All posts by David Obelcz

Health and Lifestyle, Local

New questions emerge about another Western Washington COVID testing provider

[LACEY, Wash.] – (MTN) Parked outside an empty auto repair shop in Lacey, a banner and a handmade sign declares COVID testing is available provided by OnPoint Testing. The company has 36 test sites in the Western United States, four in Washington and three in Oregon. Reviews complain about “free” tests requiring cash-only payments, unsanitary practices, delayed, inaccurate, or missing results. The owners of OnPoint went to great lengths to obscure their connections back to a Texas company that sells new and used credit card process equipment, and a “lab” connected to a strip mall in San Bruno, California.

A review of the OnPoint Testing website provided no information on the company, the owners, nor a privacy or HIPAA policy. Attempts to make connections to OnPoint to any lab, NPI, or CLIA were initially fruitless.

Searching locations and reviews on Yelp yielded another phone number for the company, attached to a testing location in San Bruno, California. The test site is located in a small strip mall on 650 El Camino Real, shared with Confidence Auto Rental and Sales. A call to the used car dealership went to voicemail and there was no return call. Google and Yelp indicate the dealership is still in business, but its URL, confidenceautos.com, redirects to ASNCars.

Yelp reviews are littered with complaints about OnPoint COVID-19 Testing and connect to a different phone number than listed on the company’s website

The phone number for OnPoint on Yelp did connect to customer service for the company and was answered after a brief hold.

Additional searching found a website for OnPoint Lab in Sugarland, Texas. This led researchers down another dead end. OnPoint Lab does offer COVID testing but is more focused on DNA and urine collection. A search on Open Corporates indicates the lab has been open since 2014. A call to their phone number was answered promptly. The person who answered indicated they had no connection to OnPoint COVID-19 testing.

Equipped with a repeating name, and with OnPoint COVID-19 Testing claiming they have an authorized lab, a review of CDC-approved labs yielded a result. OnPoint Testing CLIA number is 05D2244336 and the address for the facility is the same address as the testing site in San Bruno, California – 650 El Camino Real. The phone number for the lab is different from the 800 number listed on the OnPoint website, and the 650 number listed on Yelp.

OnPoint Testing CDC-approved lab, operating under a waiver due to COVID protocols created by the 2020 CARES ACT, is listed at being inside this building after a CDC CLIA lab search

The third phone number connects to Jason A Kendall on the website for LabProspects in Atascadero, California. It also connects to ATOWN LAB, at the same address. ATOWN LAB has a sparse website hosted on Square, with an option for blood draws and COVID testing. The CDC CLIA number for that facility is 05D2211187, and connects to a company called US Health Laboratories, with an address in Sherman Oaks, California.

Calling the phone number associated with ATOWN LAB and US Health Laboratories went to voicemail for ATOWN LABS. In what was another apparent dead end, there is no connection back to OnPoint COVID-19 Testing, ATOWN LAB, or US Health Laboratories, beyond a shared phone number in the CDC CLIA database.

LabProspects, based out of North Carolina, is a web portal where companies can connect with approved medical labs for services. The company is not affiliated with any COVID testing or any of the people or companies listed in this story.

Running out of options, researchers took three final steps. A search on ICANN indicated that the domain for OnPoint COVID-19 Testing was registered in February 2021 with GoDaddy by a company or agent from Texas. Using Open Corporates, there was a company incorporated in Delaware in March 2021 using the name OnPoint Testing, Inc. A final search on LinkedIn for OnPoint Testing provided a new lead. Sherif Mohamed lists himself as the Co-Founder of Onpoint Testing, in San Bruno, California. The start date of the role on his bio is March 2021. Mohamed also lists himself as the Founder and CEO of Shoperr, DigitalShopper Global, and CardMachineOutlet.com. Although he lists Onpoint Testing in San Bruno, his profile on LinkedIn indicates he is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That provided an additional connection to the ICANN data, and where the website for OnPoint COVID-19 is registered.

Sherif Mohamed lists himself as the CEO and co-founder of Onpoint Testing in San Bruno, California

A social search on Twitter found Mohamed and his lightly used personal account, with retweets from CardMachineOutlet. Through Mohamed’s account, the multiple retweets of Card Machine Outlet on Twitter have the same logo found on LinkedIn and indicate the company is located in Richardson, Texas.

A Sherif Mohamed is also listed as the owner of EZ Clinical Labs in New Jersey. The Instagram page has been deleted and the Facebook page has been inactive since August 2021. The website for the company lists three COVID test locations in New Jersey. The phone number is active and a person did answer the phone. Like OnPoint COVID-19 Testing, the website does not have a posted privacy or HIPAA policy, doesn’t list a CLIA number, or provides information on who owns the lab. Malcontent News cannot verify that the Sherif Mohamed associated with EZ Clinical Labs is the same Sherif Mohamed who is the CEO of OnPoint Testing.

A search for Shoperr listed two addresses. One in San Mateo, California, and another at 740 E. Campbell Road, Richardson, Texas. Malcontent News does not claim that Shoperr is associated with OnPoint COVID-19 testing.

A search for Digital Shopper Global led to a dead website. The search also linked to an abysmal Better Business Bureau rating of the company and multiple allegations of fraud. The address listed was 740 E. Campell Road, Richardson, Texas, but with a different suite number from Shoperr.

That left a final option, Card Machine Outlet. The company website lists an address of 740 E. Campell Road, Richardson, Texas, with a different suite number as Digital Shopper Global. Like Digital Shopper Global, Card Machine Outlet has a one-star BBB rating with multiple claims of fraud. Open Corporate shows CardMachineOutlet.com, LLC was dissolved by the State of Texas on August 22, 2021, due to “tax forfeiture.” A search on the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website indicated that as of January 27, the company remained “involuntary ended.” The Comptroller site also listed a business address as 2435 North Central Expressway, Suite 440, Richardson, Texas, 75080. the contact us page for CardMachineOutlet lists both addresses connected to the company. A call to the number indicates the company is still operating.

To this point, all of the evidence that connects Mohamed to OnPoint COVID-19 Testing appears circumstantial, beyond the LinkedIn profile indicating that he is the CEO and co-founder. Searches for OnPoint led down multiple dead-ends with loose connections back to Mohamed, including OnPoint Logistics, and the CDC CLIA Lab in San Bruno, California.

Job listings for roles at OnPoint Testing indicate the positions are in Richardson, Texas. Indeed lists a job for a Supplies and Procurement specialist, also in Richardson, Texas at the 740 E. Campell Road address. The same job is listed on Glassdoor.

