It's hard to believe this was our third holiday season with covid. Will we ever get to celebrate without fear of catching something? On the bright side, we were able to return to some holiday traditions, with minimal risk.
Sat., Dec. 3
- An ex-Nigerian official, Abidemi Rufai, defrauded American taxpayers, stealing more than half a million dollars in coronavirus pandemic relief funds in 2020 by using the identities of unsuspecting residents in Washington state. This year, Rufai was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to repay more than $600,000.
- U.S. hospitals were reporting a post-Thanksgiving rise in coronavirus patients. More than 35,000 patients were being treated, with most states reporting increases. The uptick began right before the holiday, and health officials were concerned that a continued increase would further tax the nation’s already overburdened health-care system as other viral illnesses, such as RSV and influenza, swarmed.
- Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, submitted an emergency use authorization application to the Food and Drug Administration for their omicron-targeting coronavirus booster for children younger than 5.
- China announced that frequent coronavirus tests and digital health codes, two pillars of its “zero covid” policy, would no longer be required for daily life or to travel within the country — a significant relaxation of previously unyielding restrictions that were protested in more than a dozen cities across the country in recent weeks.
- Covid cases were rising rapidly in China, following the relaxing of restrictions.
- More than 3,500 people had died of long-covid in the U.S., according to a new report. Most of the deaths were among non-Hispanic Whites, while the lowest death rate was among Asians. Men were slightly more likely to die from long covid, despite women having a greater chance of developing it.
- Cases in China were doubling every day, and some estimates said there could be 800 million people infected, as a result of low immunity levels caused by lockdowns.
- I took a cookie-decorating class at Burgy Brews with Liz and Kim and wore a mask most of the time.
- Updated boosters cut the risk of hospitalization in half, according to the CDC, but only 14 percent of Americans ages 5 and older had received the latest coronavirus booster. Omicron was the dominant coronavirus variant, and public health officials worried the low vaccination numbers would contribute to a covid-19 surge during the holidays.
- Covid-19 cases in the U.S. were averaging above 66,000 per day for the first time since mid-September, and deaths were averaging about 400 per day for the past seven days, according to the CDC. More than 40,000 patients were hospitalized with covid, with more than 9,000 patients admitted with covid each day, according to federal health data.
- Influenza. Respiratory syncytial virus. Covid. Strep A. These viral illnesses were running amok among American families. As soon as one infection subsided, another appeared, leaving people sick for months.
- Two new studies showed politics can kill you. In one, researchers concluded that people living in more conservative parts of the United States disproportionately bore the burden of illness and death linked to covid-19. The other, which looked at health outcomes more broadly, found that the more conservative a state’s policies, the shorter the lives of working-age people.
- We were able to visit Santa's Trains at Look Park for the first time in three years. We had dinner at the Williamsburg Snack Bar after, sitting as far from others as possible.
- The federal government was increasing the availability of Tamiflu through the Strategic National Stockpile to states and territories requesting the flu medication. The flu season arrived earlier than usual this year. So far, there had been 12,000 deaths from the illness, and about 156 million doses of the flu vaccine had been distributed in the United States, according to the CDC.
- Health officials were reluctant to bring back mask mandates, despite the rising number of coronavirus infections and other respiratory infections, such as flu and RSV. Masking is one of the top infection-prevention methods, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the politicization of masks had led Americans to the current “to-mask” or “not-to-mask” crossroads.
- Sarah and I went to the External Affairs in-person holiday celebration at Pinz in Hadley and watched others throw axes for a bit.
Sat., Dec. 24
- We decided not to revive the Christmas Eve Tater Tot hotdish tradition and hosted Mom for lasagna instead.
- China announced it would allow foreigners to visit again starting Jan. 8.
- We celebrated Christmas at Mom's in Goshen with George and the Huntleys. We tested for covid beforehand but didn't wear masks.
Tues., Dec. 27
- A rapidly growing measles outbreak in Columbus, Ohio — largely involving unvaccinated children — was fueling concerns among health officials that more parent resistance to routine childhood immunizations would intensify a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases.
- Sarah had Erin, Reese, and Monique for a sleepover.
- U.S. health officials announced new testing requirements for travelers from China, a decision based in part on concerns about the lack of data coming out of that nation, which is lifting stringent zero-covid policies even as it reduces testing and reporting, making it harder for officials to identify new variants. Other countries, including Britain, Japan and India, had started or would start imposing testing requirements for travelers arriving from China. The United States also planned on increasing from five to seven the number of airports that offer voluntary genomic sequencing of passengers. The move would allow public health officials to gain information about the genetic profile of the coronavirus from passengers traveling on 500 flights weekly from 30 countries.
- Shanghai Neuromedical Center posted — then quickly deleted — a WeChat article estimating that 7 million residents were already infected with covid and that half of the city’s 25 million people would be by the end of this week.
We're headed into our fourth year of covid. May it be the last!
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