# 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:** 14
### Author:  [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/261 "2022-01-28T00:49:53Z")
Conservative love CBD for the same reason they love colloidal silver and other scam cures -grifters love snake oil. Deregulation of “nutritional supplements” has been a conservative thing for forever.
The CBD and Hemp industries love Mitch McConnell in particular.
> **[Watch Mitch McConnell Frolic In A Field Of Cannabis](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2020/01/10/watch-mitch-mcconnell-frolic-in-a-field-of-cannabis/?sh=3e1470396d9a)**
>
> The majority leader's campaign posted B-roll footage of him having a great time in a hemp field.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/262 "2022-01-28T13:23:42Z")
After a couple of days without new record highs in new reported COVID infections, we get new ones reported as of yesterday, January 27
**Tennessee** – 29660
**Maine** – 1156
**South Carolina** – 18168
**Indiana** – 15620
**Kentucky** – 17224
**Minnesota** – 15969
**Nebraska** – 4877
**Oklahoma** – 12637
**Montana** – 3468
**Wyoming** – 1940
**Idaho** – 3956
**Washington (state)** – 26521
That’s 12 states with record highs as of yesterday. Although much of the country had its peak a week or more ago, we’re still seeing rises away from the coasts (except for Maine and Washington)
The US, as a whole, is still down, but it’s starting to creep back up.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/263 "2022-01-31T18:56:26Z")
Both yesterday and today the entire country (except for Maine) has been “blue” on the Johns Hopkins Corionavirus New Reported Cases page, meaning that the rates are going down everywhere, except Maine. And even there, it’s only slightly rising.
There are no new record high levels of reported new cases (seven day average) for the past three days. We appear to finally be over this recent hump, the biggest blip so far.
On the world chart, the US is still going down in reported new cases, and we have been surpassed, for the first time, by France. It’s the first time we’ve lost first place since July. My condolences to France, but it appears they will be decreasing soon, if the experience of India is a guide.
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/264 "2022-02-01T02:16:22Z")
This was an interesting (and depressing) story.
> **[Omicron amps up concerns about long COVID and its causes](https://apnews.com/article/long-covid-omicron-research-45986f5b42e47e656d5b385bd51b2bb2)**
>
> More than a year after a bout with COVID-19, Rebekah Hogan still suffers from severe brain fog, pain and fatigue that leave her unable to do her nursing job or handle household activities. Long COVID has her questioning her worth as a wife and...
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2022, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/265 "2022-02-01T14:47:44Z")
The whole country’s blue on the Johns Hopkins site, including Maine this time. Again, no new records set.
On the World map, current data has the US back above France in overall reported new cases again, although we’re still down from our peak.
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### Author:  [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2022, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/266 "2022-02-02T05:46:45Z")
At the other end of the dial Tonga is at the [very bottom spot](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/tonga/) [position 225] on the Worldometers chart, with one case in October 2021, who recovered.
While controlling covid entering was much easier as an island, there is a huge Tongan diaspora community that has been cut off, and I’m sure it has been incredibly hard for everyone to endure this isolation.
The breaking news is that the recent volcanic eruption and tsunami, which caused a great amount of damage, required bringing in supplies and assistance from off-island. While great care was taken to avoid introducing covid, unfortunately it has not been successful, so on top of everything else [Tonga now has this to deal with](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-02/tonga-into-lockdown-two-covid-cases/100797412). Vaccination is at 85% double-dosed, but as we are experiencing in Australia, people without boosters remain vulnerable and the number of cases rises very fast and is likely to flood their hospital system, which is when vulnerability from other factors will be harder to fight.
Not a good story at all.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/267 "2022-02-02T15:28:16Z")
Still no new record high reported cases of COVID anywhere in the country, and al the states are in the blue (decreasing trend), except South Carolina. But they had their record high on January 29.
The US daily reported cases are still going down. Now about 320,000 new cases a day, way down from our peak of over 800,000 cases a day, almost down to the levels of civilized countries like India and France
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/268 "2022-02-02T18:21:12Z")
Palau looks terrible in the NYT case stats.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2022, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/269 "2022-02-03T13:37:22Z")
Good news. Although three states are in the red on the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus site as of February 2 (meaning increasing numbers of new reported COVID cases – 7-day average), no states have reported new record high levels of new cases since January 29 (last Saturday) On the wall in the changing room, that would be a sign reading “4 days without an incident”. Reported new cases in the US as a whole continue to decline, although we’re still beating the rest of the world.
Keep it up!
Just the fact that we are and remain so much higher than the rest of the world should make it abundantly obvious that it’s the programs and practices that many in the US have put in place that are keeping us outrageously high (and keep us from being able to relax the pracice that ARE in place, unlike the rest of the world). But some people need to see it spelled out:
> **[The U.S. is seeing a higher rate of deaths from omicron. It's important to...](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/2/2/2078231/-Statistics-show-U-S-has-a-higher-COVID-death-rate-than-other-nations-Statistics-are-not-enough?utm_campaign=trending)**
>
> It’s been clear for some time that the shape of the omicron wave in the United States has differed significantly from that in other nations. That’s not so much true of the number of cases coming in—omicron has generated a spike in cases almost...
