Thanks for visiting my weekly COVID-19 update! Data sources used for this report appear at the bottom of the page.
Tuesday, December 12, 2023 – Here is this week’s COVID-19 update with the latest numbers, analysis, and links to useful news. Stay safe, take your Vitamin D, wear a good mask, get vaccinated, and don’t be a spreader 😷!
Related Links
Here are some related items you might find useful:
- Why I’m Taking Vitamin D in the Age of COVID-19
- Find a Test-to-Treat (with Paxlovid) location near you
- Find a vaccine or booster at vaccines.gov
- Order free COVID tests
- A timeline of events related to COVID-19 starting in December of 2019
Updated Numbers
IMPORTANT NOTE: On May 11, 2023, the Public Health Emergency declaration for COVID-19 expired. As a result, both the CDC and the State of Georgia no longer collect or publish as much data as they did previously. Most notably, data about tests and test positivity rate are no longer available. In addition, weekly confirmed cases are not available at the national level. The CDC only publishes data on Hospitalizations and Deaths, which are more accurate than data about tests and infections, since so many people now test at home. In addition, the CDC no longer requires health departments to report negative tests, so test positivity data is no longer available. The tables and charts below reflect the data which are available.
Updated Charts
Interactive Maps
Observations on This Week’s Numbers
United States 🇺🇸
Hospitalization and Deaths
- Weekly hospitalizations are now 250% higher than (TRIPLE) July 1.
- Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the number of people in the US who are hospitalized due to COVID each week only fell below 10,000 for a single 13-week period, between May and July of 2023. This disease is now hospitalizing over 22,000 people every week.
- The seven-day average for daily deaths is 35% higher than the level of July 1.
- So far in 2023, the disease has killed 65,394 people in the United States. At this time last year it had killed 242,419 people. This year has had 27% as many deaths as last year at this point.
- The disease is currently killing about 725 people a week in the United States. That’s about one death every 14 minutes.
COVID Compared to Influenza
According to government statistics, over the past ten years, influenza (flu) has killed an average of 36,000 people a year. That equates to about 690 people a week. COVID is presently killing 1.1 times as many people a week as the average flu season.
Georgia 🍑
Infections
- Daily confirmed cases in Georgia are about 6% lower than the level on July 1.
Hospitalizations and Deaths
- Daily hospitalizations in Georgia are about 106% higher (about double) the level of July 1.
- Daily deaths in Georgia are about the same as the level of July 1.
Useful News
COVID Vaccines
- Repeated mRNA vaccines supercharge immune response against COVID-19, study finds
- Human trials for universal flu vaccine may start as COVID, flu cases begin to rise
- Stay Healthy: Time to catch up on Flu, COVID vaccine
- Researchers discover new lipid nanoparticle that shows muscle-specific mRNA delivery, reduces off-target effects.
