Random and illustrative stories about the global pandemic and how businesses and various business sectors are trying to recover from it, with brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary…
• Here are the US Covid-19 coronavirus numbers: 80,567,757 total cases … 973,119 deaths … and 53,192,990 reported recoveries.
Ther global numbers: 435,996,996 total cases … 5,968,059 fatalities … and 366,546,585 reported recoveries. (Source.)
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 76.3 percent of the total US population has received at least one dose of vaccine … 64.9 percent are fully vaccinated … and 43.6 percent have received a vaccine booster dose.
• From the Wall Street Journal:
"Federal officials eased their guidelines on Covid-19 masking, including at schools, in a shift that reflects decreased risks from the Omicron variant, a steep drop in cases and mitigation efforts nationwide.
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday changed the metrics it uses to assess Covid-19 risk by county across the U.S. Risk will now be assessed based on three factors, the CDC said: new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days; new Covid-19-related hospital admissions; and the percentage of hospital beds occupied by Covid-19 patients.
"Before Friday, the CDC used these metrics to sort counties into one of four risk categories based on Covid-19 case numbers and test positivity rates.
"Now, the agency is breaking counties down into three different groups: high, medium or low local Covid-19 risk. The CDC’s assessment of Covid-19 levels by county will be available on the agency’s website.
"The new guidelines reflect a heightened focus on minimizing severe disease and limiting pressures on the healthcare system, the CDC said.
Masks aren’t necessary indoors where Covid-19 is circulating at low levels, according to the new guidelines. For areas with medium levels of Covid-19, the CDC recommends that people with conditions that put them at higher risk of severe disease talk to their healthcare providers about whether to wear a mask. In areas with high levels of Covid-19, people should continue wearing masks in public indoor settings including schools, the CDC said."
• The New York Times reports that "Scientists released a pair of extensive studies on Saturday that point to a market in Wuhan, China, as the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. Analyzing data from a variety of sources, they concluded that the coronavirus was very likely present in live mammals sold in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in late 2019 and suggested that the virus twice spilled over into people working or shopping there. They said they found no support for an alternate theory that the coronavirus escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan."
Yeah, but what they're not telling us is that Fauci has a financial interest in those markets, and has able to line his pockets with billions by facilitating the spread of the disease starting with those markets. At least, that's what I read in some corners of social media. Must be true, right?