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### Author:  [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/270 "2022-02-03T16:29:57Z")
> **[In New York City Sewage, a Mysterious Coronavirus Signal (Published 2022)](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/health/coronavirus-wastewater-new-york.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DPDm4ZiOQYCoyc-wDGYrBkYdIt3i6GX5peOaQzSeN70uJFekpgVEy5pYGH3pQZJiF_4aSCYlQL5bOfF7Yp7W2tKWCjNOZ0wLD4sU_WPjPrWKPA0iYhJhJioZFiaVGpjXMXlvjPELUlidUv1awgFYk6EWlbHFSCv_ntDBx0PMzXLU2Pr1lrBJwKHG3bjtWe6LkfcQ5NCFigTHx34mo06N40K8pAde-kbEZmIJyi9O1XXm94L46pBIkzRZzWk9hptr3NrR-Pzamm1sazGdgZ9p-_kWB66t4EUrs&smid=url-share)**
>
> For the past year, scientists have been looking for the source of strange coronavirus sequences that have appeared in the city’s wastewater.
> Last January, a team of researchers searching for the coronavirus in New York City’s wastewater spotted something strange in their samples. The viral fragments they found had a unique constellation of mutations that had never been reported before in human patients — a potential sign of a new, previously undetected variant.
>
> For the past year, these oddball sequences, or what the scientists call “cryptic lineages,” have continued to pop up in the city’s wastewater.
> …
> Viral fragments with novel patterns of mutations appeared repeatedly at a handful of treatment plants, the researchers found.
Basically, their two main hypotheses are that it might be coming from nursing homes or from rats. Nobody knows. It’s in the wastewater in a few specific areas of NYC, and in California.
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### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/271 "2022-02-04T00:52:03Z")
I’m guessing rats.
Oh goodie, a source for our next nasty variant.
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/272 "2022-02-04T04:51:07Z")
From today’s (Feb. 3, 2022) New York Times (paywalled):
[Covid News: Austria’s Vaccine Mandate Is Becoming Law](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/03/world/covid-test-vaccine-cases#austria-covid-vaccine-mandate)
> [@](#):
>
> Austria is the first Western democracy to mandate Covid vaccinations for nearly its entire adult population, a once-unthinkable move that is being seen as a test case for other countries grappling with pockets of vaccine resistance.
>
> The sweeping measure, which easily cleared its final parliamentary hurdle on Thursday when it was approved by lawmakers in Austria’s upper house, will be signed into law as soon as Friday by President Alexander Van der Bellen of Austria.
>
> The requirement will be introduced in phases.
Phase 1, starting immediately: Austria will send advisory letters to everyone.
Phase 2, starting mid-March: Police will conduct random checks, including at traffic stops. Fines possible up to about $600.
Phase 3, later if needed: Create a registry and automatically fine everyone who doesn’t have their shots.
ETA: Another article (possibly not paywalled?) from Feb. 1 discussing the plan, and comparing with similar discussions happening in other Euro countries:
> **[COVID-19: Vaccine mandate enforced in Austria](https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/emea/covid-19-vaccine-mandate-enforced-austria)**
>
> Austria is the first country in Europe to announce a national COVID-19 vaccine mandate for adults, while the issue is still under discussion in Germany and Switzerland.
ETA: Yet another article on the subject, from CNN:
[https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/europe/austria-covid-vaccine-mandate-vote-intl/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/europe/austria-covid-vaccine-mandate-vote-intl/index.html)
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/273 "2022-02-04T16:34:05Z")
> **[COVID-19 Vaccines](https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/covid-19-vaccine#1)**
>
> Vaccines are seen as one of the best ways to stop COVID-19. Learn more about the types of vaccines, including the newly approved Novavax.
> Americans who have received a COVID-19 booster shot are 97 times less likely to die from the coronavirus than those who aren’t vaccinated, according to a new update from the CDC.
>
> In addition, fully vaccinated Americans – meaning those with up to two doses, but no booster – are 14 times less likely to die from COVID-19 than unvaccinated people.
> The number of average weekly deaths for those who were unvaccinated was 9.7 per 100,000 people, as compared with .7 of those who were vaccinated and .1 of those who had received a booster.
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### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/274 "2022-02-04T17:19:15Z")
I miss @Snowboarder_Bo’s updates.
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### Author:  [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/275 "2022-02-04T18:06:34Z")
Same. I’ve tried to figure out where he got his numbers but haven’t had any luck.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/276 "2022-02-04T18:47:20Z")
> [@Morgyn](#):
>
> I miss @Snowboarder_Bo’s updates.
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> Can you remind me (provide a link) for your numbers?
> [@squeegee](#):
>
> Bo reports the daily [Worldometer](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/) numbers.
@Snowboarder_Bo should be off of suspension, yes?
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### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/277 "2022-02-04T21:35:11Z")
I don’t think he’s been back since he was suspended. Last I checked, he hasn’t read anything for about 6 days.
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### Author:  [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/278 "2022-02-04T23:07:58Z")
This is too bad. He always struck me as a fairy level-headed and rational guy. I hope he returns.
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### Author:  [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2022, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/279 "2022-02-05T07:03:47Z")
[Masks work](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm?s_cid=mm7106e1_w%20%5Bcdc.gov%5D). The better masks are at filtering, the better they work at preventing positive test results.
This study was pre-omicrin.
Here is the money shot.
[ ](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/social-media/mm7106e1_MaskingEffectiveness_IMAGE_04Feb22_1200x675_1-medium.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2022, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/280 "2022-02-06T08:02:09Z")
Hawaii hit a record single-day Covid death count of 18 today.
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