We're currently dealing with a triple threat

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/what-s-the-difference-between-covid-19-rsv-and-influenza-1.6138453

Cases of respiratory infections are on the rise across Canada as the country faces what health officials are calling the "triple-threat" of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, the latest respiratory virus monitoring report showed that the test positivity-rate for when it came to detecting influenza A was 6.44 per cent for the week of Oct. 29, compared to 2.66 per cent in the previous week. The test positivity rate for RSV was 7.0 per cent across Canada, up from 4.74 per cent in the previous week.

The uptick in infections has also led to hospital capacity becoming strained, especially at pediatric hospitals. In Ontario, hospitals are even being asked to admit teenage patients to adult intensive care units.

My wife and kids have a bad case of the flu, high fevers, vomiting, non stop coughing. My kids are doing worse than when they had Covid :/ They both haven't gone to school all week (and have no clue about the switch to online learning since the teachers started striking today, schools are now closed. Silver lining, can't spread more diseases while closed)

Our local hospital is overloaded not accepting patients anymore, can't find any children's Advil / Tylenol / Cough medicine anywhere

Meanwhile, pharmacies across Canada are also dealing with a shortage of cough syrup and cold medicine, particularly medication for children.


Rest of the article has conflicting information again as usual. Now hand washing is a good idea again (is always a good idea but it also prevents respiratory transmission erm). Thinking about masks again while those cloth masks are at most 10% effective, and most of that is from stopping the wearer spreading the disease. I still wear a mask to the supermarket, yet more to reduce the latent 'stigmas' against wearing masks. Masks only help (a bit) when most people use them.

Now this: "I'm very much of a proponent of wearing a mask for several days after you reintegrate your usual daily activities," he said. "I think that's probably a good idea because there may be some residual transmission."

I was told that you only spread Covid at the early stages, you are most infective before you show symptoms. So that's not true and you can still infect people days after getting better? Or is that flu specific. Covid quarantine (after a positive test) was down to 5 days.

Ontario:

Stay home and self-isolate until all of the following apply: your symptoms have been improving for at least 24 hours (or 48 hours if you had nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea) you do not have a fever. you have not developed additional symptoms.

CDC

People with moderate or severe COVID-19 should isolate through at least day 10. Those with severe COVID-19 may remain infectious beyond 10 days and may need to extend isolation for up to 20 days.

So isolate between 1 and 20 days :)

Most here in Cali have not gotten covid just few people I know, Either they took their vaccines or their immune system is outstanding?

Most people don't get very sick or hardly get symptoms at all. I haven't really felt much from Covid despite having been exposed to it by my wife and kids. The first 'cold' my kids brought home from school had me down for 3 weeks. This new flu strain my wife and kids are currently battling doesn't seem to affect me at all.

What I'm saying is that everyone experiences infectious diseases differently and Covid seems to be extra variable in the effects it has on people. We all had the same vaccines, my wife barely got through it, our youngest kid took 2 weeks to recover, the other was better within in a week, I only felt some mild fatigue for a couple days... Not even sure if it was from Covid or simply from the stress of watching my wife go through Covid (again).

Anyway California does seem to be a bit better off in the states, #33 in cases per 1M (Maryland best), #41 in deaths per 1M (Vermont best)
(#1 being worst out of the 50 states plus one district, Rhode Island worst for cases per 1M, Mississippi worst for deaths per 1M)
Overall USA sits at #16 for deaths per 1M (out of 225 or so) Eastern Europe and Peru were hit the worst. UK sits at #26, Canada sits at #88.

Weekly update. Most movement comes from changes in reporting styles.

In total 2.25 million new cases were reported last week (down from 2.60 million)
Also another 11,853 more deaths were reported (up from 11,175) to a total of 6,604,480

USA reported 271K new cases (276K last week) and 2,872 more deaths (up from 2,560)
Europe reported 809K new cases (down from 1.24 million) and 4,862 more deaths (down from 5,551)

A lot of countries in Europe are changing their reporting style again, hence the odd dip.

The continents

Asia is slightly up, nothing big

Corners of the world

South Korea and Japan are up a bit.

It seems BA.5 is expanding a bit in Japan: In Japan, the BA.5 lineage has largely become mainstream, and is replacing others. At present, there is not a trend toward further replacement by other lineages.

Cases in China will likely go up further now China is going to relax their harsh policies a bit
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/reports-say-china-aiming-for-less-disruptive-covid-19-policies-1.6139173

Chinese officials are trying to quell an outcry over the death of a 3-year-old boy from a quarantined residential compound that added to public anger at anti-virus controls that have confined millions of people to their homes.

The boy died at a hospital in Lanzhou of carbon monoxide poisoning blamed on a gas leak. His father accused health workers who were enforcing the closure of the compound of refusing to help and trying to stop him as he rushed his son to the hospital.

Variant growth currently settling at lower 10%-ish levels over baseline. All BA.2.75s seem out of contention except for BN.1 and derivates. Meanwhile it looks a fairly even fight between XBB.1 and BQ.1.1 as expected.

The next months are difficult to predict due to a complex mix of variants, immunity and seasonal effects, but the current fading autumn wave will likely mean a much lower winter wave than expected before.