A review of the LinkedIn business page for CardMachineOutlet showed a single job listing on LinkedIn – for a medical assistant in Lacy [sic], Washington. OnPoint COVID-19 Testing has a location at 663 Sleater Kinney Road SE, Lacey, Washington, which has since moved to 4207 Pacific Ave SE.

Job listing for a Medical Assistant in Lacey, Washington listed by CardMachineOutlet.com on LinkedIn, January 27, 2022

The same job is listed on Indeed and ZipRecruiter, under CardMachineOutlet.com.

Job Description:

Onpoint testing is looking to hire a full-time/part-time MA!

Your job responsibilities will include:
– Nose swabs
-Mouth Swabs
-Patient intake
-Patient checkout

We are purely a COVID testing site.

Company Description

CardMachineOutlet.com is the nation leader in credit card equipment and processing service

job description listed on Ziprecruiter for a medical assistant in lacey, washington working for creditcardoutlet.com

The job posting lists 4207 Pacific Ave SE as the address for the testing location. The picture of the mobile van used for testing on the OnPoint COVID-19 Testing website shows the vehicle located at the Pacific Ave SE address and matches the building.

Google is full of reviews complaining the test location was closed despite having an appointment, delayed test results, or receiving no results at all. People who got tested were required to pay $69 in cash. OnPoint COVID-19 Testing states on its website the company does not accept insurance or gets government reimbursement. A number of consumer complaints mention SDI Labs.

OnPoint COVID-19 Testing location in Lacey, Washington on Pacific Ave SE

SDI Labs, Inc. CLIA number is 05D0642622 listed to an address in La Mirada, California. On April 10, 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval under the Emergency Use Authorization Act for the company to evaluate COVID test samples. The individual who requested the waiver was Ozman Modiuddin, CEO of Specialty Diagnostic (SDI) Laboratories.

OnPoint COVID-19 testing had images of sample test results showing SDI Labs, Inc., as the provider, but since removed them. The company has been in business since 1987, and a review of records found a single Better Business Bureau complaint not related to COVID testing. There is nothing that indicates that Modiuddin is connected to Mohamed or any of his current or previous business enterprises. Mohiuddin, nor SDI Labs have come up in any other research on other COVID testing facilities or processing labs beyond some companies sharing a registered agent. That wouldn’t be unusual and is not proof of any impropriety.

An archived image from Google that use to be on the OnPoint COVID-19 Testing website for the SeaTac Airport location in Washington. Multiple people have complained about SDI Labs in review, but there is no evidence that SDI Labs has a direct relationship with OnPoint COVID-19 Labs or its alias CardMachineOutlet

The Thurston County government website lists OnPoint as a testing location. Magen Johnson, Public Information Specialist with Thurston County, indicated the list is not an endorsement of any test provider by the county. The document is meant to be a resource for community members to be aware of possible testing locations. Johnson indicated that there would be a review of the information about OnPoint COVID-19 Testing.

Consumers have been advised to avoid mobile pop-up clinics. With so many people seeking COVID tests, desperation can take over for people who need testing for travel, work, or to visit family. People should carefully consider where they get a COVID test, and the requirements they put in place to get tested.

National

Shut down by the FTC for illegal debt collection practices, they turned to the COVID testing money train

Editor’s Update: Since the publication of this story, NorthShore Clinical Labs has fallen under investigation by officials in the states of California, Nevada, and Illinois, and received a rating of “imminent jeopardy” in three categories in a CMS audit completed on December 29, 2021. Several of their Chicago area test sites have been closed and the Illinois Attorney General has received over 40 complaints.

[CHICAGO, Il.] – (MTN) The Center for COVID Control became a household name on Jan 13 for all the wrong reasons, with multiple investigations at a state and federal level opened against the company. Another Chicago-based COVID test facility, Northshore Clinical Labs (NCL), faces similar allegations. In addition to using a shell company called Curis Healthcare, senior leadership at NCL appears to be affiliated with a third testing lab in the Chicago suburbs.

NCL was incorporated in 1995, initially on West Birchwood Ave in Chicago. The company was run by Masood Siddiqui, who also goes by the last name Siddique. According to Dun and Bradstreet, NCL generated $1.81 million in revenue as a small but stable lab providing medical testing.

In February 2020, Siddiqui sold her business to Omar Hussain, funded by Meena Mohindra. Mohindra was listed as the President and CEO of NCL on Nov 18, 2021. In a story published by Inquirer Los Angeles, Hussain explained the connections to Meena, who is related to the leaders of NCL.

“The investors were not ready to put their money, given the situation of the lab back then. That is when Mr. Hussain and his friend bootstrapped to start the lab. His friend’s mom invested the most money in the project, and she is currently the president of the Northshore Clinical Labs.“

– Omar Hussain talking to inquirer los angeles

The website for NCL connects to an unused Twitter and Instagram account and a sparsely used Facebook page. The handful of posts is peppered with comments from frustrated clients complaining they never received test results and could not reach anyone at the lab.

The principals behind NCL are Gaurav “Kumar” Mohindra, Hirsh “Kumar” Mohindra, and Hussain. The trio has a dark past in debt collections ending in massive fines and lifetime bans by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Gaurav “Kumar” graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a JD in Legal Studies in 2007. In 2008 he passed his bar exam and received his license to practice law in California. Online records show his license lapsed in 2014 due to non-payment.

Gaurav and Hirsh were part of a series of companies operating under the umbrella of Stark Law performing “phantom collections.” On Mar 21, 2016, the FTC and the State of Illinois filed a complaint seeking a permanent injunction and other equitable relief against Hirsh, Gaurav, and Preetesh Patel.

According to the suit, Stark Law used a host of business names to target consumers who obtained or applied for payday or other short-term loans, sometimes to pay off fake debts. The firm would threaten and pressure the victims into paying the debts with exorbitant interest rates. Stark Law allegedly called consumers and demanded immediate payment for supposedly delinquent loans, threatening consumers with lawsuits or arrest, falsely claiming they would be charged with “defrauding a financial institution” or “passing a bad check.”

Three months later, using his middle name of Kumar, Gaurav became associated with Swap Motors as the head of corporate development and project management. Swap Motors, located at 4850-4852 Main St, in Skokie, buys and sells cars – including exotic cars. The same type of cars that Akbar Ali Syed, co-founder of the Center for COVID Control, spent millions on this past summer.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”63″ gal_title=”Northshore Clinical Labs Social Research”]
Malcontent News has preserved all the social pages and editable content for this story as an archive

On Oct 27, 2017, Gaurav, Hirsh, and Patel agreed to a stipulated final judgment and order for permanent injunction with the FTC and the State of Illinois. The FTC fined the trio a total of $47,220,491. Additionally, each was ordered to pay the FTC $85,000  directly. Gaurav and Hirsh were ordered to give up a one-kilogram gold bar stored at a safe deposit box at a JPMorgan Chase Bank in Hinsdale, Illinois. Gaurav and Meena were also ordered to sell their family home in Burr Ridge and a condo in Chicago.

