this guy’s good…

[youtu.be]

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NICOS

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Nate
The BBC has an article today saying that people who become infected with omicron are up to 70% less likely to require hospital treatment.

Nate

That's great news...... I read more and more that omicron looks milder

well, wait and see. Since omicron is more infectious than delta the absolute number of people that require hospital treatment might rise or even explode

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slewan

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NICOS

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Nate
The BBC has an article today saying that people who become infected with omicron are up to 70% less likely to require hospital treatment.

Nate

That's great news...... I read more and more that omicron looks milder

well, wait and see. Since omicron is more infectious than delta the absolute number of people that require hospital treatment might rise or even explode

Yeah, trying to make sense of the overall numbers. Looking at the US and UK, both are exploding in terms of numbers of cases, in UK relatively small numbers of deaths vs. US.

But in US Omicron is overwhelming majority of cases now.

Could be a situation with the numbers that are vaxxed. Even though omicron affects people that have been vaxxed, protection against bad outcomes.

I think it will all reveal itself pretty clearly within a few weeks. South Africa is out of the worst, and if that model is followed it may not be that bad.

But if you're not vaxxed, anything is possible.

UK sets new record for COVID cases as Omicron sweeps London

- UK reports 122,186 new COVID-19 cases, new record
- Data underlines rapid advance of Omicron variant
- Huge chunks of London's population likely infected, ONS says

Covid19

LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Britain reported another day of record COVID-19 cases on Friday, with new estimates showing swathes of London's population are carrying the virus, underlining the relentless advance of the Omicron variant. Omicron's rapid spread has driven a surge in cases over the last seven days, especially in the capital. Around 1 in 20 Londoners likely had COVID-19 on Dec. 16 and early estimates - which could yet be revised - suggest this may have risen to 1 in 10 on Sunday, models from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Friday. Many industries and transport networks are struggling with staff shortages as sick workers self-isolate, while hospitals in Britain have warned of the risk of an impact on patient safety. However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has staked considerable political capital on the Christmas of 2021 being "considerably better" than the previous year, on Tuesday ruled out new restrictions before the day itself, saying that there was uncertainty about the severity of Omicron and hospitalisation rates. Government data showed 122,186 new cases, up from 119,789 on Thursday and marking a third day of cases in excess of 100,000.

While recent research on Omicron suggests it has a lower rate of hospitalisation than previous variants of COVID-19, health officials have maintained a cautious note about the outlook. "There is a glimmer of Christmas hope... but it definitely isn't yet at the point where we could downgrade that serious threat," Jenny Harries, head of the UK Health Security Agency, told the BBC. "What we have got now is a really fine balance between something that looks like a lower risk of hospitalisation - which is great news - but equally a highly transmissible variant and one that we know evades some of our immune defences." On Friday the government reported 137 new deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test, down from 147 on Thursday, and bringing the total during the pandemic to 147,857 - the highest in Europe. The ONS said prevalence increased across all parts of the United Kingdom, with Scotland showing the lowest rate of infections at 1 in 65 people on Dec. 19. The ONS estimates showed around 1 in 35 people in England - equivalent to 1.54 million people - were infected with COVID-19 during the six days to Dec. 19. The early modelling of the subsequent days suggested that could have risen to more than 2 million people on Sunday, or around 1 in 25.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

New symptomatic cases of COVID in the UK (ZOE COVID Study)

- France reports 104611 new COVID-19 cases, new record

I'm afraid the situation everywhere is getting worse.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-12-26 02:34 by MAF.

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MAF
New symptomatic cases of COVID in the UK (ZOE COVID Study)

- France reports 104611 new COVID-19 cases, new record

I'm afraid the situation everywhere is getting worse.

One can only hope that this variant is going to be significantly milder and not cause long term effects because it's clear there's no slowing it down, nevermind stopping it.

THE AGE ---- 26 December 2021



ROCKMAN

While at my (departed) wife's father's Christmas gathering today, which was way smaller than usual due to some having the flu, I found out that her son (and wife) - I'll call him Stalin - stayed at her sister's Christmas eve night, who are all vaxxed, with possible exception to the mother, and woke up Christmas morning not feeling good (he teaches in New Orleans) and... there was a COVID test in the house and?

Where I was included 10 people total, all vaxxed, except for the 4 month old.

Stalin and wife went home, those exposed stayed put.

It's nothing new to understand how fast COVID can spread but when it's close to you, it really cranks it up into the whole issue of how it just happens.

