Another way it comes to an end is, just ignore it and let it run its course. Actually more people are starting to wear masks again in my local area. The regional hospital was directing people to our small municipal health unit due to Covid outbreaks.  But no more numbers for Ontario, it's gone! not. We're in our 7th wave now, Covid-19 traces in wastewater is going up.

Japan is feeling the strain but is reluctant to do much about it
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/29/national/covid-ba5-countermeasures/

As the number of coronavirus infections soars to unprecedented levels, Japan will allow prefectural governments to take stronger COVID-19 measures tailored to their own needs, Daishiro Yamagiwa, the minister in charge of the government’s COVID-19 response, announced Friday.

Governors can declare that their prefectures are in need of measures to counter the BA.5 subvariant when their health care systems are severely strained, such as when a prefecture’s hospital bed occupancy rate tops 50%, he said.

But the move is not meant to restrict people’s movement or business activities, Yamagiwa said, noting that the goal is to achieve infection control and the continuance of economic and social activities at the same time.

I wonder how, the wave will crash on its own eventually...


Meanwhile Monkeypox is on the rise
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/in-race-for-monkeypox-vaccines-experts-see-repeat-of-covid-1.6008546

Moves by rich countries to buy large quantities of monkeypox vaccine, while declining to share doses with Africa, could leave millions of people unprotected against a more dangerous version of the disease and risk continued spillovers of the virus into humans, public health officials are warning.

Critics fear a repeat of the catastrophic inequity problems seen during the coronavirus pandemic.

"The mistakes we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic are already being repeated," said Dr. Boghuma Kabisen Titanji, an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University.

Great, where its needed, no vaccines. And thus more chance of spreading and creating new strains...?



Weekly update, up and up, except where counting is down and down.

In total 7.06 new cases were reported last week (down from 7.37 million) to a total of 580,771,207
Also another 16,362 more deaths were reported (up from 15,305) to a total of 6,417,504

Europe might have peaked but reporting is spotty, 2.06 million cases this week (2.89 million last week) and 6,240 deaths (5,769 last week)
USA seems to be going back down, 908K cases this week (975K last week) and 3,108 deaths (3,219 last week)

The continents

Asia keep climbing, the rest seems to be level or heading down

Corners of the world

Iran seems to be slowing down, Japan keeps on climbing. The rest stays level, Canada stopped reporting.

Last time for the Europe graph, not worth updating anymore with the lack of and otherwise wildly fluctuating numbers coming out

Russia seems to be heading into another big wave, maybe it will get Putin... Biden recovered
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-tested-negative-covid-his-physician-says-2022-07-27/

U.S. President Joe Biden celebrated his recovery from COVID-19 on Wednesday with an appeal to Americans to get vaccinated and a comparison of his mild symptoms and work-from-home performance to the more serious case experienced by his predecessor.

It's not that simple, get vaccinated -> only get a mild case. But good advice nonetheless.

Fortunately the monkeypoxvirus mutates 100 times slower than SARS-CoV-2. 10 times slower if you count the APOBEC3-induced mutations.

Thing is... it'll be under tremendous evolutionary pressure during the next few years to get rid of the latter, and that's an enzyme with antiviral properties. It might even be one of the reasons MPX actually has just a 0.01% case fatality rate.

Weekly update, reported cases are slightly down, reported deaths same as last week.

In total 6.74 million new cases were reported last week (down from 7.06 million) to a total of 587,507,450
Also another 16,343 deaths were reported (16,362 last week) to a total of 6,433,847

Europe's reported cases are heading down (1.68 million this week, 2.06 million last week), deaths not yet (6,215 this week, 6,240 last week)
USA is also reporting fewer cases (812K this week, 908K last week) but reported more deaths this week (3,617 this week, 3,108 last week)

The continents

Asia is heading up, the rest declining.

Corners of the world

Japan slowed its explosive growth, reported deaths are still heading up fast. Reported cases are about 2.3x as many as the peak in Februari, reported deaths is still below that peak, yet lagging behind. The rest are all staying below their previous highest peaks.

Our chief medical officer says the 7th wave has peaked in Ontario. The hospital here is still begging people not to come though. Not enough staff and still under severe strain. Wastewater surveillance is showing a decline. The weather is a bigger problem atm, heat wave after heat wave, tornado warnings, drought, severe thunderstorms that last 5 minutes, what have we done to this planet :/

Weekly update, reported cases slightly down, reported deaths are up

In total 6.44 million new cases were reported this week (down from 6.74 million)
Also another 18,011 more deaths were reported last week (up from 16,343)

USA dropped slightly in cases 777K down from 812K and also dropped slightly in deaths 3,514 down from 3,617
Europe dropped a lot 1.40 million new cases down from 1.68 million yet went slightly up in reported deaths 6,354 up from 6,215

The continents

Asia seems to be peaking, the rest going down a bit, Africa being very inconsistent in reporting.

Corners of the world

Japan has reached its peak, reported deaths nearly matching the peak in Februari (yet still under) with 2.5x the amount of reported cases. At least the vaccines are preventing more and more deaths. (Or the virus has run out of 'easy targets')

China is heading up (and they only report symptomatic cases) and most people there haven't been in contact with the virus yet...

The CDC seems to have given up or rather is adjusting to what people are (not) doing anyway
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/cdc-ends-recommendations-for-social-distancing-and-quarantine-for-covid-19-control-no-longer-recommends-test-to-stay-in-schools-1.6023579

The latest recommendations:

The CDC recommends that COVID-19 prevention practices continue to depend on a person's risk of becoming severely ill and on its COVID-19 community levels. Community levels reflect cases in a community as well as hospitalization rates and hospital capacity.

