U.S.                                                                  California

                                   CASES               DEATHS                                    CASES                 DEATHS       

December 2020    19,111,443              341,149                                2,120,610               24,241

2021   Timeline

January                  26,185,362              441,319                                3,310,949              40,702

December             54,859,966              825,816                                5,515,250              76,520

2022 Timeline

January                 74,333,528               884,265                               8,292,735               79,801

December          100,751,994            1,092,674                             11,829,499               98,637

2023 Timeline

January               104,196,861           1,132,935                              11,964,001               99,944

February             105,345,992            1,146,142                              12,084,297             100,816

March                 106,102,029            1,153,730                              12,155,825             101,798

April                     106,630,327            1,159,839                              12,221,606             102,390  

May                     107,085,763            1,164,967                              12,263,722             102,769

June                    107,280,827            1,167,763                              12,292,399             103,169

July                      107,437,289            1,169,154                              12,301,545             103,216

August                108,105,276            1,173,745                              12,374,490              104,562

September         108,752,796            1,177,283                              12,447,994             104,930

October              109,005,441            1,179,695                             12,480,306              105,277

UPDATED WEEKLY – Worldometer, Last updated on 22 October 2023

POPULATION - is 340,562,615 of 22 October 2023, 3:34 pm PST, based on Census U.S. and World Population Clock.

      * updated information

    ** no updated information at this reporting

                              Worldometer

Cases Worldwide  

• TOTAL CASES      -    696,687,269

Recovered       -    668,769,921

• TOTAL DEATHS    -        6,928,727

Cases in the U.S.

• TOTAL CASES       -   109,005,441

Recovered        -   106,899,812

• TOTAL DEATH       -        1,179,695

Cases in California

• TOTAL CASES       -     12,480,306

Recovered        -     12,310.001

• TOTAL DEATHS     -         105,277

                     *   Correction

                    **   No updated information

10/22/2023 (WHO)                  Cases           Deaths      Recovered    

• Texas                    -    8,861,046         95,162        8,726,978        
• Florida                  -    7,825,982         91,590        7,712,301        
• New York             -    7,214,660         78,103        7,117,893        
• Georgia               -    3,174,752         43,264        3,118,166  
• Tennessee*          -    2,605,338         29,842        2,571,126
• Arizona                -    2,525,849         33,774        2,477,534           
• Louisiana             -    1,679,508         19,254        1,649,395
• Nevada               -      915,037          12,159           895,257
• W. Virginia*         -       662,339            8,247           645,321

 *    no updated information at this reporting. Listed are states deleted from list due to no updates for an extended period.

• Ohio*    -     3,504,742         42,522         3,430,857        

            **   correction no updates for an extended time and deleted from list

Effective September 29, 2023, weekly updates to maps, charts, and data provided by CDC for COVID Data Tracker will occur on Fridays by 12 p.m. ET. This change aligns with the timing of CDC’s weekly updates for respiratory viruses (https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/index.html).

Changes in Vaccination Data Reporting

On June 16, the COVID-19 vaccination reporting system will track only two types of vaccinations–primary series and CDC’s new up-to-date measure. The reporting system will update data monthly and stop publishing average doses administered and doses on hand.

• https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
• https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/ - fullyVaccinatedhttps://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
• https://www.edd.ca.gov/newsroom/unemployment-may-2021.htm
• https://www.bls.gov/
• https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm
• https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/

COVID UPDATES

HEALTH NEWS

CDC warns of 'increased' RSV activity in southeastern US.  September 8, 2023.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning the American public about "increases" in respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, activity across "parts of the Southeastern United States."

The CDC describes RSV as a "common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms," but it can be "serious" and result in hospitalizations for infants and older adults.

In an advisory issued, through Health Alert Network, the CDC indicated data shows nationwide the weekly percentage of active cases identified through PCR testing has remained below the season onset threshold of 3% for two consecutive weeks.

• Data is also showing "PCR positivity above 3.0% in Florida in July and the 3-week moving average of PCR positivity greater than 5.0% for the past 4 weeks. 
• Georgia has also observed an increase in rates of RSV hospitalizations.  Among children ages <4 years, RSV-associated hospitalization rates increased from 2.0 hospitalizations to 7.0 hospitalizations per 100,000 population with the majority occurring among infants ages <1 year.

The CDC estimates RSV causes approximately 58,000–80,000 hospitalizations and 100–300 deaths in children ages <5 years, as well as 60,000–160,000 hospitalizations and 6,000–10,000 deaths among adults ages 65 years and older every year."

FDA APPROVES NEW DRUG BEYFORTUS TO PROTECT BABIES, TODDLERS FROM RSV.  RSV, according to the CDC, is primarily transmitted person to person through respiratory droplets when an infected individual coughs or sneezes or if someone comes into direct contact with a contaminated surface.

