Covid-19 exposure risk: 12/29/2021
Case records are shattered across the nation.
All but two counties in our synod continue to have extremely high levels of risk for unvaccinated people.
State of the virus
Despite reporting inconsistencies caused by the holidays, caseloads have continued to increase rapidly as the Omicron variant spreads. Deaths and hospitalizations have remained relatively steady.
The country is averaging more than 260,000 new cases a day, surpassing the peak levels from last winter. Infection rates are especially high in parts of the Northeast and Midwest.
Though breakthrough infections are commonwith Omicron, scientists say vaccinated people, especially those who have received booster shots, have protection against severe cases and death.
Early research suggests that Omicron is far more infectious than other forms of the virus but may cause less severe illness. Experts have warned that hospitalizations are still likely to rise because of the variant’s rapid spread.
Washington, D.C., is reporting more recent cases per capita than any state. It is averaging about 2,000 cases a day, compared with fewer than 100 cases a day in early December.
Case rates are extremely high across much of the Northeast, including in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Infection levels are also spiking around Miami and Chicago, as well as in Puerto Rico.
The New York Times published county-specific guidance for common activities to help you lower your personal risk of getting Covid-19 and to help you protect your community. This advice was developed with public health experts at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies.
“Providing transparent, real time information about what people’s risks are is empowering,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, who is a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the president and C.E.O. of Resolve to Save Lives. “You want to know how hard it’s raining Covid.”