Fun with MA COVID-19 Reporting 22-Nov-2021 Edition

Today, we already know that last week had the highest case count going all the way back to the very first week of February.  Last week already has a higher case count than any week in our first wave and all but 12 weeks in the last 89 weeks.  Keep in mind that last week's known cases will increase for several days still because of the lag time experienced in reporting.  We tend to see a stabilization of a particular day's case count around 7-10 days after that day, so the case count from exactly 1 week ago are roughly where we can expect them to end up but anything more recent will increase noticeably in the next day's state-issued report.

Today, with days before the Tuesday through Thursday counts from last week slow down their increases, we already know that Monday through Thursday all had greater single day case counts than any other day going back to February 4.

Today, just 3 days from a major holiday where many are traveling to family and friends for small and large gatherings that will open up networks that cross neighborhoods, cities, and states, we know that our hospitals have more COVID-19 patients than they have had since April 19.  We've only seen this level of hospitalization 10 other days from March 5 through Saturday.

Today, with everybody saying that if everyone at your Thanksgiving gathering is fully vaccinated you can just do what you did pre-pandemic, we have 38% of those hospitalized having been fully vaccinated prior to their hospitalization.  Note that this means the vaccines are having a huge impact because we would expect that number to be roughly twice that high were they not, but that should still give you ample evidence that even those who are vaccinated can still catch COVID-19 and there is ample evidence that shows that those that are vaccinated can spread COVID-19 to others.

Stay safe. Stay informed. Stay keeping each other safe.