Sunday 13 March 2022

Pandemic diary – weeks 103 & 104

Monday, 28 February 2022
The 7-day average of new infections declines below 15,000. If it continues to go on like this, by the end of the second decade of March it will fall below 10,000.
The customary month-end report of the sluggish pace of vaccinations in Poland.

1. Vaccine uptake in age groups

2. Vaccination status in the entire population of Poland

Given that the vaccination programme has nearly come to a standstill, is there any point in reporting its progress monthly anymore?

Tuesday, 1 March 2022
For that day, MOCOS forecast predicted that 7-day average of new infection would decline below 10,000. In practice, it reaches almost 14,000.

Wednesday, 2 March 2022
The 7-day average number of new deaths falls below 200. Hope the trend continues.

Thursday, 3 March 2022
The number of officially registered deaths caused by COVID-19 worldwide hits 6,000,000. I suppose a million more people die by 28 July 2022.

Friday, 4 March 2022
While the war is the only topic hitting the headlines, the second anniversary of first infection reported in Poland passes unnoticed. A year ago it was the topic of the day.

Saturday, 5 March 2022
On 3 February 2022 I predicted on that day the total number of reported cases in Poland would reach 6,000,000. Fortunately, I got it wrong, by 265,959. Now I bet the six million figure will be hit on 1 April 2022 (the first anniversary of the alpha wave peak last spring).
The number of hospitalisations on account of COVID-19 in Poland declines below 10,000, for the first time since 7 November 2021. Good news!

Sunday, 6 March 2022
As everybody is focused on the war in Ukraine, the pandemic is no longer a headline topic, but the virus does not let up during the warfare. Large gatherings might be conducive to spreading the virus.

Monday, 7 March 2022
After a noticeable decline in several countries in the second half of February, infections have picked up in many countries, but in some, such as the Netherlands or Austria, the incline is quite steep.

Tuesday, 8 March 2022
New infections in Poland rise week-on-week (by 1.3%) for the first time since nearly six weeks. With hindsight it will turn out it is just a one-off event, but the pace of decline gets very slow.

Wednesday, 9 March 2022
Torwar hall in Warsaw, being one of the biggest refugee shelters in Warsaw, becomes a hotbed of COVID-19, but as volunteers claim, this is just the peak of the iceberg, since people staying there are afflicted by several other diseases, which combined with the virus might get deadly. I fear a humanitarian disaster.

Thursday, 10 March 2022
In Austria the recent uptick send the level of new infections (7-day average) to all-time high. Too early to forget about COVID-19. We need to keep an eye on hospital admissions and deaths.

Friday, 11 March 2022
For me 11 March 2020, the day my employer ordered everyone to work from home and countrywide school closure was announced, marked the beginning of the pandemic. The second anniversary is barely noticed because of the war. Two years ago nobody expected it to last so long. Same might be with the warfare.

Saturday, 12 March 2022
The positivity rate has declined to around 15% - 18% in recent days, which is half of the figure witnessed in late January and early February, which implies new inflections have fallen by some 90% since the peak. Reassuringly?

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