The real thing to worry about

 

For once, the weekly numbers were a surprise to me, since they show both new cases and new deaths declining – although I always have to point out that the current level of deaths is the equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every day. Something tells me we wouldn’t be so blasé about that, even when we considered that one crash a day was a lot better than more than ten crashes a day at the height of the pandemic.

Of course, nowadays there’s a lot of peer pressure to catch Covid. After all, people say, more than half of Americans (two thirds?) have survived Covid infection at least once. It can’t be that bad. And having been infected could actually increase your immunity, even if you’ve already had four doses. What’s there to lose?

A lot, as it turns out. An article in the Chicago Tribune this week states that up to 30% of people who experience Covid may experience long Covid. Another statement in the same article – from a Northwestern University study – said that long Covid symptoms last on average about 15 months. Moreover, this is among people who were never hospitalized due to Covid.

So what’s the real danger from long Covid? The real danger is permanent organ or circulatory system damage. Here’s an excerpt from a Mayo Clinic article:

Organ damage caused by COVID-19

Although COVID-19 is seen as a disease that primarily affects the lungs, it can also damage many other organs, including the heart, kidneys and the brain. Organ damage may lead to health complications that linger after COVID-19 illness. In some people, lasting health effects may include long-term breathing problems, heart complications, chronic kidney impairment, stroke and Guillain-Barre syndrome — a condition that causes temporary paralysis.

Some adults and children experience multisystem inflammatory syndrome after they have had COVID-19. In this condition, some organs and tissues become severely inflamed.

Blood clots and blood vessel problems

COVID-19 can make blood cells more likely to clump up and form clots. While large clots can cause heart attacks and strokes, much of the heart damage caused by COVID-19 is believed to stem from very small clots that block tiny blood vessels (capillaries) in the heart muscle.

Other parts of the body affected by blood clots include the lungs, legs, liver and kidneys. COVID-19 can also weaken blood vessels and cause them to leak, which contributes to potentially long-lasting problems with the liver and kidneys.

I don’t know about you, but I’m still going to wear my mask when indoors with other people. How long? Until Covid is completely suppressed. And that might be a long time, indeed. 

The numbers

These numbers were updated based on those reported on the Worldometers.info site for Sunday, May 22.

Month	Deaths reported during month/year	Avg. deaths per day during month/year	Deaths as percentage of previous month/year
Month of March 2020	4,058	131
Month of April	59,812	1,994	1,474%
Month of May	42,327	1,365	71%
Month of June	23,925	798	57%
Month of July	26,649	860	111%
Month of August	30,970	999	116%
Month of Sept.	22,809	760	75%
Month of Oct.	24,332	785	107%
Month of Nov.	38,293	1,276	157%
Month of Dec.	79,850	2,576	209%
Total 2020	354,215	1,154
Month of Jan. 2021	98,604	3,181	119%
Month of Feb.	68,918	2,461	70%
Month of March	37,945	1,224	55%
Month of April	24,323	811	64%
Month of May	19,843	661	82%
Month of June	10,544	351	53%
Month of July	8,833	287	84%
Month of August	31,160	1,005	351%
Month of Sept.	56,687	1,890	182%
Month of Oct.	49,992	1,613	88%
Month of Nov.	38,364	1,279	77%
Month of Dec.	41,452	1,337	108%
Total 2021	492,756	1,350	158%
Month of Jan. 2022	65,855	2,124	159%
Month of Feb. 2022	63,451	2,266	96%
Month of March 2022	31,427	1,014	50%
Month of April 2022	13,297	443	42%
Total Pandemic so far	1,028,938	1,288

 

I. Total deaths (as of Sunday)

Total US reported Covid deaths as of Sunday: 1,028,938

Average daily deaths last seven days: 299

Average daily deaths previous seven days: 329

Percent increase in total deaths in the last seven days: 0.2%

II. Total reported cases (as of Sunday)

Total US reported cases as of Sunday: 85,019,633

Increase in reported cases last 7 days: 696,187 (99,455/day)

Increase in reported cases previous 7 days: 741,761 (105,966/day)

Percent increase in reported cases in the last seven days: 0.8% (0.9% last week)

I would love to hear any comments or questions you have on this post. Drop me an email at tom@tomalrich.com.