R.I.P. Scout26
XBB.1.16, dubbed “Arcturus” by variant trackers, is very similar to U.S. dominant “Kraken” XBB.1.5—the most transmissible COVID variant yet, Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead for the WHO, said earlier this week at a news conference.
It was just announced here in Idaho that for the two largest health providers, masks will no longer be required in medical facilities. I expect the rest will follow suit. Medical facilities were the last holdouts here on masking.
Now let's see if California, Oregon and Washington follow Idaho's lead.
Just got an e-mail that my employer is dropping the corporate mandate that anyone entering one of our worksites be vaccinated, and be able to show proof of vaccination.
Thankfully my employer never required the jab. Nor did my new employer.
How do you tell a healthcare worker in Washington state: They have several masks scattered around in their car so they can grab one and put it on before walking into work.
I would postulate that the death rate has decreased largely due to the "low hanging fruit" having already been picked. The tendency to intubate as initial therapy in some areas could have bumped those numbers. Couple that with less patient care due to healthcare workers not showing up due to media promulgated fear, caused a hump in the graph - but I suspect we're seeing a trough after the fact... I need to look harder... I would also postulate that vaccinated/unvaccinated was only one of the potential differences... The vaccinated population quite likely was healthier/more affluent to begin with, more likely to pay attention to physicians/caregivers...