Michael Ejercito wrote:
> HeartDoc Andrew, in the Holy Spirit, boldly wrote:
>> Michael Ejercito wrote:
>>
>>> https://www.reddit.com/r/LockdownSkepticism/comments/1hnwcqv/a_silent_covid_surge_may_hit_the_us_over_the/
>>>
>>>
>>> A ‘silent’ COVID surge may hit the US over the holidays, experts warn —
>>> here's what that means
>>> This year's winter COVID-19 wave is off to a late start, and experts
>>> expect cases to keep rising. Here's what to know.
>>>
>>> Christmas shopping with covid mask
>>> Person wearing mask COVID surgeGetty Images / iStockphoto
>>> Dec. 23, 2024, 4:09 PM EST / Updated Dec. 27, 2024, 3:30 PM EST /
>>> Source: TODAY
>>> By Caroline Kee
>>> The United States is approaching 2025 with COVID-19 on the rise across
>>> the country. COVID cases were already starting to tick up before the
>>> start of the holidays, and large, indoor gatherings are likely to make
>>> the virus spread even faster, experts say.
>>>
>>> Some experts are warning this winter COVID wave, starting later in the
>>> year than usual, could lead to a "silent" surge in transmission over the
>>> holidays and into the new year.
>>>
>>>
>>> They're calling it "silent" because the wave follows a long period of
>>> unusually low COVID activity this fall, so many people are unaware that
>>> COVID levels have risen sharply over the past two weeks, the most recent
>>> wastewater surveillance data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
>>> and Prevention show.
>>>
>>> What's more, wastewater viral activity of SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that
>>> causes COVID-19 — is currently “high” or “very high” in 28 states, per
>>> CDC data for the week ending Dec. 21.
>>>
>>> Despite these signs, people may not know their risk of infection is
>>> increasing or not test if they only have mild symptoms, which can allow
>>> the virus to spread at holiday events, during travel, and more.
>>>
>>> “There’s a good chance that a lot of people are going to get sick in the
>>> next couple of weeks and be unaware of it. Most people are not tracking
>>> CDC data, and so their only way of knowing whether we’re in a wave is if
>>> they’ve gotten sick,” Michael Hoerger, Ph.D., associate professor at
>>> Tulane University School of Medicine and public health expert on
>>> tracking COVID-19 trends, tells TODAY.com.
>>>
>>>
>>> While the data do not yet show the U.S. is in a large COVID surge, the
>>> country is entering its 10th COVID wave since the pandemic started,
>>> Hoerger adds.
>>>
>>> But there's a great deal of uncertainty about how bad this year's winter
>>> wave will be and how long it will last. “This is a very risky time in
>>> terms of lots of people interacting indoors, so we don’t really know how
>>> quickly transmission can pick up,” Hoerger says.
>>>
>>> A risk of "silent" transmission over the holidays
>>> Wastewater levels of COVID-19 are lower than they were at this point
>>> last winter, but they have risen sharply in recent weeks. And cases will
>>> likely continue to increase, experts say.
>>>
>>> As of Friday, Dec. 26, COVID-19 viral activity levels in wastewater are
>>> high nationally, per the latest CDC data. The week prior, COVID levels
>>> were “moderate” nationally. Just three weeks ago, they were considered
>>> "low."
>>>
>>>
>>> “Nationally, COVID-19 levels in wastewater have been increasing through
>>> the month of December, following a period of low levels in October and
>>> November,” Dr. Jonathan Yoder, deputy director of the CDC Division of
>>> Infectious Disease Readiness and Innovation, tells TODAY.com.
>>>
>>> Currently, COVID wastewater levels are highest in the Midwest, data show.
>>>
>>> Where COVID is spreading in the U.S.
>>> National and regional trends of wastewater viral activity levels of
>>> SARS-COV-2CDC
>>> The CDC no longer tracks the total number of new COVID cases in the
>>> U.S., instead estimating transmission levels using wastewater
>>> surveillance, test positivity and emergency department visits.
>>>
>>> COVID test positivity is at 7.5%, up 1.9% from the previous week, per
>>> the latest CDC data. COVID-related emergency room visits and deaths are
>>> also increasing slightly.
>>>
>>>
>>> “The issue with this winter’s wave is it’s a lot different than previous
>>> ones," Hoerger explains. In past years, COVID has followed a similar
>>> pattern: Cases ramp up in November, increase steadily and peak around
>>> late December or early January.
