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John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
US Totals: Infections 54,286,545

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"The U.S. reported nearly half a million new COVID infections in a single day,
marking the largest daily total of any country during the pandemic.

It's estimated that more than three Americans are testing positive every second" according to CDC data.

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Tally is up 1 Million New COVID Cases in just 2 days.

Up 2 Million in 5 days.
Up 3 Million in 10 days.
Up 6 Million new Cases in the month of December.
Both Delta and Omicron are circulating.

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"CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told NPR in an interview
that given the shortage in COVID-19 tests right now,
ultimately, the official number of positive cases is likely undercounted.” ABC News

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"We are at the very beginning, unfortunately, and likely have at least four to eight weeks before we're going to see it rise and then begin to fall again. And during that time, we are going to see COVID activity in this country like we haven't seen since the beginning of the pandemic," Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, told CBS News.

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“The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said the omicron variant is spreading rapidly in the state.
‘Omicron should be feared. It should be something respected,’ said Don Kauerauf, DHSS director. ‘Getting vaccinated and boosted are the best ways to protect yourself and others.’ Yet the state still ranks near the bottom in nationwide vaccination rates with 53.6% of Missourians fully vaccinated, even with the threat of the omicron variant.” KMBC News

The county, in which we live, has a vaccination rate of just 41.9% (almost 12% lower than Missouri’s already low vaccination rate).
This creates a welcoming habitat for the virus (be it Delta or Omicron or a new variant yet to be discovered) to continue to thrive.

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Meanwhile, "JEFFERSON CITY — Even as the number of COVID-19 cases is surging,
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced Thursday that he will let a 22-month-long state of emergency declaration expire on New Year’s Eve.

"With state COVID positivity rates currently setting all time records,
Parson said he would not renew the declaration saying 'there is no longer a need for a state of emergency.'"

"The decision was immediately criticized by Missouri Hospital Association spokesman Dave Dillon, who said it will restrict the ability to provide care as inpatient numbers near the peak for the year. 'The end of a public health emergency itself is going to have absolutely no influence on how the virus spreads,' he said. 'It is more incumbent that people do the right thing. We are going to have diminished capacity, initially, to care for patients.'”

"Parson has spent much of the pandemic opposing mandates and business closures." The Missouri Independent

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Even with all that is going on with COVID, LARGE indoor gatherings for tomorrow (New Year's Eve) are being advertised - and even encouraged - within our Metro.

Human behavior here is pretty much as if COVID doesn’t exist. Even with infection rates skyrocketing, no New Year's Eve functions or gatherings have been called off. That also includes several large children's functions that normally will draw a crowd of hundreds to thousands of children each during the day. The “hands on” one at Union Station has tickets for 3,000 children; with no masks required or social distancing required.

According to local TV news, after these indoors daytime activities, parents will then attend various, well-advertised, public large gatherings themselves - with other maskless strangers – crowding together indoors to ring in the New Years. Thanks to the State’s Attorney General’s cracking down on statewide health departments, there are no indoor mask ordinances to slow down a general public from more easily spreading the virus.

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Again today, local doctors and health officials are still begging New Year's Eve party goers
to PLEASE NOT crowd together and absolutely NOT hug or kiss a complete stranger when the clock strikes midnight;
plus, to also wear a mask if you will be with others outside your home family group.

However, if someone is attending a very large indoors New Year's Eve gathering, all pleas from the health community will undoubtedly go unheeded.
Almost no one in our area ever wears a face mask to start out with… Plus social distancing is long a thing of the past.

Based on human disregard for behaving in a safe manner, there will undoubtedly be an additional New Years COVID surge after this weekend. That will be on top of the Christmas surge that is driving infections and hospitalization numbers into the stratosphere. Health officials and hospital staffs are quite alarmed about all this. The medical profession is already burnt out. Unfortunately, they will not be getting a break after New Year's; as the pandemic worsens.

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Our personal New Year's Eve plans tomorrow are Prime Rib at home and a bottle of nice champagne, safely away from others outside our household. Honey Baked Ham on New Year's Day and still staying home. The rest of the New Year of 2022, who knows? Hopefully, we will continue to have the ability to remain safe and healthy.