Positive tests, hospitalizations and deaths are all increasing (in the US). You're not crazy, everyone else is in denial and avoiding sources of information that would punch holes in their bubbles.
This is pretty wild because you'd expect deaths to go down significantly over time because all the people who would have been particularly susceptible are already dead from previous waves
And also viruses usually become less deadly over time because variants which kill the host infect fewer new hosts, so variants which do not kill the host become more prevalent.
I suspect that (1) people have become complacent, (2) people are blaming their symptoms on flu season and not realizing they need medical care until it's too late, (3) people are not bothering to get the updated COVID vaccinations, and (4) COVID isn't a regular part of the news cycle anymore, which is exacerbating 1-3.
data
Positive tests, hospitalizations and deaths are all increasing (in the US). You're not crazy, everyone else is in denial and avoiding sources of information that would punch holes in their bubbles.
This is pretty wild because you'd expect deaths to go down significantly over time because all the people who would have been particularly susceptible are already dead from previous waves
And also viruses usually become less deadly over time because variants which kill the host infect fewer new hosts, so variants which do not kill the host become more prevalent.
I suspect that (1) people have become complacent, (2) people are blaming their symptoms on flu season and not realizing they need medical care until it's too late, (3) people are not bothering to get the updated COVID vaccinations, and (4) COVID isn't a regular part of the news cycle anymore, which is exacerbating 1-3.
Covid kills people after a fairly long infectious period anyway so there's not much selective pressure there