Scanned

Worldwide (Map) 
December 15, 2022 – 650,987,530 confirmed infections; 6,658,200 deaths
December 16, 2021 – 272,521,350 confirmed infections; 5,333,815 deaths
December 17, 2020 - 73,557,500 confirmed infections; 1,637,100 deaths

US (Map) 
December 15, 2022 - 99,629,185 confirmed infections; 1,085,900 deaths
December 16, 2021 – 50,408,000 confirmed infections; 802,770 deaths
December 17, 2020 – 16,724,775 confirmed infections; 303,900 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
December 15, 2022 - 4,045,475 confirmed infections; 102,550 deaths
December 16, 2021 – 3,231,100 confirmed infections; 90,226 deaths
December 17, 2020 – 873,680 confirmed infections; 23,665 deaths
Posts from:
December 16, 2021 – “Reconciliation” 
December 17, 2020 – “What can go wrong…” 

News blues…

Telltale signs of a ‘tripledemic’: “with flu, RSV and Covid-19 all swirling, hospitals and health care systems are approaching capacity as millions still refuse to get vaccinated >> 

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State health officials are warning people that time is running out to get vaccinated before gathering with family over the holidays as Covid-19 cases surge nationwide alongside unseasonably severe waves of flu and respiratory syncytial virus.
The guidance comes after two excruciating holiday seasons that sent Covid-19 cases and deaths skyrocketing. And it underscores the ongoing struggle of public health officials at the state and federal level to get Americans vaccinated against the flu and Covid.

Read “‘The situation in the hospitals is grim’: States face brutal virus fallout” >> 

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The spread of Covid-19 in China is now “impossible” to track, the country’s health authorities have said, announcing they have stopped recording asymptomatic cases in their daily tallies.
The admission comes amid soaring presentations to hospitals and clinics as Covid-19 spreads rapidly through the population in the wake of the sudden removal of strict pandemic measures. Authorities have urged people not to seek emergency healthcare unless necessary, and announced the rollout of second boosters to elderly and vulnerable people.
China’s government abruptly ended the long-running and strict zero-Covid policy last week, rolling back measures including travel restrictions and lockdowns. Health authorities also ended the mass testing drives and compulsory regular testing which were pillars of the policy. As a result, official daily reports have become an increasingly inaccurate measure of the outbreak.

Read “China says spread of Covid ‘impossible’ to track as infections soar in Beijing” >> 

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A study released Tuesday by the Commonwealth Fund shows that in [the past] two years, the Covid vaccines have averted over 3 million deaths in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 1 million Americans have died from Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic. But the study results show the toll would have been even worse had the U.S. had relied upon so-called natural immunity acquired through infection as the only immunological defense against the virus. Without vaccines, the country would have experienced four times as many deaths, 1.5 times more infections, and 3.8 times more hospitalizations in the time since December of 2020. The vaccines also saved the U.S. $1 trillion in additional medical costs.
The study’s key message is that vaccines are “worth our money as taxpayers,” said Isaac Chun-Hai Fung, an associate professor of epidemiology at Georgia Southern University, who was not involved in the study. “We pay for the vaccination campaign and it works. It saves us money and it saves lives.”

Read “Covid vaccines averted 3 million deaths in U.S., according to new study” >> 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Jane Goodall tells it like it is!

Environmental activist and primatologist Jane Goodall still believes Donald Trump essentially acts like a male chimpanzee.
Goodall first made the observation in 2016, during Trump's first presidential campaign, and told MSNBC's Ari Melber … that the former president still displayed the aggressive tendencies of the primate species….

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Base CT scan completed. Mary and I bussed to the scan department, half an hour before appointment time, as requested, filled in the inevitable forms and Mary drank the 2 cups of water required to filter scan “ink” medium from her system. Then, the scan. Then out of door…before her actual 10 o’clock appointment… indeed, back in the bus by 10. That’s service we appreciate!
Additionally, we received the scan results two hours later. Since neither of us can read/understand the results presented, we wait until Friday to review with the oncologist.
Waiting. We hate waiting under these conditions. Particularly as nothing on the scan results appear clearly to states that Mary is free of malignancy; the opposite, in fact.
Groan.
Mary has, however, expressed a “total lack of interest in yet another dose of chemo this year.”

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The weather is cold here along the SF Bay. (It’s colder even 25 minutes away from the bay.) The waterfowl, however, are plentiful, beautiful, and a pleasure to watch.
TGFWF. (thank gods for waterfowl.)

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SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:17am
Sunset: 4:51pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 4:53am
Sunset: 6:55pm