COVID-19 Weekly Update Archive For The Month Of December, 2022

by Art and Maura Keene

As Of Monday, May 24, 2021 The Indy’s COVID-19 Daily Update became the COVID-19 Weekly Update. As of Wednesday July 14 , 2021 the Weekly Update moved to Wednesdays. Each Wednesday we will post the latest confirmed case counts for Coronavirus (COVID-19) for Massachusetts, for the nation and for the globe.  

Making Sense of the Numbers
Authorities caution that the confirmed case count and death count is a substantial underestimate of the actual number of cases and deaths.  This underestimate is thought to be especially extreme under current conditions where the availability of testing and tracking have been greatly reduced and where reporting of new cases to public health officials has all but stopped. Currently the only reliable indicators on the state of COVID infections seem to be hospitalization rates and wastewater measurements. It is also not clear whether deaths due to post-COVID complications are incorporated into COVID mortality statistics but it would appear that they mostly are not. Nonetheless, with over 3000 Americans identified as COVID deaths each week it is clear the the virus and the pandemic are still with us. Globally, there is currently a large COVID surge in China but China has stopped reporting daily COVID counts and hence that outbreak is not reflected in the global data.

Archives
The Indy began posting COVID-19 Daily Update on March 18, 2020. Here are links to archives of previous months’ posts. March  April , May,  June,  July,  August,  September,  October,  November,  December,  January, February, March 21, April 21, May 21, June 21, July 21, August 21, September 21, October 21, November 21, December 21, January 22, February 22, March 2022, April 2022, May 2022, June 2022, July 2022, August 2022, September 2022, October 2022, November 2022
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Numbers in parentheses indicate increase or decrease in count from previous Wednesday.

UPDATE WEDNESDAY, December 28, 2022 as of 8 AM
Massachusetts: As of 9/26/22, the New York Times COVID tracker and COVID ActNow no longer report raw case counts for states and instead report counts/100,000, as well as hospital admission rates and vaccination rates. These are better indicators of the state of the pandemic than raw counts, especially since reporting of cases has become so unreliable, and we’ll be reporting them henceforth. Nonetheless, it’s useful to know that as of 9/21/22 there had been 2,030,335 cases of COIVD recorded in Massachusetts and 21, 588 deaths.

MA newly reported cases /100k : 157.7 (+14.7). Hospitalizations/ 100k: 16.6 (+2.1) . Deaths/100,000.: <1 (NC) Fully Vaccinated: 83.7% (NC). with booster: 46.8 % (NC) Community risk level: Medium

Amherst: Total Confirmed Cases in Amherst: 10,499 (+32). Currently Active : 37 (+21). 14 day incidence average 4.9 /100,000 (last week, 4.9). No New Data Reported For This Week as of 12/28

Amherst Public Schools: 
COVID counts from January 1, 2022 – June 18, 2022: 999
COVID counts beginning August 2022: August 22: 18, September 22: 146, October 22: 81 , November 22: 46, December 22: 63
Running Total For AY 22-23: 354

UMass: UMass relaunched its COVID dashboard this week after a hiatus since May 10, 2022
Cumulative Positive Cases Beginning September 1, 2021 – May 10, 2022. – 4607.
Cumulative Positive Cases From September 1 2022, December 10 2022 – 1494
New Positive Cases for the week December 11 – December 17 : 35 (-4)

Sources for other Amherst Area Schools and Colleges

USA And The World
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases in USA – 102,318,784 (+360,166)
Confirmed Deaths USA –1,116,489 (+1,946)
Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 663,125,009 (+3,739,820)
Deaths: 6,690,224 (+12,736)
Source: Worldometers see also: Johns
Hopkins University

COVID NEWS
Hampden County Considered High Risk For COVID-19
(WWLP)
Boston Officials Considering Return To Mask Mandate As Infections Rise
(NBC Boston)
New XBB Variant, Adept At Evading Immunity, Now Dominant In Northeast
(Boston Globe)
New Variant XBB.1.5 Is On A Growth Spurt In US
(Eric Topol Substack)
Masks Are A Proven Way To Protect Yourself From Respiratory Infections
(Scientific American)
Risk Of Infection On Planes Doubled With Omicron
(Yahoo News)
As COVID-19 Continues To Spread, So Does Misinformation About It
(New York Times)
COVID-19 “Senior Wave” Is Driving Up US Hospitalizations
(CNN)
US Records 100 Million COVID Cases But 200 Million Likely Have Had It
(CNBC)
Milan Reports 50% Of Passengers On China Flights Have COVID
(Yahoo News)
US Requires Negative COVID Test For Travelers From China
(New York Times)
COVID In China, The US And Everything In Between
(Portside)
Three Years On, The Pandemic And Response To It Have Been Jolting. Here’s What Even The Experts Didn’t See Coming
(Stat News)
The Homemade Air Purifier That’s Been Saving Lives During The COVID-19 Pandemic
(Smithsonian Magazine)
The Role Of Different Age Groups In Propagating Omicron In France
(medrxiv)