Got the new booster and flu shot yesterday. Thankfully I'm only feeling a little groggy and sore today. I seemed to be having stronger reactions to each vaccine previously (Moderna). My last booster almost felt like I genuinely had the flu so I was worried if this time was even worse. Glad that doesn't seem to be the case.

Weekly update. As expected the reported cases are shifting to the Southern Hemisphere, death rate is still going down overall

In total 2.60 million cases were reported last week (up from 2.25 million)
Also another 9,986 more deaths were reported (down from 11,853) back under 10,000 where we were late September

USA reported 288K new cases (up from 271K) and 2,083 more deaths (down from 2,872)
Europe reported 863K new cases (up from 808K) and 4,712 more deaths (down from 4,862)

Europe does seem to have s light upward trend peering through the reporting changes, nothing major anyway.

The continents

South America and Oceania creeping up

Corners of the world


China is heading up as well now, maybe after temporary slightly relaxed lock downs, however restrictions are already being tightened again
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/china-tightens-restrictions-as-rise-in-virus-cases-reported-1.6150514

Everyone in a district of 1.8 million people in China's southern metropolis of Guangzhou was ordered to stay home for virus testing Saturday and a major city in the southwest closed schools as another rise in infections was reported.

Nationwide, a total of 11,773 infections were reported over the previous 24 hours, including 10,351 people with no symptoms. China's numbers are low, but the past week's increase is challenging a "zero-COVID" strategy that aims to isolate every infected person.

The quarantine for travellers arriving in China is to be shortened to a minimum of five days from seven as part of changes in controls announced Friday to reduce their cost and disruption. But the ruling Communist Party said it would stick to "zero COVID" even as other countries ease travel and other curbs and try to shift to a long-term strategy of living with the virus

Weekly update, the flu seems a bigger concern atm

In total 2.67 million new cases were reported last week (slightly up from 2.60 million)
Also another 10,412 more deaths were reported (slightly up from 9,986)

USA reported 266K new cases (down from 288K) and 2,318 more deaths (up from 2,083)
Europe reported 845K new cases (down from 863K) and 4,792 more deaths (4,712 last week)

The continents

It seems the recent drop in reporting in Europe is masking the rise in cases on the other continents. It's not a big rise.

Corners of the world

China, Japan and South Korea continue their upwards trend.
Brazil might be getting a spring wave, going up sharply atm.



https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/chinese-city-plans-250-000-quarantine-beds-to-fight-virus-1.6157212

China's southern metropolis of Guangzhou announced plans Thursday to build quarantine facilities for nearly 250,000 people to fight surging coronavirus outbreaks even as the national government tries to reduce the impact of anti-disease controls that have confined millions of people to their homes.

Guangzhou, a city of 13 million people and the biggest of a series of hot spots across China with outbreaks since early October, reported 9,680 new cases in the past 24 hours. That was about 40% of the 23,276 cases reported nationwide.

China's infection numbers are low compared with the United States and other major countries, but the ruling Communist Party is trying to isolate every case. Repeated closures of neighbourhoods, schools and businesses are fueling public frustration and clashes with health workers.

(China only reports symptomatic cases to the WHO, hence the difference between the graph and the numbers in the article)


We have a slight rise in hospitalizations here as well, however still struggling with the flu rather than Covid.

Weekly update, cases rising in some places, reported deaths still just above 10K a week.

In total 3.02 million new cases were reported last week (up from 2.67 million)
Also another 10,376 more deaths were reported (10,412 last week)

USA reported 300K new cases (up from 266K) and 2,304 more deaths (2,318 last week)
Europe reported 960K new cases (up from 845K) and 4,229 more deaths (down from 4,792)

The continents

South America is rising the most atm

Corners of the world

Brazil is rising the fastest, China keeps on reporting more symptomatic cases


Locally it's still active. My wife's best friend got it now and also has co-morbidities, not doing well :/ She got it from her husband who got it from work, which made him (and everyone else) come in even though Covid was already around at the workplace. Now everyone from his work has it...

Hospitals here are still overwhelmed by the combination of RSV, bad Flu season and Covid.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/i-come-home-and-i-cry-rise-in-patients-with-respiratory-illnesses-leaving-health-care-workers-drained-1.6167560

Patti Champoux, an X-ray technologist at Niagara Health’s general hospital in Niagara Falls, Ont., says the facility has been operating at full capacity since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But over the last few weeks, health-care workers at the site are seeing a sharp rise in the number of patients with respiratory illnesses, she said.

Not only that, but the patients visiting her for X-rays appear sicker than they usually are around this time of year, said Champoux.

“People I’ve seen in the last three weeks are incredibly ill,” Champoux told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on Thursday. “They’re in the emergency room and they’re white as a sheet, lethargic [and] feverish … They are weaker than I’ve seen in a long time.”

Pediatric hospitals have been hit especially hard. In British Columbia and Alberta, the increase in sick children has resulted in postponed surgeries and hospital wait times of up to 17 hours. Ontario’s pediatric intensive care units are also operating well over capacity, with some hospitals opening additional ICUs to handle the demand.

I got 4th shot another booster