Panic? Do we need to? Noooo ...
Well over half a million positives in the U.K. During the "last" five days. With "last" I mean including December 24 figures. No reports of the December 25th figures! All other countries did report on that day. Is it because the U.K. respects the Holy Spirit during Christmas? Or is it sheer embarrassment?
Never mind. The James Watt telescope (they could have renamed it to Charlie Watts telescope, though) has finally made it into space! This long awaited for beauty is going to teach us about times long gone. Times during which viruses didn't exist, although?
I don't know about Brits on IORR, but for the first time London friends emailed me two days ago about a kind of "chaos" around vaccinations and tests there. True?

I'm a GHOST living in a ghost town

We will see it in the next days here in England. 2 days ago we had 122 000 cases in the UK. Wales, Scotland, NI have new restrictions since today. Boris - I call him Ronald Mc Donald from Downing Street - and the Premiere League deny the virus. In Germany you have to use a FFP2-mask in public transport. Here in UK you can wear a scarf. Crazy!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-12-26 17:10 by Mirko.

I will give it exactly one more month from now. If the latest variant is spreading as rapidly as claimed, there's basically nothing to do about it and the evidence a month from now should be unmistakeable. If it does not, I won't give a damn about any upcoming variant.

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Mirko
We will see it in the next days here in England. 2 days ago we had 122 000 cases in the UK. Wales, Scotland, NI have new restrictions since today. Boris - I call him Ronald Mc Donald from Downing Street - and the Premiere League deny the virus. In Germany you have to use a FFP2-mask in public transport. Here in UK you can wear a scarf. Crazy!

In places where the FFP2 masks are mandatory how are the case numbers of covid.

Nate

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Nate

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Mirko
We will see it in the next days here in England. 2 days ago we had 122 000 cases in the UK. Wales, Scotland, NI have new restrictions since today. Boris - I call him Ronald Mc Donald from Downing Street - and the Premiere League deny the virus. In Germany you have to use a FFP2-mask in public transport. Here in UK you can wear a scarf. Crazy!

In places where the FFP2 masks are mandatory how are the case numbers of covid.

Nate

I wonder on what feeling(s) you ask this question, Nate.
Those who look at the world with an open mind and open eyes are aware that the case numbers in the majority of East and South East Asia have shown that both the number of positives and the number of casualties are much, very very much lower than in the "western world", meaning North and South America and Europe (sorry, but I can't take the data of f.i. African countries serious, simply because most of this countries simply lack the means - too bad really - to produce reliable figures)
The mask culture in Asia (leading Japan and Korea) is quite old already (the Spanish Flu of 100+ years ago was the trigger). In the "west" people felt and many still feel "stupid" wearing a mask and reluctently finally started to use them. When FFP2 masks become compulsary it doesn't mean you have case numbers ready in a short time. But I trust that you have enough common sense to understand from the above, that masks (off course not perfect) help against spreading of virusses. If "only 40 or 50%" it is still is 40 or 50%. Which is much more than not wearing masks. And it makes sense that FFP2 masks are more efficiënt than ordinary masks. Scarfs? What a joke.

I'm a GHOST living in a ghost town

The loud Americans that have had their liberties offended are arrogant ignorant simpletons.

Things like facts are offensive.

But, just like with climate change deniers and flat Earthers, facts happen regardless. Like this:

Since the novel coronavirus began its global spread, influenza cases reported to the World Health Organization from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres have dropped to minute levels. The reason, epidemiologists think, is that the public health measures taken to keep the coronavirus from spreading—notably mask wearing and social distancing—also stop the flu. Influenza viruses are transmitted in much the same way as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and they are less effective at jumping from person to person.

[www.scientificamerican.com]

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GasLightStreet
The loud Americans that have had their liberties offended are arrogant ignorant simpletons.

Things like facts are offensive.

But, just like with climate change deniers and flat Earthers, facts happen regardless. Like this:

Since the novel coronavirus began its global spread, influenza cases reported to the World Health Organization from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres have dropped to minute levels. The reason, epidemiologists think, is that the public health measures taken to keep the coronavirus from spreading—notably mask wearing and social distancing—also stop the flu. Influenza viruses are transmitted in much the same way as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and they are less effective at jumping from person to person.

[www.scientificamerican.com]

and anecdotally we noticed the same thing of course. No one I knew got the flu in the last couple of years.

Still, got our flu shots this year. It was once of those things where I wondered, what would happen if you simultaneously the flu WHILE you had COVID?

"A million to one shot I tell ya, and I lived to tell about it!"

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treaclefingers

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GasLightStreet
The loud Americans that have had their liberties offended are arrogant ignorant simpletons.

Things like facts are offensive.

