THIS WEEK'S SUMMARY - July 9, 2022:
This wave, though almost a plateau, keeps having ups and downs. Prolonging it is the fact that sub variants change to evade people's natural or vaccinated defenses, sub variants are far more contagious, and people seem less cautious. Cases seem more manageable but people can get re-infected several times.
Also added is useful covid data for Catron, Hidalgo, Luna, Dona Ana, and Sierra counties.
OUR LOCAL GEOGRAPHIC AREA:
Grant County did better; cases fell [page 15]; workplace cases mostly fell [page 18, 19]. Recent GRMC Covid admissions were stable [page 22]; with earlier covid-like ED visits bouncing around [page 23, 26]. Silver City, Bayard, and Hurley cases are not concerning [page 16, 17]. Grant County had 0 COVID deaths [page 14]. Covid variants are significant so caution is advised.
OUR STATE:
NM positivity and hospital beds were generally leveling [page 12, 13], while workplace reports seemed to be leveling. Omicron sub variants increased [page 37]. NM case doubling times are not an issue [page 5, 6]. NM daily deaths fell [page 12, 14].
NEIGHBORING STATES:
AZ statistics rose. CO cases oscillate aggravated by older located cases being added to recent counts, covid beds seem stable. TX cases, positivity, and covid beds continued to rise [page 8, 9, 10].
NATIONALLY:
New cases are not rising, but positivity, and hospitalizations rose [page 7]. Cases may be in a gentle wave which changing sub variants may be prolonging, anecdotally aggravated by less covid precautions.
HOSPITALS:
US admissions 7 day average was 3833 (5/30) and now 4624 (7/2/22) (CDC) [page 28]
COVID like ED visits: Grant County were lower, Luna was stable, But Sierra rose [page 23, 41, 43]
COVID inpatient beds increased in AZ & TX; NM & CO seem stable
VARIANT GROWTH:
In AZ, CO, NM, and TX the BA.4 and BA.5 [page 37] rose, which may also prolong this wave. While contagion is high, cases are more manageable for most people.
SOMEWHAT RECENT NEWS:
06/17/22: Several factors may affect case rates by vaccination and booster status making interpretation of recent trends difficult. Limitations include higher prevalence of previous infection among the unvaccinated and un-boosted groups; difficulty accounting for time since vaccination and waning protection; possible differences in testing practices (such as at-home tests), and prevention behaviors by age and vaccination status. [data points are old, update is current]
06/11/22: Immunity gained during last omicron wave is fading, so sub variants rise. Many Americans aren't taking Covid precautions anymore, assuming they won't get sick. [Dr. David Dowdy, associate professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins]