COVID-19 Weekly Update Archive For The Month Of February, 2023

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, until this week the numbers show over 3000 Americans identified as COVID deaths each week, suggesting that the the virus and the pandemic are still very much 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,
December 2022, January 2023
Numbers in parentheses indicate increase or decrease in count from previous Wednesday.

UPDATE WEDNESDAY, February 22, 2023 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 : 79.5 (last week: 93.8). Hospitalizations/ 100k: 11.1 (-.5) . Deaths/100,000.: <1 (NC) Fully Vaccinated: 84.3 (+.1), with booster: 47.6% (NC), bivalent booster 29.4%. (+.2). Community risk level: Medium (last week, Medium)

Amherst: Data as of 2/17/23. Numbers in parentheses reflect changes over last two weeks. Total Confirmed Cases in Amherst: 10,617 (+11). Currently Active : 8 (-1). 14 day incidence average 2.9 /100,000 (last week, 3.3). Full wastewater surveillance reports & archives can be found here.

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, January 23: 85, February 23: 56
Running Total For AY 22-23: 495

UMass: UMass relaunched its COVID dashboard on Sept 1, 2022 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, February 4, 2023 – 1557
New Positive Cases for the week of February 12-18: 52

Sources for other Amherst Area Schools and Colleges

USA And The World
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases in USA – 104,803,151 (+399,310)
Confirmed Deaths USA –1,140,401 (+2,580)
Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 679,021,063 (+1,040,982)
Deaths: 6,792,989 (+8,191)
Source: Worldometers see also: Johns
Hopkins University

COVID NEWS
COVID Is Still Killing People In The US Every Day. But Its Main Victims Have Changed
(Boston Globe)
So Is The Pandemic Over Yet?
(Time)
Is The United States Ready For Back To Back Pandemics?
(New York Times)
How To Prevent The Next Pandemic
(NPR)
How Likely Is A Human Bird Flu Pandemic?
(Financial Times)
Assessing The Impact Of One Million COVID Deaths In America
(Nature)
COVID Can Cause Heart Problems. Here’s How The Virus Does Its Damage
(NBC News)
Even One COVID Shot Lowers Heart Risks
(News Medical)
Keeping Up With COVID Vacccines. What’s Next?
(US News And World Report)
Idaho Bill Would Criminalize Giving mRNA Vaccines, The Tech Used In Poular COVID Immunizations
(USA Today)
The Future Of Long COVID
(The Atlantic)

UPDATE WEDNESDAY, February 15, 2023 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 : 93..7 (+2.8). Hospitalizations/ 100k: 11.6 (+.2) . Deaths/100,000.: <1 (NC) Fully Vaccinated: 84.2 (NC), with booster: 47.6% (+.1), bivalent booster 29.2%. (+.3). Community risk level: Medium (last week, Medium)

Amherst: Data as of 1/30/23. Numbers in parentheses reflect changes over last two weeks. Total Confirmed Cases in Amherst: 10,617 (+11). Currently Active : 9 (-2). 14 day incidence average 3.3 /100,000 (last week, 4.7). Full wastewater surveillance reports & archives can be found here.

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, January 23: 85, February 23: 39
Running Total For AY 22-23: 478

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, February 4, 2023 – 1505
New Positive Cases for the week of January 29 – February 4: 11

Sources for other Amherst Area Schools and Colleges

USA And The World
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases in USA – 104,803,151 (+265,779)
Confirmed Deaths USA –1,140,401 (+3,441)
Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 677,980,081 (+1,278,005)
Deaths: 6,784,798 (+9,783)
Source: Worldometers see also: Johns
Hopkins University

COVID NEWS
For Older Americans, Pandemic Is Not Over
(New York Times)
How Deadly Was China’s COVID Wave?
(New York Times)
How Your First Brush With COVID Warps Your Immunity
(Nature)
Diabetes Risk Jumps After COVID Infection
(Forbes)
Long COVID Now Looks Like A Neurological Disease
(Scientific American)
The Future Of Long COVID
(The Atlantic)
An Etiquette Guide For Long COVID
(The Atlantic)
A New Turn In The Fight Over Masks
(The Atlantic)
Once And For All, Masks Reduce The Risk Of Spreading COVID
(tvo.org)
Dr. Peter Hotez On The Increase Of Anti-Science Aggression On Social Media
(Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists)

