By Tony Hicks –
Contra Costa County’s first case of monkeypox was confirmed Tuesday, and COVID-19 transmission is back on the rise countywide, health officials told the Board of Supervisors.
“We’ve seen a significant rise in transmission of COVID-19; this is due to the new variants BA.4 and BA.5, much more contagious variants,” county health director Anna Roth told the board.
“We are though, however, holding pretty steady with our hospitalizations, as well as utilization of our ICU. Those are important numbers now, for us, because we know the case rate and so many people — we know this is happening — are testing at home and that’s absolutely great news. But it also sort of makes case rates harder to track, so we still do look at those hospitalization numbers.”
County hospitalizations have risen steadily since July 4. They hit 100 on Friday for the first time since July 2. As of Tuesday, there were 102 people in the hospital, 12 of them in the ICU. Nearly 83 percent of county residents have been vaccinated, with 56.1 percent boosted.
Cases have risen steadily since April 1. As of Tuesday, there have been 229,926 cases in Contra Costa, with 6,606 currently active.
“We still strongly recommend masking indoors,” Roth said. “It’s not an order; it’s a strong recommendation.
“It’s still a powerful preventative, and our most powerful prevention remains the vaccination,” Roth told the board. “Just a couple data points: if you are unvaccinated, you are 2 to 2.5 times more likely to be hospitalized.”
Roth said, since vaccines rolled out in December 2020, “81 percent of our deaths have been in the unvaccinated population. So, I really want to make sure we drive that point home. If you’re not vaccinated, please go get vaccinated. If you’re over 50 and you have not gotten a vaccination this year, in 2022, it’s time for you to go get a booster.”
Dr. Sofe’ Mekuria, deputy health officer for Contra Costa County, said monkeypox has appeared in the county and, though it can cause serious illness, most people aren’t at high risk.
She said, so far, doctors know it gets passed by close human contact, though they still aren’t sure whether it spreads via air. But it’s not as contagious as COVID-19.
Mekuria also said the county is vaccinating children younger than 5 for COVID-19. About 8 percent of the county’s children 5 and under are vaccinated. She pointed out about 1,500 children that age have died from COVID-19 in the U.S.
That last “factoid” is wrong – the CDC got egg on its face – a common occurrence the past few years – when it used that number in one of the ACIP meetings and a IT worker who blogs about Covid numbers corrected their mistakes. (Kelley Krohnert is her name.)
Apparently Dr. Mekuria can’t be bothered to keep up with such things: after all, she only gets paid $220k per year to scare people with inflated numbers.
“Dr. Sofe’ Mekuria, deputy health officer for Contra Costa County, said monkeypox has appeared in the county and, though it can cause serious illness, most people aren’t at high risk.
She said, so far, doctors know it gets passed by close human contact, though they still aren’t sure whether it spreads via air. But it’s not as contagious as COVID-19.”
Orwellian. Everybody knows this is spreading mainly in gay male populations. How does it help anybody *not* to identify the group most likely to get infected??
Only promiscuous homosexuals are at risk for monkeypox. Why not tell the truth?
Oh, because it’s heretical to the core values of the USA: usury, sodomy, and abortion.
… more on the Monkeypox? …vaccinations? when? where? who should get them?
Poster “Truthman” is correct!! Look at the color photos released on the news and the long lines of people at Zucker… Hospital!! Most of those in line, I would be willing to bet are all homos or bi’s! Close contact xmits this virus. AIDS epidemic sound familiar??
First aids then Monkeypox. Maybe someone is trying to tell them something.
Hmm, so how many cases of Monkeypox occurred in the country from 2010-2019? They probably didn’t keep track. If anyone had it they probably went to a doctor who gave a prescription for some inexpensive drug. They seem to count on the public being scared at each announcement and disparage those who are not. 😁
Monkey Pox, Covid vaccinations….. thanks for putting the 2 in the same article to show the propagandous connection.
fearmongers trying to gain contro of us again!
Read an article yesterday claiming there are seven (7) cases of monkey-pox in the US.
360 mil people and only 7 cases? c’mon man.
Somebody’s numbers are a tad off.
But hey……why not use the story to blow more of that good old covid smoke up our a$$ez.
HappyPappy, the CDC website says 929 confirmed cases in the US, with 150 of those in California.
Mickey Dolenz is the only surviving monkey, and I’m sure he doesn’t want the pox.
In Mickey Dolenz case that would be the Monkee Pox, but he isn’t very likely to want it either at his age.
Mickey is probably more interested in residuals these days. 😉
I am a Turtle.
I am not worried.
MONKEY POX is vaccine acquired shingles covered up…. CHANGE MY MIND.