UPDATE WEDNESDAY, December 21, 2022 as of 8 AM
Massachusetts: As of 9/26/22, the New York Times COVID tracker and COVID ActNow no longer report raw case counts for states and instead report counts/100,000, as well as hospital admission rates and vaccination rates. These are better indicators of the state of the pandemic than raw counts, especially since reporting of cases has become so unreliable, and we’ll be reporting them henceforth. Nonetheless, it’s useful to know that as of 9/21/22 there had been 2,030,335 cases of COIVD recorded in Massachusetts and 21, 588 deaths.

MA newly reported cases /100k : 143.0 (+16.9). Hospitalizations/ 100k: 15.5 (+2.6) . Deaths/100,000.: <1 (NC) Fully Vaccinated: 83.7% (+.1). with booster: 46.8 % (+.2) Community risk level: Medium

Amherst: Total Confirmed Cases in Amherst: 10,499 (+32). Currently Active : 37 (+21). 14 day incidence average 4.9 /100,000 (last week, 4.9).

Amherst Public Schools: 
COVID counts from January 1, 2022 – June 18, 2022: 999
COVID counts beginning August 2022: August 22: 18, September 22: 146, October 22: 81 , November 22: 46, December 22: 63
Running Total For AY 22-23: 354

UMass: UMass relaunched its COVID dashboard this week after a hiatus since May 10, 2022
Cumulative Positive Cases Beginning September 1, 2021 – May 10, 2022. – 4607.
Cumulative Positive Cases From September 1 2022, December 3 2022 – 1455
New Positive Cases for the week December 4 – December 10 : 39 (-11)

Sources for other Amherst Area Schools and Colleges

USA And The World
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases in USA – 101,958,568 (+538,715)
Confirmed Deaths USA –1,114,543 (+3,928)
Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 659,385,189 (+4,233,752)
Deaths: 6,677,488 (+14,951)
Source: Worldometers see also: Johns
Hopkins University

COVID NEWS
Get Your Free US Government Home COVID Tests Via The USPS Here
(COVID.gov)
Hospitals In The US Are The Fullest They’ve Been Throughout The Pandemic. But It’s Not Just COVID
(CNN)
Is COVID The Common Cold Yet? The Symptoms Have Changed A Lot
(The Atlantic)
Nobel Nominated Vaccine Expert Warns Of COVID Complacency. “We’re Still Losing Too Many Lives”.
(The Guardian)
COVID-19 Is Not A Pandemic Of The Unvaccinated Anymore
(New York Times)
One Of Our Best COVID-19 Treatments Doesn’t Work Anymore. Why?
(Vox)
A New Omicron Variant, BF-7, Is Spreading In China. Here’s What We Know So Far
(Live Science)
China Is Likely Seeing 1 Million COVID Cases, 5000 Deaths A Day
(Bloomberg)
WHO Concerned Over Increasing Reports Of Severe COVID-19 Cases In China
(PBS)
China’s Hospitals Seem To Be Filling Up
(BBC

UPDATE WEDNESDAY, December 14, 2022 as of 8 AM
Massachusetts: As of 9/26/22, the New York Times COVID tracker and COVID ActNow no longer report raw case counts for states and instead report counts/100,000, as well as hospital admission rates and vaccination rates. These are better indicators of the state of the pandemic than raw counts, especially since reporting of cases has become so unreliable, and we’ll be reporting them henceforth. Nonetheless, it’s useful to know that as of 9/21/22 there had been 2,030,335 cases of COIVD recorded in Massachusetts and 21, 588 deaths.

MA newly reported cases /100k : 126.1 (+52.1). Hospitalizations/ 100k: 12.9 (+1.6) . Deaths/100,000.: <1 (NC) Fully Vaccinated: 83.6% (+.2). with booster: 46.6 % (+.3) Community risk level: Medium

Amherst: Total Confirmed Cases in Amherst: 10,467 (+23). Currently Active : 16 (+1). 14 day incidence average 4.9 /100,000 (last week, 3.6).

Amherst Public Schools: Amherst Regional Public Schools have not posted new COVID data since June 18, 2022. Total cases, January 1, 2022 – June 18, 2022: 999.

