I mean… this isn’t surprising at this time of year. Many are traveling, in close proximity with one another and we have two holidays relatively close to one another (Thanksgiving and Christmas) that will have many people gather in one place, usually indoors.
It all provides a great environment for things to spread.
Not to mention the large amount of people who come into work sick at this time of year too.
Compared to the ~25,000 weekly deaths in 2021? The world simply decided that it was tired of dealing with COVID restrictions, and that it wouldn’t be worth trying to eradicate it. So we just decided on what an acceptable number of deaths is, and don’t bother reporting on it unless it’s outside of that norm.
It's all over the place. Here in Texas, too. I'm fully vaccinated, and mask in public, but this has been a tough season for me, as I caught stuff from careless relatives.
I know a guy who went to get checked for a respirator as part of a hazardous workplace PPE and found out he had a probably benign 10cm mass in one lung. Never had symptoms until he moved from the southwest to the Midwest and developed a persistent unproductive cough.
Point is that if you have a persistent cough, it might be best to sign up for some medical debt so you know what season of America's Got Talent you will miss.
Went in last wk in SF. NP said obscene levels of adults with strep, COVID, RSV, cold, flu, and frequent cases with 2 or more. Shit on the "clickbait headline" but my medical provider said it verbatim...
I had to miss out on a lot of family stuff because I came down with croup or something nasty that developed from rhinovirus/common cold.
Nearly 6 weeks later and I still have some coughing fits. I faired better than many though. Nasal irrigation, vitamins, and saltwater gargling probably helped.