Get the new booster My friend DocDawg (@AnalyticsEqv) runs a small biotech lab in the Research Triangle and keeps track of things like local wastewater assays for SARS-CoV-2 (above). Have a gander. “This isn’t an ‘uptick,’ it’s a tsunami,” he believes. “Do yourself a favor and wear an N95 in crowded indoor conditions.“ But you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the COVID-19 blows. Several friends have been down with repeat bouts of COVID in the last few weeks. Mild cases, fortunately, but DocDawg believes, “Each reinfection (even mild) increases your risk of Long COVID disability.” Long Covid, he writes caustically, is “the disability whose name must not be spoken b/c fighting it requires infection control, which Dems fear would lose them elections.” I’m back to wearing a mask in stores, although few others do. COVID-19 boosts risks of health problems 2 years later, giant study of veterans says FWIW: My neighborhood CVS pharmacy closed early the other day due to a “staffing shortage.” A friend reported finding her dry cleaners closed one day this week because of a “staffing shortage.” We’re four hours west of Durham. And where you are?