Week of 1/6/2022

Happy New Year! 2022 is certainly starting out in an interesting way, with the omicron variant causing significant upheaval for many people. It’s not all bad news, as our first item explains.

Is the Omicron variant a good thing? Some research indicates that omicron infection helps increase “neutralizing immunity against Delta.” This could mean the more infectious, potentially less-dangerous variant helps minimize the more dangerous one. Mercedes-Benz has introduced a great-looking electric concept car. It claims an outstanding range, more than 600 miles, though it remains to be seen if they can back up the claim in the real world. Jurassic Park was released almost 19 years ago and holds up extremely well. Jurassic Park led the transition from physical visual effects to CGI. Spielberg intended on using stop-motion for the dinosaurs, but two artists worked on a CGI model of the T-rex in secret. Once Spielberg and the producer saw the test video, they realized it looked more realistic than the physical models and incorporated CGI into many of the scenes. Still, there are fewer CGI shots in the movie than you might think. NBA player Tim Duncan originally was training to be an Olympic swimmer. However, Hurricane Hugo destroyed the only Olympic-sized pool in his hometown, so he decided to try basketball.

Q: What are the economic implications of the omicron variant? A: Covid conditions will worsen during this month, in terms of cases and to a lesser extent, hospitalizations. There are more people being admitted to hospitals, comparable to previous spikes, but not as many patients are on ventilators, especially as a percentage of cases. So more people are sick, but the average patient is less sick than in previous spikes. The sheer number of admissions is taxing resources like emergency rooms. The U.S. wave is tracking closely to what other countries have seen. And the economy? Because of required quarantines, you’ll see short-staffed businesses and government agencies. Our favorite pizza place had to close Monday and Tuesday and I visited a doctor’s office where 3 of 4 staff members were out due to Covid exposure. Limited workers means lower economic output, but that’s not enough to reverse economic growth, which should continue!

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