For the next 20 years, the trio must submit a compliance notice within 14 days if they take up a title or role in any business activity, whether as an employee or other entity, including an ownership interest.

Just days before agreeing to the stipulated final judgment, Gaurav and Meena sold the Chicago condo for $485,000 to a trustee. According to Zillow, on Jul 7, 2018, they sold their 8,097 square foot five-bedroom eight bathroom house for $1.8 million.

It’s not clear how Hussain became connected to the Mohindras, but he too fell afoul of the FTC for phantom collections and predatory practices. Founding Cedar Rose Holdings, LLC in 2014, the FTC filed for a motion for a temporary restraining order with an asset freeze and an order to show cause against the firm on Feb. 4, 2019.

According to the FTC’s complaint, Global Asset Financial Services Group, LLC, doing business in North Carolina and New York, falsely claimed to be attorneys or affiliated with attorneys to pressure consumers into making payments on debts they did not owe. Like the Mohindras, Hussain’s company threatened to take legal action against consumers if they did not pay.

The FTC’s complaint named ten companies and six individuals as defendants, including Hussain.

On Dec. 6, 2019, Hussain and the other defendants entered into a stipulated final order for permanent injunction with the FTC. The defendants were blocked in engaging in any debt collections, or financial services activity in the future, and agreed to pay $8,877,564 in fines. Hussain also agreed to submit a compliance notice for the next five years, similar to Gaurav and Hirsch’s agreement in 2017.

In February 2020, with the help of an unnamed associate and the financial backing of Meena, Hussain bought Northshore Clinical Labs from Siddiqui. It appears Siddiqui is still associated with the company in the capacity of a manager. Siddiqui was listed as the NPI number authorized official until Oct. 18, 2021. On Oct 19, Meena became the authorized official according to HIPAA Space.

A review of LinkedIn shows Hirsh Mohindra listing himself as the Director of Operations at NCL in February 2020, using an alias or middle name of Kumar as his last name. In a Dec. 20 press release, Hirsh and Gaurav extolled the values of NCL. The article on GlobeNewswire, exposed Hirsh using Kumar as an alias for his last name.

“To support the increasing positivity rates in local communities, as well as supporting testing during the emergence of the Omicron variant, we’re expanding hours at our clinics and supporting outbreaks that our clients are experiencing with more frequent testing at their locations. Those locations can range from airports to private businesses. We’re going to support the 24/7 schedule as long as we need to.”

Just outside their doors, another reality was unfolding. Clients weren’t receiving test results and couldn’t reach anyone in customer service. Phone messages were left unanswered. The complaints against NCL, and the Chicago-based Center for COVID Control, caught the attention of the Chicago Tribune.

Employees wore mismatched cloth masks that appeared to have been brought from home, according to the report on Jan 5.

“It just seemed to me like total incompetence,” Aaron McManus told the Tribune.

To make matters worse, ten days later, he still hadn’t received his test result.

Hussain worked to keep up appearances as operations started to crumble at NCL. On Dec. 13, he moved forward with restauranteur Matt Deichl and the 9th Annual Coat Drive and Holiday Party. Deichl’s Instagram showed himself and Hussain between Santa Claus during the gala.

Chicago restauranteur Matt Diechel with Omar Hussain on Dec. 13, 2022

Diechl wrote, “After being unable to do the coat drive last year @itsomar007 and I are really excited to bring it back this year. Especially at a time when the need for kids [sic] coats is at an all time [sic] high.”

Between Dec 14 and Jan 16, Hussain purged his social media, including his Instagram account tagged in Deichl’s post. However, Hussain missed his abandoned LinkedIn account, which shows the former president of Cedar Rose Holdings, LLC, shut down by the FTC in 2019, is the same Omar Hussain who organizes the Children’s Annual Coat Drive and Holiday Party since 2012.

Hussain’s connection to the restaurant industry is more than coincidental. He is listed as a member of the Illinois Restaurant Association under the company Curis Healthcare. Curis was incorporated on Jan 9, 2020, days before the acquisition of NCL, and shares the same street address in Chicago.

A visit to NCL website on Jan 17 revealed a pop-up message indicating that all third-party operations had been suspended.

Northshore Clinical Labs notice on their website indicates they have suspended most testing – similar to the announcement made by the Center for COVID Control on Jan. 13, 2022

“Northshore Clinical Labs has paused all third-party operation of COVID -19 testing pop-up sites, while we focus on improving processing and PCR result times during this period of extraordinarily high demand. Northshore Clinical Labs continues to support schools nursing homes and other senior living providers, and operate its own clinics to help our community through these unprecedented times”

“If you tested with a third party operator who sent specimens to Northshore Clinical Labs and you have not received your results, please e-mail us at customerservice@northshoreclinical.com.”

@oddball_artzwi

@northshore.clinical.labs can you please give me some answers?! #northshoreclinicallab #covidtesting #whatisgoingon #greenscreen

♬ Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) – Edison Lighthouse
Consumer complaints about northshore clinical labs are increasing

Gaurav has a larger-than-life personality across social media, carefully wording his Twitter account to imply he writes for the Chicago Tribune for those without a keen eye for grammar. His Twitter account has had no activity since April 2021, but on Oct 12, he wrote a blog that allegedly was picked up by MarketWatch. The link on MarketWatch comes back with a 404 error, page not found, but the story itself is on his personal blog.

Like his Twitter account, the blog is titled carefully to imply he writes for the Chicago Tribune. The Oct. 18 entry titled Covid Tests for Schools and Camps plugs for Northshore Clinical Labs.

“Regular testing, specifically, allows us to monitor any growth or decline in the spread and to implement effective management of the pandemic to efficiently combat any potential spread,” says Gaurav Mohindra of Northshore Clinical Laboratories.”

“We have demonstrable data showing that an effective COVID-19 testing campaign can reduce the spread of COVID in workplaces and schools”, continued Gaurav Mohindra.”

Without much digging, there is significant evidence that the Mohindras and Hussain are running a group of shell companies to try and obfuscate their operations. The use of middle names as last names, shifting addresses, and other attempts to obscure the cross-connections between Northshore Clinical Labs, and Curis Healthcare, is sloppy at best and only adds to the suspicion around the operations. The warning lights grow brighter when you consider the fraudulent history of the principals involved and their prior court cases with the FTC and the states of Illinois, North Carolina, and New York.

