John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center 3:24 PM
US Totals: Infections 62,117,454

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Another Record High Day for Hospitalizations

“The number of Americans in hospitals with COVID-19 exceeded the peak seen last winter, highlighting the speed with which the highly transmissible omicron variant is spreading.

"COVID-19 deaths are averaging 1,653 a day, up 36% from two weeks ago. Deaths lag hospitalizations and new cases.” NBC News

"KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri is setting a new record for patients hospitalized with COVID-19. State hospital leaders shared their anxieties about the latest surge Tuesday.

"We're in a really precarious space right now." Missouri Hospital Association Vice President of Media Relations Dave Dillon said. MHA has been tracking the number of COVID-19 patients in Missouri hospitals for nearly two years. Patient numbers have never been higher. 'We've got 3,200 plus in hospitals right now. So that is stressing our capacity significantly,' Dillon said. That's about 400 more COVID-19 patients than the state's previous peak last winter."

we are also having a lot of staffing challenges,” Dillon said. Like with previous surges, cases are impacting more than just COVID-19 patients, 'That is really problematic, not just for people sick with COVID-19 but for people who are having a stroke, or a heart attack, or have had a traumatic injury. Those are the kinds of people that need a bed and these beds are not available right now.'"
KMBC News

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Mask Mandate

"ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — St. Louis County Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, who previously opposed a county-wide mask mandate, said she tested positive for COVID-19 — and it was a difficult battle.
Webb and Councilwoman Rita Days then did an about-face on the masking issue; after hearing from so many of their constituents in north St. Louis County. ‘This virus has no respect of person,’ said Webb. 'We all need to be vaccinated and masked.' Webb and Days had initially sided with Republicans on the Council who opposed mask mandates, but the two councilwomen began getting a lot of push back from their constituents."

"Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit against St. Louis County in an attempt to block the new mask mandate that went into effect on Jan. 5.” FOX News

"COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican attorney general, Eric Schmitt, sued China over the coronavirus. He signed on to a failed lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Now, as he positions himself for a Senate run, he’s turning his attention closer to home and suing to stop mask mandates in the state's liberal cities and Missouri schools."

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Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated

“’If you look at vaccinated vs. unvaccinated, there’s about a 10 times greater chance that you would be infected if you were unvaccinated, about a 17 times greater chance that you would be hospitalized if you were unvaccinated and a 20 times [higher] likelihood that you would be dead if you were unvaccinated’, said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the top coronavirus adviser to the Biden White House.”
Market Watch News

“'Missouri was the first state to file suit against the Biden Administration’s private employer vaccine mandate and health care worker vaccine mandate. In Missouri, we were the first to obtain an injunction halting the health care worker vaccine mandate,' said Attorney General Schmitt. 'My Office will never back down.'” News - Missouri Attorney General - Mo.gov

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WHO

“All the data show that vaccines continue to provide strong protection against serious illness and death, making it more important than ever that unvaccinated people get their shots.”
“However, ‘World can’t boost its way out of the pandemic using existing vaccines, WHO experts say.”

“A group of experts Tuesday highlighted the need for new jabs that are better at keeping people from becoming infected in the first place.”
Market Watch News

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Overwhelmed

"Hospitals in some areas are filling fast, and U.S. companies are reporting staffing issues due to illness with omicron in increasing numbers. Case numbers are likely undercounted because many people are testing at home, and their positive diagnoses are not being recorded. But the sharp spike shows the virus is spreading fast, creating many breakthrough cases in people who have been vaccinated and even boosted, and has not yet peaked.

"The risk now is that hospitals will be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cases and that this will cause preventable fatalities."

Market Watch News
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