If it is true as reported in the Wall Street Journal that more people around the world are sick right now than at any time since the 1918 flu epidemic, that should be noted somewhere — at least as an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records.
“The world is living through a unique moment,” says the Journal. “In the past five or six weeks, the Omicron coronavirus variant has likely gotten more people sick than any similar period since the 1918-1919 flu pandemic, according to global health experts.”
The CDC says that around 500 million people or almost 30 percent of the world’s population of 1.8 billion in 1918-9 were sickened with the flu, with about 50 million of them dying.
The latest figures from the WHO suggest that around 393 million people have gotten sick from Covid-19 with about 5.75 million dying. Since the world population is now around 7.75 billion, Covid is clearly much less lethal than the 1918 flu, though it appears to be the worst pandemic we’ve had in a century.
That’s about all I (or rather the Journal) has got for you on this Sunday morning, but hopefully it provides a talking point for your weekend musings.
TODAY’S NEWS (35):
Strong Jobs Report Shows Resilient Economy Despite Covid Wave — A gain of 467,000 jobs in January defied forecasts that the Omicron variant would hobble the labor market. (NYT)
Emboldened China opens Olympics, with lockdown and boycotts (AP)
In Beijing, Olympic Spectacle and Global Power Games — The opening of the Winter Games gave Xi Jinping and Vladimir V. Putin a chance to cement their partnership against Western censure. (NYT)
Newly deployed U.S. troops arrive in Europe as Russia bolsters its own forces (NPR)
U.S. warns China risks embarrassment if it backs Russia on Ukraine (WP)
Can the Technology Behind Covid Vaccines Cure Other Diseases? — Researchers are developing tools for using messenger RNA to fight the flu, cancer, HIV and other diseases—but challenges remain. (WSJ)
U.S. Covid Death Toll Surpasses 900,000 as Omicron’s Spread Slows — New case reports are waning, but deaths have yet to peak, and Americans are wondering what long-term coexistence with the coronavirus might look like. (NYT)
The Omicron coronavirus variant appears to have made more people ill at the same time than in any period since the flu pandemic of 1918-1919, experts say. (WSJ)
How past pandemics may have caused Parkinson's (BBC)
Donald Trump still looms over American politics (Financial Times)
Trump’s ‘circular firing squad’ threatens GOP midterm gains (Politico)
RNC rebukes Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger, calls Jan. 6 ‘legitimate political discourse’ (WP)
Trump’s GOP: Party further tightens tie to former president (AP)
The End of the Republicans’ Big Tent — The party has no tolerance for dissent within its ranks. (Atlantic)
Trump and allies try to redefine racism by casting White men as victims (WP)
A year after Trump purge, ‘alt-tech’ offers far-right refuge (AP)
Mike Pence 'Did the Right Thing'—GOP Voters Praise Speech Against Donald Trump (Newsweek)
GOP takes mail voting to court in swing states Biden won (Politico)
Single bomber carried out Kabul airport attack - U.S. military (Reuters)
California liberals seethe after Democratic legislature kills single-payer (Politico)
The War Between the SFPD and D.A. Chesa Boudin — The relationship between San Francisco's cops and its progressive district attorney was tense from the start. But on the eve of the brutality trial of a cop, an allegation of misconduct against Boudin's office has prompted a bitter legal and political battle. (SFC)
Mass swarm of dead fish in Atlantic prompts European inquiry (AP)
Facebook’s Wall Street meltdown could be just the beginning for some tech stocks — With the Fed signaling that higher interest rates are coming, investors have begun shedding some of their priciest stocks in favor of bets on companies poised to prosper as the economy adjusts. (WP)
SpaceX, NASA investigating parachute problems on last 2 flights (Fox)
How ‘super-enzymes’ that eat plastics could curb our waste problem (Guardian)
US military faces crisis in Hawaii after leak poisons water (AP)
People Really, Really Hate the Future of the Internet — Will the big promises of Web3 and crypto ever come to fruition? Or will it all turn out to be a fever dream? (Atlantic)
Tequila could overtake vodka as America’s favorite liquor
as sales boom (CNBC)
Urdu, Chinese, even Old Norse: how Wordle spread across the globe (BBC)
Todd Gitlin, a Voice and Critic of the New Left, Dies at 79 (NYT)
Smoke Alarm Sick Of Being Yelled At For Doing Its Job (The Onion)
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