Aleya Siyaj and Akbar Ali Syed have expressed their own school choice views. On an archived webpage offering free maskless in-home daycare, Siyaj publicly states she pulled their children from school over mask mandates.

Center for COVID Control CEO Aleya Siyaj offering free maskless daycare in her home, along with COVID testing

As the community turned against the Center for COVID Control, they hired Russ Keene of the Crossnore Group in Texas to handle their public relations. Keene founded Crossnore with his wife and the company only has four employees. The Keene’s are deeply politically connected, and Greg Talley who works for the group is a development associate to the American Federation for Children (AFFC), an organization that former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos chairs.

On Aug. 31, AFFC released a statement on mask mandates, urging that it is a “parental choice” issue. The same views are shared by Siyaj, and Syed and apparent benefactors of the federal COVID testing money train.

There is nothing beyond circumstantial evidence that connects the Crossnore Group to Northshore Clinical Labs or Curis Healthcare. It is quite possible that Siyaj and Syed are flush with cash and could afford the hired guns offered by Crossnore, along with the political connections. Nothing indicates that Diechl has any connection to these operations, beyond being involved with a charity trying to provide coats for children.

During this ongoing national crisis, finding a timely and accurate COVID test is a massive problem for millions. Chicago appears to be a hotbed for questionable activity and unbridled access to federal funds. The American taxpayers should be asking the question with record hospitalizations crushing the medical system, where is the oversight, and how did this cast of characters get easy access to these resources?

Breaking News, Health and Lifestyle, Local

As COVID rages, what’s next for Washington state

[KIRKLAND, Wash.] – (MTN) Washington state has set new records for COVID cases and hospitalizations, straining every aspect of life and leaving many to wonder, what is next?

Malcontent News has been tracking the Omicron wave in South Africa and the United Kingdom and using the data from these nations to build models for Washington. The path the current surge is taking aligns closely with the progression in South Africa.

New Cases

It took 28 days for the first SGTFs to show up in PCR tests in South Africa at a significant number, to the peak in cases. If Washington follows the same path, new cases in the state should peak on Jan. 17. The last update from the Washington State Department of Health (WSDOH) was supportive of an approaching statewide peak. An analysis of new case data indicated that the Olympic Peninsula, Central Puget Sound, the South Sound counties out to the Pacific Coast have already peaked. In Eastern Washington, many areas are still seven to ten days away.

In South Africa and Europe, cases declined rapidly. If Washington follows the same pattern, new daily cases will be 50 percent of peak by Feb. 2, and then drift to a plateau of 30 to 35 percent of the peak. The plateau will hold until Feb. 14, before starting to decline again.

Washington moved to test only symptomatic and close contacts on Jan. 4. Over the weekend Seattle Children’s Hospital reported they were incapable of testing most pediatric cases for COVID at urgent care clinics, reserving the dwindling supply to only the sickest of patients. The University Washington Medicine is struggling to test staff and immediate family, in compliance with the United States Centers for Disease Control CDC) guidelines.

Clark County residents have appealed to the state for additional testing resources and more access to booster shots. Among the eight locations receiving National Guard support by Jan. 24 for additional testing resources, Vancouver, Washington was not among the locations.

The University of Washington Virology lab is struggling to provide test results to Washington, and some Oregon healthcare providers, processing 12,000 to 14,000 a test a day. On Sunday, 31.9 percent were positive, creating some doubt that a peak in cases has arrived.

Hospitalizations

Hospitalizations are a trailing indicator. We predicted on Dec. 26. that Washington hospitals would run out of available resources by Jan 15. Governor Jay Inslee deployed the national guard and suspended all non-emergency surgeries on Jan. 13, to support overwhelmed hospitals.

In South Africa, seven percent of new Omicron cases resulted in hospitalizations. The unvaccinated made up 82 percent of all COVID hospitalizations. That rate was between 22 and 31 percent of the earlier Delta wave. The exact difference is hard to track after South Africa changed its testing criteria on Dec. 24, testing only people who were symptomatic or had close contacts. Adjusting for South Africa’s higher hospitalization rate versus the United States, and accounting for the lower hospitalization rate among Omicron patients, we initially estimated Washington would experience a 1.14 to 1.34 percent hospitalization rate. Currently, it is between 1.8 and 2.4 percent depending on the hospital region.

The single biggest factor that impacts the outcome of a COVID infection is age. In South Africa, only 5.7 percent of the population is over 60, while 34.1% is under 19. Although it is true that only 26% of the population is fully vaccinated, in Gauteng Province, which bore the brunt of the Omicron wave, 44 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.

In Washington, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Skamania, Asotin, Ferry, Whitman, Klickitat, and Columbia Counties have lower vaccination rates. According to the WSDOH on Thursday, 80 percent of all COVID hospitalizations statewide were unvaccinated – which mirrors the data released from South Africa on Sunday.

In South Africa, the surge of new hospitalizations peaked 10 to 14 days after the new cases reached a peak. If Washington follows that path, new hospitalizations will peak at the end of January.

Despite reports that many cases resulted in short hospitalizations, this was among vaccinated individuals. South Africa found that among unvaccinated individuals, the progress of illness was no different than prior strains of COVID.

The number of hospitalized COVID patients peaked in South Africa on Dec. 31 and remained almost unchanged through Jan. 6. Currently hospitalized coronavirus patients in the African nation are still at 83 percent of peak. The decline has been slow.

For Washington hospitals, this will be an insurmountable challenge. Although the governor announced a pause in elective surgeries statewide on Thursday, many hospitals had already voluntarily taken that step to expand resources. MultiCare reported ten days ago they were forced to implement CDC crisis staffing standards, having COVID positive workers who are experiencing mild to moderate symptoms continue to work.

An analysis of available hospital resources indicated that additional emergency staffing and converting PACUs to COVID wards added 60 to 75 acute care and 10 to 15 ICU beds statewide. With over 250 new COVID patient admissions a day, that added capacity was likely wiped out over the weekend.

If Washington follows the same hospitalization trend, by Jan. 26 the worst of the surge will be hitting our facilities. The number of COVID patients will peak on Feb. 4, and hold until Feb. 10. Although a decline will be accelerating by Feb. 20, a load of 83% of the peak would be unsustainable.

On Friday the WSDOH reported there were 2,135 COVID patients in Washington hospitals, an all-time record. Hospitalizations are increasing 50 percent every week. The IHME model projects almost 4,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients on Feb. 4, either in acute care or the ICU. If Washington follows South Africa, the number would reach 5,038 and then sustain at that level for two weeks before dropping to 4,000.