When the COVID community level is high -- as it currently is in 41% of counties -- the CDC continues to recommend that everyone wear high-quality masks indoors. High-risk people should also wear quality masks when the community level is medium, as it now is in 39% of counties.

The agency also puts more emphasis on improving ventilation. Aerosol scientists have long complained that the 6-foot social distancing guidance was arbitrary and unhelpful because the virus that causes COVID-19 can float through the air for greater distances.

Pretty useless as Covid-19 community levels are not reported anymore, and ventilation is still a joke at the schools here. Already dreading back to school

In addition to vaccination, the CDC urges additional measures for people with suppressed immune function, including the use of Evusheld, a kind of passive immunity that's given before a person gets sick. It's especially helpful for people who can't mount an immune response, and experts say it has been underutilized in this country.

Nvm underutilized in the US, here it's restricted to organ transplants and cancer patients. Can't even get an appointment with a doctor and the hospitals tell you to stay away.

The agency also stresses the use of antiviral medications in people who catch COVID-19 and are at higher risk for severe outcomes. This group includes people who are older or unvaccinated or those who have certain medical conditions that put them at higher risk. Conditions that increase risk include overweight and obesity, pregnancy, smoking, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and mental health conditions, including depression.

Can't get those here, so we're basically still sidelined from society. Continue to isolate more and more which will probably be in vain anyway when the kids go back to school :/

I managed to avoid Japan's peak by going to the US, but soon I will return. They are talking about dropping all entry requirements for residents and citizens, still no talk of tourism re opening fully.

meh. unvaccinated here and got covid twice. moderate flu the first time. second time was a very weak minor flu.

Well it's finally got me but after one kinda rough day I feel mostly better thankfully so it wasn't that bad at all for me.

Weekly update, reported cases went further down, reported deaths saw a slight decline as well.

In total 5.65 million new cases were reported last week (down from 6.44 million)
Also another 17,503 more deaths were reported (slightly down from 18,011)

USA reported 681K new cases (down from 777K) and 3,364 more deaths (down from 3,514)
Europe reported 1.22 million new cases (down from 1.40 million) and 5,662 more deaths (down from 6,354)

The continents

Asia might be headed back up, Africa remains erratic, the rest has settled on a slow downwards trend.

Corners of the world

Japan looked to have peaked yet refuses to go back down so far. Japan currently has its highest daily death toll since the pandemic started.
South Korea is also seeing another resurgence, deaths are rising as well yet still far below their earlier peak in March.
China still struggling to squash their latest outbreak.

Not much data locally, just the latest wastewater surveillance from August 10th showing an uptick.

The good news, we might finally get some rain tonight. It's been months for any decent rain, doesn't look like it will last tonight but its something. All the trees are dropping leaves here, starting to look like fall already. The silver lining, I have mowed the grass only once this summer.

Weekly update, the slight downward trend continues for now. Japan still experiencing their highest death toll since the start of the pandemic.

In total 5.21 million new cases were reported last week (slightly down from 5.65 million)
Also another 16,286 more deaths were reported (slightly down from 17,503) to a total of 6,485,647

USA reported 657K new cases (slightly down from 681K) and 3,528 more deaths (slightly up from 3,364)
Europe reported 1.18 million new cases (slightly down from 1.22 million) and 4,996 more deaths (slightly down from 5,662)

The continents

All slowly heading down as we're heading into spring/fall across the world.

Corners of the world

The latest local data (August 17) shows a slight decrease in wastewater surveillance. Estimates are we're on a downward trend although hospital occupancy went up a bit last week.

Meanwhile we're doing less and less with the next fall wave looming out ahead

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-science-table-to-be-dissolved-next-month-as-director-warns-that-pandemic-will-continue-to-be-a-daunting-challenge-1.6043546

A group of volunteer scientists and public health experts who have provided independent advice on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic say that their work is being discontinued, even as the Ford government insists that is not the case.

The Ontario Science Advisory Table has released a statement confirming that it was told by Public Health Ontario last week that it will be dissolved as of Sept. 6.

Premier Doug Ford, however, told reporters during a news conference in Niagara Falls on Friday that the work previously undertaken by the table will be “absorbed” by Public Health Ontario and will continue in some form.

...

Razak, however, warned that the “pandemic will remain a daunting challenge for the foreseeable future” and expressed hope that the “principals the table was based on” will live on in some form.

“I hope we can all take the steps necessary to reduce the burden of the pandemic to keep our system functioning in the difficult months ahead,” he said.

Advice was often ignored by government

...

The dissolution of the table, at least in its current form, comes with case loads trending down in more than half of Ontario’s public health units, even as experts warn of a fall wave of the pandemic that could put further strain on Ontario’s already overburdened healthcare system.

Students are also set to return to classrooms next month, with mask mandates no longer in effect and many other temporary public health meatuses, such as cohorting and mandatory physical distancing, no longer in place.

At this point it is not clear what form the advisory group could take under Public Health Ontario.

There are now 4,800,300 Covid papers/preprints (on Google Scholar). There is a paper for essentially any narrative. A search for "Covid AND rabbit" returns 282,000 hits; "Covid AND carrot" 10,300 hits; and "Covid AND Pokémon" 4310 hits...

But even after those years, I don't think anything tops the March 2020 docking study from a university in China claiming that the binding energy of the SARS-CoV-2 spike to hemoglobin was higher than the energy of decay of uranium fission, and the virus was stealing hemoglobin to do photosynthesis and was a fourth domain of life from the dawn of time...

Yes, really. And for some reason, these top-tier absurd papers always come from either China or Japan.