One hour after Biden inaugurated, WHO changes COVID testing criteria (PCR/Ct)

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And just like that the Q thread returns

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These are the type things that should infuriate all Americans

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Fauci says drop in Covid cases not due to vaccine: '
We don't want to get complacent'
Elisha Fieldstadt 10 hrs ago

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Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday said that a drop in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in most of the country cannot likely be attributed to vaccines, meaning people should continue to be cautious as possible. "I don’t think the dynamics are what we’re seeing is significantly influenced, yet — it will be soon — but yet by vaccine," said Fauci on NBC's "TODAY." The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to the president said the drop was more likely due to a natural plateauing of cases following a spike after the holiday season.

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When asked about the method of "double-masking," Fauci encouraged it. "You put another layer on, it just makes common sense that it would be more effective," he said.

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New Covid Cases Plunge 25% or More as Behavior Changes
By Christina Jewett

JANUARY 28, 2021

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A dozen states are reporting drops of 25% or more in new covid-19 cases and more than 1,200 counties have seen the same, federal data released Wednesday shows. Experts say the plunge may relate to growing fear of the virus after it reached record-high levels, as well as soaring hopes of getting vaccinated soon.

Nationally, new cases have dropped 21% from the prior week, according to Department of Health and Human Services data, reflecting slightly more than 3,000 counties. Corresponding declines in hospitalization and death may take days or weeks to arrive, and the battle against the deadly virus rages on at record levels in many places.

Health officials, data modeling experts and epidemiologists agreed it’s too early to see a bump from the vaccine rollout that started with health care workers in late December and has, in many states, moved on to include older Americans.

Instead, they said, the factors involved are more likely behavior-driven, with people settling back home after the holidays, or reacting to news of hospital beds running out in places like Los Angeles. Others are finding the resolve to wear masks and physically distance with the prospect of a vaccine becoming more immediate.

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She also said the national trend, with even steeper drops in California, also reflects restrictions in that state, which included closing indoor dining and a 10 p.m. curfew in hard-hit regions. She said those measures take a few weeks to show up in new-case data.

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Four California counties were among the five large U.S. counties seeing the steepest case drops, including Los Angeles County, where new cases declined nearly 40% in the week ending Jan. 25, compared with the week before.

Dr. Karin Michels, chair of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, said the lower numbers in L.A. after the virus infected 1 in 8 county residents likely mirror what happened after New York City’s surge: People got very scared and changed their behavior.

“People are beginning to understand we really need to get our act together in L.A., so that helps,”

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Michels said herd immunity would not explain the declines, since we’re nowhere near the level of 70% of the population having had the disease or been vaccinated. She said the declines may also reflect a drop in testing, as Dodger Stadium has been converted from a mass testing site to a mass vaccination center.

Officials with the California Department of Public Health acknowledged that testing has fallen off, but overall rates of positive covid tests are falling, suggesting the change is real.

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