Patrickthebiosteamist

Northeast Covid-19 data, weighted ranking low (2/5). 52% facilities that could be reporting data are not currently.

Midwest Covid-19 data, weighted ranking low (2/5). 19% facilities that could be reporting data are not currently.

South Covid-19 data, weighted ranking low (3/5). 25% facilities that could be reporting data are not currently.

West Covid-19 data, weighted ranking low (3/5). 8% facilities that could be reporting data are not currently.

Covid-19 wastewater by region:

Northeast - 52% not reporting data (mostly from NY). Weighted ranking low (2).

Midwest - 19% not reporting data. Weighted ranking low (2).

South - 25% not reporting data. Weighted ranking moderate (3).

West - 8% not reporting data. Weighted ranking moderate (3).

Tabular breakdown showing the numbers processed in excel from the downloadable .csv file from the CDC’s NWSS data for 20 July - 26 July 2025.

For (20 July - 26 July, 2025) CDC Covid-19 data:

Weighted rankings put the US at Moderate Viral activity levels, NOT Low as listed by CDC.

30% of facilities are not reporting data. 829 reporting out of potential 1188 - down from 1587 last year.

53% facilities reporting mod-very high wastewater.

It’s a nice tool/visualization, but the CDC confirmed during most recent ACIP meeting that there is no routine Covid-19 testing at all hospitals since 2023, so the hospitalization and ED visits are dramatically under representative of what is actually happening.

First is the CDC covid-19 epidemiological tracker. The second is the Walgreens covid-19 respiratory index. They’ll pop up on first searches.

New swerving Sars Cov 2 variants:
XFT spike is 22N 31P 186L 190S 346T 445R 456L 493E 679R 1086R 1104L 1201K
XFU spike is 22N 31P 182R 190S 346T 441R 445P 456L 493E 1104L
XFV is a a copy paste of XFG.3.3 (680F)
XFG.23.1 & XFG.18.1 have S:L335F
PQ.4.1 has 572I and 679N (rev)
XFG.5.1 with Orf1a:T2093I

CDC: Very high, heat map shown PMC: 1 in 38 estimated actively infectious

The CDC shows Texas with "Very High" COVlD transmission.

I noted last week that many high-transmission TX sites were offline & the dip into "Moderate" territory was likely an aberration. Sadly, true.

PMC estimates that 1 in 38 Texans are now actively infectious.

I will die on the hill that to increase masking compliance it has to be made cool.

No amount of ableist and eugenicist rhetoric is going to move the needle.

People doing regular shit, high-profile shit (like red carpet events), fitness/sporting shit. That’s what is going to move the needle.

YouTube video by PatricktheBioSTEAMist Face Masks as Source Control - Preventing Sick People From Infecting Others

I have a video on it - at least that paper I shared with you now:

youtu.be/mthle-Rb9_o?...

if you’d like to watch this at normal speed, it’s findable on tiktok: www.tiktok.com/t/ZTHpwxD56L...

PAXCESS™ | PAXLOVID™ (nirmatrelvir tablets; ritonavir tablets) The PAXCESS™ Patient Support Program may help eligible patients lower the cost of PAXLOVID™ and access savings, with or without insurance. T&Cs apply.

For those that are currently catching a Covid infection, and for those that catch one in the fall/winter:

PAXCESS (free program for Paxlovid - Covid antiviral med) is still available for uninsured and underinsured until December 31st, 2025. Use it before it’s gone!

www.paxlovid.com/paxcess

Here's the latest variant picture with a global scope, to mid-July.

Growth of XFG.* "Stratus" has continued, and it is now dominant at 44%.

The NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" is fairly flat at around 30%.

#COVID19 #Global #NB_1_8_1 #Nimbus #XFG #Stratus
🧵

Here's the latest variant picture for the United States, to mid-July.

The XFG.* "Stratus" variant continued it’s dominance, growing to 56% frequency.

NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" was fairly flat, finishing at 17%.

#COVID19 #USA #XFG #Stratus #NB_1_8_1 #Nimbus
🧵

Some people are looney tunes, and that’s what the block button is for.

Sigh.

A bite guard is for people that grind their teeth while they sleep like me. I pretty much have ground through mine, so it was determined time to replace it.

The alternative is that I slowly grind my teeth away into little nubs every night.

Does it suck having to pay, yes. But it’s preventative.