Last Monday patients were being transferred out of King County to Moses Lake, Richland, and Missoula, Montana. King County hospitals, University of Washington Medicine, and Harborview Medical Center are caring for a record number of COVID patients. In Spokane, Providence and MultiCare hospitals can’t take transfers. Doctors reported angry and desperate phone calls from rural hospitals trying to move patients to larger facilities.

MultiCare and Providence hospitals on both sides of the mountains have deployed tents again. In Everett, Providence Hospital was treating patients in the emergency department waiting room and the halls are lined with patients waiting for beds.

Deaths

Looking to South Africa, the number of deaths from Omicron was significantly lower compared to Delta. The age of the population, a 66% vaccination rate for those over 50, a historically lower COVID death rate compared to Europe and North America, and more available resources contributed to the better outcomes. Additionally, it is summer in South Africa.

COVID-related deaths started to increase on Dec. 11. It is unknown if deaths have reached a peak yet, but on Jan. 16, the 7-day moving average was 105 deaths a day. All signs in South Africa indicate the Omicron surge is reaching its finality.

In Washington, the population is older and in poorer health. Vaccination rates are higher, but almost one-third of the entire population is not only unvaccinated but politically indoctrinated into the status being part of their identity. They not only dismiss vaccination but all proven public health measures such as indoor mask wear.

Unlike prior waves in Washington, Omicron overwhelmed the larger and better equipped Puget Sound region facilities first. Idaho is starting to surge with new cases and Oregon is straining under its own tidal wave of cases. COVID patients in Eastern Washington will have fewer options than ever before.

If Washington follows the same as South Africa, COVID-related deaths will start to peak in mid-February.

Services and Infrastructure

It is estimated eight to ten percent of all American workers are sick, caring for a sick family member, or quarantining. The United States was already dealing with a worker shortage in 2021, which has been made worse by Omicron. By early February, up to 25 percent of all Washington workers could be sidelined with COVID.

Some of the impacts have already rippled through the region. Empty store shelves, recently restocked after the mountain passes reopened, will struggle to stay full. Pharmacists are warning people to refill their medications now, unsure of their ability to serve the community and have an adequate supply of pills.

Postal workers are driving routes for 12 to 16 hours to fulfill deliveries, and school districts are looking for parent volunteers or moving to virtual learning. In some cities such as Seattle, students have staged walkouts due to high infection rates. In Lakewood, the Walmart Super Center was forced to close for three days for a deep cleaning after 63 workers became sick with COVID.

The day-to-day impact for everyone will include school and daycare closures, spotty store shelves, delayed deliveries, and businesses forced into short-term closures due to a lack of staff. The economic fallout could last for much longer.

Without a dramatic increase in support, state healthcare workers and Washington residents will face a brutal five to six weeks where only the absolute sickest individuals will be able to get medical services, and basic goods and services will require patience to find.

Breaking News, Health and Lifestyle, Local

Gov Inslee suspends surgeries and deploying national guard to support COVID overwhelmed hospitals

1 Comment

[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) Washington Gov Jay Inslee and Washington State Secretary of Health Dr Umair Shah announced that all Washington hospitals will suspend non-urgent procedures and 100 national guard members are being deployed to support COVID overwhelmed hospitals.

Earlier on Thursday Washington State Hospital Association Executive Vice President Taya Briley, RN said, “This is the worst situation hospitals in Washington state have been in compared to any prior point during the pandemic,” adding, “We are experiencing a crisis across our medical system.”

As part of Gov Inslee’s announcement 100 National Guard troops are being activated to provide additional testing resources at four hospitals. Additionally, they are adding funding for 200 more traveling healthcare workers, expanding the contract to 1,200 specialists. Gov Inslee told reporters that 875 traveling medical workers were already deployed. The Adjutant General of the Washington State National Guard Major General Bret Daugherty added that 17 national guard members were already deployed and the rest would be in place by Jan. 24.

Last week the Washington State Medical Association appealed for National Guard support and aid in discharging hundreds of hospitalized patients that have no placement in long-term care facilities. To provide assistance, the state will be providing funds to add another 200 staff in long-term care facilities, which would help place up to 240 patients out of hospitals. Another 75 people still hospitalized are also awaiting guardianship, and the state will move to streamline that process. No timeline was given on how fast that would happen.

The impact of these changes is questionable. Currently, over 250 people a day are being admitted to Washington hospitals due to COVID. That number is forecasted to double over the next three weeks according to the IHME.

The Delta Wave over the summer never reached a true conclusion. In early December there were still 610 COVID patients in Washington hospitals. Hospital occupancy rates were also high because elective surgeries, cancer treatments, and other critical care had been postponed for almost two years. Additionally, pediatric hospitals were close to full due to RSV, a common childhood viral infection.

The first Omicron case was detected in Washington on Nov. 29. Over the weekend of Dec. 4, several high school wrestling matches turned into super spreader events with cases across the entire I-5 corridor and across the Cascades to Yakima. Unlike previous waves, Western Washington hospitals filled up first. During the previous weekend and on Monday, some patients were transferred by air ambulance out of Puget Sound to Moses Lake, Richland, and Missoula, Montana.

Breaking News, Health and Lifestyle, Local, National

Private COVID testing provider with 11 locations in Washington accused of fraud

Update January 12, 2022 10:45 AM: King County Public Health has responded to our inquiry.

[SOUTH BARRINGTON, Ill] – (MTN) More than 300 pop-up COVID test sites operated by the Center for COVID Control are under legal scrutiny after thousands of consumer complaints about the test centers being a scam.

This evening, officials in Massachusetts, Oregon, and Texas have opened up criminal investigations. USA Today reported last week that complaints about the company were piling up. People who were tested reported it took days to receive results if they received them at all. Consumers complained they received negative test results in Florida while still waiting in line to be swabbed.

The test sites require people to provide their driver’s license and insurance information. In Florida, WINK Channel 11 in Fort Myers reported their investigators had their driver’s licenses photographed and their insurance cards.

Attempts to call the customer service line resulted in longer wait times, with people unable to contact the company.

The company operates 11 test sites in Washington, including in regions where federal, state, and county resources are hard to find. Locations in Bellevue, Seattle, Lynnwood, and Yakima have had long lines.

Center for COVID Control test locations in Washington

  • 1525 A St NE Suite 107, Auburn
  • 1504 145th Pl SE, Bellevue
  • 2606 Wetmore Ave, Everett
  • 7801 Bridgeport Way W, Lakewood
  • 17425 Hwy 99 Suite F, Lynnwood
  • 1700 SE Mile Hill Dr, Port Orchard
  • 500 Aloha St, Seattle
  • 417 7th Ave S, Seattle
  • 5955 6th Ave, Tacoma
  • 6720 Regents Blvd Suite 112, University Place
  • 1731 S 1st Street Suite 220, Yakima

Washingtonians seeking a legitimate testing site can visit the Washington State Department of Health.

