How do we know a pandemic's over?

[dann]

Dr. Jen Irwin on bsky, Aug 26, 2026
“During COVID” is, checks date, NOW:
South Texas school district cancels classes amid COVID-19 spread (KSAT, Aug 25, 2026)

Jonathan Howard on bsky, Aug 27, 2026
The guy who “would have” opened schools is letting schools close.

Niema Moshiri on bsky, Aug 27, 2026
Dang good thing his profile pic doesn't have something like "NO MORE LOCKDOWNS!" plastered all over it. Oh wait

 

[dann]

COVID-19 cases are on the rise in these 48 states. See map (USA Today, Sep 1, 2026)
COVID-19 cases are ticking up in almost every U.S. state as summer draws to a close, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVID-19 activity was still categorized overall as "very low" nationwide by the agency as of Aug. 28, though cases are consistently increasing. This is likely the result of what has come to be known as the "summer surge,"

 

[dann]

Everything you need to know about COVID-19 vaccine changes in Australia (Sep 17, 2026)
For the past five-and-a-half years, vaccines against SARS‑CoV‑2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have been free for everyone living in Australia.
But that's about to change.
From October 1, only people at highest risk of severe COVID-19 disease will get the jab for free.

 

[dann]

:

‘Outdated’ health policies surrounding Covid still pose a danger today, says U of C researcher (CTV News, Sep 18, 2026)
“Unfortunately, when Covid hit, there was very little attention paid to aerosol transmission as a means of Covid infecting from one person to another,” Ungrin said. “Warnings were provided by scientists, engineers, occupational health and safety experts, many people within the medical profession, but infection control leaders really based their decisions on some fairly outdated understandings of aerosol biology and disease transmission via aerosols, and as a result, they basically assumed that it was not possible for Covid to be airborne.”
“And this, obviously, now we can see turned out to be a mistake,” he added.

 

[Roger Ramjets]

“Unfortunately, when Covid hit, there was very little attention paid to aerosol transmission as a means of Covid infecting from one person to another,” Ungrin said. “Warnings were provided by scientists, engineers, occupational health and safety experts, many people within the medical profession, but infection control leaders really based their decisions on some fairly outdated understandings of aerosol biology and disease transmission via aerosols, and as a result, they basically assumed that it was not possible for Covid to be airborne.”

That certainly wasn't the case here. We didn't initially have to wear masks (though some people did) because they weren't sure how effective they were and social distancing was thought to be adequate. Businesses had large glass shields to protect counter staff, some of which are still in place today. There may have been an over-emphasis on touch transfer, but at least one person is known to have gotten Covid this way and an abundance of caution didn't hurt. The important thing was that these measures worked and we squashed the virus in 3 weeks, then enjoyed a year of Covid-free living. If only we hadn't let that Aussie tourist in...

 

[dann]

That certainly wasn't the case here. We didn't initially have to wear masks ...

Don't assume that everybody knows who "we" are or where "here" (= ) is!

 

[dann]

Trump and RFK Jr.'s plan to end the pandemic once and for all:

Long COVID, disputing measles deaths, and newborns without RSV protection: The State of US Vaccine Policy (CIDRAP, Oct 1, 2026)
5. Nursing homes may stop reporting weekly COVID cases, and the CDC relabeled its wastewater levels
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, led by Dr. Mehmet Oz, has drafted a plan to end weekly reporting of COVID, flu, and RSV cases in nursing homes, according to The New York Times. It would also drop the requirement to educate nursing home staff about COVID vaccines and offer them the shots, even though staff vaccination rates have been below 10% in recent years.

The only surprise is that he hasn't proposed another name change. The "Chinese Virus" never caught on, and after his renewed infatuation with Xi he'll have to come up with something new.

 

[dann]

I guess I should have placed this post (about , & San Diego) here instead of in the Science, Math, Med & Tech subforum.

 

[dann]

()

Cat in the Hat on X, Oct 3, 2026
I’d been wondering when mainstream media would finally start warning about the major COVID wave we’re currently in.
Whether we’d just keep seeing alerts about hospitals buckling under the pressure, without any mention of the underlying cause?
Just keep calm & carry on…

Cat in the Hat on X, Oct 3, 2026
Well, it seems the press have finally been given the green lightto talk about it…
…but they can’t possibly have people thinking the same old COVID can be causing these problems.
So what’s their solution?
Let’s rebrand it!
Let’s blame the Americans!
“American COVID”!

American Covid!
Natalie Harp, please tell Trump!

 

[dann]

children

Gregory Travis on X, Oct 4, 2026
Latest update on USA excess deaths in preschool-aged children (0-4 years old) shows devastating effect of repeated infections with SARS-CoV-2 virus ("COVID") on their immune functionExcess deaths from disease in this cohort of nearly 20 million children are running more than 15% higher year over year than prior to the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Gregory Travis on X, Oct 4, 2026
Here is the breakdown by year in an easy to see format
Ignore 2026 because it's obviously not over yet so it currently looks to have low deaths in every demographic
Source: https://gregorytravis.com/SARS-CoV-2/CoronaGraphs/excess.php

4

 

[marting]

Odd. CDC all cause mortality has been well above (6 to 9%) the 1% all ages in Gregory's chart for the last couple years. The link currently disables https so I haven't looked at his data.

