January saw US inflation climb to 27%, the highest in 39 years. In Afghanistan, the Taliban sealed outside trade except for humanitarian aid. A volcano near Tonga created a pressure wave that circled the globe twice, washed shores from Hawaii and Alaska to New Zealand, and covered Tonga in ash. Meanwhile, COVID-19 is causing havoc.
Covid-19 News January 2022
- Everybody is out sick, or testing positive for Covid-19, which is affecting everything from pizza delivery to nurses caring for critical patients in overwhelmed ICUs. Third-string quarterbacks are playing in the NFL, travel bans are being reinstated, and people wait in long lines for scarce drive-through Covid testing.
- Within about a month nearly all new cases are from Omicron, replacing the Delta variant. While breakthrough cases after vaccinations and boosters have resulted in a few hospitalizations and deaths, they are extremely rare whereas almost all hospitalizations are among the unvaccinated.
- US patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have hit a record high – a situation straining healthcare networks and pushing states toward emergency staffing and other measures as they struggle to cope.
- However, businesses are open, bars in New York City packed, Florida, Texas, and other state Governors are still fighting mask and vaccine mandates, and even the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo opened on schedule amid the biggest Covid surge yet, targeting the least-vaccinated audience.
- The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is on track to infect more than half of Europeans, and while less lethal among the vaccinated, it should not yet be seen as a flu-like endemic illness according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
- While research is underway to create a vaccine that is effective against all coronavirus variants current, past, and even future, the world may need to live with and mitigate the effects of COVID-19 indefinitely just like the flu.
- The Biden Administration is offering free at-home Covid tests to all Americans, free for the asking by mail. Also, 400 million N95 masks will be distributed for free through pharmacies and other pick-up spots.
- The US Supreme Court has blocked President Joe Biden’s rule requiring workers at large companies to be vaccinated or masked and tested weekly.