But, just like with climate change deniers and flat Earthers, facts happen regardless. Like this:

Since the novel coronavirus began its global spread, influenza cases reported to the World Health Organization from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres have dropped to minute levels. The reason, epidemiologists think, is that the public health measures taken to keep the coronavirus from spreading—notably mask wearing and social distancing—also stop the flu. Influenza viruses are transmitted in much the same way as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and they are less effective at jumping from person to person.

[www.scientificamerican.com]

and anecdotally we noticed the same thing of course. No one I knew got the flu in the last couple of years.

Still, got our flu shots this year. It was once of those things where I wondered, what would happen if you simultaneously the flu WHILE you had COVID?

"A million to one shot I tell ya, and I lived to tell about it!"

Well, let me see if I can think like them.....Look, Covid is just like the flu and the flu went away on its own, so Covid will go away too. Its just magical thinking.

Let's not forget that the recent case records are especially due to mass amounts of people getting tested for the holidays.

No matter how the media and the presidents/governments try to spin this, it's obvious that more testing will always = more covid cases.

Expect a huge drop in new cases after the Xmas holidays are over and people are done with the family and travelling thing!

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FrogSugar
Let's not forget that the recent case records are especially due to mass amounts of people getting tested for the holidays.

No matter how the media and the presidents/governments try to spin this, it's obvious that more testing will always = more covid cases.

Expect a huge drop in new cases after the Xmas holidays are over and people are done with the family and travelling thing!

Well the easier numbers to gauge and perhaps more relevant, are the hospitalisations and deaths.

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FrogSugar
Let's not forget that the recent case records are especially due to mass amounts of people getting tested for the holidays...

That’s not necessarily true. In many areas, including here, test kits are in such short supply, and labs are so slammed, that people who have symptoms are being encouraged to assume they are positive and just isolate. Numbers are believed to be understated.

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GasLightStreet
The loud Americans that have had their liberties offended are arrogant ignorant simpletons.

Things like facts are offensive.

But, just like with climate change deniers and flat Earthers, facts happen regardless. Like this:

Since the novel coronavirus began its global spread, influenza cases reported to the World Health Organization from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres have dropped to minute levels. The reason, epidemiologists think, is that the public health measures taken to keep the coronavirus from spreading—notably mask wearing and social distancing—also stop the flu. Influenza viruses are transmitted in much the same way as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and they are less effective at jumping from person to person.

[www.scientificamerican.com]

Of course other viruses will decrease if everyone lives like howard hughes. That's the main point of those that didn't agree with lockdowns, now every sickness that might cause a death is going to make some stay shut-in, we might as well live in bubbles. "Arrogant ignorant simpletons" is pretty accurate.

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slewan

well, wait and see. Since omicron is more infectious than delta the absolute number of people that require hospital treatment might rise or even explode

No you mistake "infectious" with "dangerous".
Omicron spreads like hell but he'll make little damage. In fact it could be the exit door to the pandemic.

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FrogSugar
Let's not forget that the recent case records are especially due to mass amounts of people getting tested for the holidays.

No matter how the media and the presidents/governments try to spin this, it's obvious that more testing will always = more covid cases.

Expect a huge drop in new cases after the Xmas holidays are over and people are done with the family and travelling thing!

Numbers likely understated as at-home tests are not reported publicly. Testing does not drive cases, the virus does. If there are no tests done, it doesn't mean there are no cases, it means there are no reported cases. BIG DFFERENCE.

Nearly 1,400 people receive incorrect Covid test results as cases mount in Australia

Covid19

A Covid-19 testing facility in Sydney, Australia admitted on Monday it has issued incorrect PCR Covid test results to 1,395 people since December 22. SydPath, operated by St Vincent’s Hospital, said it sent negative results by SMS to 995 people tested on December 23 and 24 despite their PCR tests not having been processed. The blunder was detected by the hospital during an investigation into how a further 400 people swabbed on December 22 and 23 received a negative result despite being positive for Covid-19. “We have identified what occurred and can confirm it was related to a specific human error. SydPath have put procedures in place to ensure this cannot happen again,” SydPath wrote in a statement. “We are sincerely sorry for this error and acknowledge the significant impact it has had on those involved.” The mistakes come as Australia reported 10,186 new Covid-19 cases Monday, a record since the start of the pandemic and the first time new infections have surpassed 10,000 nationwide in a single day. New South Wales, home to Sydney, recorded 6,324 cases from 97,241 tests in the 24 hours to Monday morning. NSW also reported the country's first death from Omicron — a double-vaccinated patient with underlying health conditions.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Well well. There is this sinister story about a 40 year old Belgian kickboxer named Sinistra, who opposed Covid-19 vaccinations in the strongest possible way. He used his fame and the media to try and change the minds of many.
The news of two days ago said that he died (occording to his family not of corona ...). Fact is that he was hospitalized with a serious corona infection, which turned from bad to worse. According to the media he decided to return home with an oxigen machine and was claiming that his health was rapidly improving. Covid-19 doesn't like cheaters, so poor Sinistra is gone, apparently because his lungs failed on him. Aren't lungs one of the most popular parts of the human body where corona virusses like to mess up things?