CDC

Provisional COVID-19 Mortality Surveillance

www.cdc.gov

 

[marting]

Nice interview with Dianna Cowern and her husband Kyle, AKA Physics Girl. She continues to recover but can still suffer crashes. Here's a recent interview for KPBS, San Diego's NPR station.

Info on what treatments are working for her, NIH's forthcoming trials, and discussion of the wide ranging effects shared by other some other diseases.

 

[dann]

What vaccines doctors say you may need for respiratory virus season (ABC News, Oct 8, 2026)
Doctors discuss COVID, flu and RSV vaccines recommended this year.

2026-2027 Respiratory Disease Season Outlook (CDC, Sep 23, 2026)
CDC expects the upcoming U.S. fall and winter respiratory disease season will likely have a similar combined number of peak hospitalizations due to COVID-19, influenza, and RSV disease compared to last season. CDC will update this outlook as warranted by changes in the trajectories of any of the three diseases during the respiratory disease season.

 

[dann]

Cat in the Hat on X, Oct 8, 2026
This week’s National COVID & Flu surveillance report is out.And it’s not great news:
COVID positivity rates are continuing to rise rapidly, reaching 9.1%.
Flu rates are also rising rapidly as the flu wave is kicking off much earlier than usual.
https://gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2026-to-2027-season/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-report-8-october-2026-week-41

 

[dann]

Denis – The COVID Info Guy on bsky, Oct 17, 2026
"UK COVID-19 Hospital Admissions Surge 41% in Just Two Weeks"
• Admission rate: 1.75 → 2.46 per 100,000 (+41% in 2 weeks)
• NHS patients: ~400 more than 2 weeks ago
• October cases: 3,942 so far
• COVID-19 deaths: up 46.4% in one week
UK COVID-19 Hospital Admissions Surge 41% in Just Two Weeks (Insider Paper, Oct 16, 2026)

FookyFBSandcat on bsky, Oct 17, 2026
"UK COVID-19 Hospital Admissions Surge 41% in Just Two Weeks".....
Later in article...
"There is presently no evidence indicating that this variant spreads faster or causes more severe illness than past strains" 1/2

FookyFBSandcat on bsky, Oct 17, 2026
And YES,they are STILL ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ PUSHING THIS SHIIITE
"Researchers attribute this early vulnerability to flu to a prolonged lack of exposure. Due to COVID-19 lockdowns and reduced socialization, younger adults and children have comparatively lower levels of natural immunity to current flu strains."

It's not the virus that's bad. It's not getting infected enough with the virus that harms you!

 

[dann]

... and the reason why people weren't infected enough was, of course, that those damn vaccine advocates delayed COVID-19 infections because they wanted people to get vaccinated before getting infected.

So now we have the perfect crossover of the MAHA narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic and the measles epidemic: The lockdowns are to blame for the measles epidemic!

Kennedy says Shapiro, Pa. officials politicized measles outbreak, blames infections on covid lockdown (TRIB/LIVE, Oct 16, 2026)
Kennedy also blamed the covid-19 epidemic lockdown for declining measles vaccination rates, which health experts identify as the main reason for the outbreak. He said the lockdown caused children to miss routine shots.

... the routine shots that Kennedy didn't want them to get at all!

“We have done better, and particularly my administration has done better, at controlling the [measles] outbreak than any other country in the world,” Kennedy said.

Which is a blatant lie! (See post 236 in the measles thread.)

Nearly all of the measles-related deaths in the state have been among adults or children infected by adults — people who would not have received their routine vaccines during the lockdown, [Paul Offit] said. Only a third of infections in the state have been among children, according to state data.

 

[dann]

Katie Mack on bsky, Oct 16, 2026
Yesterday I provided my immune system with the latest enemy intel and let me tell you it is working VERY hard on those cellular combat drills right now 1/4

The weird/cool thing about vaccine side effects is how (for me at least) they vanish entirely within 36 hours. It FEELS like responding to a pathogen but it’s 100% immune system, 0% pathogen. So when the pathogen isn't actually there, my body can just be like "oh never mind" & turn the sickness off. 2/4

And then you start thinking, “wait, is ALL illness like this?” And it mostly is! Most viruses/bacteria aren’t *themselves* causing you pain; your immune response is, in various ways. Your happiness and comfort are of zero priority to your immune system. All it wants is to kill the bug. 3/4

The “fun” part is when your immune system decides that it needs extra energy to do its job and obviously you can’t be trusted to LIE DOWN AND REST unless it MAKES you do that and it will 100% make you do that. It has the means and by god it will use them. 4/4