🌤️Only 1 in 5 days of the pandemic have seen transmission as low as today
🌤️1 in 196 actively infectious
⚡️BUT still 1.7 million weekly infections, resulting in >85,000 LC cases and up to 1,000 deaths
I'll walk you through it...
🧵2 of 8 | PMC Dashboard, April 21, 2025 (U.S.)
We're in the 6th year. See the small red line, bottom left. Notice how closely it tracks the median (gray), year 4 (yellow), & year 5 (orange).
Acknowledging caveats, those are plausible gist-level scenarios for months ahead.
🧵3 of 8 | PMC Dashboard, April 21, 2025 (U.S.)
Expect steady transmission bouncing up and down around the current national lull-level estimate the next several weeks. 200-350k daily infections nationally.
This is about as low as lulls bottom out anymore.
🧵4 of 8 | PMC Dashboard, April 21, 2025 (U.S.)
🌤️Moderate Transmission: 9 states + DC
☀️High/Very High: None
Note, the CDC updated its dashboard as usual Friday BUT w/no state-level data. This previously warranted a note. None offered. Fortunately, the 3-day blackout is over.
🧵5 of 8 | PMC Dashboard, April 21, 2025 (U.S.)
Yes, a national "lull" but always with regional variation.
☀️1 in 240 in the West actively infectious
🌩️1 in 118 in the South (worse)
In Louisiana, it's still at about 1 in 90, using the PMC multiplier. 🌩️🌩️
🧵6 of 8 | PMC Dashboard, April 21, 2025 (U.S.)
It might surprise you to learn that up to 1,000 Americans would be expected to die from the COVID infections they get this week -- during a transmission lull!
Use/improve and share across platforms. In the report (pg. 2), I note the CDC is making wastewater analytic ethics decisions via AI. 😮 More on that later. pmc19.com/data
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Levels are flat during a relative "lull" in transmission.
▪️1 in 187 estimated actively infectious
▪️260,000 estimated new daily infections
▪️High: OK, MS, WV
▪️Moderate: VT
▪️All other states low/very low in relative transmission
🧵THREAD 1/6
COVID-19 persists in 2026.
We are in a relative "lull" following a 12th wave, but at a baseline of 200-300K estimated new daily infections.
Transmission was lower in the era many refer to as #DuringCOVID, when multi-layered mitigation was used instead of denial.
🧵THREAD 2/6
Transmission during a "lull" is high in an absolute sense. Many people are getting infected.
Simultaneously, its low in a relative sense, or compared to so-called "typical" transmission. In most places, it's a safer time for medical/dental care.
Transmission is stable in a relative "lull" nationally between waves.
We estimate that approximately 313,000 people are still getting infected per day, with outbreaks radiating from TN and MS.
🧵1 of 10 (don't miss #10)!
With limited data reported, Mississippi has an estimated 1 in 27 residents actively infectious.
In a room of 25 people, that's a 61% chance of exposure, if no testing/isolation protocols.
🧵2 of 10
1 in 24 people in Tennessee are estimated to be actively infectious with SARS-CoV-2. That's a 65% chance of exposure in a room of 25 people where nobody is testing/isolating.
This is an unethically misleading study with findings easily explained by residual confounding. Some health systems and patients have thorough record keeping. Others don't. All sorts of variables will correlate (infections, cancers, anything else tracked in medical records).
This is a really obvious issue for an international epi study. It should not have been published.
The above study is using the same processes the anti-vaxxers use -- junk epi that does not account for confounding -- to support whatever pre-conceived notions the authors have, with absurdly large effects.
Denial is but one of several obvious defense mechanisms people use to try to block their awareness of the ongoing toll of COVID-19. There are many others.
Short-term capital also plays a role, but even that requires a large dose of defense mechanisms.
During this 12th COVlD wave, the CDC reports 1-in-3 states have "High" or "Very High" levels.
PMC estimates the proportion of residents actively infectious (prevalence):
◾️USA: 1 in 67
◾️IA: 1 in 27
◾️MI: 1 in 25
◾️IN & CT: 1 in 23
◾️ME: 1 in 21
◾️OK & SD: 1 in 17
🧵1/
On average, Americans have have 5.0 cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections.
This week's infections are expected to result in 1/4 to 1 million new #LongCOVID conditions and ≈2,000 excess deaths.
🧵2/
The wave peak is now estimated >10% higher than last week at 1.2 million new daily infections, nearly double the Delta wave.
We expect sustained high transmission (≈600,000 to 750,000 new daily infections) the next few weeks as COVlD circulates through schools/families.
🧵3/