>>>
>>> This wave is coming on late and “out of nowhere,” Hoerger wrote in a
>>> post on X on Dec. 16.
>>>
>>> “Normally people would have had a month or so of warning by now, seeing
>>> friends and family getting infected,” Hoerger explains. "Transmission
>>> was freakishly low for November, and so people are kind of lulled into a
>>> false sense of security."
>>>
>>> COVID-19 levels are ticking up about a month later than usual, which
>>> puts the country into “uncharted territory," according to Hoerger.
>>>
>>>
>>> “You can think of the start of the wave as kind of a silent transmission
>>> period where people aren’t really aware of it, and that’s coinciding
>>> with the start of holiday travel,” he explains.
>>>
>>> Hoerger, the director of the Pandemic Mitigation Collective, uses the
>>> PMC COVID-19 forecasting model, which projects there could be an average
>>> of 900,000 new daily infections by January. The PMC New Year's Eve
>>> forecast estimates that, if no one is testing or isolating, there is a 1
>>> in 4 chance of COVID exposure at a party of 20 and a 1 in 2 chance at a
>>> party of 40-50.
>>>
>>>
>>> Other experts agree that infections are expected to go up in the coming
>>> weeks.
>>>
>>> "We anticipate that these holiday gatherings and traveling and all that
>>> will provide opportunities for an increase in COVID, as well as
>>> (influenza) and RSV,” Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious
>>> diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, tells TODAY.com.
>>>
>>>
>>> “It’s silent (transmission) because most of these infections are quite
>>> mild so people are not testing, or they’re blowing them off as a cold,"
>>> Schaffner adds.
>>>
>>> Recommended
>>>
>>> Coronavirus
>>> What states have the highest COVID rates? Map shows where it's spreading
>>> as winter approaches
>>> While this year's late summer COVID surge provided the U.S. population
>>> with some immunity, it's likely starting to wane, the experts say. And
>>> the current variants circulating, including XEC and the decedents of the
>>> FLiRT family, are highly transmissible.
>>>
>>> "These current variants are causing a lot of milder infections, which
>>> are going largely undetected," says Schaffner, adding that people with
>>> mild or no symptoms can still spread the virus to others.
>>>
>>> "The communicability of these viruses is contributing to a silent
>>> epidemic, if you will," he says.
>>>
>>> Where COVID is spreading in the U.S.
>>> Where COVID is spreading in the U.S.
>>> Current wastewater viral activity level of SARS-CoV-2 by state in the
>>> U.S.CDC
>>> As of Dec. 21, wastewater viral activity of COVID is currently "very
>>> high" in 14 states, according to the latest CDC data. These are:
>>>
>>>
>>> Arizona
>>> Kentucky
>>> Massachusetts
>>> Minnesota
>>> Missouri
>>> Montana
>>> Nebraska
>>> New Hampshire
>>> New Mexico
>>> Oklahoma
>>> Oregon
>>> Pennsylvania
>>> South Dakota
>>> Wyoming
>>> As of Dec. 21, COVID wastewater levels are "high" in 14 states:
>>>
>>> Arkansas
>>> Connecticut
>>> Delaware
>>> Idaho
>>> Indiana
>>> Iowa
>>> Kansas
>>> Maine
>>> Michigan
>>> Ohio
>>> Rhode Island
>>> South Carolina
>>> Utah
>>> Wisconsin
>>> “If you see increased COVID-19 wastewater viral activity levels in your
>>> area, it might indicate that there is a higher risk of infection,” says
>>> Yoder.
>>>
>>>
>>> However, regional variation in wastewater data also depend on the number
>>> and specific location of wastewater surveillance sites that are
>>> monitoring, says Hoerger. Some states have no data, and others only have
>>> limited coverage. “Take regional variation with a grain of salt,” he adds.
>>>
>>> Overall, decreases in testing and lags in reporting can make it
>>> challenging to accurately track COVID-19 levels, the experts note.
>>>
>>> COVID-19 symptoms in 2024
>>> The symptoms caused by the dominant variants circulating, XEC and
>>> KP.3.1.1, are very similar to those caused by previous omicron
>>> subvariants, according to experts.
