Fun with COVID-19 reporting in MA (and elsewhere)

See that little uptick at the end of each graph? This didn't happen in 2022 but did in 2023. We understood the goal in 2022 (to some degree) but since ... is there some portion of the population who says "covid spread must be down so let's go nuts"? I suspect this is partially colleges reconvening their students on campuses where in 2022 they were still trying to get their students to maintain some precautions and they haven't been since... but I also don't think this is just college campuses.

Latest wastewater numbers from Biobot indicate that covid spread in MA continues to be basically a vertical line going up and reaching higher than it has been since January 22, 2022 (yes, 2 years ago). Why is this exactly as expected? Because as we continue to proclaim that all is fine, people will act as if it is and the annual surge in cases during the winter will increase accordingly. The 7-day average from 27-Dec-2023 suggests a spread level of 280 cases per 100,000 people per day (for comparison, original highest threshold level was 8 cases per 100,000 people per day, which was then relaxed a couple times to try to avoid shutting down every school and business and landed on 25 cases per 100,000 people per day.... so 280 is .... not great)