MY EDMONDS NEWS Posted: February 9, 2021 796
There is reason for optimism this week in the worldwide battle against the coronavirus as critical metrics continue to go down for the third week in a row. But this is tempered by a stern warning from experts that the emergence of new mutant variants has the potential to wipe out these gains.
The COVID Tracking Project has been reporting on the pandemic from the start, and sums it up as follows:
“The good news…continued this week, as new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths all dropped. For the seven-day period running January 28 to February 3, weekly new cases were down more than 16 percent over the previous week, and dropped below one million for the first time since the week of November 5. This is still an astonishing number of new cases per week, but far better than the nearly 1.8 million cases reported on the week of January 14.”
MY EDMONDS NEWS Posted: February 2, 2021
Snohomish County vaccination site at Paine Field. (Photo courtesy Snohomish Health District)
While the U.S. and other nations make steady but incremental progress in ironing out the many startup wrinkles bedeviling efforts to get vaccine to an increasingly anxious and frustrated public, the coronavirus is not sitting still. Capitalizing on its short generation time and dizzying ability to spread, the virus has already mutated into several new, more virulent and possibly vaccine-resistant strains, pitting health experts, vaccine manufacturers and government officials in an all-out race to slow the rate of viral mutation and contain the spread.
COVID-19 Weekly Report for Jan. 27: Case counts drop as new variants loom; Washington gearing up for 45K daily vaccinations Posted: January 26, 2021 841
Despite the two-week decline in national new infection rates (rates were down 20%this week, compared to 11% the week before), as of this week 1 in every 13 Americans are infected with the virus. Experts are suggesting that the holiday surge is on the wane, but caution to say that it is still far too early to speculate whether the slowly growing number of vaccinated individuals could be part of the reason.
Even though vaccine supplies nationwide continue to outstrip demand and many states are forced to cancel appointment due to lack of doses, federal and state governments are gearing up their distribution infrastructures. On Monday, the Biden administration upped its goal from 1 million to 1.5 million shots per day and announced plans to open 100 new vaccination centers in the coming month; this despite an admission by new
MY EDMONDS NEWS Posted: January 19, 2021 848
This week’s coronavirus news is topped by ambitious vaccine distribution plans at all levels, and the spread of four distinct new viral variants, at least one of which has been identified in 20 states including Oregon, our neighbor to the south.
Scientists continue to maintain that while more contagious, these strains do not appear to cause more severe cases of COVID nor do they show increased resistance to the current vaccines. More information on the variants is available in this article from CNN.
On the bright side, Johns Hopkins University reports an 11% drop in new cases nationwide from last week’s peak, driven by declining numbers in 35 states – including Washington. Experts continue to stress the need to remain vigilant, as it is too soon to tell if this is the beginning of a trend or an isolated aberration.
MY EDMONDS NEWS Posted: January 5, 2021 883
Welcome to 2021, and our newly-formatted COVID report. For the new year we have eliminated some charts and tables, added some new ones, and streamlined our reporting on local numbers to better utilize the available data. Our aim continues to be to provide you – our readers – with a one-stop-shop to gain a comprehensive overview of progress in fighting the pandemic at all levels, with a special focus on our state, county and local communities.
The first week of the new year finds the world continuing to reel from an onslaught of rising COVID cases and deaths, exacerbated by the runaway spread of a new, more virulent virus strain. First discovered in the U.K., where it now the dominant form of the virus, the mutant quickly spread to other countries including the U.S., with reported cases now in Colorado, California, Florida and New York. So far, no cases of the new variant have been reported in Washington state. While it i