*And by D.C., I mean Alexandria, VA, because the publicly available D.C. data can’t really be easily understood (and don’t seem to be collected anymore?).

After a long period of declines, Thanksgiving whacked us. Hard:

With a surge from 319 copies/ml to 698, we’re about seven times higher than the mid-June 2023 nadir and over half of the January 2023 season peak. That probably means around one percent of people are currently infected (though that’s a very rough estimate because we’re not collecting the right prevalence data).

As I’ve been saying, the declines are good, but winter Thanksgiving is coming. Akshually, it arrived. Oddly enough, a combination of inadequate vaccination, lots of travel and visiting people outside one’s usual circle of contacts, and a steadfast refusal to take precautions led to a massive surge (over a doubling in one week). Hopefully, next week won’t be even worse.

If you’re at a large-ish gathering, it’s definitely a good idea to mask up, not just to protect yourself, but to protect others too. Remember, you’re not the weirdo if you’re still trying to avoid getting (re)infected.