# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2022 Breaking News
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone
**Tags:** covid-quarantine
**Created:** [January 1, 2022, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022 "2022-01-01T05:02:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 12
### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/221 "2022-01-21T18:15:12Z")
I’m sure this won’t cause any controversy:
> **[Preteens can get vaxxed without parent under California bill](https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-scott-wiener-san-francisco-1878f7be2355e82c1885754fc53514c0)**
>
> SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent under a proposal introduced Friday by a state senator who said youngsters “deserve the right to protect themselves” against...
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/222 "2022-01-21T18:18:26Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> I’m sure this won’t cause any controversy:
There really _should_ be a more general legislative framework to make “medical emancipation” a straightforward process for any minor who wishes to receive any well established standard treatment against their parents’ wishes. And, of course, to protect the healthcare provider in that situation.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2022, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/223 "2022-01-21T18:20:00Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#):
>
> I’m going to have to ask what that means, **ThelmaLou**. No joke, I don’t understand. I would read that as meaning that 38% of the populace currently has COVID - surely to god, no??
> [@Tfletch1](#):
>
> No, it just means that 39% of the tests come back positive. When it’s that high, there’s likely a lot more cases out there that are being missed. There are officially 343 per 100,000 daily cases. I wouldn’t be surprised if over 5%, maybe even 10%, of the county is currently infected.
Yes, this. It’s the percent of positive tests among all tests. It’s not a precise indicator, by any means, just a rough score.
[https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/health/coronavirus-positivity-rate-explainer/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/health/coronavirus-positivity-rate-explainer/index.html)
> Lately, a lot of health and elected officials have been using one term an awful lot: positivity rate.
>
> That’s the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of those overall who have been tested. So, as more and more people are being tested, the focus is shifting to the positivity rate – how many of those tested are actually infected.
> …
To give you an idea of why that number means anything at all, considering how rough it is, these were the Texas-wide numbers in June 2021:
> Meanwhile, the percentage of Texans testing positive for COVID-19 was 3.9% as of Wednesday. Texas’ positivity rate has remained below 5% since May 3.
> [Source](https://www.county.org/Resources-for-County-Officials/COVID-19-Information-and-Resources/Weekly-Updates-COVID-19)
To go from 4-ish% to 40-ish% in about seven months is a big increase.
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/224 "2022-01-21T18:22:09Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> To go from 4-ish% to 40-ish% in about seven months is a big increase.
Especially when (presumably) _more_ people are now being tested. You’d think if anything this statistic would tend to be distorted _downwards_ as testing becomes more easily and cheaply available, and more people are routinely testing even without symptoms.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/225 "2022-01-21T18:29:42Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> New England, though, looks like it’s shooting back up again. They haven’t set new records, yet, but it’s rising in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. New Hampshire just set a new record yesterday (Having been there recently, I’m not all that surprised. Mask wearing was apparently seen as only a suggestion.)
I’m not seeing that on the 91divoc site (which says it uses Johns Hopkins data.) It shows a sharp dip 3 days ago in MA and NH 7-day average new case count, which immediately bounced back up – I assume that’s a holiday weekend artifact. It looks to me like most of New England peaked a little more than a week ago.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/226 "2022-01-21T18:55:44Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> I’m not seeing that on the 91divoc site (which says it uses Johns Hopkins data.) It shows a sharp dip 3 days ago in MA and NH 7-day average new case count, which immediately bounced back up – I assume that’s a holiday weekend artifact. It looks to me like most of New England peaked a little more than a week ago.
Odd, then, because if you look at the Johns Hopkins site plots all those states are clearly going back up again, while New York New Jersey, etc. are not.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2022, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/227 "2022-01-21T20:36:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> Odd, then, because if you look at the Johns Hopkins site plots all those states are clearly going back up again, while New York New Jersey, etc. are not.
As I posted up tread models show NH still 2-3 weeks away from peaking so…
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2022, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/228 "2022-01-21T21:20:05Z")
NH is bouncing around, and that’s possible, although I bet that model is wrong. I bet NH just peaked and will head down. VT is also too unstable to pick a trend. But CT, MA, and RI sure look like they are going down to me, and ME hasn’t really gone up, it’s flat and fairly low. You could maybe read a little bump in it ending 3 days ago.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/229 "2022-01-22T02:21:10Z")
346,786,449 total cases
5,603,040 dead
276,569,998 recovered
In the US:
71,394,579 total cases
887,643 dead
44,191,512 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> 343,059,726 total cases
> 5,593,256 dead
> 276,358,155 recovered
>
> In the US:
>
> 70,544,862 total cases
> 883,903 dead
> 44,047,799 recovered
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2022, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/230 "2022-01-22T23:49:10Z")
Omicron is out and about in New Zealand. We were tracking along comfortably with relatively low case numbers but I expect these will jump up over the coming weeks. Restrictions are increasing though it is nothing like the previous lockdowns. We have the advantage of seeing how it has tracked in other countries and our vaccination rates are pretty good but our health system will struggle. Our 7 day rolling average had been sitting around 60 for a month with many of the cases being at the border.