The RSV season typically starts in the fall and peaks during winter; but in recent years, the pattern has been upended due to public health measures implemented during the coronavirus pandemic, health officials say.

To help protect against its spread, the CDC says "monoclonal antibody products" are available for infants and some young children, while "two new vaccines are available to protect older adults from severe RSV disease."

VACCINE UPDATE

CDC - Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines.  Updated Sept. 15, 2023.  What You Need to Know

• CDC recommends the 2023–2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines.
• Everyone aged 5 years and older should get 1 dose of the updated Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to protect against serious illness from COVID-19.
• People moderately or severely immunocompromised  - may get additional doses of updated COVID-19 vaccine.
• Children aged 6 months–4 years  - need multiple doses of COVID-19 vaccines to be up to date, including at least 1 dose of updated COVID-19 vaccine.

Recommendation - Everyone Aged 5 Years and Older.   Everyone aged 5 years and older should get 1 updated COVID-19 vaccine, two months after getting the last dose of any COVID-19 vaccine.

Recommendation for People Who May Get Additional Updated COVID-19 Vaccines.  People moderately or severely immunocompromised may get additional doses of updated COVID-19 vaccines.  Talk to your healthcare provider.   

Recommendations for Children Aged 6 Months—4 Years.

• Children Not Vaccinated - aged 6 months – 4 years, should get two or three doses of updated COVID-19 vaccine depending on which vaccine they receive.
  • Pfizer-BioNTech
  • Moderna
• Children Who Got Previous COVID-19 Vaccine(s) - Children aged 6 months–4 years who got COVID-19 vaccines before September 12, 2023, should get one or two doses of updated COVID-19 vaccine depending on which vaccine and the number of doses they’ve previously received.
  • Pfizer-BioNTech
  • Moderna

Recommendation for People Who May Want Another COVID-19 Vaccine Option.   People 12 years and older who are unable or choose not to get an updated Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine can consider other options to get up to date:  Novavax

As of September 12, 2023, the 2023–2024 updated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were recommended by CDC for use in the United States.  The 2023–2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines more closely targets the XBB lineage of the Omicron variant and could restore protection against severe COVID-19 that may have decreased over time.

Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, for emergency use authorization, EUA, in individuals aged 12 and older.

2022–2023 Bivalent vaccines.  As of September 11, 2023, the bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are no longer available for use in the United States.  The 2022–2023 bivalent vaccines were designed to protect against the original virus and the Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.

As of May 6, 2023, J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine is no longer available for use in the United States.

New Covid variant pirola ‘spreading’ in the community.  September 8, 2023.   ·The new Covid-19 variant BA.2.86, or “pirola”, is spreading and has already caused an outbreak in a care home, the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned.  There was no evidence that pirola was more dangerous or would take over from the current variants circulating in Britain, but urged those who are eligible for a booster vaccine to take up the offer.

Autumn vaccines brought forward.  The Department of Health and Social Care announced the autumn vaccine program will be brought forward to Sept 11, as a precautionary measure following the emergence of BA.2.86.

Data published from lab studies, suggest BA.2.86 may be less contagious and less able to evade the immune system than previously feared.  Scientists were initially concerned of the 35 mutations on its spike protein, the part of the virus that Covid-19 vaccines target.

Two independent labs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, found that immune responses were comparable to or higher than that seen with current circulating variants.

This year’s booster vaccines are designed around XBB and so are likely to also protect against pirola.  Moderna and Pfizer said that lab studies had shown that their updated booster jabs generated a strong antibody response against BA.2.86.

VARIANT UPDATE

HERE WE GO……MORE TRANSFORMERS!!!!!

What’s the difference between Pirola, Eris and Pi?  Covid variants explained.  Tue, September 5, 2023 at 8:31 AM PDT.   New Covid variants continue to spread across the globe as experts are warning cases will rise as the summer ends.  Three Omicron strains have emerged showing significant mutations from the original variant.

The arrival of Eris, Pi and most recently, Pirola, coincides with unsettled weather and “small but significant” rising hospital admissions in England.  The UK has seen 93,083 new cases of Covid as of 3 September, according to The Zoe Health Study.

Here is everything you need to know about the new Covid variants:

• Pirola or BA.2.86, is the latest Omicron variant to appear this summer, with 34 more mutations than the BA.2, according to virologist Professor Lawrence Young.

Globally, the variant has been detected in Denmark, South Africa, Israel, the United Kingdom and the U.S.  As of 23 August, the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention indicated there were two cases of BA.2.86 detected in the US.

