“The experience of Denmark might tell us more about what to expect as this new variant comes to predominate in the U.S. Denmark is worth seriously considering because, like here and unlike South Africa, the vast majority of its population has been vaccinated. In addition, it’s my understanding that data from Denmark is considered very reliable. What’s the news from Denmark? First, new reported cases are skyrocketing. In early November, Denmark was reporting about 2,000 new cases per day. By the end of the month, the number was up 5,000. By mid-month, new cases per day were coming in at around 8,000. A few days later, Denmark reported more than 11,000. For perspective, note that until the new variant hit, Denmark had never reported as many as 5,000 cases per day. What about deaths attributed to the virus in Denmark? They have risen, but the numbers are small. In early November, before the spike in new cases, five or fewer people were dying per day from the virus in Denmark, according to the reported data. Now the daily count ranges from 12 to 15. It reached that level at the beginning of December and has held steady ever since. Notably, this wave of covid hasn’t produced anything like the spike in deaths that occurred during Denmark’s last wave. Thus, the numbers from Denmark are consistent with what I tentatively took away from the numbers in South Africa and the UK. The new variant spreads very quickly, but is considerably less deadly than its two worst predecessors.”
PowerLineBlog.com, Dec. 19, 2021