It’s Happening – the Omicron Surge

I think the surges are starting to be really apparent. I know in Europe, especially UK, maybe Spain and Italy, are starting to have a REALLY vertical surge much like South Africa did. I will do Europe and the rest of the world tomorrow (I think) but today I want to focus on the US.

There has been heavy news about the surges occurring in the US. It’s kind of starting to have a very vertiginous feel to the surge. I know my hometown, which just a week ago climbed down from a Level 2 warning status to a Level 3 status (again, I think), now all of a sudden is reporting skyrocketing number of new cases. And I mean BAM!

So, it’s looking kind of scary but because of the vaccine, the hospitalization and death rates may not be as severe. However, the Omicron is so contagious that it could still overwhelm the hospitals which would then lead to lower standards of care, less people with non-covid health crisis being taken care of, and higher deaths. The medical personnel are already so tired that this is going to be hard on them – they are already stretched thin. I’m reading how some of them are so angry at the public’s lack of care and consideration, and I don’t blame them. The public don’t seem to care about our medical personnel with their insistence on their freedom from masks and regulations and mandates.

USA and Regions – how the charts look

All regions – with the exception of the West – are surging, probably due to the Thanksgiving travel, the holiday shopping/festivities, and now the Christmas travel. I think I read somewhere that travel is back to the level of pre-pandemic.

I don’t see the signature vertical profile like South Africa had about a month ago.

Here are the regions separated out into states:

The first thing that struck me is that the Northeast is popping. Maryland has this really incredible surge that it is practically vertical, such that I think there may be some errors in the reporting. New York and New Jersey, though, are experiencing high new cases a day.

Over in the Midwest, I would say that Illinois is experiencing the Omicron surge because the profile looks vertical. Ohio (and not Iowa although the colors of the lines are very close) looks like to be in a similar predicament.

In the South, no particular state stands out as having an Omicron signature surge. Instead, it appears that all of the states are seeing surges that raises the lines off the floor of the chart. Texas might be the one about to experience the vertiginous rise, but it is hard to tell.

And finally, the West shows an overall level number of cases, with the exception of Washington state.

Northeast

Now to look at the individual regions and the states a little more closely.

Midwest

South

West

I was going to say more about the Christmas surge but 1) I don’t remember what I wanted to write about and 2) I need to move along and do other stuffs – like exercise. So, I will end here and start up again tomorrow.