Our last Covid tracking post was six months ago as we approached the holidays and it tracked the holiday surge through last week here. Life may not have been simpler then, but it seemed clearer. You did all the things they told you to do, hoped for the best and could essentially see how it was going in the County to gauge your own personal risk. Those were the old days. Now tracking is blurrier. Home testing is private testing. Symptoms can be so light that you think it's allergies--ask me how I know. Past infections raise immunity for some period of time, but how long? My neighbor got it, got through it and Kaiser told him to get a booster right away. That seems over-protective while waiting a few months extends protection, but it's blurry. The County dashboard that I use for the Saturday updates occasionally splashes a screen saying the numbers from the state are missing without explaining why we need the state to report our own County data. Nonetheless, let's press on with tracking what we know and acknowledging what we don't know.
Here are the numbers for last week and they look terrible:
Total Cases: 134,492 - Up 6,902 in the County for the week -- up 385% over last week's increase.
Burlingame Cases: 4,249 - Up by 186 over last week, so 63% higher than last week which was almost double the prior week. 367 cases in the last 30 days.
Hospitalizations in the County: 40, up by 11 and double two weeks ago.
The Spring surge (is that the 5th or 6th, I forget) is definitely here. The County has a few new tidbits to advise here, but it sort of the same story.
I heard on 60 minutes that the pandemic is over. Spread the word. Can we get rid of the ugly parklets?
Posted by: resident | September 20, 2022 at 12:32 AM
I skipped the update last weekend, so this is two weeks' worth of data:
Total Cases: 169,431 - Up 1,320 in the County for two weeks so down a bit on a weekly basis.
Burlingame Cases: 5,635 up 59 for the two weeks so flat.
Perhaps I am just more attuned to it because of these updates, but the mask-wearing seems to be back on the upswing. There are more KN-95s available and in use, but the basic paper mask or designer cloth ones continue to be used even with their degraded performance known.
Posted by: Joe | September 24, 2022 at 01:40 PM
This week brought a new variant: the CDC "started to track the BF.7, a new Omicron subvariant. BF.7's spike protein has an extra genetic mutation compared with BA.5, and it is the third most-prevalent strain, accounting for 2.3% of all US COVID-19 cases for the week ending Saturday."
The numbers for the week in the County are:
Total Cases: 170,136 - Up 705 in the County so basically the same for weeks in a row.
Burlingame Cases: 5,664 up 29 for the two weeks lower than recent weeks.
Posted by: Joe | October 01, 2022 at 01:09 PM
It's new subvariant week on the Covid front. BF.7 BQ.1 BQ.1.1 BA4.6 and on and on. I skipped last week, so here are the numbers for the fortnight in the County:
Total Cases: 171,175 - Up 1,039 in the County for two weeks, so slowing down more.
Burlingame Cases: 5,714 up 50 for the two weeks so also lower than recent weeks.
The question is still how much these numbers undercount because most people are not reporting or seeking much treatment?
Posted by: Joe | October 15, 2022 at 01:04 PM
I, Gavinius Caesar, hereby declare the pandemic to be over next Februarius. Do not doubt my divine insight into the timing.
Posted by: Gavinius Caesar | October 19, 2022 at 01:58 PM
The numbers must be off like crazy. I know more people sick than ever with covid. Fortunately most people seem to be doing OK -- like worst flu ever for a week and then another week of feeling really weak and easily tired, and then a lingering cough for 4-6 weeks. Not to mention my co-workers with young kids getting sniffles and stomach bugs that are spreading at day care. We're stocking up on hand sanitizer and kleenex at the office.
Posted by: HMB | October 19, 2022 at 09:55 PM
The topic of boosters for the Fall is on everyone's mind. Will they work against the sub-variants? When is the optimum time to do it? Stick with whatever brand you started with? Do the flu shot at the same time? Lots of questions. Here's is the every-other-week update on the numbers
Total Cases: 172,179 - Up 1,004 in the County for two weeks, so flat over the start of October.
Burlingame Cases: 5,749 up only 35 for the two weeks so also lower than recent weeks.
I haven't heard of many cases but I also don't doubt HMB's observation either.
Posted by: Joe | October 29, 2022 at 05:02 PM
All the talk this week is about the triple threat of an early flu season, RSV among mostly kids and Covid. The numbers, while still incomplete since they come from the County according to what is reported, are up lately.
Here's is the every-other-week update on the numbers
Total Cases: 173,443 - Up 1,264 in the County for two weeks, so up about 20% over the start of October.
Burlingame Cases: 5,819 up 70 for the two weeks so double the number from recent weeks.
