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More than 1,000 new COVID deaths were reported in the U.S. this week, taking the death toll for the past two months to more than 10,000, according to figures collected by BNO News. New cases, however, are dropping nationwide in the aftermath of the summer wave.

At least 91,800 new cases were reported between September 30 and October 6, down from 117,284 the week before (-23%). Those figures were collected from state health departments and, where necessary, estimated based on hospital admissions.

Actual case numbers are higher because many hospitals and states are no longer reporting detailed COVID data. Laboratory testing is also low as most people and doctors are using at-home tests which are not included in official statistics.

“Nationally, COVID-19 activity has continued declining in most areas. COVID-19-associated ED visits and hospitalizations are decreasing overall,” the CDC said in an update on Friday. “ED visits for COVID-19 are highest among infants and older adults. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 are highest among older adults.”

The CDC is also monitoring a new variant, XEC, which is now comprising an estimated 2-13% of new cases in the U.S. The new variant is recombined from two JN.1 lineage viruses, for which vaccines already provide protection. The CDC says there are currently no known impacts on tests, treatments or symptoms.

During the past week, cases increased in only 3 out of 30 states with consistent but limited data. In those states where increases were reported, the changes were only minimal, with longer-term data showing overall declines.

The CDC estimates that COVID cases are currently rising in 0 states (unchanged from last week), declining or likely declining in 45 states (up from 41), and stable or uncertain in 2 states (down from 7). Nationally, COVID test positivity is 11.6%, which is unchanged from last week.

Only 32.8% of hospitals in the U.S. submitted COVID data this week, which is similar to last week. Mandatory reporting is expected to resume next month. Those limited figures reveal that at least 4,187 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID, down from 4,657 last week.

1,209 new COVID deaths were reported during the week, the eighth week in a row with more than 1,000 new deaths. It’s also the 13th week in a row with more than 500 new deaths and the 237th week with more than 400 new deaths.

So far this year, more than 5.6 million COVID cases have been reported across the U.S., causing at least 381,888 hospitalizations (limited data) and 45,132 deaths, according to BNO’s COVID data tracker.

So recently I'm reheating food in the microwave at the staff room, and 4 teachers are having a whine. Students and staff are taking a lot of time off these days. "Don't they know that COVID was over", "we've all had it and we're fine" said white people with well to do parents. Maybe they didn't see me come in or they forget that I'm seeing long COVID every day when I come home. I just gave it a second stare before continuing on, I don't need to fuck with my livelihood. My meals are eaten outside, away from liberals, with a book; and my life is way better for it. Sometimes I chat with the maintenance or cleaning people and the convos are way more genuine, without all the weird bragging that middle class people like to do.

I swear to God, just immediately they dropped the names of 3 other young teachers who have new chronic health conditions. One has persistent low energy, another brand new allergies and asthma, yet another has to go back and live with her parents as she can't cope with work and illness. Everyone's stressing about using up all their sick time.

The less I care about the opinions of comfortable white liberals, the happier I am. Amen.

I have let them know that they are unsuitable as posters to Hexbear, due to their sympathetic attitude towards pp's and s and hairy nipples.

Usually meta analyses are pretty solid, although I feel like this needs more clinical research. Ya I'm not in medicine.

Make sure to consult a doctor before doing self treatment.

Nearly everything in the comments is at the early stage of research. Be careful being your own doctor

Some posters asked me to make a sticky threat on long COVID recovery, including medication, supplements and behavioural changes. Thoughts y'all? Is this a good idea? If the response is positive, I can make this a sticky.

I'm afraid that it possibly could link to unproven recommendations, but frankly I haven't looked enough into the issue.

Feel free to comment on any method on long COVID recover that you know. Please link to research and medical papers. Sadly overly weak or pseudo-scientific stuff will have to get removed, but please no hard feelings for making an effort. I'm very comfortable with Wikipedia's policy on medical sources, so I might err in that direction if it's OK. I'm definitely not working in medicine, btw.

Thanks!

edit: I just worry that a lot of this below is early stage research. I know that comrades are suffering, but we could be doing real damage if people go out and do self treatment, they can very seriously hurt themselves worst. I'm sorry that medical stuff is hard, expensive, and unfair. But I have a duty to inform people to be careful with self treatment.

My comment : this study is high quality af

Abstract

Background

Cognitive impairment can be caused by infections with various pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. Research has yet to determine the true incidence and course of cognitive impairment in older adults following COVID-19. Furthermore, research has theorised that COVID-19 is associated with dementia progression and diagnosis but this association has yet to be fully described.

Methods

A systematic review was registered in Prospero and conducted on the databases PubMed, Embase, Ovid, CENTRAL and Cochrane Library. Studies reporting cognitive impairment and dementia outcomes in post-acute and post-COVID-19 patients aged ≥65 years, and which included control data, were included in this review.

Results

15,124 articles were identified by the search strategy. After eliminating duplicate titles and completing title, abstracts and full-text review, 18 studies were included comprising of 412,957 patients with COVID-19 (46.63 % male) and 411,929 patients without COVID-19 (46.59 % male). The overall mean Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score in COVID-19 patients was 23.34 out of 30 (95 % CI [22.24, 24.43]). indicating cognitive impairment. The overall proportion of patients identified as having new onset cognitive impairment was 65 % (95 % CI [44,81]). Subgroup analyses indicated that time since infection significantly improves overall MoCA score and reduces proportion of patients with cognitive impairment.

Conclusion

This study indicates that cognitive impairment may be an important sequela of COVID-19. Further research with adequate sample sizes is warranted regarding COVID-19’s association with new-onset dementia and dementia progression, and the effect of repeat infections. There is a need for development of diagnostic and management protocols for COVID-19 patients with cognitive impairment.

