This is NOT a case update!  In fact, there may be no more case updates from me! 

In another sign that the pandemic is basically over, Johns Hopkins University announced that as of 5:21 am, March 10, 2023, they would no longer refresh their COVID page which supplied so many of us with current COVID information.  This page was regarded by most to be the most authoritative repository of COVID information, although it depended on governmental bodies to supply them with information.  With this resource gone, anyone wanting to keep track of data will need to go to less authoritative or less convenient sources.

Since the rise of Omicron, COVID hasn’t been nearly as deadly as previous variants.  So after December and January of ‘21/’22, there has not been a big deadly wave of cases.  Despite this, many news outlets continued to talk about the next big variant as a source of concern.  My primary reason for my updates in the last year has been to simply show you that while cases may ebb and flow, deaths were not really on the rise. I wanted to give you the raw data so you could see this for yourselves.

Now that the JHU site will be going away, I’ll probably post even less, or maybe not at all, only when newsworthy items appear.  If an issue arises involving case numbers, I’ll try my best to find good information, perhaps from Worldometer, to pass along.

In the future, just remember that viruses tend to become more infectious and less pathogenic over time.  So when some news source comes out and talks about how terrifying a new variant is because it’s so infectious, just realize it’s also probably less pathogenic than previous versions.  If you’ve had COVID before, it most likely won’t be a concern for you at all.

By the way, some of you may wonder why I don’t comment on some of the COVID related news that comes out. Usually, this is because I’ve written about it before, or because I don’t really have anything new to add to the conversation.  I’ve always wanted to be as concise and impactful as possible, and so I’ve kind of avoided the “Water is Wet” stories.  If you want me to cover something in particular, feel free to reach out.

Don’t fear, but be smart,
Erik

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Update: March 14th, 2023

A brief post with another piece of good COVID news that I’ve never noticed before. I was just looking at Worldometer‘s graph of Daily COVID Deaths world wide, a number I haven’t been tracking. Notice how low daily deaths have been since just after the Omicron variant appeared in late 2021. After a big spike that Winter, deaths have been much lower world wide. Truly, Omicron washed Delta away and likely saved many lives! Amazing!