We're entering the 8th pandemic wave, likely surging to >2% infectious (>1 million cases/day) in a month.
Today's numbers:
🔹 1.41% (1 in 71) are infectious
🔹 >670,000 C0VID cases/day
🔹>34,000 #LongCovid cases/day
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Note that the different forecasting models show high convergence.
December 11 by the Numbers:
🔹 2.25% (1 in 44) likely to be infectious
🔹 >1 million anticipated C0VID cases/day
🔹>50,000 resulting #LongCovid cases/day
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Zooming out to the full #pandemic, there is no debate we're in an 8th U.S. C0VID wave, likely entering a "surge" in my view. That's not a word I take lightly.
There's more transmission than during 54% of pandemic days.
#MaskUp #VaxUp 😷💉
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How Does the Oncoming 8th Wave Compare with Prior Waves?
I suspect we’re headed somewhere between the magnitude of Wave 2 (winter 20-21) & Wave 6 (last winter). If so, I would characterize us as heading into a surge. I do not use the word “surge” lightly.
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In comparing waves, I see a qualitative distinction at about 1 million daily infections (wastewater levels of 750 copies/mL).
Waves 1, 2, 3, and 7 all hovered around that mark. I refer to these as waves, not surges.
Wave 4, 5, and 6 all had sustained time periods of weeks with over 1 million infections per day. The “area under the curve” is substantially higher, and I refer to these as “surges.”
If one ventures to use this distinction, will Wave 8 be a wave like Waves 1, 2, 3, and 7, or more of a surge with sustained daily infections of >1 million per day?
Remember, the model uses a combination of historical data plus what is happening during the preceding 4 weeks. This means we will know best when a couple weeks out. Beyond 4 weeks, the model is relying heavily on historical data, and the three prior winters (Waves 2, 4, and 6) are very different. Wave 4 is an outlier among the waves, obviously. Wave 2 was more typical of a non-winter wave. Wave 6 (surge) piggybacked on Wave 5 (surge) and may have been unique in that regard due to any fleeting population-level immunity. My model suggests we’re headed toward a surge slightly bigger than last year, and I could see that, because any fleeting immunity from Wave 7 is likely less than that derived from Wave 5, and people are not up-to-date on vaccinations. Other behavioral precautions are similar for this versus last winter: mostly non-existent. However, the model does not capture any of that. It’s predicting worse (more infections) than last year because it’s influenced by the BA.1 wave.
Acknowledging that, I suspect we will peak slightly lower than Wave 6, perhaps around the 1.5 million infections/day rate. Anything between Wave 2 and a 20% bigger version of Wave 6, I would consider a reasonable estimate at this point.
Although only at the start of the 8th wave, transmission is already high on Nov 13.
Large groups amplify transmission. For example, in a group of 20, there's about a 25% chance someone would have infectious C19. In a large lecture hall, it's assumed.
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Here's an update on the danger of a #Thanksgiving gathering in the U.S. (Nov 23).
In a large gathering of 15-20 people, there's about a 25% chance someone would be infectious. I remain quite confident in these numbers, virtually identical to last week's forecast.
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Here's an updated estimate on the possible danger of a #Christmas gathering in the U.S. (Dec 25).
I am exceedingly cautious on posting long-range forecasts.
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More...
They are speculative and do not account for the highly-valuable near-term fluctuations that can occur, particularly if there's an immune-evasive variant.
Take these as my best point estimates nearly two months out, for illustrative purposes just so people get an idea of how bad things may be. Many people are booking trips now, so these rough estimates may be useful. These estimates are virtually identical to those in the forecast from last week.
In a small gathering of 9-10 people, there's about a 25% chance someone is infectious. Once you start looking at large family or multi-family gatherings that span 20-25 people, you basically begin to assume someone has infectious C19.
Here's the full PMC Dashboard for Nov 13.
