I don’t really follow case counts anymore. It’s essentially pandemic porn. What I look for is hospitalizations and ICU.
Just remember a lockdown is only temporary
Hospitalizations are much lower now in part because cases were relatively low until the surge in the past week. Hospitalizations won't have had a chance to catch up to infections yet. Last year, infections had been steadily rising for months, meaning more time for people to get seriously ill.I don’t really follow case counts anymore. It’s essentially pandemic porn. What I look for is hospitalizations and ICU.
As of now, per https://covid-19.ontario.ca/ out of 18 million Ontarians we have 328 people hospitalized with Covid, of which 165 are in ICU. To give this some perspective, on Dec 17, 2000 we had 938 people hospitalized, of which 263 were in ICU.
Where case counts would be useful is as a ratio of cases to hospitalizations. This would demonstrate if the vaccines are working. If the vaccines prove to be keeping hospitalizations down, by early 2022 people are going to begin demanding that we accept the Covid risk and return to normal life. I have older friends who have been waiting for a year plus for knee and hip replacements - they're now becoming depressed and despondent (and worried about opiate addiction) due to ongoing Covid-related postponements.
Where case counts would be useful is as a ratio of cases to hospitalizations. This would demonstrate if the vaccines are working. If the vaccines prove to be keeping hospitalizations down, by early 2022 people are going to begin demanding that we accept the Covid risk and return to normal life. I have older friends who have been waiting for a year plus for knee and hip replacements - they're now becoming depressed and despondent (and worried about opiate addiction) due to ongoing Covid-related postponements.
In other words, nobody's going to follow them. I know I won't follow restrictions if they become annual.I don't think we will return to a pre 2020 normal world. A large part of the world is still un-vaxxed. Omicron developed in South Africa, a country that had a surplus of vaccines. The US has a vaccine surplus, yet over 100 million people are still unvaxxed. Covid is going to keep mutating. Vaccinations may have to be given out yearly like a flu shot. Restrictions and temporary shut down could be part of life.
In other words, nobody's going to follow them. I know I won't follow restrictions if they become annual.
Other studies have been saying otherwise, as well as anecdotal information.In the Financial Times: there is no evidence omicron is milder. Which means the current surge will strain hospitals in short order.
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lol what a terrible outlook on the world.I don't think we will return to a pre 2020 normal world. A large part of the world is still un-vaxxed. Omicron developed in South Africa, a country that had a surplus of vaccines. The US has a vaccine surplus, yet over 100 million people are still unvaxxed. Covid is going to keep mutating. Vaccinations may have to be given out yearly like a flu shot. Restrictions and temporary shut down could be part of life.
Other studies have been saying otherwise, as well as anecdotal information.
Another report I read on that study framed that it's primary purpose was to determine vaccine effectiveness, not reduced hospitalization rates.