UPDATE WEDNESDAY, February 8, 2023 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 : 90.9 (-12.9). Hospitalizations/ 100k: 11.4 (-.7) . Deaths/100,000.: <1 (NC) Fully Vaccinated: 84.2 (+.1), with booster: 47.5% (+.1), bivalent booster 28.9%. Community risk level: Medium (last week, Medium)

Amherst: Data as of 1/30/23. Numbers in parentheses reflect changes over last two weeks. Total Confirmed Cases in Amherst: 10,606 (+14). Currently Active : 11 (-3). 14 day incidence average 4.7 /100,000 (last week, 4.7). Full wastewater surveillance reports & archives can be found here.

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, January 23: 85, February 23: 16
Running Total For AY 22-23: 455

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)
No new data since December 17, 2022

Sources for other Amherst Area Schools and Colleges

USA And The World
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases in USA – 104,537,372 (+340,511)
Confirmed Deaths USA –1,136,960(+4,025)
Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 676,702,076 (+1,375,062))
Deaths: 6,775,015 (+11,988)
Source: Worldometers see also: Johns
Hopkins University

COVID NEWS
Massachusetts Reports 4,591 New Confirmed Coronavirus Cases And 92 Deaths In The Last Week
(Boston Globe)
COVID-19 Is The Leading Cause Of Death For Children In The US
(CNN)
COVID-19 Test Kits, Treatments and Vaccines Won’t Be Free To Many Consumers Much Longer
(NPR)
COVID Pandemic Caused Cardiovascular Deaths To Rise Sharply
(news-medical.net)
The Next Generation Of Coronavirus Vaccines
(Nature)
Australia To Expand Rollout Of Fifth COVID Vaccine Shot
(Reuters)
Georgia Votes To Bar COVID Vaccine Mandates
(AP)
How Quickly Does COVID Immunity Fade? What Scientists Know
(Nature)
Experts Declare Long COVID A Public Health Crisis
(WAMC)
BIden’s Ending Of COVID Emergency Is A Public Health Disaster
(The Nation)
Biden’s Plan To End COVID Emergency Signals A Pivotal Point In The Pandemic
(The Conversation)
No One Wants Masks But We Still Need Them To Keep COVID At Bay
(The Guardian)
Do Repeat COVID Infections Bring More Health Risks Or Make You Super Immune?
(The Guardian)

UPDATE WEDNESDAY, February 1, 2023 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 : 103.8 (-18.1). Hospitalizations/ 100k: 12.1 (-2.3) . Deaths/100,000.: <1 (NC) Fully Vaccinated: 84.1% (NC). with booster: 47.4% (+.1) Community risk level: Medium (last week, Medium)

Amherst: Data as of 1/30/23. Numbers in parentheses reflect changes over last two weeks. Total Confirmed Cases in Amherst: 10,592 (+12). Currently Active : 14 (-7). 14 day incidence average 4.7 /100,000 (last week, 4.4). Full wastewater surveillance reports & archives can be found here.

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, January 23: 85
Running Total For AY 22-23: 439

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)
No new data since December 17, 2022

Sources for other Amherst Area Schools and Colleges

USA And The World
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases in USA – 104,196,861 (+289,428)
Confirmed Deaths USA –1,132,935 (+3,317)
Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 675,327,014 (+1,479,262)
Deaths: 6,763,027 (+12,766)
Source: Worldometers see also: Johns
Hopkins University

COVID NEWS
House Votes To End COVID Precautions As GOP Uses Pandemic In Political Attacks
(New York Times)
What Happens When The COVID Emergency Ends
(Kaiser Family Foundation)
What The End Of The COVID Emergency In The US Means
(ABC News)
The Next COVID Crisis, May 11, And Our Missing Health Care Leadership
(Forbes)
COVID In China: Officials Say Current Wave Is Coming To An End
(BBC)
How China’s Zero COVID Policy Offers Lessons For Future Pandemics
(Vox)
Three Years In, What Might The COVID-19 Pandemic Do Next?
(Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
COVID Is Still A Global Health Emergency WHO Warns
(Forbes)
The Corona Virus Is Speaking And It’s Saying It’s Not Done With Us
(Washington Post)
What’s Next For COVID Vaccines?
(Science)
We Probably Won’t Get New COVID Vaccines In 2023
(New Scientist)