Promising New Coronavirus Vaccine

[Alan Klein]

That's the question I asked you when all you could talk about are the people that had to scale back their businesses in order to control Covid spread.

The biased media slanted the news then as well.  They downplayed the impact on the economy only talking about how bad deaths and spreading were.  As was pointed out then, they were not covering economic problems due to the shutdown.  They should have raised the twin effects of Covid on health and the economy. 

Now they're downplaying deaths because those are going down.  They rather focus on higher rates of infections, again slanting the news to the public.   Bad news sells.   

[digitaldog]

The biased media slanted the news then as well.  They downplayed the impact on the economy only talking about how bad deaths and spreading were.  As was pointed out then, they were not covering economic problems due to the shutdown.  They should have raised the twin effects of Covid on health and the economy. 

Now they're downplaying deaths because those are going down.  They rather focus on higher rates of infections, again slanting the news to the public.   Bad news sells.

Worth repeating, no doubt about it either:
"I doubt you can understand the magnitude of the stupidity in your statement". - Robert Jordan, The Gathering Storm

His above post is as untrue as when he told us here:

So now that Covid is on the way out, we're left with the economic damage.

Often wrong but never in doubt!

[TechTalk]

While forum discussions are often a ride on a merry-go-round, COVID-19 deaths are a roller coaster ride.

U.S. 7-Day Rolling Average COVID-19 Deaths

• November 1, 2021 - 1,298

• November 14, 2021 - 1,205

• November 28, 2021 - 802

• December 1, 2021 - 956

• December 14, 2021 - 1,201

• December 28, 2021 - 1,522

Trends at:

https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/global-covid-19-tracker

[LesPalenik]

The biased media slanted the news then as well.  They downplayed the impact on the economy only talking about how bad deaths and spreading were.  As was pointed out then, they were not covering economic problems due to the shutdown.  They should have raised the twin effects of Covid on health and the economy. 

Now they're downplaying deaths because those are going down.  They rather focus on higher rates of infections, again slanting the news to the public.   Bad news sells.

High number of infections can cause other problems and deaths. People with compromised health can die even from common cold.
It appears that omicron is not as deadly as the previous variants, but it is still causing high number of hospitalizations and overfilled ICUs. That causes indirectly many deaths, burnout of medical professionals, increased healthcare costs and many other complications.

[digitaldog]

It appears that omicron is not as deadly as the previous variants, but it is still causing high number of hospitalizations and overfilled ICUs. That causes indirectly many deaths, burnout of medical professionals, increased healthcare costs and many other complications.

Exactly!

People Without COVID Are Dying Because Hospitals Are Full of Unvaxxed Patients
The daughter of an Iowa man who died after waiting two weeks for a hospital bed blames unvaccinated COVID patients for “clogging” hospitals.

The selfish unvaccinated are killing others.

[Alan Klein]

High number of infections can cause other problems and deaths. People with compromised health can die even from common cold.
It appears that omicron is not as deadly as the previous variants, but it is still causing high number of hospitalizations and overfilled ICUs. That causes indirectly many deaths, burnout of medical professionals, increased healthcare costs and many other complications.

That's a good point about more hospitalizations.

[digitaldog]

That's a good point about more hospitalizations.

Facts always are.
FUD and misinformation never is.

The biased media slanted the news then as well.  They downplayed the impact on the economy only talking about how bad deaths and spreading were.  As was pointed out then, they were not covering economic problems due to the shutdown.  They should have raised the twin effects of Covid on health and the economy. 

Now they're downplaying deaths because those are going down.  They rather focus on higher rates of infections, again slanting the news to the public.   Bad news sells.

