# Covid optimism Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/dr-john-campbell-7851784/covid-optimism Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/dr-john-campbell-7851784/covid-optimism.md Podcast: [Dr. John Campbell](https://stenobird.com/podcast/dr-john-campbell-7851784) Published: 2026-09-06T07:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG8728444614.mp3 Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG8728444614.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/dr-john-campbell-7851784/episodes/covid-optimism Duration seconds: 1525 ## Resource Right now there is no obvious replacement for the BA.5 variant, that is causing the current wave. This leaves open the real possibility that this could be the last significant wave this year, (or hopefully much longer). https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions BA.5 85.5% BA.4 7.7% BA.4.6 4.1 BA2.12.1 2.6% BA.2 0.1% BA.1s 0% BA. 2.75 not US listed US hospitalizations Down 3.8% on the week Known daily case counts, test positivity, hospitalizations slow downward trend US deaths https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailydeaths_select_00 Last 7 days rolling average, 393 per day Dr. Fauci (81), Re. BA.5 https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/08/05/fauci-vaccine-covid-trouble/?utm_campaign=wp_to_your_health&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_tyh If they don’t get vaccinated or they don’t get boosted, they’re going to get into trouble Wants to increase vaccination and booster rates, so the virus does not have, ample opportunity to freely circulate It is about you as an individual, but it’s also about the communal responsibility to get this outbreak under control (POTUS, fully vaccinated and double boosted) Weekly national Influenza and COVID-19 surveillance report https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1096288/Weekly_Flu_and_COVID-19_report_w31.pdf COVID-19 activity decreased Highest number of respiratory incidents, (mostly SARS-CoV-2) in care homes Influenza positivity, 0.5% RSV positivity up to 6.5% overall RSV positivity in under 5s, 22.2% Rhinovirus positivity, down to 8.4% Symptom tracker data https://health-study.joinzoe.com/data New cases per day, 145,740 Current prevalence, 2,858,159 UK official data https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk ONS latest https://… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/dr-john-campbell-7851784/episodes/covid-optimism/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/dr-john-campbell-7851784/covid-optimism.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.