Don't follow "leaders". Use your own common sense, with eyes and ears open!

I'm a GHOST living in a ghost town

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georgie48
Well well. There is this sinister story about a 40 year old Belgian kickboxer named Sinistra, who opposed Covid-19 vaccinations in the strongest possible way. He used his fame and the media to try and change the minds of many.
The news of two days ago said that he died (occording to his family not of corona ...). Fact is that he was hospitalized with a serious corona infection, which turned from bad to worse. According to the media he decided to return home with an oxigen machine and was claiming that his health was rapidly improving. Covid-19 doesn't like cheaters, so poor Sinistra is gone, apparently because his lungs failed on him. Aren't lungs one of the most popular parts of the human body where corona virusses like to mess up things?


Don't follow "leaders". Use your own common sense, with eyes and ears open!

I've seen enough examples of this. Why can't people just get the point already?

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Nate

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Mirko
We will see it in the next days here in England. 2 days ago we had 122 000 cases in the UK. Wales, Scotland, NI have new restrictions since today. Boris - I call him Ronald Mc Donald from Downing Street - and the Premiere League deny the virus. In Germany you have to use a FFP2-mask in public transport. Here in UK you can wear a scarf. Crazy!

In places where the FFP2 masks are mandatory how are the case numbers of covid.

Nate

In UK they released the numbers today.On Christmas Day and Boxing Day the cases where higher in Scotland and England.Christmas Day in England 113 628.But we have to observe, these people catched Corona before Christmas. In Germany the cases were much lower - Christmas Day 14555. But the real cases are much higher. The real datas I think we will see at the end of the week. In England after New Year. The English Health Secretary told tonight - no further restrictions till 2022.

Mass psychosis fueled by fear. I'm not saying Corona is harmless, but certainly not to the level it's brought up to.

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treaclefingers

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georgie48
Well well. There is this sinister story about a 40 year old Belgian kickboxer named Sinistra, who opposed Covid-19 vaccinations in the strongest possible way. He used his fame and the media to try and change the minds of many.
The news of two days ago said that he died (occording to his family not of corona ...). Fact is that he was hospitalized with a serious corona infection, which turned from bad to worse. According to the media he decided to return home with an oxigen machine and was claiming that his health was rapidly improving. Covid-19 doesn't like cheaters, so poor Sinistra is gone, apparently because his lungs failed on him. Aren't lungs one of the most popular parts of the human body where corona virusses like to mess up things?


Don't follow "leaders". Use your own common sense, with eyes and ears open!

I've seen enough examples of this. Why can't people just get the point already?

You can't fix stupid. We see some of the responses on here which confirm it.

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skytrench
Mass psychosis fueled by fear. I'm not saying Corona is harmless, but certainly not to the level it's brought up to.

The longer some cannot agree on this, the harder it'll be to come around.
That might be a very unpopular opinion on here, where full compliance with the official narrative is expected.

From the L.A. Times:

Omicron ‘going to get worse before it gets better’ as California hospitalizations rise

Aside from the potential for severe illness, officials also note that every new infection gives the coronavirus another chance to evolve

Covid19

The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in California over the weekend reached levels not seen in months as the rapid spread of the Omicron variant caused major airline interruptions and sent throngs of people to testing sites. Officials said they expected Omicron’s spread to worsen in the coming weeks, with President Biden promising the federal government will do all it can to assist states facing surges in coronavirus cases. Biden acknowledged those who faced long waits for tests over the holiday and said his administration was seeking to alleviate the issue. “Seeing how tough it was for folks to get a test this weekend shows we have more work to do,” Biden said, “and we’re doing it.”

