be great, and below yesterday's 111K would be fantastic news. The sub 111K or sub 100K outcome for today's cases would indicate that US wave 6 will roll over with the only bump higher ahead occurring the first week of January due to the holiday parties. A lot is riding on today's case numbers that will be known within 24 hours. 1.1K Americans die yesterday. Most states follow the same pattern where this week's cases are below last week's cases, a good thing, but there are others, such as North Carolina, where cases are breaking up through last week's numbers. Not good. Ditto Rhode Island that experiences a wild spike higher in cases teasing the highest numbers ever. Keystone puts the trip to Providence on hold. In Newport, the clock just fell off the wall in the lobby of The Breakers. Ditto Delaware and New Jersey (not good). As described in the chronology for more than a week, the East Coast states are getting hit. Unfortunately, the rising infections on the coast will likely spread westward across the US.
Note Added Friday Morning, 12/10/21, at 3:30 AM EST: The world is at 269 million total cases of China Virus and crosses the 5.3 million deaths grim milestone. The planet reports 689K daily new cases yesterday an elevated number but at least it remains below last week's peak. World deaths remain consistent at about 7K per day for the last 2-1/2 months. Europe continues to struggle. Elevated cases continue in Germany, France, the UK, and elsewhere. Canada reports a robust 4.3K daily new cases with a new infection wave underway. South Korea is in bad shape. Australia Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Jones tests positive for covid in Washington, DC, after arriving from a trip to London. Jones is asymptomatic and isolating and others in his entourage are testing negative.
Note Added Friday Morning, 12/10/21, at 4:00 AM EST: Of course, all eyes remain on South Africa the epicenter of the omicron outbreak. Oh no. South Africa reports 22.4K daily new cases yesterday a record high for the current wave and now teasing the highest cases ever. There are only 22 deaths in South Africa yesterday, a tragedy, but the death numbers remain in check (a good thing). Boom. Eswatini reports 1,084 daily new cases the highest ever. Omicron is on the move. Lesotho appears unimpacted as yet by omicron but it may be more of a data reporting issue like Botswana. Mozambique reports 260 cases another high for the current wave. Boom. Cases explode in Zimbabwe to 5.2K cases the most ever. Zambia and Malawi report additional tiny increases in their cases. Clearly, omicron is moving up the southeastern side of Africa from the Gauteng epicenter.
Note Added Friday Morning, 12/10/21, at 4:30 AM EST: The New York Times reports that COVID-19 attacks fat tissue and likely explains why overweight and obese people are more negatively impacted by China Flu. 80% of the coronavirus deaths are overweight and obese folks. Dr Stephen Smith at the The Smith Center has always been on top of this issue but ignored by the medical pundits, until now. Americans must work towards lowering their BMI's (Body Mass Index). Simply google BMI for a calculator or use the CDC's BMI calculator. A BMI over 25 is overweight and over 30 is obese. The BMI is one of Keystone's simple three tests to help determine if a vaccination is the right path forward. If your BMI is over 25, talk to your doctor about getting the shots. The second test is the Mailbox Test. When you walk out to get the mail, do you become winded and out of breath? Same-o if you walk up a short flight of stairs. If you are out of breath, call your doctor to discuss the vaccination. The third test is the Fluffy test as described by comedian Gabriel Iglesias. If you are any of the now six stages of fatness, big, healthy, husky, fluffy, damn! and oh Hell no!!, call your doctor today.
