[Genuine Realist]

There’s been a troubling increase in the percentage of mortalities in Santa Clara County during the last few weeks. The data comes in erratically, but I’d say in July-Aug SCC was averaging about 1.5 mortalities a day and the past three weeks they’ve been averaging 2.5+ deaths a day, with 8(!!) covid fatalities being reported today. I can’t recall a day in the past where so many deaths came on one day.



I’ve also noticed the number of cases have been dropping, and the number of hospitalizations dramatically dropped recently, yet the fatalities have increased.

The explanation I can think of is — it’s the smoke. Fewer people are going out and congregating, fewer people are getting sick, fewer people are getting hospitalized, but of the ones who are hospitalized, their respiratory and immune systems are weakened from breathing poor air for the last month. 

I also tend to specifically watch the number of deaths for younger people (30-40, 40-50)  in SCC, and those have been increasing at a more rapid pace lately, as well.

I haven’t seen anything official linking increased Covid mortalities in the Bay Area to the air quality, but from the recent mortality data, it looks really, really bad.

A recent article on the Bay Are AQI mentioned years with fires have been linked to worse flu seasons. I had hoped just a few days of good air could help flush out the system. How long does it take? Additionally, I have had only 3 outdoor walks since the fires started, so people are losing those health benefits, as well.

I noticed the trend, but I'm not so sure it's troubling. I think it's directly related to air quality issues. The mortality numbers ticked up almost at the exact time the first round of lightning fires began to fill the air with smoke.

More encouraging is that hospitalization numbers have dropped dramatically. Either tests are identifying miler cases, deaths are providing bed space (though the increase is not that great), or some of the treatments are working more satisfactorily. Probably all three.

[Genuine Realist]

There’s been a troubling increase in the percentage of mortalities in Santa Clara County during the last few weeks. The data comes in erratically, but I’d say in July-Aug SCC was averaging about 1.5 mortalities a day and the past three weeks they’ve been averaging 2.5+ deaths a day, with 8(!!) covid fatalities being reported today. I can’t recall a day in the past where so many deaths came on one day.



I’ve also noticed the number of cases have been dropping, and the number of hospitalizations dramatically dropped recently, yet the fatalities have increased.

The explanation I can think of is — it’s the smoke. Fewer people are going out and congregating, fewer people are getting sick, fewer people are getting hospitalized, but of the ones who are hospitalized, their respiratory and immune systems are weakened from breathing poor air for the last month. 

I also tend to specifically watch the number of deaths for younger people (30-40, 40-50)  in SCC, and those have been increasing at a more rapid pace lately, as well.

I haven’t seen anything official linking increased Covid mortalities in the Bay Area to the air quality, but from the recent mortality data, it looks really, really bad.

A recent article on the Bay Are AQI mentioned years with fires have been linked to worse flu seasons. I had hoped just a few days of good air could help flush out the system. How long does it take? Additionally, I have had only 3 outdoor walks since the fires started, so people are losing those health benefits, as well.

I noticed the trend, but I'm not so sure it's troubling. I think it's directly related to air quality issues. The mortality numbers ticked up almost at the exact time the first round of lightning fires began to fill the air with smoke.

More encouraging is that hospitalization numbers have dropped dramatically. Either tests are identifying miler cases, deaths are providing bed space (though the increase is not that great), or some of the treatments are working more satisfactorily. Probably all three.