Residents of Portland, Oregon, and Seattle raised concerns about the company as far back as October. A pop-up site emerged on Capitol Hill. Untrained staffers at outside tents told people to swab the nose themselves and handled samples without PPE. There were numerous complaints about improper test procedures, requiring their driver’s license, and never receiving test results. Some filed complaints with the Washington State Attorney General and claimed there wasn’t any follow-up.

The Instagram for the company has a handful of images with multiple complaints of never receiving test results and calling the operation a scam.

The Center for COVID Control is an offshoot of BullsEye Axe Lounge in South Barrington, Illinois. Opened in 2019 by Aleya Siyaj and her spouse Akbar Syed, the lounge and bar is a popular location for drinks and ax throwing. When the COVID wave struck in late 2020, the business was forced to close due to public health measures. In November 2020, a donut shop Siyaj opened in 2017 was forced into default. Three weeks later, Siyaj pivoted to offering COVID tests.

What started as BullsEye Free Drive-Thru Testing became the Center for COVID Control, LLC on Dec. 2, 2020, when the company was incorporated in Illinois. A year later, a second LLC was created in Florida on Oct. 25. After filing in Florida, that number of sites across the nation exploded to over 300. Neither registered agent responded to our inquiries about the company.

Syed’s video posted on YouTube showed an insider view of the operation behind the Center for COVID Control. The video was deleted by Syed after a story on Medium broke about the company but was reposted. The video, filmed at night at a suburban one-story office park, has a Boiler Room vibe. Luxury cars line the parking lot, while the inside offices appear little more than an empty shell. At the end of the video, an employee brags about making $1.45 million a year in salary to Syed.

On Reddit, former employees allege that the Center for COVID Control is collecting driver license information so they can send repeated reimbursement requests to the federal government for tests that never happened.

For communities such as Yakima and Lakewood, the loss of public trust in the testing centers is devastating. In Yakima, people have waited for hours and sometimes turned away when they run out of tests.

On Wednesday morning, King County Public Health told Malcontent News they are looking into the reports about the company.

Breaking News, Health and Lifestyle, Local

Washington hospitals are on the brink as COVID cases spiral upward

Editor’s Note: An early version of this story reported that the first Omicron case detected in the United States has been changed from Dec. 15 to Nov. 15.

[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) The Washington State Department of Health (WSDOH) reported the 7 day moving average for new COVID cases had jumped to 1,047.9 over the weekend, obliterating previous records. There were 1,773 people hospitalized with COVID across Washington on Sunday, just shy of the previous record set on Sep. 6, 2021.

With an estimated 242 new COVID-related hospitalizations a day, hospitals in the Evergreen State are on the brink of running out of beds and staff. The I-5 corridor from the Canada border to the Columbia River has the highest case rates in Washington, sparked by several super spreader events in Thurston and Pierce Counties on Dec. 4.

COVID cases have exploded in Eastern Washington, including Spokane, Yakima, and Moses Lake. New cases are forecasted to peak in King County by the end of this week but are expected to continue to surge in Eastern Washington.

The updated IHME forecast model is catastrophic for Washington, projecting 3,189 acute care and 804 ICU patients hospitalized with COVID by Feb. 4. Malcontent News estimates there are 375 staffed acute care and 95 ICU beds available in Washington state, with a coming surge of 2,000 more patients in less than a month.

The Washington State Hospital Association made dire predictions last week. Dr. Francis Riedo, medical director for infection control and prevention at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, told reporters that the state has “never been closer” to moving to crisis standards of care.

In the same briefing, Dr. John Lynch, medical director of Harborview Medical Center’s infection control program, said that UW Medicine and Harborview Medical Center had more COVID patients under care than at any previous point in the epidemic.

The situation is already dire for Puget Sound hospitals, will more than 97 percent of acute care beds occupied. King County Public Health reported 255 new COVID hospitalizations from Friday to Sunday – a rate of a new hospitalization once every 28 minutes. Hospitalizations in King County have surged 110 percent in a week as new cases skyrocket.

Earlier projections based on case data from South Africa and the United Kingdom estimated that King County hospitalization rates would be by 20% to 30% from the previous Delta wave. Projections reduced the percentage of COVID cases that resulted in hospitalization from 4.7% to 1.14%. Based on data from the first week of January, the rate is almost double – 2.13% – driving hospitalizations to a higher level than previously forecasted.

EvergreenHealth in Kirkland reported 44 hospitalized COVID patients, including one pediatric patient and another four in Monroe. A majority, 70 percent, were hospitalized due to COVID. The remainder is hospitalized for other reasons and co-infected with coronavirus. Five patients are fully vaccinated with boosters, including one in intensive care.

On Monday night, Seattle Children’s Hospital advised parents that its four walk-in urgent care clinics would not accept patients without an appointment due to the unprecedented patient load.

The Washington State Medical Association appealed to Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a crisis and deploy the national guard to support area hospitals. Previous options, including stopping elective surgeries, limiting day procedures, and “boarding” patients in emergency departments, are already being done.

“The time has come to admit that stopping electives and non-urgent care is not enough. We must declare the crisis that our health system is in,” the Jan. 6 letter stated. Cassie Sauer, the Washington State Hospital Association CEO, also signed the letter.

Unlike Idaho, Montana, and Alaska, which had to use crisis standards of care last fall, Washington state will not allow a single facility to move to the emergency protocols. The declaration would come from the state and only occur after all possible options to extend services were exhausted. Under crisis standards of care, patients could be denied care based on need, survival chances, and available resources. Washington developed computer software with Massachusetts and Wisconsin to determine who would receive care. Last week, Oregon announced it was adopting the same computer program.

The physical, mental, and emotional toll of two years of a COVID crisis has decimated the ranks of hospital workers across the country. Omicron is highly contagious and has significant vaccine escape, resulting in hospital workers being sickened. As hospitalizations have surged in the first ten days of January, the number of staffed beds available has slowly declined.

On Thursday, leadership at MultiCare, which runs 11 hospitals across Washington state, reported they had moved to crisis staffing standards in Western Washington. The standard, announced by the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Dec. 23, can require workers who are sick with COVID to continue to work if necessary to continue to provide patient care.

The Omicron variant arrived in the United States on Nov. 15 and has shattered all previous records for new cases, daily new hospital admissions, and total hospitalizations. One model projects that nation will face another 300,000 hospitalized with COVID by the middle of February, an impossible task for all existing hospital resources.

