The Magic Number This Week Is 500 Million And Counting

Do you remember where you were when it was just one thousand, ten thousand, or one hundred thousand?

In January of 2022, people began enjoying some much needed freedom from Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and rules. In the United States, this came as no surprise. 2022 started a pivotal election cycle in the United States, and the outcome of the November elections will set the tone for the remainder of President Biden's presidency.

In January of this year, there were a known 300 million cases of Covid-19 in the world. In February, that number climbed to over 400 million, worldwide. On Tuesday, cases topped the half-billion mark as health care experts called for increased testing, vaccination, and contact tracing.

Covid-19 Update

There's been a sharp rise in known cases this year. Many countries have scaled back official testing, which means the actual number of cases is almost guaranteed to be higher than 500 million.

"Reduction in formal testing is dangerous, if you don't test, then you don't know what variants you have."

- Ali Mokdad, epidemiologist, University of Washington

The WHO recently urged African nations to boost testing and contact tracing, also saying that some countries in the America's should step up vaccinations and testing.

The WHO recently urged African nations to boost testing and contact tracing, also saying that some countries in the America's should step up vaccinations and testing.

The warnings, however, have not stopped some countries from dropping their pandemic precautions. Many countries have nearly dropped all of their precautions since the case count topped 400 million. In the United States, the CDC's new February guidelines suggested that most Americans could stop wearing masks indoors.

Any potential return to normal life is threatened by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, known as BA.2, which is the most transmissible variant of the virus so far. BA.2 now is responsible for 85.9% of new cases in the United States.

The promising news is that new cases worldwide are 32% lower each day than two weeks ago, with the numbers averaging about 1.1 million a day this past week (Reported by The New York Times.) Additionally, the number of coronavirus-related deaths is 23% lower than two weeks ago at just 3,900 a day globally, compared to the past week.

My Thoughts

Half a billion people have come down with the Covid-19 virus from the pandemic. I've had it once and was lucky. Every day, I see commercials urging people to get vaccinated. While it's a personal choice, we obviously need to remember some of the precautions we were taking. Forgetting the small things, like social distancing and practicing better hygiene, could still force us all back into lockdowns, wearing masks everywhere, and feeling like our freedom to engage in simple things like a movie or drinks with a friend is being threatened.

Covid-19 doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. As our countries, states, and local regions ease up restrictions more and more, it's up to each one of us to do our part to keep the virus at bay. And that should have been the selling point from day one. Think about your families, your friends, your neighbors, and yourselves and how it affected your life when things were out of control. Let's not forget the long road from where we were as we keep striving to reach the point we want to be, free of this "bullshit."

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