UMass: UMass relaunched its COVID dashboard this week after a hiatus since May 10, 2022
Cumulative Positive Cases Beginning September 1, 2021 – May 10, 2022. – 4607.
Cumulati ve Positive Cases From September 1 2022-November 26, 2022 – 1405
New Positive Cases for the week November 27-December 3: 50 (+36)

Sources for other Amherst Area Schools and Colleges

USA And The World
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases in USA – 101,419,853 (+457,193)
Confirmed Deaths USA –1,110,561 (+2,767)
Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 655,151,387 (+3,975,069)
Deaths: 6,662,537 (+12,119)
Source: Worldometers see also: Johns
Hopkins University

COVID NEWS
COVID Cases Explode In Beijing Leaving City Streets Empty And Daily Life Disrupted
(CNN)
Medical Staff In China’s Hospitals Say COVID-19 Ripping Through Their Ranks
(Reuters)
Amid A Tripledemic It’s Time To Mask Up Again Experts Say
(New York Times)
Masking Could Fight The Tripledemic. Will Anybody Listen?
(The Guardian)
Tips To Keep You And Your Family Safe From The Tripledemic During The Holidays
(NPR)
COVID-19 Vaccines Have Saved More Than 3 Million Lives In US
(CNN)
Ventilation Reduces The Risk Of COVID. So Why Are We Still Ignoring It?
(The Conversation)
Long COVID Is A Massive Disabling Event
(Seattle Times)
Nearly Half Of COVID Patients Worldwide Still Have Symptoms After Four Months
(Fortune)
CDC: Long COVID Responsible For More Than 3500 US Deaths
(New York Times)
Nervous System Consequences Of COVID-19
(Science)
Desantis Seeks Grand Jury Investigation of COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturers And CDC
(CNN)
This COVID Winter Will Be Different
(The Atlantic)

UPDATE WEDNESDAY, December 7, 2022 as of 8 AM
Massachusetts: As of 9/26/22, the New York Times COVID tracker and COVID ActNow no longer report raw case counts for states and instead report counts/100,000, as well as hospital admission rates and vaccination rates. These are better indicators of the state of the pandemic than raw counts, especially since reporting of cases has become so unreliable, and we’ll be reporting them henceforth. Nonetheless, it’s useful to know that as of 9/21/22 there had been 2,030,335 cases of COIVD recorded in Massachusetts and 21, 588 deaths.

MA newly reported cases /100k : 74 (-13.2). Hospitalizations/ 100k: 11.3 (+.7) . Deaths/100,000.: <1 (NC) Fully Vaccinated: 83.4% (+.1). with booster: 46.3 % (+.1) Community risk level: Medium

Amherst: Total Confirmed Cases in Amherst: 10,444 (+13). Currently Active : 15 (+1). 14 day incidence average 3.6 /100,000 (last week, 6.4).

Amherst Public Schools: Amherst Regional Public Schools have not posted new COVID data since June 18, 2022. Total cases, January 1, 2022 – June 18, 2022: 999.

UMass: UMass relaunched its COVID dashboard this week after a hiatus since May 10, 2022
Cumulative Positive Cases Beginning September 1, 2021 – May 10, 2022. – 4607.
Cumulati ve Positive Cases From September 1 2022-November 19, 2022 – 1391
New Positive Cases for the week November 20-November 26: 14

Sources for other Amherst Area Schools and Colleges

USA And The World
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases in USA – 100,962,660 (+429,949)
Confirmed Deaths USA –1,107,794 (+2,745)
Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 651,176,318 (+3,564,582)
Deaths: 6,650,418 (+11,197)
Source: Worldometers see also: Johns
Hopkins University

COVID NEWS
Boston Doctors Explain Rising COVID Wastewater Data
(NBC Boston)
CDC Encourages People To Wear Masks To Help Prevent Spread Of COVID, Flu, RSV Over The Holidays
(CNBC)
For Uninsured, COVID Care Has Entered A New Stage Of Crisis
(New York Times)
LA County Faces Full Blown Coronavirus Surge As Cases Double, Deaths Rise
(Los Angeles Times)
42% Of US Adults Have Likely Had COVID But Almost Half Say They Didn’t
(CIDRAP)
Ventilation Reduces The Risk Of COVID. So Why Are We Ignoring It?
(The Conversation)
COVID-19 Treatments Like Paxlovid Are Being Underused
(Forbes)
As China Moves Away From Zero COVID, Health Experts See Dark Days Ahead
(CNN)
China’s COVID Wave Is Coming
(The Atlantic)
Long COVID Is A Threat To The Whole Economy
(Bloomberg)
COVID Science Is Moving Backwards
(The Atlantic)