>>>
>>>
>>> Common COVID-19 symptoms include:
>>>
>>> Sore throat
>>> Congestion
>>> Runny nose
>>> Cough
>>> Fatigue
>>> Headache and body aches
>>> Fever or chills
>>> Shortness of breath
>>> Nausea or loss of appetite
>>> Diarrhea
>>> Loss of sense of taste or smell
>>> Symptoms will vary from person to person. Even milder infections can be
>>> "debilitating" for several days, says Schaffner.
>>>
>>> Although the latest COVID-19 variants appear to be causing milder
>>> disease, they can still cause severe illness requiring hospitalization.
>>> Certain people are at higher risk of developing severe disease. These
>>> include people over the age of 65, people with underlying medical
>>> conditions and people who are immunocompromised.
>>>
>>>
>>> Every time a person is infected with COVID, they are at risk of
>>> developing long COVID, which can cause symptoms that persist and
>>> reemerge for weeks or months after infection, per the CDC.
>>>
>>> Are new COVID boosters effective?
>>> The updated COVID-19 vaccine for 2024–2025 is recommended by the CDC for
>>> everyone ages 6 months and older.
>>>
>>> The new mRNA COVID vaccine is monovalent, which means it targets one
>>> variant — in this case, the KP.2 "FLiRT" variant. The strains currently
>>> circulating are closely related to KP.2, and the new booster should
>>> provide good protection, TODAY.com previously reported.
>>>
>>> However, uptake of the new vaccine has been low so far — just 21% of
>>> adults in the U.S. have gotten the shot, per the latest CDC data.
>>>
>>>
>>> “The best protection is to get vaccinated. Although vaccinated people
>>> sometimes get infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, staying up
>>> to date on COVID-19 vaccines significantly lowers the risk of getting
>>> very sick, being hospitalized, or dying from COVID-19," says Yoder.
>>>
>>> How to protect yourself against COVID-19
>>> When COVID-19 levels are rising, it's important for people to take steps
>>> to protect themselves and their families, according to the CDC.
>>>
>>> You can take the following actions to avoid infection and prevent
>>> spreading COVID-19 to others:
>>>
>>> Stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations.
>>> Test if you have symptoms or an exposure.
>>> Stay home when sick.
>>> Seek treatment for COVID-19 if you are at high risk.
>>> Wear a mask.
>>> Practice social distancing.
>>
>>
>> In the interim, we are 100% prepared/protected in the "full armor of
>> GOD" (Ephesians 6:11) which we put on as soon as we use Apostle Paul's
>> secret (Philippians 4:12). Though masking is less protective, it helps
>> us avoid the appearance of doing the evil of spreading airborne
>> pathogens while there are people getting sick because of not being
>> 100% protected. It is written that we're to "abstain from **all**
>> appearance of doing evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:22 w/**emphasis**).
>>
>> Meanwhile, the only *perfect* (Matt 5:47-8 ) way to eradicate the
>> COVID-19 virus, thereby saving lives, in the UK & elsewhere is by
>> rapidly (i.e. use the "Rapid COVID-19 Test" ) finding out at any given
>> moment, including even while on-line, who among us are unwittingly
>> contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic) in order to
>> "convince it forward" (John 15:12) for them to call their doctor and
>> self-quarantine per their doctor in hopes of stopping this pandemic.
>> Thus, we're hoping for the best while preparing for the worse-case
>> scenario of the Alpha lineage mutations and others like the Omicron,
>> Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota, Lambda, Mu & Delta lineage mutations
>> combining via slip-RNA-replication to form hybrids like "Deltamicron"
>> that may render current COVID vaccines/monoclonals/medicines/pills no
>> longer effective.
>>
>> Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry (
>> https://groups.google.com/g/sci.med.cardiology/c/6ZoE95d-VKc/m/14vVZoyOBgAJ
>> ) and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.
>>
>> So how are you ?
>
> I am wonderfully hungry!

While wonderfully hungry in the Holy Spirit, Who causes (Deuteronomy
8:3) us to hunger, I note that you, Michael, are rapture ready (Luke
17:37 means no COVID just as eagles circling over their food have no
COVID) and pray (2 Chronicles 7:14) that our Everlasting (Isaiah 9:6)
Father in Heaven continues to give us "much more" (Luke 11:13) Holy
Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) so that we'd have much more of His Help to
always say/write that we're "wonderfully hungry" in **all** ways
including especially caring to "convince it forward" (John 15:12) with
all glory (Psalm112:1) to GOD (aka HaShem, Elohim, Abba, DEO), in
the name (John 16:23) of LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.

Laus DEO !