COVID-19

boosted

Posted on by Dave O

Got my COVID booster today. I know the pandemic is supposedly over, even though the Department of Health Services is reporting that, on average, 5 people in Wisconsin die each day from COVID. It seems likely to me that if there was a serial killer running loose who was bumping off five people every day and everyone could get a shot that would make them impervious to his bullets, they’d all get it. Or maybe not. The COVID pandemic has made me reconsider how smart most people might be.

unacceptable

Posted on by Dave O

Please don’t say “We’re all going to get COVID eventually.” It doesn’t make make me feel better, it makes me feel worse. If we were all vaccinated against COVID, we wouldn’t have to accept that we’d all eventually get it, because we wouldn’t all get it. A widely-vaccinated population would protect us all against it, and I know that because we don’t all get tuberculosis even though there are still outbreaks of TB. It doesn’t rampage through the population because almost everybody gets vaccinated against it. So telling me that I have to resign myself to the fact that I’m going to get COVID eventually feels a lot like telling me I’m just going to have to accept that I’m going to get tuberculosis. I don’t. We collectively decided a long time ago to protect ourselves against TB, just like we collectively decided not to protect ourselves against COVID. Being asked to accept such a bold-faced failure of duty to society is, frankly, deeply depressing.

close contact

Posted on by Dave O

I spent the night before my wedding anniversary completing audits of two DMV field offices with a coworker. Sitting shoulder to shoulder in a compact car, we drove three hours to Oconto, then an hour or so to Shawano, and then another hour and a half to Wausau. The next day, we drove a little over two hours back to Madison. We were both masked, and both vaccinated.

BUT:

At each location, we spent about two hours in a tiny, poorly-ventilated room auditing a succession of DMV employees who were all masked. The department, however, does not require employees to be vaccinated. And over the past two weeks, they had all been in close contact with hundreds, if not thousands, of members of the public, virtually none of which gave a good goddamn for the common courtesy of wearing masks.

If I don’t get COVID during this round of on-site audits, no one will be more surprised than I will.

NEVER EVER

Posted on by Dave O

If I live to be 100 years old, I will never understand how anybody in the States was comfortable with spreading a disease that killed more than half a million Americans in less than a year, when all they had to do to prevent it was wear a mask and avoid crowding together.

spiked

Posted on by Dave O

So much for the theory that if you don’t test as much, you don’t get so many new cases. New cases per day in Dane County and in Wisconsin take a massive jump while testing remains flat or decreases.

WI DHS update 060420

Posted on by Dave O

From the Wisconsin Department of Health Services web site, updated each day at 2:00 pm:

Wisconsin

  • Wisconsin reported cumulative totals of 291,367 negative results and 19,892 positive results, indicating a cumulative total of 299,111 test results have been reported.
  • Yesterday, Wisconsin reported cumulative totals of 279,711 negative results and 19,400 positive results, indicating a cumulative total of 299,111 test results have been reported.
    • The difference in the cumulative total numbers indicates 12,148 more test results were reported over the past 24 hours, 1,626 more than the median number of tests reported in the past seven days (10,522).
    • The difference in the cumulative positive totals indicates 492 positive results were reported in the past 24 hours, 9 more than the median number of positive results reported in the past seven days (483).
  • Wisconsin reported a cumulative total of 2,739 hospitalizations attributed to COVID-19.
  • Yesterday, Wisconsin reported a cumulative total of 2,700 hospitalizations attributed to COVID-19 the day before.
    • The difference in the cumulative total number of hospitalizations indicates 39 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, 1 less than the median number of hospitalizations reported in the past 7 days (40).
  • Wisconsin reported a cumulative total of 626 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
  • Yesterday, Wisconsin reported a cumulative total of 616 deaths attributed to COVID-19 the day before.
    • The difference in the cumulative total number of deaths indicates 10 new deaths were attributed to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, on par with the median number of deaths reported in the past seven days (10).

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  • The cumulative total number of tests reported in the state (268,506) is 4.61% of Wisconsin’s 2019 population of 5,822,000.
  • The cumulative total number of positive cases in the state (18,403) is 6.85% of all people tested.
  • The cumulative total number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 (2,583) is 14.04% of the cumulative total number of positive test results.
  • The cumulative total number of deaths in the state attributed to COVID-19 (592) is 3.22% of all positive cases.

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The number of tests completed, positive results, hospitalizations, and deaths have all trended up, indicating a greater number of people are feeling ill enough to seek medical attention:

covid in WI 6-4-20

WI DHS update 060320

Posted on by Dave O

From the Wisconsin Department of Health Services web site, updated each day at 2:00 pm:

Wisconsin

  • Wisconsin reported cumulative totals of 279,711 negative results and 19,400 positive results, indicating a cumulative total of 299,111 test results have been reported.
  • Yesterday, Wisconsin reported cumulative totals of 263,743 negative results and 18,917 positive results, indicating a cumulative total of 282,660 test results have been reported.
    • The difference in the cumulative total numbers indicates 16,451 more test results were reported over the past 24 hours, 5,929 more than the median number of tests reported in the past seven days (10,522).
      • This is the largest number of test results reported in a 24-hour period since DHS records began on 3/15/2020.
    • The difference in the cumulative positive totals indicates 483 positive results were reported in the past 24 hours, on par with the median number of positive results reported in the past seven days (483).
  • Wisconsin reported a cumulative total of 2,700 hospitalizations attributed to COVID-19.
  • Yesterday, Wisconsin reported a cumulative total of 2,643 hospitalizations attributed to COVID-19 the day before.
    • The difference in the cumulative total number of hospitalizations indicates 57 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, 16 more than the median number of hospitalizations reported in the past 7 days (41).
  • Wisconsin reported a cumulative total of 616 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
  • Yesterday, Wisconsin reported a cumulative total of 607 deaths attributed to COVID-19 the day before.
    • The difference in the cumulative total number of deaths indicates 9 new deaths were attributed to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, 2 fewer than the median number of deaths reported in the past seven days (11).

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  • The cumulative total number of tests reported in the state (268,506) is 4.61% of Wisconsin’s 2019 population of 5,822,000.
  • The cumulative total number of positive cases in the state (18,403) is 6.85% of all people tested.
  • The cumulative total number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 (2,583) is 14.04% of the cumulative total number of positive test results.
  • The cumulative total number of deaths in the state attributed to COVID-19 (592) is 3.22% of all positive cases.

–>

The number of tests completed, positive results, hospitalizations, and deaths have all trended up, indicating a greater number of people are feeling ill enough to seek medical attention:

covid in wi 6-3-20