[TechTalk]

U.S. COVID-19 Patients in Hospital

• November 1, 2021 - 42,619

• November 14, 2021 - 41,871

• November 28, 2021 - 50,451

• December 1, 2021 - 53,310

• December 14, 2021 - 63,244

• December 28, 2021 - 72,398

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/current-covid-patients-hospital-country=USA

[TechTalk]

Dept. of Health and Human Services - U.S. Hospital and ICU Bed Utilization - Updated December 29, 2019

Hospital Inpatient Beds in Use - 75.33%

Hospital Inpatient Beds in Use for COVID-19 - 12.17%

ICU Beds in Use - 77.77%

ICU Beds in Use for COVID-19 - 22.43%

https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/hospital-utilization

[Alan Klein]

Dept. of Health and Human Services - U.S. Hospital and ICU Bed Utilization - Updated December 29, 2019

Hospital Inpatient Beds in Use - 75.33%

Hospital Inpatient Beds in Use for COVID-19 - 12.17%

ICU Beds in Use - 77.77%

ICU Beds in Use for COVID-19 - 22.43%

https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/hospital-utilization

It seems like there are still plenty of beds available for other uses.  Of course, these numbers are deceptive because they're averages.  It could be worse in some states and areas than others.

I'm curious about Canada.  Les says filled up hospitals there are aggravating care for other medical issues.  Do we have recent figures for Canadian hospital bed utilization for comparison?

[digitaldog]

Les says filled up hospitals there are aggravating care for other medical issues.  Do we have recent figures for Canadian hospital bed utilization for comparison?

He should supply actual data so you can dismiss and question it?

It seems like there are still plenty of beds available for other uses.  Of course, these numbers are deceptive because they're averages.  It could be worse in some states and areas than others.

They are not deceptive. In specific locations, they are far worse. Specifics, of which you usually don't care about, in my state:
Bernalillo County 2,174.0    84.7%   1,707.6 of 2,017.0 beds used    84.6%   315.5 of 373.0 beds used    
Santa Fe County    206.0    77.7%   160.1 of 206.0 beds used    73.3%   17.6 of 24.0 beds used
This is thankfully DOWN from two weeks ago.

[digitaldog]

For that fellow who lives in NJ, who told us”Covid is on the way out”:

New Jersey has reported more than 20,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, which is almost double the over 11,000 cases reported on Monday and a new record. Tuesday's confirmed case count of 20,483 is the highest of the pandemic, beating out the previous high of 16,626 confirmed cases on Dec. 25, according to state data. The state's rate of transmission currently sits at 1.76.

[TechTalk]

Of course, these numbers are deceptive because they're averages.

They are not deceptive and they are not averages.

It could be worse in some states and areas than others.

The statistics do vary depending on state, county, or city. That should be obvious.

[LesPalenik]

It seems like there are still plenty of beds available for other uses.  Of course, these numbers are deceptive because they're averages.  It could be worse in some states and areas than others.

I'm curious about Canada.  Les says filled up hospitals there are aggravating care for other medical issues.  Do we have recent figures for Canadian hospital bed utilization for comparison?

I don't have the officlal Canadians stats, but can share some of my personal experiences.
Earlier this year, my doctor wanted me to see another specialist and take some extra tests. One of the tests is MRI. It is scheduled for March 2022 which is 10 months from my initial consultation (on phone). The delay is due to limited number of MRI equipment and staff in the nearby hospitals, most probably to many more patients and required tests, but also due to the heavy load of the medical professionals which causes mixups, incompetencies, sick staff and other inefficiences.

[Alan Klein]

I don't have the officlal Canadians stats, but can share some of my personal experiences.
Earlier this year, my doctor wanted me to see another specialist and take some extra tests. One of the tests is MRI. It is scheduled for March 2022 which is 10 months from my initial consultation (on phone). The delay is due to limited number of MRI equipment and staff in the nearby hospitals, most probably to many more patients and required tests, but also due to the heavy load of the medical professionals which causes mixups, incompetencies, sick staff and other inefficiences.

