Thread by @Aaron_Derfel

1) It was only a few weeks ago various pundits and news publications in the United States predicted the U.S. would be spared a resurgence in #pandemic hospitalizations. Sadly, they turned out to be wrong, with intensive-care stays for #COVID now at the highest point in 4 months.

2) Note the U.S. is likely only at the start of this resurgence in hospitalizations, yet some hospitals are already overwhelmed amid the most virulent flu epidemic in more than a decade. A New Mexico hospital closed its parking lot to pitch a tent to absorb an influx of patients.

3) Dr. Eric Topol, a U.S. #COVID expert who has been tracking the #pandemic assiduously since the beginning, expressed concern in a tweet about the potential impact of this latest resurgence in hospitalizations on seniors.

https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1603099721257521152

4) Note Topol warns this rebound is poised to overtake the peak of the U.S.'s BA.5 #Omicron wave several months ago because of low vaccine booster uptake and few public health protections in place. One need only look to France to see what may happen next.

https://twitter.com/nicolasberrod/status/1603071534746189824

5) It's a mistake to view this #pandemic in isolation. The U.S. is now in a COVID-Influenza #Syndemic, or "aggregation of two or more concurrent...epidemics or disease clusters in a population with biological interactions, which exacerbate the prognosis and burden of disease."

6) A Lancet study warned in April "as public health restrictions are lifted,...virus co-infections are more likely to occur during future winters. It concluded that "SARS-CoV-2 co-infections with influenza viruses were...significantly associated with increased odds of death."

7) The Lancet study collected hospitalizations data in the U.K. from February 2020 to December 2021, when flu activity was much lower amid lockdowns and other #pandemic restrictions. In contrast, the flu season in the U.S. is shaping up to be the worst in more than a decade.

8) North of the border, Quebec is in the midst of a resurgence of #COVID hospitalizations and a flu epidemic, too. Yet public health director Luc Boileau has ruled out reinstating public health protections beyond urging people to be more "prudent."

https://twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel/status/1603058232930570240

9) A lack of measures prevails in the U.S., too. The only concrete action the Biden administration has taken is to resume a free #COVID home test program. Meanwhile, the U.S. recorded 2,981 #pandemic fatalities in the first week of December, the first such increase since August.

10) And so as the #pandemic approaches its third anniversary early next year, improvisation continues by government authorities around the world. Why have we learned so few lessons from this #COVID crisis? Please, mask up and get your shots. End of thread.