Covid-19 hospitalizations in the US reach levels not seen since last winter's surge

January 12, 2022 The Morning Sixpack 1

The spread of the Omicron variant is causing widespread disruption across the US as hospitalizations reach a level not seen since the 2020-21 holiday surge.

More than 141,000 Americans were hospitalized with Covid-19 as of Monday, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services, nearing the record of 142,246 hospitalizations on January 14, 2021.

The burden is straining health care networks as hospitals juggle staffing issues caused by the increased demand coupled with employees, who are at a higher risk of infection, having to isolate and recover after testing positive.

In Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam declared a limited state of emergency Monday as the number of ICU hospitalizations more than doubled since December 1. The order allows hospitals to expand bed capacity and give more flexibility in staffing, he said, adding that it also expands the use of telehealth as well as expands which medical professionals can give vaccines.

In Texas, at least 2,700 medical staffers are being hired, trained, and deployed to assist with the surge, joining more than 1,300 personnel already sent across the state, the Texas Department of State Health Services said in a statement to CNN.

Kentucky has mobilized the National Guard to provide support, with 445 members sent to 30 health care facilities, the state announced.

CNN

But wait, there's more…


Biden vowed to fix testing. But he didn't plan for Omicron.

As President Joe Biden was spending his holidays with family at the White House and in Delaware, he was frustrated to see images on television of Americans waiting in long lines for Covid-19 tests.

Nearly a year after he had taken office, the stubborn problem he had vowed to solve persisted, exposing a testing system that was failing once again to meet demand — and Biden's own promises.

Anger over testing shortages has been mounting across the country — including inside the White House — since early December, when the Omicron variant began spreading widely across the country and the demand for tests began far outstripping the supply in many areas.

According to people involved in the conversations, Biden himself has privately told top staff members in strong terms that he regrets that he and his team did not anticipate the shortfalls earlier, something he's also made clear in public.

Despite those regrets, experts had been warning for months that testing capacity wasn't where it should be as the holiday season approached, including during a virtual meeting with White House officials in October. Multiple experts argue that Biden and his team did not move quickly enough to address the coming shortfalls, and by then it was too late to dramatically increase supplies to levels that would have eased the current shortages.

“Everybody saw it coming. We knew we needed more tests,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said on CNN last month. “I think the administration had dropped the ball on this.”

While Biden entered office with a plan to expand testing — pouring in billions of dollars to boost manufacturing and ramp up testing in schools — his top priority was vaccines, which kept most people out of the hospital and even slashed the chances of getting infected with and spreading the virus.

But vaccine hesitancy remains stubbornly high, and a new, highly transmissible variant that sidesteps much of the vaccines' protection against infection has spread across the country, driving case counts to their highest levels to date. By December, it was evident Biden was falling short of the promise he had made as a candidate that “anyone who wants a test should be able to get one, period.”

CNN

When will politicians stop saying stupid stuff like “You can keep your health insurance if you want to,” or “If you want a test, you can get a test?”

When will they learn? This always comes back to bite them in the ass.

Biden needs to invoke his presidential power to compel private business to manufacture tests.

White House promises to provide schools 10 million free coronavirus tests per month


Consumer prices climb 7% in the past year, highest jump since 1982

The latest government data on inflation indicates consumer prices are continuing their rapid rise as pandemic-battered supply chains struggle to keep up with rebounding consumer demand.

The consumer price index — a measure of the prices Americans pay for a market basket of everyday goods and services — jumped 7% over the last 12 months, the Labor Department said Wednesday. This marks the largest one-year increase since the period ending in June 1982, the DOL noted.

The so-called core index, or measure for all items except the more volatile food and energy indices, climbed 5.5% over the last year — the largest 12-month change since February 1991. The core index spiked 0.6% in December, building on the 0.5% increase seen in November.

ABC

I still say this is pandemic-related and not systemic, insofar as COVID-19 is NOT a perennial threat to our system. IF it becomes “like the cold,” we could very well suffer from inflation for some time.


House Jan. 6 Committee debunks Capitol riot conspiracy theory around obscure rallygoer

Two Republican senators attacked top Justice Department and FBI officials Tuesday over whether a mysterious protester last January 6th was actually a U.S. government informant who incited rioting at the Capitol as part of a conspiracy-laden false flag operation.

Within hours, though, the special House Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection debunked the conspiracy theory, disclosing that it had interviewed the Arizona man, Ray Epps, and that he had denied taking part in any such government operation.

Epps has become central to a viral – and unfounded – conspiracy theory in recent months after widely circulated video of him exhorting pro-Trump supporters the evening of Jan. 5 to enter the Capitol the next day. At some point, some protesters began chanting, “Fed, fed, fed,” apparently suspicious that Epps was there trying to incite rallygoers on behalf of the FBI.

USA Today

These conspiracy nutjobs won't stop making shit up. They're a fucking menace.

The two senators mentioned above? Guess…Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton.


Trump abruptly ends NPR interview after he is pressed on baseless election fraud claims

Former president Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NPR on Tuesday after he was pressed on his baseless claims of election fraud and repeated contention that the 2020 election was “rigged” against him.

Trump hung up on “Morning Edition” host Steve Inskeep nine minutes into what NPR said was scheduled to be a 15-minute interview that was broadcast Wednesday.

After several lines of questioning related to Trump’s widely debunked election claims, Inskeep asked Trump whether he would endorse only Republican candidates this year who are pressing his case that the 2020 contest against Joe Biden was stolen from him.

“Is that an absolute?” Inskeep asked.

Trump responded that the candidates “that are smart” are going to press his case, citing Kari Lake, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona. Lake, a former news anchor, has parroted Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud.

Trump calls GOP senator a ‘jerk’ after he rejects former president’s false claims of widespread election fraud

“She’s very big on this issue,” Trump said. “She’s leading by a lot. People have no idea how big this issue is, and they don’t want it to happen again. . . . And the only way it’s not going to happen again is you have to solve the problem of the presidential rigged election of 2020.”

As Inskeep sought to interject, Trump said: “So, Steve, thank you very much. I appreciate it.” He then hung up, prompting Inskeep to protest.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I have one more question,” Inskeep said, adding that he wanted to talk about a court hearing related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.

Washington Post

I'm taking my ball home now.

#TFG is such a baby.


Judge rejects Facebook's request to dismiss FTC antitrust complaint

US antitrust officials can continue their case to break up Meta, Facebook's parent company, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, dealing a blow to the social media giant, which had argued the complaint should be dismissed.

The decision allows federal prosecutors to try to prove their allegations that Meta has illegally abused a monopoly in the marketplace for social media — and that its subsidiaries Instagram and WhatsApp should be spun off.

District Judge James Boasberg previously threw out the Federal Trade Commission's complaint last June. At the time, Boasberg said agency prosecutors had not done enough to show that Facebook held a monopoly in social networking. But he left the door open for the FTC to resubmit its complaint with changes.

In August, the FTC refiled its complaint with the backing of its new chair, the vocal tech industry critic Lina Khan. Facebook again called for Boasberg to quash the suit, but in Tuesday's opinion, the judge said the FTC's “significant additions and revisions” from its earlier filing met the threshold for the case to continue.

CNN

I'm all for breaking up “Meta” (such a fantastically stupid name). The three companies are parasitic viruses.


Make it a great day!

Bill

🍺 PS – Buy me a beer to keep the Daily Grind News open for business!

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