Germany has reported 150,052 new covid cases in one 24-hour period. Hospitalizations "for covid" there are the highest they have been. Speculation is that Oktoberfest turned out to be a superspreader event. It does not help, either, that the booster rate among Germans ages 60 and older is one of the lowest in Europe. ICU admissions are also rising, and 30 percent of ICU patients are on ventilators. No specific variant or subvariant was identified.
The Philippines, meanwhile, are watching cases of the XBB variant rise. The XBB variant surge in Singapore will soon become their second highest surge of the pandemic. Before XBB, the covid reinfection rate was five percent. It is now 17 percent thanks to XBB's immune escape properties. The XBB variant is in the US but not in such large numbers ... yet.
Continuing with potentially disturbing news, preliminary data in a very small study suggest the cellular mechanisms of the BQ.1.1 variant are moving closer to Delta severity. Remember how wicked Delta was. Now picture the Terminator. "I'll be back."
Meanwhile, Ebola in Uganda has mutated; there is no evidence the mutation is more transmissible. And cholera is on the rise in a region in India.
Not much news today. I had some errands to run this morning, and by the time I got to this, dinner was looming. Pasta tonight so that there are leftovers tomorrow when I work at early voting until after 5:00.
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