Dean's COVID-19 Commentary

Jun 14, 2022

The epidemic curve continues upward in Colorado with 270 people hospitalized on June 7 and test positivity reaching over 12 percent. My degrees of separation from someone with COVID-19 have dwindled to one.

Jun 6, 2022

COVID-19 is on the rise in Colorado with the hospitalization count reaching 225 last week as precautionary behaviors, vaccinations, and boosters continue to be recommended to help slow the rise and lower the peak.

May 31, 2022

Memorial Day, occurring on the last Monday in May, is a federal holiday for mourning those who have died while serving in the U.S. military forces.

May 24, 2022

For some haters, hatred is a reason to kill. Sadly, overt hatred is ever more prominent in the United States and some other countries where nationalism, ethnocentrism, and racism are unchecked.

May 16, 2022

The BA.2.12.1 subvariant has arrived in Colorado and is likely the predominant cause of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the state at present. As I have commented repeatedly, the future course of the pandemic remains highly uncertain. New variants continue to emerge, a form of mutation roulette; we never know what the outcome may be, but it is the critical determinant of what is to come.

May 9, 2022

Last week, total deaths in the United States resulting directly from COVID-19 reached one million, a count that was unimaginable at the pandemic’s start. This total does not include the excess deaths indirectly attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting from its sweeping consequences for personal health and healthcare systems.

May 2, 2022

Last week on National Public Radio, Dr. Fauci commented that the United States had “moved out of the pandemic phase.” And the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a historic announcement proposing rules to prohibit menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.

Apr 25, 2022

Is our return to the pre-pandemic world of 2019 ending? Some indicators point to an uptick in Colorado.

Apr 18, 2022

A quick COVID-19 update. Cases are rising in some parts of the East Coast where two new subvariants of BA.2 are rising in frequency. The two subvariants (BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1) may be more infectious than BA.2, leading to their rising prevalence.

Apr 12, 2022

To kick off National Public Health Week, good news continues about the pandemic for Colorado, but there are too many other worries. The COVID-19 pandemic and now the Ukraine conflict have reminded us of the global health implications of our tightly connected world.

Apr 4, 2022

To kick off National Public Health Week, good news continues about the pandemic for Colorado, but there are too many other worries. The COVID-19 pandemic and now the Ukraine conflict have reminded us of the global health implications of our tightly connected world.

Mar 28, 2022

By the numbers, COVID-19 remains quiet in Colorado. The reports from the United Kingdom’s Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England) have been the single most useful source of information on variants. They capture not only what is happening in the United Kingdom but also provide up-to-date background information on variants.

Mar 21, 2022

Now that we are all two-year pandemic veterans, good times bring anxiety about when the good times might end. The latest source of anxiety is the BA.2 sublineage of Omicron, which appears to be more transmissible than BA.1. In the UK, a frequent harbinger of what is to come in the U.S., BA.2 has grown rapidly and case counts have increased by 79% over the last 14 days.

Mar 14, 2022

The good news first – Colorado’s epidemic curve continues to plunge as two-year pandemic landmarks continue. With sadness, the death of a giant of global health—Paul Farmer, the co-founder of Partners in Health. And, the war in the Ukraine continues.

Mar 7, 2022

Starting with good news on the pandemic in Colorado, the numbers continue in the right direction with hospitalizations dipping below 300 on Friday to 273, less than 20% of the Omicron peak. The most recent modeling report suggests a continued decline in the weeks to come.

Feb 28, 2022

Like many, I have been watching the news from Ukraine with sorrow, anger, despair, and worry. As a child growing up during the Cold War era, the threat of nuclear confrontation was a reality as these impossible-to-use weapons proliferated and became ever more powerful.

Feb 22, 2022

This commentary comes two years after my first to mention COVID-19 in February 2020. Since then, I have written 99 weekly commentaries on the COVID-19 pandemic, making this number 100. Writing leads me to synthesize what has happened and to coalesce the most critical events.

Feb 14, 2022

In Colorado, county mask mandates have been largely dropped. If needed again, are we prepared to provide appropriate respiratory protection? Last week, a report was released from a NASEM committee that I chair; we developed frameworks for providing respiratory protection for the general public, as well as workers who aren't covered under OSHA.

Feb 7, 2022

While Omicron is declining in Colorado, test positivity, the case rate, and the number hospitalized have not yet descended to prior lows. There is concern about the Omicron BA.2 sublineage and its potential to reignite the Omicron pandemic, while the origin(s) of Omicron remain uncertain.

Jan 31, 2022

In last week’s modeling report, the Colorado Modeling Group offered good news: the Omicron pandemic is declining in Colorado. The pace at which Omicron will decline cannot be predicted with great certainty, but if as rapid as in New York City, the number hospitalized could reach prior lows by the end of February.