North America – Page 37 – Desdemona Despair

U.S. hospital utilization by facility, 10 January 2022. By mid-January 2022, at least 18 states had less than 15 percent capacity remaining in their ICU facilities, as the United States grappled with surging COVID-19 cases, according to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data. Graphic: HHS Protect

January 14, 2022

ICUs nearing capacity in at least 18 U.S. states – “The sudden and steep rise in cases due to omicron is resulting in unprecedented daily case counts, sickness, absenteeism, and strains on our health care system”

By Monique Beals 13 January 2022 (The Hill) – At least 18 states have less than 15 percent capacity remaining in their ICU facilities as the United States grapples with surging COVID-19 cases, according to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data. The states include Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, […]

Map showing natural catastrophe loss event worldwide in 2021. In 2021, natural disasters caused overall losses of $280 billion, of which roughly $120 billion were insured. Alongside 2005 and 2011, the year 2021 proved to be the second-costliest ever for the insurance sector (record year 2017: $146 billion, inflation-adjusted) – overall losses from natural disasters were the fourth-highest to date (record year 2011: $355 billion). Graphic: Munich Re

January 13, 2022

For the insurance industry, 2021 was the second-highest loss year on record, after 2017 – “The 2021 disaster statistics are striking because some of the extreme weather events are of the kind that are likely to become more frequent or more severe as a result of climate change”

10 January 2022 (Munich Re) – Worldwide, natural disasters caused substantially higher losses in 2021 than in the two previous years. Based on provisional data, storms, floods, wildfires, and earthquakes destroyed assets worth US$ 280bn. Losses in the previous year amounted to US$ 210bn, while in 2019 they were US$ 166bn. Roughly US$ 120bn of […]

Anti-COVID-19 “Vaccine Police” leader Christopher Key poses with multiple guns. On 9 January 2022, Key told The Daily Beast he advocates what he calls “urine therapy” and railed against “foolish” people who took the COVID-19 vaccine, which is safe and effective. Photo: Telegram

January 13, 2022

Anti-Vax leader urges followers to drink their own urine to fight COVID-19

By Zachary Petrizzo 9 January 2022 (The Daily Beast) – Anti-COVID-19 “Vaccine Police” leader Christopher Key has a new quarter-baked conspiracy theory for his anti-vax followers to use to cure themselves of COVID-19: Drink their own urine. “The antidote that we have seen now, and we have tons and tons of research, is urine therapy. OK, and […]

Daily positive COVID-19 test rate in the United States, 14 March 2020 - 5 January 2022. As of 11 January 2022, there were roughly 62.4 million cases and 841,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States. Over the previous 14 days, daily new cases increased by about 100 percent and daily deaths increased by about 13 percent. Graphic: Covid Act Now

January 13, 2022

The Great Resignation roars again: Here’s why more U.S. workers than ever quit in November 2021 – Nearly 3 million reported not working due to COVID-19 symptoms or caring for somebody who was sick

By Connie Lin 4 January 2022 (Fast Company) – New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the Great Resignation did not go gently into that good night; rather, it was very much alive at the end of 2021. A historic 4.5 million workers willingly quit their jobs in November, up from a succession of records […]

Daily COVID-19 cases reported to the CDC, 23 January 2020 - 10 January 2022 CDC. The United States reported 1.35 million new coronavirus infections on 10 January 2022 CDC, the highest daily total for any country in the world, as the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant showed no signs of slowing. The previous record was 1.03 million cases on 3 January 2022. The seven-day average for new cases tripled in two weeks to more than 700,000 new infections per day. Graphic: CDC

January 11, 2022

U.S. reports 1.35 million COVID-19 cases in one day, shattering global record – More than 65,000 L.A. students and employees test positive as school resumes – U.S. breaks COVID-19 hospitalization record

By Lisa Shumaker 11 January 2022 (Reuters) – The United States reported 1.35 million new coronavirus infections on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, the highest daily total for any country in the world as the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant showed no signs of slowing. The previous record was 1.03 million cases […]

Deaths from overdoses, alcohol use, or suicide in Washington state, 2015-2020. Nearly 3,900 Washingtonians died from “deaths of despair” in 2020, an increase of almost 600 since 2019. Graphic: Mark Nowlin / The Seattle Times

January 11, 2022

“Deaths of despair” spiked in Washington state in 2020, exceeding deaths from COVID-19

By Gene Balk 10 January 2022 (Seattle Times) – They’ve come to be known as “deaths of despair” — fatalities from drug overdoses, alcohol use, and suicide. Research has shown they’ve been on the rise for decades in the United States and have contributed to the decline in life expectancy over the last few years. Since the […]

Promo still for the film “Don’t Look Up” showing Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio. Photo: Netflix

January 10, 2022

The most depressing thing about “Don’t Look Up” (isn’t what you think)

By Andrew P. Street 1 January 2022 (Independent Australia) – Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s star-studded Netflix satire about scientists desperately (and unsuccessfully) attempting to warn a jaded and deeply compromised world about the imminent arrival of an extinction-level comet, has already garnered a veritable encyclopedia of hot takes. But as best as I can see, […]

New confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions reported in the United States, 26 October 2021 - 27 December 2021 and forecast to 28 January 2022. The number of new daily confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions will likely increase, with 24,700 to 53,700 new confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions likely reported on 28 January 2022. The forecast may not fully account for the emergence and rapid spread of the Omicron variant or changes in reporting during the holidays. Graphic: CDC

January 10, 2022

U.S. hospitals are in serious trouble – “Too many facilities are pulling from the same labor pool, and if that pool is sick, where are the reinforcements?”

By Ed Yong 7 January 2022 (The Atlantic) – When a health-care system crumbles, this is what it looks like. Much of what’s wrong happens invisibly. At first, there’s just a lot of waiting. Emergency rooms get so full that “you’ll wait hours and hours, and you may not be able to get surgery when […]

Homes are engulfed by flames as the Marshall Fire spreads through Superior, Colorado on 30 December 2021. Photo: Sean David Van De Riet / Reuters

January 9, 2022

More than 40 percent of Americans live in counties hit by climate disasters in 2021 – “More people are living in more flammable landscapes. More people are going to be interfacing with disaster.”

By Sarah Kaplan and Andrew Ba Tran 5 January 2022 (The Washington Post) – 2021 ended as it began: with disaster. Twelve months after an atmospheric river deluged California, triggering mudslides in burned landscapes and leaving a half-million people without power, a late-season wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes in the suburbs of Denver. In between, Americans suffered blistering heat […]

Global greenhouse gas emissions, 1990-2020. The reduction in emissions in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession was 10 times greater than the impact on emissions from the 2008 global financial crisis. Graphic: Rhodium Group

January 9, 2022

Global greenhouse gas reduction in 2020 from pandemic and global recession “was 10 times greater than the impact on emissions from the 2008 global financial crisis”

By Alfredo Rivera, Shweta Movalia, Hannah Pitt, and Kate Larsen 23 December 2021 (Rhodium Group) – Understanding annual trends in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a critical input for decision-makers in their efforts to reach net-zero emissions, whether is at the national, state, city, or corporate levels. Tracking emissions of the 190+ Parties to the […]