California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. The COVID-19 winter surge tripledemic which also includes the flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). A surge in China is clear and present. The last three weeks of the year starting Mon Dec 12 were the slowest weeks of the year. Dec was the slowest month of the year.
Thur Dec 1. Dentist appointment. I completed errands at Lucky's, Kohl's, and Walgreens.
Sat Dec 3. The China government eased COVID-19 restrictions reacting from protests. A negative test result no longer required for public transportation. A negative test no result no longer required to enter pharmacies, parks, and tourist attractions in other regions. A 48-hour negative test result is required to enter shopping malls in Beijing. The malls gradually reopened with restaurants and eateries providing take-out. Case numbers are at historic highs.
The protests started on Fri Nov 25 after an apartment fire in Urumqi killed ten people. There were questions either firefighters or victims trying to escape were blocked by locked doors due to the lockdown. The Chinese people held a piece of blank white paper which symbolized censorship.
Secretary Of Defense Lloyd Austin wanted to keep the military COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place. 20 governors sent a letter to President Joe Biden to remove the mandate. The reason was the mandate made recruiting troops difficult.
Tue Dec 6. Scientists at the University Of Texas found the omicron booster shot is weak against the BQ.1.1. People infected with COVID-19 and received the omicron booster is more protected than a non-infected person. The Center For Disease Control (CDC) said BQ.1.1 made up 32% of US infections. The omicron booster is weakest against the XBB.1 variant.
Santa Clara County announced an increase in COVID-19 levels detected in wastewater. Hospitalizations increased from 98 in Nov 1 to 218 on Dec 2.
Wed Dec 7. Hospital in-patient bed availability declined due to the tripledemic RSV, flu, and COVID-19. The flu arrived early. Some hospitals delayed elective surgeries. The CDC said flu-like illnesses tripled and hospitalizations doubled before the Thanksgiving week.
Thur Dec 8. The Food And Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the COVID-19 omicron vaccine for children as young as six months old. The omicron vaccine is the bivalent.
Fri Dec 9. Picked up my Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases at Macys. More people wore masks.
My sister tested positive for COVID-19. It was the second time in two years.
Sun Dec 11. Watched most of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at San Francisco 49ers football game.
Mon Dec 12. US hospitalizations increased 30% during the last two weeks according to the CDC. Most of the increase was due to the older Americans and people with existing health problems. Daily hospital admissions for people age 70 and older increased from 8.8 per 100,000 people on Nov 15 to 12.1 per 100,000 on Dec 6.
Day 1,000 since CA shutdown due to the COVID-19 global pandemic on Tue Mar 17, 2020.
Tue Dec 13. FL Governor Ron De Santis petitioned the FL Supreme Court for a grand jury to investigate the COVID-19 vaccines for any illegal activity. Pharmaceutical companies didn't provide their COVID-19 vaccine research data to be verified by independent researchers.
Wed Dec 14. 2022 is expected the fewest deaths than the 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 global pandemic years. 2021 was the deadliest year in US history with 3.4 million deaths. 2022 is the first decline in deaths since 2009; however, 2022 is 13% higher than 2019. The CDC said a late Dec surge could change the expected total death number. 1,080,000 Americans died from COVID-19. The top three deaths each year from 2020 to 2022 were heart disease, cancer, and COVID-19.
Beijing experienced empty streets and deserted shopping centers like an economic shutdown because of another outbreak. No accurate COVID-19 case data from China. China rolled back testing requirements. China no longer included asymptomatic infections in its daily count.
Thur Dec 15. CAL-OSHA (California Occupational Safety And Health Administration) passed a rule employers no longer pay infected workers to stay home if they tested positive for COVID-19.
Fri Dec 16. Shopped at Costco. It was the slowest week in months.
Mon Dec 19. Never-coviders is a classification for people who didn't get COVID-19. The New York Times reported these people with natural immunities. There is no known explanation.
China reported two deaths since the government eased its Zero COVID-19 policy on Sat Dec 3.
Tue Dec 20. CVS and Walgreens placed limits on purchasing children's pain relief and fever reducing products. The reason was an early start to the flu season and RSV increasing demand. Johnson & Johnson ran production around the clock for Children's Tylenol.
Wed Dec 21. Purchased donuts at Happy Donuts. Ran errands at Safeway and Kohl's.
Thur Dec 22. The CDC published a report life expectancy decreased to 76.4 years which is down from the all-time high 78.8 years in 2019.
Fri Dec 23. An internal estimate from China's top health official stated 250 million citizens may have COVID-19 after the government eliminated their Zero COVID-19 policy.
Sat Dec 24. India randomly tested international travelers because of increasing cases in China. The government urged the public to wear masks and social distance even though there are no mandates. India relaxed its COVID-19 restrictions earlier in the year after infection rates dropped.
The US Military lifted the COVID-19 vaccine mandate under a $858 billion defense spending bill signed into law. Military troops are encouraged to get vaccinated and boosted.
Tue Dec 27. China ended a COVID-19 quarantine requirement for international travelers starting on Jan 8, 2023. The quarantine was five days at a hotel and three days at home. A negative test 48 hours before departure is still required. Passengers must wear masks in the airplane.
Wed Dec 28. The CDC announced travelers from China arriving in the US must prove a negative COVID-19 test starting on Thur Jan 5, 2023. The reason was a surge in infections and a lack of information from the China government. Some scientists are worried of new variants due to the virus mutating. Tests must be administered up to two days before travel. Japan, India, Italy, South Korea, and Taiwan also require negative test before entry in their country.
The CDC reported the US reached 100 million COVID-19 cases which is 33% of the US population. The number is likely an undercount because asymptomatic people or people tested positive at home didn't report to their local health department. An estimate of actual positive cases is 200 million. About 400 people die of COVID-19 per day. About 5,000 people admitted to the hospital per day. About 3,000 people die of COVID-19 per day in Jan 2022. About 21,000 people admitted to the hospital per day in Jan 2022.
Thur Dec 29. The omicron variant XBB strain was found to be resistant to COVID-19 boosters. The XBB strain is dominate in the Northeast US centered in NJ, NY, and MA.
Fri Dec 30. Helped my brother's family pick up a new car in Sacramento, CA.
The CDC said the omicron XBB.1.5 represents 40.5% of new positive cases in the US. XBB.1.5 is overtaking omicron BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 which both dominated in the fall. It's too early to conclude XBB.1.5 is more severe than previous omicron mutations.
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