We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

COVID’S BACK… REALLY, IT NEVER LEFT

Not quite 6 months ago, the CDC director predicted that COVID-19 Delta – which had just been identified – was likely to become the dominant strain in the US. As of two weeks ago, Delta accounts for 99% of COVID worldwide.

Now, the first cases of COVID Omicron have made US landfall. The New York Times reported last Friday that new research indicates that the Omicron “variant can spread more easily than Delta, which was previously the fastest-moving version of the virus.” Omicron’s rapid spread results from a combination of contagiousness and an ability to dodge the body’s immune defenses, the researchers said. South African scientists reported on Thursday that having had COVID-19 previously appears “to offer little to no protection against the Omicron variant.”

Even without Omicron, the BOP is experiencing a post-Thanksgiving COVID surge. Yesterday, 254 inmates systemwide had COVID, up 49% from a week before, primarily due to 132 new cases at FCI Waseca. Staff cases fell from 231 to 220, and the number of affected prisons held at 99. The BOP has logged four more COVID deaths, three of whom have been identified, at FCI Hazelton, FCI Seagoville, and FCI Terminal Island. One of the announced deaths is of someone who had had COVID-19 before but had recovered.

BOP vaccinations slowed last week. Vaccinated staff numbers rose about 8/10ths of a point to 67.35%. Inmate vaccinations ended the week up 6/10ths of a point to 71.55%.

A UK study last week reported that in late autumn 2020 in the U.K., COVID-19 became more lethal—meaning that the probability that an infected person would die from the disease increased. Scientists are trying to determine the reason for the deadlier results. And yesterday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, told the Associated Press that of the 40-plus people known to be infected by omicron so far in the United States, more than 75% were vaccinated, and one third had received a booster shot. She said that almost all the cases resulted in mild illness, with only one case requiring hospitalization.

Wall Street Journal, Delta Covid-19 Variant Likely to Become Dominant in U.S., CDC Director Says (June 18, 2021)

SciTechDaily, New Statistical Analysis Shows COVID-19 Became Much More Lethal in Late 2020 (December 1, 2021)

CNBC, WHO says delta variant accounts for 99% of Covid cases around the world (November 16, 2021)

USA Today, Delta drives surge in US cases before omicron gains foothold; 75% of US infections by new variant among vaccinated: Latest COVID-19 updates (December 10, 2021)

– Thomas L. Root