Hey, there! Log in / Register
Massachusetts Covid-19 numbers starting to inch up again
By adamg on Wed, 03/24/2021 - 9:00pm
Nicholas Bauer takes a look at the latest state Covid-19 data and finds that today's report of 1,865 cases is the highest Wednesday number in six weeks.
Also, the test-positivity rate of 3.9% is the highest rate since Feb. 10 and we've now seen three days of hospitalization increases for the first time since early January.
The MWRA sewage test numbers, which can predict case numbers a week or so out, haven't been increasing, if you want to be positive, but also have stopped decreasing, if you want to be negative.
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Yeah but on the other hand
It's springtime and we're tired of this and the 20-30 people a day who are still dying of this aren't anyone we know (or Baker voters) and when can we just get back to singing Sweet Caroline at Fenway again?
For what it's worth...
...I think "Baby It's Cold Outside" would be less creepy.:-)
Impossible to practice social
Impossible to practice social distancing now during rush hour on the filthy Orange Line. Most improperly wearing masks.
Run More Buses & Trains
Run More Buses & Trains
Run More Buses & Trains
All day
People work and travel and need transport
All Day Long
Please
The cuts in service...
... I’d like to cut Baker’s limo service.
T is busy
In my experience mask compliance is pretty good on the T, but it's undeniable that the number of people using the T has increased dramatically in the last month or so. The T service cuts certainly don't help. I just hope we can get the vaccination numbers up quickly enough, before we get another surge.
Try the commuter rail...
Trains are filthy and full of people due to the cuts in service.
the fears of Covud transmission on subways were overblown
Masks are more important when you can't practice social distancing--they're not a big deal when I'm waiting on an outdoor platform for a train. Though I realize that's of limited value if the people near you won't mask properly.
If you're worried about the dirty subway cars, use hand sanitizer when you get off the train. Unlike a year ago, that's usable advice, not "you've got to be kidding, there isn't any to be had for love or money."
(The "study" that showed subways as very risky was a modeling simulation, and models are only as good as the assumptions built into them, and the data they're fed.)
Uh...
Like on a train?
any time spent indoors increases your risk
That includes trains. Not sure of the point you're making. Being trapped inside a space (include trains) where the air you breathe is recirculated and passes over and around strangers before getting to you or the return air intake increases your possible exposure to droplets and aerosols. The risk increases if you or others aren't wearing masks or wearing them improperly. Far greater risk to inhale this then to get it on your hands, esp if you're good about hand washing/sanitizing. Limit time locked in with strangers and when you have to, wear at a mask (or two). Public transportation is a high risk for contagion.
Removing capacity
Removing capacity restrictions on restaurants and cutting T service. Who would've thought?!
but
OPEN THOSE SCHOOLS!!!
What could possibly go wrong..
oh right.
More people died in the last
More people died in the last wave of spanish flu than in all prior waves taken together.
Actually no
Over 10,000 people died of influenza in Sep-Oct 1918 in Massachusetts, which is considered the second wave (though for the area it was the first wave.) Another roughly 3,300 people died in December 1918-January 1919, with the next "peak" of influenza coming in Feb 1920, with 1,158 deaths. I'd say that the first wave to hit Boston was the worst.
And to be clear, the flu and Covid are not the same thing, in many aspects.
They didn't say...
They didn't say "in Massachusetts". Why would they?
Yup
I caught that hours after I posted what I did.
To be fair to me, this is an article about Covid rates ticking up in Massachusetts, so it was appropriate to the overall topic.
Also, when Covid declines in the global North, we won't be talking about it anymore, kind of like how the Spanish Flu ceased as a concern in Europe and North American years before it hit China. It may be a sad truth, but it was and most likely will be the truth.
Also
I decided to do a tiny bit of research (yes, I've read books and seen documentaries on the topic, but I did go wiki on this, assuming the page wouldn't be hacked for facts.) Indeed the second wave was the deadliest, with India getting the worst of it.