⚠️TRIPLING HOSPITALIZATIONS IN 2 WEEKS—In #Omicron epicenter of Gauteng Province, South Africa🇿🇦, there is more than **tripling of #COVID19 hospitalizations** in 2 weeks—➡️ from 135 hospital admissions to 418. This is data directly from 🇿🇦’s CDC @nicd_sa🧵 nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z-i…
2) here is the exact #COVID19 hospitalizations breakdown for Gauteng Province by both public and private hospitals. It’s increasing equally - tripling in both classes of hospitals. This is not just a surveillance issue. Trust the @nicd_sa data first. nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z-i…
3) breakdown many #COVID19 patients currently hospitalized / in ICU / on ventilator in Gauteng 🇿🇦—747 hospitalized, 57 in ICU, and 23 on a ventilator. @nicd_sa doesn’t give the time series for all of these. It’s still early. Less hope it doesn’t rise further.
4) Of the 747 currently hospitalized with #COVID19 in Gauteng Province (#B11529 epicenter of South Africa), 137 of the 747 hospitalized COVID patients are receiving “high care” or ICU care— or 18%.
5) of the 747 hospitalized for #COVID19 in #Omicron epicenter of Gauteng Province, 140 are receiving oxygen or on a ventilator—19%.
6) most recently, positivity in Gauteng soared from 1% to 30% in 2 weeks.
7) As a reminder, Gauteng Province is the epicenter of #Omicron where genome sequencing revealed it to now “becoming dominant” over even Delta.
8) Don’t let the misinformation hit ya without double checking the data first. The “Omicron is mild” was based on an out of context quote.
9) Also, don’t forget the well known lag between cases ==> hospitalization ==> then death. Cases have soared 6x already…. Hospitalizations are rising (see top), and death is a lagging indicator.
11) 💡Nota Bene in epidemiology— We also know that a more infectious disease that seriously harms fewer of those infected but infect more people ➡️ will ultimately maim more people (a greater absolute number seriously ill) than a high severity disease that is less infectious. 👀
12) When I see a 🧬mutation divergence tree like this, it gives me pause. #Omicron is leaps & bounds different than other #SARSCoV2 variants. Evolution selected this unique combination for a reason—it wasn’t a regular rate of accumulating mutation errors. This is why the caution.
13) Beware the misinformation about it being “mild”. That’s a poorly quoted excerpt. And it’s not based on actual hospitalization data (see top post above). Don’t be misled.
14) Feel free to fact check the hospitalization data I posted. Someone dug and tried to verify every number I posted on the 🇿🇦 Gauteng Province #OmicronVariant epicenter’s hospitalization.
P.s. If I ever make a materially sig factual error, I’m always happy to update/repost.
15) Here was @WHO’s official stances on all aspects of #Omicron — they still don’t know. But they acknowledge the increased hospitalizations is something to watch out for. We will have more epidemiological studies soon. Stay tuned.
16) Let’s hypothetically suppose it is “milder”—but Even if it’s milder than delta, the increased transmissibility and/or immune escape would still make it more dangerous than delta. Exponentially more cases is still exponentially more hospitalizations & deaths! ~@lisa_iannattone
18) UPDATE— the #COVID19 hospitalization surge is now 4x in 2 weeks. Late reporting upped it from 3x yesterday to 4x today in the #Omicron-epicenter of Gauteng Province 🇿🇦. This is an acceleration it seems.
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⚠️BREAKING—ICU Hospitalized human bird flu case in Canada now officially confirmed as H5N1. Worse, it is the same 2.3.4.4b virus clade (variant group) as the one found in BC🇨🇦 poultry and in Washington state🇺🇸! The hospitalized teenager (with no pre existing conditions) had no animal contact, does not live on farm, had “deterioration quite rapid” and now critical in ICU with ARDS. Canada officials says infectious period is 2 days **prior to symptoms** (ie asymptomatic transmission) and infectious up to 10 days.
2) Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg confirmed that the individual has avian influenza H5N1 canada.ca/en/public-heal…
3) details…
⚠️BAD UPDATE—BIRD FLU HOSPITALIZATION IN CANADIAN TEEN
Summary 🧵 of the live press conference with Canada’s British Columbia health officer.
📌The teen is in intensive care.
📌Condition is ARDS
📌Teen was healthy prior; no underlying conditions
My god—Google Search for “what is a tariff” sudden spikes the DAY AFTER ELECTION DAY. 🤦🏻♂️
2) many folks simply don’t understand what a tariff is — unless you explain it several times to them with analogies. Even then, it’s hard for many to grasp. Eg 👇
📍HARRIS IS STILL AHEAD IN PA—in terms of votes yet to be counted. She’s still +2 of what is needed to win PA, given the outstanding votes still remaining in PA cities, according to @CBSNews @NorahODonnell
Plastic cookware should not be used. Period. Especially BLACK PLASTIC cookware, that often mixes in toxic recycled electronic waste materials. DISPOSE OF ALL PLASTIC COOKWARE, especially if black colored plastic ones. Pass it on to your family.
2) Because optical sensors in recycling facilities can’t detect them, black-colored plastics are largely rejected from domestic-waste streams, resulting in a shortage of black base material for recycled plastic. So the demand for black plastic appears to be met “in no insignificant part” via recycled e-waste, according to Turner’s research. TV and computer casings, like the majority of the world’s plastic waste, tend to be recycled in informal waste economies with few regulations and end up remolded into consumer products, including ones, such as spatulas and slotted spoons, that come into contact with food.
3) You simply do not want flame retardants anywhere near your stir-fry. Flame retardants are typically not bound to the polymers to which they are added, making them a particular flight risk: They dislodge easily and make their way into the surrounding environment. And, indeed, another paper from 2018 found that flame retardants in black kitchen utensils readily migrate into hot cooking oil. The health concerns associated with those chemicals are well established: Some flame retardants are endocrine disruptors, which can interfere with the body’s hormonal system, and scientific literature suggests that they may be associated with a range of ailments, including thyroid disease, diabetes, and cancer. People with the highest blood levels of PBDEs, a class of flame retardants found in black plastic, had about a 300 percent increase in their risk of dying from cancer compared with people who had the lowest levels, according to a study released this year. In a separate study, published in a peer-reviewed journal this month, researchers from the advocacy group Toxic-Free Future and from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam found that, out of all of the consumer products they tested, kitchen utensils had some of the highest levels of flame retardants.
⚠️MASK MANDATE RETURNING TO ALL NIH PATIENT CLINICS—Effective November 4, 2024, masking will be required in all patient care & waiting rooms. Furthermore, testing for COVID, flu A, flu B, and RSV will be required for all inpatients & rooming-in visitors. cc.nih.gov/patient-servic…
2) This means wearing a mask will be REQUIRED in all patient care areas, including waiting rooms. ➡️This change is due to an anticipated increase in COVID-19 and other respiratory virus activity in the community. 😷
3) I think people should stock up on COVID tests again. The Cheapest COVID test on the U.S. market is now as low as $1.50 with special promo code “COV20”… expiring Jan or March 2025.