I'm sorry you're going through such long delays in tests.  It's stressful enough to just have to take them.  My personal experience here in NYC is that last year, because many doctors were not even in hospitals, there were a lot of backlogs for just regular doctor appts.  I also canceled a couple to avoid exposure to Covid at the hospital where I had doctor appts. I waited a few weeks until the number of COvid cases dropped and things seemed better.  That seems to have cleared up for regular visits for the last few months. 

Recently, within the last couple of months, I have had a PET CT scan and an echocardiogram within one or two weeks' appointment notice. So these seem back to normal.  Of course, these tests were normally more available before Covid in the USA compared to Canada.  So the question is how much more of a delay in Canada has Covid cases caused?  How much longer are the delays due to Omicron?

[Alan Klein]

They are not deceptive and they are not averages.

The statistics do vary depending on state, county, or city. That should be obvious.

Well, the media keeps telling us how hospital beds are all loaded up due to Omicron.  Your statistics show otherwise.  75% is not full up.  And 12.17% of hospital beds for Covid patients is a small percentage.  Even 22.43% for ICU beds for Covid patients is a relatively small number.  So where's the problem?   So the question is just how prevalent are hospitals actually filled up?  If it's just a few out of thousands of hospitals, that doesn't prove much.  It's not really that bad.  It would seem media is just scaring everyone.  Bad news sells.

From your post:
Dept. of Health and Human Services - U.S. Hospital and ICU Bed Utilization - Updated December 29, 2019

Hospital Inpatient Beds in Use - 75.33%

Hospital Inpatient Beds in Use for COVID-19 - 12.17%

ICU Beds in Use - 77.77%

ICU Beds in Use for COVID-19 - 22.43%

https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/hospital-utilization

[chez]

I don't have the officlal Canadians stats, but can share some of my personal experiences.
Earlier this year, my doctor wanted me to see another specialist and take some extra tests. One of the tests is MRI. It is scheduled for March 2022 which is 10 months from my initial consultation (on phone). The delay is due to limited number of MRI equipment and staff in the nearby hospitals, most probably to many more patients and required tests, but also due to the heavy load of the medical professionals which causes mixups, incompetencies, sick staff and other inefficiences.

This last year in small town BC, I had 35 doctor or hospital visits to deal with multiple issues ranging from a very painful abdomen to double hernia to fluttering heart to melanoma. I've had multiple MRI scans, multiple heart scans using different techniques and 2 bone scans. I've had surgery on my melanoma .

I am currently awaiting surgery on my heart to kill parts of the heart that are causing the heart to flutter...after which I'll be scheduled for my hernia surgery. Surgeries have been delayed to make room for anticipated Covid surge in the next couple months.

[Alan Klein]

This last year in small town BC, I had 35 doctor or hospital visits to deal with multiple issues ranging from a very painful abdomen to double hernia to fluttering heart to melanoma. I've had multiple MRI scans, multiple heart scans using different techniques and 2 bone scans. I've had surgery on my melanoma .

I am currently awaiting surgery on my heart to kill parts of the heart that are causing the heart to flutter...after which I'll be scheduled for my hernia surgery. Surgeries have been delayed to make room for anticipated Covid surge in the next couple months.

I'm sorry you're going through so many problems.  I wish you well with your surgeries and for speedy recoveries with them all. For whatever it's worth, I had a triple bypass 3 years ago and my heart is fine today.  I had surgery for cancer twenty years ago and I'm still here.  Keep the faith.   You've been through a lot already.  God isn't going to drop you now. 

[digitaldog]

Well, the media keeps telling us how hospital beds are all loaded up due to Omicron. 

Which media said all beds are loaded up due to Omicron? Attempt to be specific or your audience here will have to again believe you're making stuff up to comment here. Your failure to provide specifics will prove this is again the case.

[TechTalk]

They are not deceptive and they are not averages.

The statistics do vary depending on state, county, or city. That should be obvious.

Well, the media...

Why are you quoting my post? Nothing that you wrote is any manner whatsoever a reply to it.