US Faces Wave of Omicron Deaths In Coming Weeks, Models Say: AP News

[appalachiablue]

- People wait in line outside a COVID-19 walk-in testing site, Dec. 5, 2021, in Cambridge, Mass.
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- AP News, Jan. 18, 2022. - Ed.

The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, but COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing & modelers forecast 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March. The 7-day rolling average for daily new COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has been trending upward since mid-Nov., reaching nearly 1,700 on Jan. 17- still below the peak of 3,300 in Jan. 2021.

COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents started rising slightly 2 weeks ago, although still at a rate 10 times less than last year before most residents were vaccinated. Despite signs omicron causes milder disease on average, the unprecedented level of infection spreading through the country, with cases still soaring in many states, means many vulnerable people will become severely sick. If the higher end of projections comes to pass, that would push total U.S. deaths from COVID-19 over 1 million by early spring.

“A lot of people are still going to die because of how transmissible omicron has been,” said University of South Florida epidemiologist Jason Salemi. “It unfortunately is going to get worse before it gets better.” Morgues are starting to run out of space in Johnson County, Kansas, said Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of the health department. More than 30 residents have died in the county this year, the vast majority of them unvaccinated.

But the notion that a generally less severe variant could still take the lives of thousands of people has been difficult for health experts to convey. The math of it- that a small percentage of a very high number of infections can yield a very high number of deaths- is difficult to visualize. “Overall, you’re going to see more sick people even if you as an individual have a lower chance of being sick,” said Katriona Shea of Penn. State University, who co-leads a team that pulls together several pandemic models & shares the combined projections with the White House...

More + Photos, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-omicron-covid-19-deaths-08f8db29985b992d5ef98ccfa1459eb7

[riversedge]

1. I have to wonder if INITIALLY we would have had Mandatory masks and lockdowns and vaccines if

we would have saved lots of suffering, deaths, grief. money etc. IMHO --of course we would have been better off.


But that did not happen. Have we learned a lesson?? My guess is NO--it could and probably will happen again. damn damn

[GB_RN]

2. Some Of Us Have Learned...

On the whole though, this country hasn't learned shit: The MAGAt-governor states are holding us back. All that, "FREEEEEEEEEDUUUUUUUUUMMMMMB!!" shit has killed a lot of us and it wasn't necessary. It's going to keep killing us too, which is the worst part. Us healthcare workers...I don't know what we're gonna do. One day, we might all just walk off the job in protest. lol Not really, but...we're rapidly approaching the "final straw" point for both workers and the healthcare system itself.

[YP_Yooper]

4. After Trump, the CDC was horribly disjointed

read the report from HHS this month detailing an extensive investigation by Biden's HHS Office of the General Counsel showing how, generally, disregarded, incompetent, arrogant, and dysfunctional the CDC is especially early on in the pandemic:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/danvergano/covid-test-false-positive-failure-cdc-documents

Hope they fixed it :/

[NickB79]

3. "said Dr. Sanmi Areola"

I'm sorry, I know this is a very serious topic, but damn that's an unfortunate name!