On Dec. 26, Malcotent News forecasted Washington state hospitals would reach crisis standards of care by Jan. 15, without significant national guard support or FEMA intervention.

Health and Lifestyle, Local, National

There is no such thing as Flurona or Deltacron

[KIRKLAND, Wash.] – (MTN) A review of the genetic information shared on GISAID by researchers in Cyprus, who claimed to have discovered a new COVID strain created by the antigenic shift between the Delta and Omicron variants, appears to be inaccurate.

Multiple virologists and scientists have reviewed the shared data and universally agree that the “variant” is not an antigenic shift, by a chimera likely caused by testing patients who were co-infected with Delta and Omicron. The story was broken by Bloomberg on Saturday and picked up by multiple news outlets including CNBC and Forbes.

Dr. Tom Peacock, a virologist with the Imperial College of London, explained in a Twitter thread that recombinations of tests samples are common and that this wasn’t caused by poor quality control in the lab or bad science.

Dr Leontios Kostrikis, the head of the University of Cyprus’ biotechnology and molecular virology lab, announced to reporters on Saturday his findings and shared them in the GISAID database. By Sunday both Bloomberg, who broke the story, and Dr Kostrikis were on the defensive insisting this was an antigenic shift.

In an e-mail, Dr Kostrikis wrote to Bloomberg that his findings “indicate an evolutionary pressure to an ancestral strain to acquire these mutations and not a result of a single recombination event.”

A study published on Oct. 14 called Genome Recombination between Delta and Alpha Variants of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), explored recombination versus antigenic shift, and the need for due diligence before declaring a new variant has been identified. The study examined seven reports of the Alpha and Delta strain recombinations and found that when the lineages were traced, the combination of the two into a new and unique virus, antigenic shift, did not occur.

The study concluded, “we must intensively monitor and carefully inspect such marked genetic variations to ensure their proper characterization.”

The hype around “deltacron,” mirrors a similar scare around “flurona.” Headlines announced the findings of people co-infected with Influenza and COVID, which people misinterpreted as a new virus. Although Influenza and COVID are both viruses, the similarity ends there. Creating a new virus through an antigenic shift between the two would be like trying to breed a cougar with an elephant.

A meta-analysis published on Jun. 25, 2021, found almost one percent of confirmed COVID cases were among people co-infected with Influenza from December 2019 to September 2020.

Doctors and immunologists have explained that co-infection between multiple variants is possible, as is co-infection with Influenza or RSV. It is also possible for a coinfected person to spawn a new COVID variant if they were coinfected with two different strains at the same time. It appears in Cyprus, this isn’t the case.

Dr. Todd Wolynn, CEO of Kids Plus Pediatrics in Pittsburgh and an expert on medical misinformation and disinformation, explained why the headlines move faster than the science. “Before social media there use to be a saying, if it bleeds, it leads,” he said.

“Now with social media, if it scares it’s shared.”

On Friday the New York Times reported there were more than 900,000 confirmed COVID cases reported in the United States, representing a single-day record that would not include weekend or holiday data. Despite continued reports of the Omicron variant being mild, the United States also reached an alarming milestone, setting a new hospitalization record – 138,051 with 17,000 new hospitalizations because or with COVID a day.

Officials believe new COVID cases will peak in King County during the next seven to ten days. The IHME forecasts new coronavirus cases will peak at 38,000 on Feb. 4 in Washington. On Saturday the Washington State Department of Health reported 10,000 residents have died of COVID since Feb. 29, 2020.

Breaking News, Local, Weather

Local store shelves emptying as weather, holidays, and COVID stress the supply chain

[KIRKLAND, Wash.] – (MTN) Empty spots on store shelves and coolers are getting bigger across Puget Sound as the labor shortage, weather, post-holiday buying, and COVID place increasing stress on supply chains.

Shortages of cold medication and home rapid COVID tests have grown to include fresh produce, milk, pet food, and some dry goods. Shortages are spotty and vary across stores. In Seattle, social media and pictures show empty dairy sections. In Kirkland, Fred Meyer had plenty of milk, eggs, and cheese but very little fresh produce.

The holiday buying season both for goods and food products arrived just before a snowstorm and historic cold blanketed the region. The timing combined to empty shelves for some, but by New Year’s many locations had recovered.

The COVID variant Omicron is sickening a record number of people, with worker shortages across every sector from hospitals to warehouses. With national unemployment at a robust 3.9 percent, the nation was already deep into a worker shortage before the ongoing coronavirus surge.

The trucking industry is short over 80,000 drivers nationally. Drivers are typically paid by the mile, and go unpaid when they aren’t moving. Labor shortages at warehouses and distribution centers can leave bulk freight motor carriers waiting for hours, and sometimes days without pay. Additionally, trucker pay has declined 50 percent in the last 20 years, forcing experienced drivers to leave the industry. Long-haul bulk freight has suffered the most, with many drivers wanting better pay or assurances they will get to sleep in their own beds at night.

Tracking technology has turned into a double-edged sword for the freight industry. The same systems that monitor driver behavior, safety, and location, have created a Fifth Element style driving environment. As an example, if a driver is moving in a freight yard or loading dock and exceeds 5 MPH, tracking systems will consider that movement as travel. If the driver is only moving their vehicle but on a mandatory rest window, they get penalized. Drivers have complained that getting stuck in traffic results in filling out online forms and explaining to dispatchers why they aren’t moving and on schedule.

Washington awoke on Friday morning to find the region was being pummeled by another once in a 100-year weather event. Heavy rain, flooding, and historic snowfall have crippled land transit into Puget Sound closing all mountain passes, stopping railroads, and for a short period this morning, closing a 20 mile stretch of I-5 in Lewis County. A similar weather system in December of 2007 crippled transit and disrupted the supply chain in Western Washington.

Wenatchee and Leavenworth received record amounts of snowfall on Thursday, with Leavenworth declaring a state of emergency. The Bavarian-themed tourist town received three feet of snow in 24 hours. Chelan County also declared a state of emergency and made a disaster declaration due to record snowfall.

All mountain passes are closed until at least Sunday due to record amounts of snow, avalanche danger, landslides, and downed trees. Snoqualmie Pass has recorded 69 inches of snow in four-and-a-half days with more expected through Friday. Stevens, Whites, and Blewett Passes haven’t had updated snowfall reports since Jan. 5.

The same weather system that has buried the Cascades is causing historic flooding in South Puget Sound, Southwest Washington, and in communities such as Issaquah. The Washington State Department of Transportation was forced to close a 20-mile section of I-5 between Centralia and Chehalis on Friday morning, the first major closure due to flooding since 2007. The highway is temporarily reopened this afternoon, but DOT traffic cameras showed water lapping at the edges of I-5. The Chehalis River isn’t expected to crest until Friday night or early Saturday morning.

