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THE US HAS passed 700,000 deaths from Covid-19, but the surge from the Delta variant has started to slow down.
It took three and a half months for the US to go from 600,000 to 700,000 deaths, driven by the variant’s spread through unvaccinated Americans.
An estimated 70 million eligible Americans remain unvaccinated.
Despite the rising death toll, there are signs of improvement.
Nationwide, the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 has fallen to around 75,000, from more than 93,000 in early September.
New cases have fallen to about 112,000 per day on average, a drop of about a third over the past two and a half weeks.
Deaths also appear to be declining, averaging about 1,900 a day versus more than 2,000 about a week ago.
The easing of the summer surge has been attributed to more mask wearing and more people getting vaccinated.
The decrease in case numbers could also be due to the virus having burned through susceptible people and running out of fuel in some places.
In another development, Merck said on Friday its experimental pill for people sick with Covid-19 reduced hospital admissions and deaths by half.
If it wins authorisation from regulators, it will be the first pill for treating Covid-19, and an important, easy-to-use new weapon in the arsenal against the pandemic.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease specialist, warned on Friday that some may see the encouraging trends as a reason to remain unvaccinated.
“It’s good news we’re starting to see the curves” coming down, he said. “That is not an excuse to walk away from the issue of needing to get vaccinated.”
Unknowns include how flu season may strain already depleted hospital staffs and whether those who have refused to get vaccinated will change their minds.
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Oh no, don’t tell me the boom is over already. I’ve already put my deposit on a 2 bed apartment in Castleknock for €580,000…
I wonder if anyone has tried to upscale Lego and make a full sized house out of it?
Brickies would earn a fine pay cheque if payed per block layed.
James May made a TV programme a couple of years ago, doing just that. Even the interior fixtures, fittings and furnishings were made out of it.
I bet if they started changing land back to agricultural they’d start building
Building game is f##ked,builders refuse to pay agreed rates,or
Employ irish tradesmen on site in priory hall in Dublin. And we all know what happened there, cheap work is not good work.
We make property expensive by making bringing it to verge of extinction… Kaaaaachiing suckers.. Snort snort dine wine pick billion out of A-Hole con twist deceive repeat con twist decieve repeat snort snort pop pop bonuses party.
It’s feasible that it’s down to planning permission lag. Could the Journal x-ref this with planning permissions ready to go in Dublin and other areas?
Artificially choke supply with a high demand and prices will rocket.
Go, FG/Lab – banks, developers and estate agents are loving this (your BFF’s). Everyone else, not so much.
Great job government
Loosening of post Priory Hall regulations for one off domestic dwellings are reportedly in the pipeline soon. Surely the potential to save tens of thousands by delaying a few months would be enough of a carrot to account for a slump.
Why are we not building with hemp? Hemp had ability to store carbon, reversing climate change, and does not require buildings to be heated, lowering co2 again, and saving everyone a money except the energy companies… two guesses as to who is anti hemp
Who?
Hold on – how can this be true? For the last three weeks and more the Journal has been bigging up the great resurgence in property values. JobBridge Joan told her party conference that the economy is in recovery and that “the cranes have reappeared on our skylines”. Surely we are headed to the promised land, and milk and honey awaits us VERY SOON. Live horse and you will get grass. It is always a little sad when the hype and downright dishonesty is exposed – hard not to feel a bit let down – YET AGAIN.
Bob the trainee.
NAMA knocked good houses and housing estates down for what, could they have not put the homeless into them?
No one cares if they did they stand up to this government and say no more?
There are 440,000 getting a dole payment you know?
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