Posted by: Joe | November 12, 2022 at 01:12 PM
My it's-so-wonderful-to-have-everyone-back-in-the-office boss missed the annual, in-person, fly-in-all-the-remote-people retreat ... because she got covid.
Posted by: HMB | November 13, 2022 at 01:56 PM
Here's the two-week check-in. Two weeks we were talking about the "triple threat", but as far as I am concerned, we missed the main issue which is some nasty virus running around that is neither Covid, the fly or RSV. I got it and really don't like it. Talked to a doctor friend down on the Central coast and he and five other docs in their little private practice all got it. There are others, too. In the meantime, here's the two-week metrics with the caveat that the Thanksgiving holiday may have delayed some reporting:
Total Cases: 174,314 - Up only 871 in the County for two weeks, so slowing down among reported cases.
Burlingame Cases: 5,855 up 36 for the two weeks also slower.
Posted by: Joe | November 26, 2022 at 01:20 PM
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm not confident last week's numbers were as current as usual on Saturdays. Given that, here are this week's figures showing the increases:
Total Cases: 176,261 - Up 1.947 in the County for one week so we may be seeing the seasonal uptick that the newspapers are reporting
Burlingame Cases: 5,909 up 54 for the week.
Posted by: Joe | December 03, 2022 at 02:32 PM
I've been wondering if the numbers would match the press coverage this week about cases spiking. Santa Clara County appears to have moved up a notch and may reinstate indoor masking. Wastewater analysis seems to be driving a lot of the press reports. Here are the numbers:
Total Cases: 177,462 - Up 1,201 in the County for one week which is actually down quite a bit.
Burlingame Cases: 5,954 up 45 for the week so also slower.
I guess the main conclusion is the reported numbers are as foggy as ever.....
Posted by: Joe | December 10, 2022 at 01:12 PM
As has been the case for awhile, the numbers do not match the headlines. Looking at the headlines, you would think we are approaching the peak infection rate, but the numbers per the County are pretty stable. Check out the graph here: https://www.smchealth.org/data-dashboard/county-data-dashboard
Total Cases: 178,590 - Up 1,128 in the County for one week which is actually down again from the last two weeks.
Burlingame Cases: 5,995 up 41 for the week so also slower.
Hospitalized: 53 so up quite a bit since I stopped tracking it a few months ago when it was 10-20.
Posted by: Joe | December 17, 2022 at 12:42 PM
I’m finding a correlation between the percentage of people who say Merry Christmas this time of year with the percentage of people who wear masks. Less Merry Christmas equals more masks.
Went to a Christmas concert in the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara with 1500 people. Two masks.
It might also have something to do with the percentage of Christmas trees with a star on top vs. trees with nothing on top.
Posted by: Peter Garrison | December 18, 2022 at 07:47 AM
Another month/year and another subvariant. Here's this week's news:
The COVID omicron XBB 1.5 subvariant, which is highly immune evasive and especially adept at binding to cells, has surged over the past week in the U.S. The number of XBB 1.5 cases has doubled over that period, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and accounted for 41% of all COVID cases in the United States. The XBB subvariant family is concerning to scientists and public health officials because its many mutations could lead to breakthrough infections, and the vaccines might be less effective against them.
Here in SM County, the uptick for the last two weeks hasn't shown up which is really a function of the data reporting getting blurrier:
Total Cases: 180,331 - Up 1,741 in the County for two weeks.
Burlingame Cases: 6035 up 40 for two weeks so also slower.
Hospitalized: 40
Posted by: Joe | January 01, 2023 at 05:10 PM
While we work to stay dry as 9" of rain have fallen in two weeks, here is the two-week update on Covid cases in the county:
Total Cases: 181,580 - Up only 1,249 in the County for two weeks so either the reporting is becoming less accurate as time goes by or XBB1.5 isn't kicking in like reported.
Burlingame Cases: 6100 up 65 but apparently the city by city data is only for one week (as of 1/5 data).
Hospitalized: 31 , down about 20%
Posted by: Joe | January 14, 2023 at 01:49 PM
This is just anecdotal: Have a friend whose wife is a dr at Kaiser. He was sick with what he figured was a bad flu, but given that he is immunocompromised (cancer) and some family members he had seen over the holidays came down with COVID, he took rapid tests and for several days his rapid tests came back negative. But his wife decided that he should take a PCR test, and that came back positive. So she got him on Paxlovid and he's going much better except for lingering cough. So maybe some of those rapid tests aren't so accurate with variants. (And some that have had their exp dates extended are now expiring.)
Posted by: HMB | January 14, 2023 at 04:52 PM