The Shadow
Emerging as a new COVID-19 variant in mid-Nov. of 2021, Omicron has circled the Earth where it set a new record for infections the first week in Jan. of 2022.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a record 15 million of COVID-19 infections from Jan. 3 through Jan. 9, a 55 percent increase over the previous week.
Omicron is more likely to spread to those who have not been vaccinated for COVID-19 and more likely to infect those who previously had Covid-19.
Assistant Professor Leonardo Martinez, an epidemiologist at Boston University School of Public Health, earned his doctorate in epidemiology from the University of Georgia in 2018. He has warned that the rapidity of the spread of Omicron will likely result in the rise in the opportunity for a mutation that will most likely result in more variants.
While Omicron is proving to be less severe in terms of symptoms that have been reported to be similar to the common cold, headaches and congestion, 99.2 percent of the deaths from COVID-19 are occurring in the population of the non-vaccinated.
Alleghany County’s number of Covid-19 infections has risen to 22.6 per day and 147.7 out of every 100,000 compared to the entire Commonwealth of Virginia that has 18,843.3 new cases being posted and 224.0 out of every 100,000.
Statistics seem to support health care officials who maintain that vaccinations and booster vaccines reduce the risk of death from COVID-19 and their variants as well as the risk of serious illness and hospitalization.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled via a 5-4 vote that OSHA has the authority to enforce the vaccination mandate that President Joe Biden had in place for large employers who have more than 100 healthcare workers at facilities that receive federal funding.
However, the Court struck down President Biden’s mandate by a 6-3 vote for other companies than the healthcare companies that have more than 100 employees. Thus, many companies such as Southwest Airlines that employees thousands no longer will be required to enforce the federal mandate to have their employees vaccinated.
Currently, the count of cases that have been reported in the U.S. since COVID-19 reached America’s shores is 64,478,749 with 845,383 of those cases resulting in death.
Worldwide case numbers have risen to 326,834,683 with COVID-19 and its variants resulting in the death of 5,443,776.