There were 4,001 coronavirus patients hospitalized Sunday — California’s highest single-day total since Oct. 9 and a nearly 14% increase from last week. Some areas are contending with even sharper rises. Los Angeles County has seen a 30% bump in COVID-19 hospitalizations since last week. In Orange County, the patient count has swelled nearly 45% during the same period. Overall, the greater Southern California and Sacramento regions have posted a 20% jump in hospitalizations during the same span, while the San Francisco Bay Area has recorded a 13% increase. Officials and experts have long noted that hospitalizations are a lagging indicator of coronavirus spread, usually rising about two weeks after increases in infections. That’s a potentially worrisome trend, given that California is battling a significant new spike that officials say is driven by circulation of the Omicron variant, perhaps the most heavily mutated and highly transmissible edition of the coronavirus. Over the last week, California reported an average of 11,914 new coronavirus cases per day, a 73% jump from two weeks ago, according to data compiled by The Times. The surge has been especially profound in Los Angeles County, which announced more than 20,000 combined new cases Saturday and Sunday — an eye-popping total officials say is actually an undercount because of reporting lags over the Christmas weekend. Health officials in the nation’s most populous county reported 7,425 new cases Monday. This, too, is likely an undercount, they said.

A combination of coronavirus-related illness among airline crews and bad weather brought another day of headaches at airports. More than 1,070 flights were canceled within, into or out of the U.S. on Monday, and upward of 2,710 were stopped around the world for the day, according to FlightAware. That’s a slight improvement over the previous day, when there were 1,517 cancellations nationally and 3,274 globally. It remains to be seen how many recently infected Californians will fall ill enough to require professional care. There are promising data that Omicron may cause less-severe symptoms than the Delta variant, the culprit behind last summer’s coronavirus surge. But that may not be enough to shield healthcare systems from being stretched to their limits, especially in regions where vaccination rates are low. Evidence continues to mount that vaccinated people who have received their booster shot, but still get infected, generally have no or mild symptoms, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser. But Fauci, speaking during an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” said he remains concerned about severe illness among the unvaccinated.

Nationwide, just under 62% of Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In California, that figure is a tad above 67%. That inoculation coverage, however, leaves millions who can still easily fall prey to the coronavirus. “We still have tens of millions of unvaccinated people, and we’re seeing hospitalizations rise,” Biden said during a briefing call with state governors Monday. “It means our hospitals in some places are going to get overrun, both in terms of equipment and staff.” From Dec. 2-8 — the week after Omicron was first detected in the state — unvaccinated Californians were nearly eight times more likely to be infected than their fully vaccinated counterparts, state data show. And over the weeklong period ending Dec. 11, unvaccinated people in L.A. County were 23 times more likely to be infected than vaccinated people who had received a booster shot, officials said.

Aside from the potential for severe illness, officials also note that every new infection gives the coronavirus another chance to evolve, potentially in ways that cause it to spread more easily or evade the protective power of vaccines. “The reason why we all want to minimize transmission, even if it’s mild illness, is every time this virus infects an individual, it has a chance to mutate,” said Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, a deputy health officer for Orange County. Fauci said the Omicron surge is likely to get worse before getting better. While cases are declining in South Africa, where Omicron was first detected, they’re still going up in Britain — which usually presages trends in the U.S. And Britain’s hospitals have been strained. “In other words, what happens there generally happens here a couple to three weeks later,” Fauci said. “The way it’s going up right now — it’s going to get worse before it gets better. We don’t expect things are going to turn around in a few days to a week. It likely will take much longer than that, but that’s unpredictable.” Fauci said medical officials in South Africa also are reporting more hospitalizations among children infected with the coronavirus, echoing data out of New York, which is seeing a jump in pediatric hospitalizations, most among children who aren’t fully vaccinated. “That’s one of the reasons why we say … if you have a child from 5 to 11, to please get that child vaccinated to prevent them from getting anything that even resembles a serious illness,” he said.

Data released Monday by Dr. Mary Bassett, New York’s acting health commissioner, showed that new pediatric hospitalizations quintupled in New York City in recent weeks. From Dec. 5-11, there were 22 pediatric COVID hospitalizations reported; for the partial week of Dec. 19-23, there were 109. Earlier data released Friday showed that all the children ages 5 to 11 and three-quarters of those ages 12 to 17 who were hospitalized were not fully vaccinated. Half of the children being admitted to hospitals are younger than 5 and ineligible for vaccination. In New York, 27% of children 5 to 11 have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 16% have received two doses. Those numbers are similar to California’s, which are 25% and 16%, respectively. “Many people continue to think that children don’t become infected with COVID. This is not true. Children become infected, and some will be hospitalized,” Bassett said at a briefing Monday. “We need to get child vaccinations up. We need to get them higher than they are, particularly in the 5- to 11-year-old age group.” Meanwhile, U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans infected with the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts of infected people need to quarantine. The CDC said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people who catch the coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms, if any, develop.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......