• Eris or EG.5.1, a descendant of Omicron, on 9 August was first classified as a variant by the World Health Organization (WHO).  Eris is the second most prevalent variant in the UK after Arcturus or XBB.1.16, and the most common variant in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A key difference of Eris from other Omicron variants is it has an additional mutation, F456L, in the spike protein which might account for its ability to evade the neutralizing antibody response from previous Omicron infections.

• Pi or BA.6, another variant of Omicron.  It has only been sequenced so far in Denmark and Israel since 24 July.  Professor Christina Pagel said, “although it is very early, Pi has a lot of new mutations that make it very different to previous Omicron strains.”

What are the symptoms?  According to the New Scientist, all three variants are strains of Omicron, with the five most common symptoms of:

• Runny nose
• Headache
• Fatigue (mild or severe)
• Sneezing
• Sore throat

Three additional symptoms have been commonly reported:

• diarrhea,
• eye irritation and
• rashes,

How worried should we be?  Prof. Young told The Independent, the new mutated variants are “competing with each other and are continuing to change as they spread.”  It’s likely that there will be waves of infection over the winter. The hope is that, with various mitigations including autumn vaccine boosters with XBB-lineage updated mRNA vaccines, these will be small waves.

Despite “concerns,” new variants will be able to evade immunity and cause more serious disease than previous variants.  Prior immunity from vaccination and infection “continues to provide good protection for most people.

Highly mutated COVID variant BA.2.86 now spotted in 10 states.  Updated Mon, September 18, 2023 at 9:49 AM PDT.   People across 10 states have been infected by BA.2.86, a highly mutated variant of the COVID-19 virus.   According to data from the global virus database GISAID, labs have reported BA.2.86 in Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington.  Estimates suggest BA.2.86 still remains a small fraction of new COVID-19 cases nationwide.

A long list of closely related XBB variant descendants, are driving virtually all infections around the country.  Many of these lineages actually have identical spike sequences.   Health authorities believe BA.2.86 is continuing to spread widely around the world.   Scientists first voiced concern in August over the strain's large number of mutations.  Some of the people infected with BA.2.86 do not have known links to other infected individuals and did not recently travel to areas with known cases of illness from BA.2.86. 

Could BA.2.86 drive a new surge this winter?   The CDC described early research findings as "reassuring" regarding the variant, suggesting it may not be as capable of evading the body's immune defenses as initially feared.  Vaccine manufacturers have also said their data suggest the updated COVID-19 shots now being rolled out should also work against BA.2.86.

What to know about the updated COVID shots for fall 2023 COVID, flu and RSV: Expert advice for protecting yourself as virus season approaches.  Research on BA.2.86 has so relied on pseudo-viruses, which are other viruses mocked up in a lab to mimic BA.2.86's distinctive mutations. Better findings need to use viruses grown from actual samples of infected patients, a process which is now underway.

"CDC has generated two authentic isolates of BA.2.86, one confirmed and one putative. One leading indicator of the virus, emergency department visits, has been trending down in recent weeks. Past years have seen renewed upticks of the virus return in the colder months, alongside influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus).  Scientists have tracked BA.2.86 beginning to evolve into two different branches spotted in the U.S. so far, among the handful of cases reported globally. 

COVID outbreaks hit workplaces, schools across California as summer illnesses worsen.  September 7, 2023.   The summer COVID bump is worsening in California, with infections spreading at schools and workplaces and hospitalizations ticking up.

In Los Angeles County, the number of new COVID-19 outbreak investigations at work sites tripled in the last month.  While at L.A. County schools, COVID-19 outbreaks rose 43%.  The rate reported coronavirus tests are coming back positive is up statewide, to 14%.

Officials noted that L.A. County is not seeing exponential growth in COVID-19.  Hospitalizations, while rising, remain at lower levels than this time last year.  So far, L.A. County hasn't seen a significant increase in daily COVID-19 deaths.  The proportion of emergency room encounters designated COVID-related is also stable.

"I am not alarmed by these numbers. It would be wise for people to take sensible precautions, like staying home when sick, washing hands often, and for higher-risk people, putting masks back on in indoor crowded places,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.

How to Protect Yourself?  Getting vaccinated is your best bet!

IT’S NOT OVER!

Stay safe.  Mask.  Social distance.  Frequent hand washing.  Avoid crowds

ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR PERSONAL HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL

• https://news.yahoo.com/difference-between-pirola-eris-pi-153131276.html
• https://news.yahoo.com/covid-variant-pirola-spreading-community-105556842.html
• https://news.yahoo.com/cdc-warns-increased-rsv-activity-125417942.html
• https://news.yahoo.com/lifestyle/highly-mutated-covid-variant-ba-154357662.html
• https://news.yahoo.com/covid-outbreaks-hit-workplaces-schools-232143310.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html