- Up the Nose and Down the Windpipe May Be the Path to New and Improved COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID Variants
- New COVID Variant JN.1 Could Disrupt Holiday Plans
- The Updated COVID-19 Shot Works on the Newest Variants – TIME
- Study shows T cells can tackle new ‘Pirola’ SARS-CoV-2 variant
- New SARS-CoV-2 variant JN.1 shows increased transmissibility and immune resistance
- New ‘highly transmissible’ Covid variant JN.1 ‘could trigger fresh wave of cases and hit already packed hospitals’
- Surge of the SARS-CoV-2 JN.1 Variant – Understanding, Vaccination, and Importance of Booster Shots
- New COVID variant JN.1 fuels eighth wave of mass infection in the US
Testing, Treatment, Prevention, Vitamin D, Long COVID, and Other News
- Home Test to Treat program extends nationwide | National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Free COVID and flu tests, telehealth, and treatment now available
- At-home treatment for flu, COVID-19 expands nationwide
- Here’s How to Get Free Flu and COVID-19 Tests and Treatments
- COVID is still killing 1,000 Americans per week while hospitalizations rise, CDC reports
- U.S. COVID-19 Hospitalizations Rise as New Variant Spreads
- Covid and flu rising ahead of holidays, increasing ER visits
- CDC director recommends masking against tide of rising respiratory illnesses, including COVID
- Opinion | Reporting on Long Covid Taught Me to Be a Better Journalist – The New York Times
- Experimental drug that alters gut microbiome shows promise for long-COVID relief
- Long COVID cases will likely increase with each new wave, so why are we closing clinics? – ABC News
- China restarts COVID-19 testing in hospitals, airports
Georgia Pandemic News
- Flu Activity At High In GA As COVID, RSV Cases Continue To Rise | Across Georgia, GA Patch
- Flu, other respiratory illnesses soar in Georgia, South Carolina
California & San Diego Pandemic News
- California hospitalizations climb as COVID, flu and RSV infections increase
- Whooping Cough Cases Increase In San Diego County
- ‘Tis the flu, COVID, RSV season. California health officials urge vaccines – Los Angeles Times
Last Week’s News
Here are last week’s news items:
COVID Vaccines
- COVID: Almost 40% of over-65s not yet taken booster jab for Christmas – Sky News
- WHO authorizes emergency use of Novavax’s updated COVID vaccine – Reuters
- Covid vaccine rates in the U.S. are slumping — and it will be a challenge to boost them – CNBC
- XBB.1.5 vaccine booster shows promise against new Omicron variants in latest study
- CDC’s Mandy Cohen says 16% of people boosted for COVID ‘is not enough’
- Japan approves first domestically developed COVID-19 XBB vaccine – The Japan Times
COVID Variants
- SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern as of 24 November 2023 – European Union
- COVID variant BA.2.86 triples in new CDC estimates, now 8.8% of cases – CBS News
- COVID-19 variant BA.2.86 cases triple in two weeks, CDC estimates
- New CDC Advisory Once Again Flags BA.2.86 COVID Variant
- What To Know About Rapidly Spreading ‘Pirola’ Covid Variant BA.2.86—And If Vaccines Offer Protection – Forbes
- Should we worry about JN1? Covid’s new variant rapidly spreading
Testing, Treatment, Prevention, Vitamin D, Long COVID, and Other News
- Long COVID Rates Appear to Be Decreasing – Scientific American
- Newer virus strains less likely to cause long COVID
- New Tests May Finally Diagnose Long COVID
- Meta-analysis reveals high rates of heart complications in long-COVID patients | CIDRAP
- Can Paxlovid Improve Long COVID Symptoms?
- Swine flu: UK detects first human case of new strain
- Unvaccinated and Vulnerable: Children Drive Surge in Deadly Outbreaks
- Illness Surge in China Is Not From a Novel Pathogen, Data Suggests
- Taiwan urges elderly, young to avoid China visits due to respiratory illnesses
- Forget the ‘tripledemic.’ The U.S. is headed for a ‘syndemic’ this winter—and experts warn we’re not prepared
Georgia Pandemic News
- Free COVID tests headed to nation’s schools – GPB News
- Georgia offers COVID, influenza test kit kiosks
- Atlanta charity health center awarded for care quality, pandemic response
California & San Diego Pandemic News
- Whooping cough cases on rise in San Diego County
- COVID-19 in San Diego County – Local Situation
- San Diego Wastewater Surveillance
Notes Regarding Data Sources
United States Data
Metrics for confirmed infections, deaths, and tests performed in the United States come from the CDC’s official COVID Data Tracker site.
Georgia Data
All tables and graphs appearing on this page for the State of Georgia use official data from the State of Georgia Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Status Report.
Data Sources
United States Data
- The COVID Tracking Project (prior to March 7, 2021)
- CDC: COVID-19 Cases in U.S.
- CDC: COVID Data Tracker
- https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
- CDC: United States Laboratory Testing
- United States Coronavirus – Worldometer
State of Georgia Data
- COVID-19 Daily Status Report | Georgia Department of Public Health
- COVID Vaccine | Georgia Department of Public Health
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Georgia