# 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:** 6
### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/101 "2022-01-10T16:36:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> There’s something very odd about these trends. States that had been shooting upwards at dizzying clips suddenly reversed.
I thought that was expected (so far as you can “expect” things in this pandemic). I see the thread linked to above seems to confirm my memories and what I’ve been told about it by a doctor.
---
### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/102 "2022-01-10T16:37:56Z")
Keep your labs clean, people!
> **[Lab contamination likely responsible for ‘Deltacron’, scientists say](https://news.yahoo.com/deltacron-lab-contamination-likely-responsible-132016968.html)**
>
> 25 sequences of ‘Deltacron’ reported to date
> An apparent [coronavirus](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/coronavirus) strain that combines mutations from both the [Omicron](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/omicron) and [Delta](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/delta) variants is likely to be the result of laboratory contamination, scientists have said.
>
> Fears emerged over the weekend that a new strain of [Covid](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/covid), dubbed ‘Deltacron’, had emerged from a so-called recombination event - when two variants co-infect a patient and exchange mutations to produce a new viral offspring.
---
### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/103 "2022-01-10T16:55:02Z")
The eastern Massachusetts sewage authority tests for levels of virus. It’s not super good at comparing one strain to another, as people shed more virus when infected with some strains. But it’s been extremely acturate in predicting whether infection rates will go up or down in the next several days. And it appears to have peaked.
> **[MWRAData20220107-graphs.pdf](https://www.mwra.com/biobot/MWRAData20220107-graphs.pdf)**
>
> 136.94 KB
Here’s the general link for the site
[https://www.mwra.com/biobot/biobotdata.htm](https://www.mwra.com/biobot/biobotdata.htm)
---
### Author:  [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/104 "2022-01-10T17:48:43Z")
FWIW, the epidemiologists where I work are predicting that the surge in our state (NC) will peak either next week or the week after.
---
### Author:  [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/105 "2022-01-10T20:09:15Z")
Wrapping up the Djokovic thread (hopefully once and for all), the judge did decide that he had complied with all the legal requirements and so his detention under the entry requirements was unlawful. [He’s now released and free to play in the Australian Open](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jan/10/day-of-djokovic-mayhem-creates-more-questions-than-answers).
There is still an avenue for the Home Affairs Minister to do a final ‘because I’m the Minister’ cancellation.
It will probably be dressed up as a great victory for vaccine skeptics, but it got down to being able to demonstrate compliance with what turned out to be a set of broadly drafted regulations that probably did not have this in mind.
The evidence showing him attending events after his positive test was not well-canvassed, but reinforces your view that Djokovic is a complete deadshit.
---
### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/106 "2022-01-10T21:01:43Z")
Here’s some news:
> **[Health officials let COVID-infected staff stay on the job](https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-arizona-california-0113146dc7b8fd8a5b6a5624d8e0e30c)**
>
> Health authorities around the U.S. are increasingly taking the extraordinary step of allowing nurses and other workers infected with the coronavirus to stay on the job if they have mild symptoms or none at all.
---
### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/107 "2022-01-10T21:07:52Z")
Moderna working on a booster that targets Omicron:
> **[Moderna working with world health leaders on Covid booster for this fall that...](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/10/covid-vaccine-moderna-ceo-says-fall-booster-shots-will-likely-target-omicron.html)**
>
> Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said the omicron-specific booster will enter clinical trials soon.
Which might not be necessary:
> **[Omicron-specific vaccines could be ready by March. Will we need them?](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/omicron-variant-are-variant-specific-covid-vaccine-booster-rcna11598)**
>
> Experts say it’s unclear if Covid-19 vaccines targeting the omicron variant will be necessary.
---
### Author:  [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/108 "2022-01-10T21:26:05Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> Keep your labs clean, people!
From the article:
> Twenty-five sequences of Deltacron have been reported to date, but experts have insisted there is no evidence to suggest that Omicron and Delta have combined to generate a new variant.
>
> “This is almost certainly not a biological recombinant of the Delta and Omicron lineages,” said Dr Jeffrey Barrett, director of the Covid-19 Genomics Initiative at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
>
> Instead, it’s been suggested that fragments of Omicron have accidentally been inserted into Delta’s genetic make-up during the sequencing process that takes place when attempting to identify a Covid variant infection.
In other words, recombination during a routine laboratory sequencing procedure does not produce a new variant. That can only occur when two viruses infect a cell, recombine, and make a bunch of new variants.
---
### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/109 "2022-01-10T21:34:23Z")
Most things I read say that Omicron is already on the fade.
---
### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/110 "2022-01-11T03:18:53Z")
311,034,676 total cases
5,512,167 dead
260,647,243 recovered
In the US:
62,661,272 total cases
861,336 dead
42,505,374 recovered
Yesterday’s numbers for comparison:
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> 307,890,832 total cases
> 5,505,883 dead
> 259,535,992 recovered
>
> In the US:
>
> 61,263,030 total cases
> 859,356 dead
> 42,257,508 recovered
---
### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/111 "2022-01-11T04:24:32Z")
The Center for COVID Control, a company that has opened something like 300 testing sites, is apparently a scam to get personal identification information as well as financial information from people. They claim to provide rapid testing, and all their results are negative. Sometimes before you even take the test! (WINK News is a CBS affiliate in Florida.)
