The COVID Digest, 30Jul2022

Living with COVID

Jul 30, 2022

∙ Paid

As we are now bearing witness to multiple public health emergencies this newsletter is going to begin to transition from a COVID-19 focus to something more inclusive of the other threats we face. Thank you for your past support and readership! I hope you’ll continue to value the newsletter through this transition.

Today we’re talking about COVID-19 and Monkeypox.

COVID-19

COVID is not over, it’s just over for those in power to do anything about it. And they definitely want us to stop talking about COVID-19. This week’s update from CDC includes the hospital accessibility map (Community Level map) that identifies the degree of difficulty one would have accessing a hospital bed if they needed one. Eighty eight percent of the US population lives in a county in a high or medium range of difficulty. CDC wants us to “consider” taking steps to protect ourselves and others, like wearing a mask.

CDC @CDCgov

As of July 28, nearly 88% of US population is in a location w/ a medium or high #COVID19 Community Level. If you live in a medium or high community level, consider taking steps to protect yourself & others, like masking. Find your COVID-19 Community Level: bit.ly/36RiqiR

A map of the U.S. shows COVID-19 community levels as of July 28. 18.7% of counties are in a low community level, 35.5% are in a medium level, and 45.8% are in a high level. 12.1% of the population lives in a low community level, 27% lives in a medium level, and 60.9% lives in a high level. Text says nearly 88% of the U.S. population lives in medium or high COVID-19 Community Level. Source is the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Image is branded with the CDC and HHS logos.

This is the map that CDC started producing to distract us from how bad things would look on the Community Transmission Level map, which estimates the risk of EXPOSURE to COVID-19. The latest map is shown below. About 98% of US counties are in the high or substantial risk of being exposed to COVID-19. That matters when you have events that you do not want to miss, like a wedding, the first day of school, or simply being able to attend work so that you can put food on the table. This isn’t just a cold, it is something that keeps people from doing the things they want to do.

“Living with COVID” means 88% of the US population living in an area where they have difficulty accessing a hospital bed. The reality is that if our country doesn’t try to control COVID then it will control us.

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