I usually hate anecdotal stories, especially as it's the tool of the right to defend pseudoscience. However, there's a heap of scientific evidence behind us.

In the last six months, I've a lot of older people and family passed due to heart troubles, including my dad. I would never say anything out loud, as it's just rude, as people are grieving and I don't know for 100% sure (the fecking burden of not being a reactionary). Like a friend's mum died of heart failure 3 months after a COVID infection, and I thought to myself "this is a very good chance that COVID increased her risk" but I'm not going to be a knob and say that out loud. You know who didn't fail to give their opinion? Fucking antivaxxers everywhere. "Did you mother get the jab?" "Fuck off her last vaccine was in 2021".

The other massive glaring thing I see every day is my students. Exam scores are way down, while behavioural and emotional problems (including medication) is up. COVID infections definitely can hurt kids' cognitive ability and cause an increased risk of neurological problems. I've just see way more fighting, anger, and serious emotional troubles in school than I ever have in my 20+ years of teaching. Students are missing way more school due to illnesses like COVID but also other viral stuff like the cold and flu than they ever used to, and they're falling behind because of it.

Total shot in the dark, but I see more of my close friends struggling with depression, anxiety, and low energy than I ever remember. I don't mean to downplay the genuine struggle that is mental health, people definitely had symptoms before COVID and many other issues are completely unrelated to COVID. I'm just seeing an increase across the board with people I know, especially people who I previously considered to be a rock.

I know that anecdotal evidence isn't worth considering, but we've being posting hard science for years, and I think it's fair that we start to notice patterns in our community.

• Report suggests potential excess mortality in the general population of up to 3% for the US by 2033 and 2.5% in the UK, the longest period of elevated peacetime excess mortality in the US

• Key driver of excess mortality is the lingering impact of COVID-19; both as a direct cause of death, and as a contributor to cardiovascular mortality

• Reducing the impact of COVID-19 on elderly and vulnerable populations will be key to excess mortality returning to zero

Zurich, 16 September 2024 – Four years after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries are still reporting elevated all-cause excess mortality compared with pre-pandemic levels. According to Swiss Re Institute's report The future of excess mortality after COVID-19, if the ongoing impact of the disease is not curtailed, excess mortality rates in the general population may remain up to 3% higher than pre-pandemic levels in the US and 2.5% in the UK by 2033.

Paul Murray, CEO L&H Reinsurance at Swiss Re says: "COVID-19 is far from over. The US reported an average of 1500 COVID-19 deaths a week for 2023 – comparable to fentanyl or firearm deaths.[1] If this continues, our analysis suggests a potential scenario of elevated excess mortality extending over the next decade. However, excess mortality can return to pre-pandemic levels much sooner. The first step is to get COVID under control, with measures such as vaccinations for the vulnerable. Over the longer term, medical advancements, a return to regular healthcare services, and the adoption of healthier lifestyle choices will be key."

Excess mortality is a measure of the number of deaths above an expected level in a given population. Typically, all-cause excess mortality should be around zero, as the major causes of death remain relatively stable over the long-term baseline assumption.

Fluctuations in excess mortality tend to be short-term, reflecting developments such as a large-scale medical breakthrough or the negative impact of a large epidemic. However, as society absorbs these events, excess mortality should revert to the baseline.

With COVID-19 this has not been the case and all-cause excess mortality is still above the pre-pandemic baseline. In 2021, excess mortality spiked to 23% above the 2019 baseline in the US, and 11% in the UK[2]. As Swiss Re Institute's report estimates, in 2023, it remained significantly elevated in the range of 3–7% for the US, and 5–8% for the UK.

If the underlying drivers of current excess mortality continue, Swiss Re Institute's analysis estimates that excess mortality may remain as high as 3% for the US and 2.5% for the UK by 2033.

The primary driving factor of both current and future excess mortality is respiratory disease (including COVID-19 and influenza), with other causes including cardiovascular disease, cancer and metabolic illnesses. The cause of death split varies by a country's reporting mechanism.

Optimistic scenarios require healthcare and medical advancements

Swiss Re's report examines an optimistic scenario where excess mortality rates return to pre-pandemic levels as early as 2028. In this scenario, medical advances, such as weight loss injectables and cancer developments such as personalised mRNA vaccines, combine with a drop in the impact of COVID-19 and healthier lifestyle choices.

Indirect impact of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality

The interplay between COVID-19 and cardiovascular death rates is significant for excess mortality. The virus itself has a direct impact because it contributes to causes of death such as heart failure. Further, COVID-19 has had an indirect impact via the disruption to healthcare systems – a factor which emerged in the pandemic years. This disruption has led to a backlog of essential cardiac tests and surgeries, meaning that conditions such as hypertension have been underdiagnosed and therefore not treated.

Implications for insurers

Excess mortality in the general population is an important indicator for insurers, as shifts in the major causes of death may require a reassessment of additional risk in their mortality portfolios.

The current levels of excess mortality are of concern. However, there are a range of tools available for insurers and reinsurers to manage this trend. Specific actions include adapting the underwriting philosophy, risk appetite, and mortality assumptions in pricing and reserving. Insurers can be proactive in targeting prevention programmes for policyholders, helping them in the joint effort to support longer, healthier lives.

[1] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data: In 2021, during the peak of the pandemic, COVID-19 claimed 9 037 lives a week, this dropped to 1 453 average weekly deaths in 2023. In comparison, in 2023, synthetic opioids (fentanyl) claimed 1 437 average weekly deaths, and firearms resulted in 900 average weekly deaths.

[2] Human Mortality Database provides data on actual mortality rate, while Swiss Re Institute analysis forms baseline calculations

I'm still getting the hang of Linux image editing apps, sorry the quality is poor.

If you follow the hashtag, indeed everyone who isn't a speaker is masking.

Link to post. ​