The country in which I live is listed by the CDC as having a low COVID transmission level. Looking at the county statistics posted by The New York Times, though, the two-week average number of new cases has been up over 100 percent for Thursday and yesterday. I'm not sure I'd think of that as "low." Maybe the increased numbers of people testing positive are not transmitting COVID to others. The test positivity rate has gone from three to 7.5 percent in the same time. Given the number of people relying on home tests, that positivity rate is likely not at all accurate.
Also from the CDC are early data showing that people ages 12 and over who got their bivalent booster are 15 times less likely to die from COVID than unvaccinated people. That fact probably won't persuade die-hard anti-vaxxers to get vaccinated, but you can at least use it to try to persuade them.
China continues to preach zero-COVID even as it relaxes restrictions. Testing booths have been removed in Beijing. Other cities have announced that they will no longer require commuters to show a negative test result. Cities may also drop the requirement that people test negative to use public transport or visit parks. It's all coming too late to save Christmas, though. Current shipping from China to the US is down 34 percent compared with earlier this year. Production of iPhones has stayed down at the factory in Zhengzhou. Honda has paused production at their factory in Wuhan, and VW has done the same at their factory in Chengdu. Experts are noting the "strategic long-term impact" supply chain issues will have for companies such as Apple or Tesla. One put it as, "... for this to happen to Apple in the Christmas season is a gut punch." In response to the problems, some countries are starting to shift at least part of their operations to places such as Vietnam or India.
The Grinch had best look out. COVID may be doing a better job at stealing Christmas.
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