The Newaukum and Skookumchuck Rivers reached near-record levels. The Thurston County Sheriff was appealing for people to follow evacuation orders and not to ignore road closures. In Issaquah, a phase two alert was issued on Thursday, when the Issaquah Creek broke its banks. On Friday morning, floodwaters were slowly receding.

The timing of these disruptions has created a perfect storm for the delivery of goods into the region. By Friday evening, the only way in and out of Puget Sound, the Islands, and the Olympic Peninsula will be by boat or aircraft. Combined with a growing number of COVID cases sidelining more workers, Western Washington should accept more empty shelves in the days to come.

Health and Lifestyle, Local

After a faculty revolt over the weekend, Seattle University moves to virtual learning due to COVID

[SEATTLE, Wash.] – (MTN) Seattle University reversed course on Tuesday, moving classes to virtual through January after outraged faculty started to organize for a no-confidence vote over the weekend.

In an update to students and faculty on Dec. 17, Seattle University intended to return to in-person instruction at the start of the new semester. Less than a week later, leadership changed direction, moving classes to a virtual setting for the first week of January.

Over the weekend, faculty started to stage a revolt and were moving to do a no-confidence vote against the leadership of the Seattle U. On Tuesday afternoon, the university demured and announced classes would be virtual through January.

“Current projections suggest that the Omicron-driven wave will continue to grow rapidly before cresting over the next few weeks. While early research continues to indicate that the variant is less severe and results in milder illness compared to earlier variants, especially among vaccinated people, there is still a great deal of uncertainty. Public health officials are urging all of us to do what we can to help minimize its spread, mitigate burdens on the health care sector and protect our communities and those at higher risk. Extending our period of online instruction through the end of the month will give us time to gather additional information as it becomes available. As we have done throughout the pandemic, we will respond to that information with the safety of our community members and the quality of our students’ educational experience as our paramount considerations.“

There has not been a peer-reviewed study that shows that Omicron is less severe than Delta published to date. Anecdotal data shows that hospitalizations are lower, and the vaccinated have less severe symptoms. A number of contributing factors including demographics, behaviors, vaccinations, therapies, and disease acquired immunity have made determining the severity of the Omicron variant in an ethical way challenging.

The IHME forecast predicts hospitalizations won’t peak for another month in Washington. There has been debate over being hospitalized with COVID versus because of COVID. For hospital resources and staff, the point is moot. Whether infected with or because, patients still need to be placed in isolation wards, require staff to follow safety guidelines to prevent infection, and consume PPE. These factors increase the amount of time, staff, and equipment that is used to care for the hospitalized.

The United States set a global record for confirmed COVID cases on Monday, reporting more than one million positive tests. Hospitalizations broke the previous record set during the Delta wave during the summer on Tuesday afternoon, soaring above 103,000.

Health and Lifestyle, Local, National

Record number of new COVID cases in Washington as hospitalizations climb

[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) The Washington State Department of Health reported that the rate of new COVID cases exploded to 541.9 per 100,000 residents on Monday. The same report showed that coronavirus-related hospitalizations increased 49 percent in a week, from 736 on Dec. 26 to 1,099 on Jan. 2.

Several factors impacted today’s report, which may not show the true impact of COVID in Washington. Most tests sites were closed on New Year’s Day across the state, and numerous Western Washington test locations were closed on Dec. 30, 31, and Jan. 2 due to weather, power issues at one location, and insufficient staff. The hospitalization data appeared incomplete to the Malcontent News research team and will likely be updated tomorrow with more data.

A staggering 26 counties have extreme transmission, with another eight experiencing high transmission. Pierce County has the highest case rate in Washington, 771.0 per 100,000 people.

In King County, 25 people on average are hospitalized a day with COVID, breaking the previous record set during the Delta wave in September. Through Dec. 30, hospitalizations are up 81 percent, and the new case rate of 685.1 has never been higher.

The IHME forecasts hospitalizations will peak in early February, and COVID-related deaths will peak in March.

It wasn’t all bad news in the report. The number of Washingtonians who have received booster shots increased significantly from last week. There is strong evidence from multiple studies and hospitalization data from Israel, Europe, and the United Kingdom, that a third booster dose provides robust protection from severe COVID.

In welcome news to many parents, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized booster shots for 12 to 15-year-olds today and shortened the waiting period for the age group from six months after the second dose to five.

On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci indicated that the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was reconsidering new isolation and quarantine guidelines based on feedback. The CDC has faced withering criticism from healthcare providers and frontline workers for cutting quarantine time in half and relying on the honor system for those who are infected by asymptomatic.

Although Omicron has become the dominant strain in the United States, data out of Connecticut and Washington indicates it won’t squeeze Delta out. Complicating treatment and mitigation, ten percent of COVID cases continue to be Delta or so-called Delta Plus.

According to the New York Times, the United States recorded 1,003,043 new COVID cases on Monday, shattering all previous records. The 7 day moving average is approaching 500,000 new cases a day, which Malcontent News believes is a red line for United States hospitals.

There are now 102,479 people hospitalized with COVID, an increase of 41% from a week ago. Daily new hospital admissions now exceed all previous waves, except the first one, which peaked on Jan. 9, 2021. The United States will set a new all-time hospitalization record if the rate of increase remains unchanged during the coming week.

Testing resources in the United States are stretched to the breaking point, with laboratories processing a near-record number of tests daily. Monday night, the Georgia Department of Health tweeted they could not provide an updated COVID report because there is so much data.

University of Washington Medicine (UWM) officially takes over testing sites from King County on Tuesday. UWM announced that they would no longer provide prophylaxis COVID testing for work and travel, reserving resources only for people who are symptomatic or had close contact with someone infected with the coronavirus.

Speculation on how severe the Omicron variant is compared to Delta continues to run rampant. Disease acquired immunity, vaccinations, boosters, and demographic differences between nations have made reaching a concrete conclusion difficult. There is growing evidence that for the vaccinated, especially with boosters, the Omicron variant is mild to moderate for most.

For the unvaccinated, the data is less conclusive. In South Africa, hundreds have died in the last two weeks. While hospitalizations appear to have peaked, the number has remained almost unchanged for a week while the number of ICU patients and those requiring ventilators has grown. A study published by the United Kingdom Health Security Agency tracked 815 hospitalized Omicron patients with a median age of 45.5. The report found that 57 people had died in the group – seven percent. The ages of those who died ranged from 41 to 99.