> **[WINK News Investigates: COVID testing location in Bonita Springs providing...](https://www.winknews.com/2022/01/10/wink-news-investigates-covid-testing-location-in-bonita-springs-providing-negative-results-before-people-get-tested/)**
>
> Finding a COVID-19 test in a short time can be challenging. WINK News met a mom and dad who, while on the hunt for a test, came upon a test site at a Bonita Springs strip mall. They stopped, got in line, and registered for a test, but they got an...
---
### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/112 "2022-01-11T04:30:13Z")
Excellent contribution, **Morgyn** ; thank you _very_ much for posting that.
---
### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/113 "2022-01-11T04:56:41Z")
Searching for the company name turns up news reports from multiple states.
I’m not even surprised by this. Since time immemorial, there have been humans eager to profit from disasters and fear.
What does surprise me is how _many_ other people _are_ surprised that this is happening. There are people selling fake vaccination cards, and fake vaccines, and fake masks, and … why would they be surprised that someone is selling fake tests and telling people what they want to hear?
---
### Author:  [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/114 "2022-01-11T04:59:53Z")
> **[Starting later this week, some at-risk Americans become eligible for a 4th...](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/health/immunocompromised-fourth-dose-booster.html)**
>
> A change in federal recommendations allows moderately or severely immunocompromised people to receive their boosters five months after their third shot, which was a part of the primary immunization.
---
### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/115 "2022-01-11T06:51:39Z")
China is not fucking around:
> **[China locks down 3rd city, raising affected to 20 million](https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-china-64ca91f0f2315eabea84bb4a9d0801eb)**
>
> BEIJING (AP) — A third Chinese city has locked down its residents because of a COVID-19 outbreak, raising the number confined to their homes in China to about 20 million people. The lockdown of Anyang, home to 5.5 million people, was announced late...
---
### Author:  [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/116 "2022-01-11T07:21:17Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> China is not fucking around
Well, good luck to them, but they’re not going to be able to contain it indefinitely.
Considering that over 80% of the population is fully vaccinated, the suffering and problems caused by extreme lockdowns may be worse than covid.
[https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/07/china/china-xian-outbreak-analysis-mic-intl-hnk/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/07/china/china-xian-outbreak-analysis-mic-intl-hnk/index.html)
> “No one cares what you die of – other than Covid-19,” a user wrote on Chinese social media this week.
---
### Author:  [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/117 "2022-01-11T09:59:15Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#):
>
> Well, good luck to them, but they’re not going to be able to contain it indefinitely.
…looking at the original post:
[https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/06/china/xian-lockdown-zero-covid-intl-hnk/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/06/china/xian-lockdown-zero-covid-intl-hnk/index.html)
And comparing it to what I’m seeing happening all over the United States and Australia right now, the anecdotes seem, comparatively, mild. I certainly can’t see what leads you to believe that they won’t be able to contain it.
---
### Author:  [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/118 "2022-01-11T10:25:46Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#):
>
> And comparing it to what I’m seeing happening all over the United States and Australia right now, the anecdotes seem, comparatively, mild.
> **[Xi'an: The messy cost of China's Covid lockdown playbook](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59890533)**
>
> With stories of starvation and deaths, has anything been learnt from two years of strict measures?
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#):
>
> I certainly can’t see what leads you to believe that they won’t be able to contain it.
They may contain it in the short term, but over time it will inevitably spread, whatever they do. They can’t keep imposing extreme lockdowns of whole cities for each outbreak, year after year. Sooner or later they will have to learn to live with it.
---
### Author:  [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/119 "2022-01-11T10:42:41Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#):
>
> They may contain it in the short term, but over time it will inevitably spread, whatever they do. They can’t keep imposing extreme lockdowns of whole cities for each outbreak, year after year. Sooner or later they will have to learn to live with it.
…why not? We keep hearing that it is “inevitable.” But why? If “learn to live with it” is the utter chaos that we are seeing around the world at the moment, then perhaps “learning to live with it” isn’t the best of options.
---
### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2022, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022/120 "2022-01-11T11:28:11Z")
Poland:
> **[Poland hits sad milestone of 100,000 deaths from COVID-19](https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-europe-poland-european-union-a03349e3f4c4f5d3bed4e84fac05ff97)**
>
> Poland has become the latest European nation to reach the milestone of 100,000 deaths related to coronavirus.
> [@](#):
>
> Nearly a quarter of those deaths — some 24,000 — occurred in the most recent wave of infection that began in October, a period in which vaccines have been widely available in the European Union nation.
>
> Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said Tuesday that 493 deaths of people with COVID-19 had been registered in the past day, pushing the death toll to 100,254 in the central European nation of 38 million people.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022.md?page=5)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2022-breaking-news/957022.md?page=7)