Because teeth aren’t something you should take care of, of course. Genius.

They aren’t masks, they are gaiters.

Gaiters don’t provide any protection whatsoever against airborne diseases or poor air quality.

And repeat covid infections

Tired man in a KN95 for easy removal during dental cleaning.

Survived another 6 month dental cleaning.

But apparently my bite guard needs replacing.

Don and doff a mask while waiting bw peeps.

Healthy teeth and gums are important in covid prevention - it can infiltrate through these areas increasing the severity of the infection (among other things).

Adding to the A->G cluster list: two chronic-infection LP.8.1.1 seqs from Ontario, Canada, from June have 10 A->G muts in a 101-nuc stretch. A few other sequences have had similar A->G clusters in this ORF3a region.

Still unsure if this phenomenon is unique to SARS-2 or what the mechanism is.

CDC Covid Epidemic growth trends, 89.55% likely increasing levels of Covid.

Walgreens respiratory index tracker for Covid test positivity has been going up week over week (shown in the top right). For the states still participating in the Walgreens program, the majority are showing large increases in Covid test positivity rates.

All active wastewaterSCAN sites full picture view. Current time is in the far right. Showing increasing levels across sites.

Zoomed in section of the last month of wastewateSCAN. A large proportion of sites are trending to increasing levels of Covid being detected in the wastewater.

I’ve seen people suggest that our summer covid wave has already peaked. I disagree.

From everything I have been looking at (small sampling below), things to me look like they are still heating up.

I think it looks like the summer 2023-winter 2024 waves = large sustained wave one into the other.

Geez, the cryptic are starting to come out of the woodwork. This week it's a Delta (I think) from California.

I don't have the full analysis yet, but the RBD is classic:
440K-441R-449R-450D-452Q-453F-456Y-460K-484A-486I-498Y-501T-504D.

FDA Continues to Recruit From the Fringes George Tidmarsh allied himself with medical contrarians. Now he’s the nation’s top drug regulator.

Vinay Prasad is gone. George Tidmarsh is in as acting head of CBER.

But don’t expect him to be more reasonable. Here’s why:

www.importantcontext.news/p/fda-contin...

Ohhh nooo what a shame.

We also have a CDC director now (Susan Monarez who was the interim for a bit).

Not that she will be any good.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/u...

Without accurate and timely sequencing data, we will not be able to make appropriate selections for the next Covid vaccine.

We also won’t be able to tell when emerging new variants happen, we will lose our ability to predict which will drive the next waves, and more.

Sequencing data is our ability to track variant spread in real-time. From the last CDC variant data source tracker (end of May 2025), we know that this data comes purely from public health labs, not the CDC. So when funding for those runs out, our ability to track Covid variants will be gone.

Ship from Raj Rajnarayanan’s Covid variant tracker. Currently only New York, California, Colorado, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, Washington, Maryland, Nevada, Illinois, & Oregon are providing sequencing data - which is our ability to track variant spread in real-time. The total sequences tested was only 668 in most recent reporting period. This is a very low number. From the last CDC variant data source tracker, we know that this data comes purely from public health labs, not the CDC. So when funding for those runs out, our ability to track Covid variants will be gone.

In sad news -

According to Raj’s Covid variant tracker for the US, we are down to 11 states doing any tracking.

These include New York, California, Colorado, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, Washington, Maryland, Nevada, Illinois, & Oregon.

Down to 668 sequences in past week. All public labs.

@ryanhisner.bsky.social complained he couldn't see all of the Atlanta variant mutations. Here is an updated version of Spike.

This lineage is about 2-times more divergent than Omicron was in 2021. If it were to start circulating it would be big trouble.

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YouTube video by PatricktheBioSTEAMist Day 108 - Masked Fitness - Double Dipsea Hike

Day 108 - Masked Fitness - Double Dipsea Hike
youtube.com/shorts/A7THT...

YouTube video by PatricktheBioSTEAMist Go to a concert - wear a N95 or KN95 - It’s that simple

Go to a concert - wear a N95 or KN95 - It’s that simple
youtube.com/shorts/CX5QN...

YouTube video by PatricktheBioSTEAMist Day 107 - Masked Fitness - Deadlift Focus (365lb x1)

Day 107 - Masked Fitness - Deadlift Focus (365lb x1)
youtube.com/shorts/vaVow...