You can read the full report at
Please share across other social media platforms. Much appreciated. 🙏
🌍Want to track COVID transmission accurately worldwide?
This PMC thread walks you through leading dashboards with information more up to date than WHO & EU directories.
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The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) Dashboard provides weekly COVID updates for the U.S., using wastewater surveillance derived case estimation models and analytic forecasting.
Our international directory includes official government dashboards & those developed by citizen scientists.
We exclude countries that have stopped reporting in the past 2-12 months even if on EU or WHO lists. We also exclude low-quality data from opt-in testing programs.
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🔥Biggest uptick since Jan
🔥1 in 167 actively infectious
🔥>2 million weekly infections
🔥700-1,200 resulting excess deaths from weekly infections
Track transmission closer to home w/our new state & international resources 👇
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PMC COVlD Dashboard, Jun 23, 2025 (U.S.)
🔹With >90% probability, we have entered the 11th COVlD wave.
🔹In a room of 50 people, there is already a 1 in 4 chance of an exposure.
🔹We expect nearly 15 million infections in the next month, and rising.
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PMC COVlD Dashboard, Jun 23, 2025 (U.S.)
We continue to expect transmission to break 500,000 daily infections in the U.S. around July 9th.
This is the same prediction as last week, as the forecast was dead on. Yet, there is considerably uncertainty around this timing.
Current transmission (red line) closely tracks that of summer 2023 (yellow line).
We expect to break 500k daily infections between July 9 and the end of July. Our current forecast...
2) PMC COVlD Dashboard, June 16, 2025 (U.S.)
Our current forecast is a bit more aggressive, predicting breaking 500k daily infections by July 9. The 2023 trend suggests end of July.
The 95% confidence interval shows large variation. Note that...
3) PMC COVlD Dashboard, June 16, 2025 (U.S.)
Note that CDC and Biobot both had retroactive corrections to last week's data, meaning the relative "lull" will last a little longer than the uncorrected data suggested. No big news on NB.1.8.1.
1) Here's a quick example of how the federal government is censoring the best scientific research. It's not just cuts to ongoing research.
It's new grant submissions too...
2) In January, I re-submitted a promising Covid/cancer grant to a non-federal funder. Hundreds of pages. Hundreds of hours of work. The best proposal I've submitted as a scientist.
Out of curiosity, I used Sean Mullen's Scan Assist tool to see how many banned words it had...
3) The proposal had 1,750 banned words. No big deal -- they're non-federal.
BUT I had planned to submit a smaller version to NIH this month as a "back up." Impossible!
It's not a matter of using a thesaurus or the find/replace command. The grant is on *Covid*...
CDC wastewater surveillance data show transmission rising. This is our forecast if transmission growth follows typical patterns.
The high & low estimates could be thought of as optimistic & pessimistic scenarios for NB.1.8.1.
2) PMC COVlD Dashboard, June 9, 2025
Notice that current transmission (red line, lower left) tracks closely with two years ago (yellow), slightly below the median (gray), and not far below last year (orange).
Consider each of these trajectories realistic scenarios.
3) PMC COVlD Dashboard, June 9, 2025
All indications are that we are headed into the start of an 11th national wave in the U.S.
We could percolate near the lull point another couple weeks (fingers crossed), but that scenario is becoming less likely.
National COVlD transmission recently fell to its lowest levels since the pre-Delta era.
It's go-time for many who have delayed medical appointments. The situation will likely get much worse in Jul/Aug.
2/ PMC COVlD Dashboard, June 2, 2025 (U.S.)
An estimated 1 in 211 are actively infectious. Most states are "low" or "very low" per CDC.
The situation remains serious even in a relative "lull." >1.5 million weekly estimated infections to result in 600-900 excess deaths.
3/ PMC COVlD Dashboard, June 2, 2025 (U.S.)
By the end of the month, we forecast an increase to 450k daily infections. If NB.1.8.1 takes off, closer to 600k. If overhyped, percolating only slightly higher.