Masking, handwashing, social distancing are called "Non Pharmaceutical interventions" to stop the spread of Covid-19. In the recent Morbidity & Mortality report, the USA expects the situation to ease by July 2021. The advisory of high levels of vaccination and good NPI is valid for any other country Summary What is already known about this topic? Increases in COVID-19 cases in March and early April occurred despite a large-scale vaccination program. Increases coincided with the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants and relaxation of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). What is added by this report? Data from six models indicate that with high vaccination coverage and moderate NPI adherence, hospitalizations and deaths will likely remain low nationally, with a sharp decline in cases projected by July 2021. Lower NPI adherence could lead to substantial increases in severe COVID-19 outcomes, even with improved vaccination coverage. What are the implications for public health practice? High vaccination coverage and compliance with NPIs are essential to control COVID-19 and prevent surges in hospitalizations and deaths in the coming months.
Something different... The Chennai woman who runs a Hindu crematorium and something more.... the fat and the obese may have a co-morbidity for Covid-19 affliction, but they go on to help themselves in the cremation: Keep in mind, that body fat has a BTU value close to 17 times that of normal tissue. Therefore there is probably enough energy in the body itself to sustain the cremation process for a period of time. source: https://www.cremationassociation.org/page/HumanBodyWeight
India vs. China comparison continues in the world media. The Chinese have Sinopharm as well as Sinovac. For the Americans, the brand name Sinovac may sound like a Made-in-China handheld vacuum cleaner. One or the other of these vaccines is also being shipped/used in several southeast asian countries, and some south american countries. Chile has already inoculated a majority of their population, and yet they are suffering a new wave of increased infections, and some of these are in the vaccinated people. The Chinese Public Health authorities are also not immune from that foot-in-mouth malady <source> that goes on to cause vaccine hesitancy: Some Chinese citizens have cited concerns over safety and efficacy as grounds for refusing vaccination. On April 11, China's leading disease control official said existing vaccines in China offered a low level of protection and that mixing different vaccines was one of the strategies being considered to boost their effectiveness. "We will resolve the issue of vaccines not having very high protection rates," said Gao Fu, the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "It's now under formal consideration whether we should use different vaccines from different technical lines for the immunization process." Gao later told the Global Times, a Chinese state-run tabloid, that his comments had been completely misinterpreted by the international community. If China can learn something from NaMo, and the Indian experience, they should keep a watch, and not declare victory too soon. The idea of Individual Batches of Vaccines offering low protection, and the expectation that a blend of various such batches would offer a greater level of protection, reminded me of single-malt versus blends. In times of anxiety, the mind wanders off to such things.
India death estimate is 2.6 times the actual reported deaths: Estimation of total mortality due to COVID-19
China's government official had posted pictures of their rocket next to funeral pyres in India in an attempt to mock India's difficulty in these times. Chinese rocket debris lands in Indian Ocean, draws criticism from NASA China's rocket is coming down with a lesson — avoid schadenfreude on India's Covid misery