> **[Watch - Jacinda Ardern and Ashley Bloomfield hold Covid-19 briefing on Omicron](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/460016/watch-jacinda-ardern-and-ashley-bloomfield-hold-covid-19-briefing-on-omicron)**
>
> Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed that the whole of New Zealand will move into the red light Covid-19 setting at midnight tonight.
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### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2022, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/231 "2022-01-23T01:02:50Z")
What’s your vaccination (and booster) rates like these days?
I know NZ was hoping to hold off until the vax rates were really high… and if you’ve been able to do this, you might get away with Omicron getting out and about.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/232 "2022-01-23T02:23:55Z")
349,823,678 total cases
5,610,136 dead
278,142,285 recovered
In the US:
71,728,557 total cases
888,623 dead
44,329,200 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> 346,786,449 total cases
> 5,603,040 dead
> 276,569,998 recovered
>
> In the US:
>
> 71,394,579 total cases
> 887,643 dead
> 44,191,512 recovered
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2022, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/233 "2022-01-23T04:09:47Z")
Fully vaccinated are at 77% of total population and 19% boosted. That’s of the total population, not the eligible population. Over fives have just been approved for vaccinations so that will improve the rate over the next few months. A key point is that the general population only became eligible for vaccinations mid 2021 and so we can expect a big bunch of people being boosted this month and next month.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2022, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/234 "2022-01-23T12:49:49Z")
Are you in the US? Most American adults were eligible and able to get vaccinated by last May, and were eligible to be boosted in December.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/235 "2022-01-23T15:18:52Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#):
>
> Omicron is out and about in New Zealand.
Would that we had those numbers in the US…
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2022, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/236 "2022-01-23T16:43:25Z")
Or even in Arkansas:
> **[Arkansas sets new record for COVID hospitalizations](https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-arkansas-asa-hutchinson-little-rock-0dddec51fa2210a9e53f397de94522a8)**
>
> LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas reported on Saturday its biggest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations since the pandemic began in 2020.
> The state Department of Health said COVID-19 hospitalizations increased by one to 1,659. It’s the fifth day in a row the state has set a new record for hospitalizations.
> According to health department data, 54% of Arkansas residents age 5 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and 504,538 have received a booster dose, the [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported](https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/jan/23/another-covid-record-day-for-arkansas-with-1435/?news-arkansas).
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### Author:  [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/237 "2022-01-23T16:56:48Z")
Here’s a pleasing oddity from the UK. What, with all the stories I’ve seen from the US about nurses quitting (and similar stories over here as well) how about a story of people queuing up to get into the profession?
> **[Trainee nurses: Covid inspires record numbers to sign up](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-60083446)**
>
> More teenagers than ever are studying nursing, with many saying they were inspired by the pandemic.
> **The work of NHS nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic has inspired record numbers of students to apply to join the profession, a report has found.**
>
> Universities admissions service UCAS, based in Cheltenham, said the number of 18-year-olds choosing to study nursing has increased by 38% since 2019.
>
> More than two-thirds of applicants in 2021 said that the pandemic had inspired them to become a nurse.
j
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/238 "2022-01-23T18:21:23Z")
No. New Zealand.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2022, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/239 "2022-01-24T02:10:25Z")
351,995,643 total cases
5,614,512 dead
279,758,009 recovered
In the US:
71,925,931 total cases
889,197 dead
44,365,669 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> 349,823,678 total cases
> 5,610,136 dead
> 278,142,285 recovered
>
> In the US:
>
> 71,728,557 total cases
> 888,623 dead
> 44,329,200 recovered
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/240 "2022-01-24T14:23:07Z")
On the Johns Hopkins site, almost all the country is blue, meaning that the rate of new cases is receding. But there are still some new record high daily reported cases (7-day average) for the weekend, January 22 and 23:
**Maine** – 1101 Jan 22
**Michigan** – 28034 Jan 22
**West Virginia** — 5636 Jan 23
**Tennessee** – 22526 Jan 22
**Minnesota** – 13569 Jan 22
**Arkansas** – 10130 Jan 22
**South Dakota** – 2704 Jan 22
**Kansas** – 11851 Jan 22
**Texas** – 65518 Jan 23
Nine states. We’re down from our recent high number of states , but not down to the seven we had several days last week. There were a lot of state with record highs on Friday, too.
The US as a whole is down to 504062, which is over 300,000 less than its recent peak, and a clear decreasing trend.
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