Mike Honey

So … Mastodon?

Your experience fits a pattern I’m observing across multiple domains. They are BS generators.

My bigger concern is actually that you relied on your expertise in the topic to know that 30 was not an credible answer. 99.99% of LLM users do not have the expertise to verify the results they are given.

Cicada waves elsewhere (eg Germany, Netherlands) have seemed relatively low and brief, so hopefully it will be similar in the UK.

The variant data is showing growth in the NB.1.8.1.* "Nimbus" variant.

@jeffgilchrist.bsky.social often posts deeper dives on the data for Ontario.
bsky.app/profile/mike...

Report link:
mike-honey.github.io/covid-19-gen...
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Germany reported strong recent growth in NB.1.8.1.*, reaching 69%.
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Here's the latest variant picture for Europe (excluding the UK), to mid-February.

XFG.* "Stratus" remained just dominant at 39%.

NB.1.8.1.* "Nimbus" grew strongly to 35%.

BA.3.2.* "Cicada" eased back to 18%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #EUR
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Report link:
mike-honey.github.io/covid-19-gen...
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Northern Ireland reported the strongest growth in BA.3.2.*. Data from the other home countries is lagging, but was on a similar trajectory.
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Here's the latest variant picture for the United Kingdom, to mid-February.

BA.3.2.* "Cicada" continued to dominate at 72%.

XFG.* "Stratus" continued falling to finish at 25%

Recent samples are only from Northern Ireland.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #UK #BA_3_2 #Cicada
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Report link:
mike-honey.github.io/covid-19-gen...
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The highest frequencies of NB.1.8.1 have been reported from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and it is growing steadily in Ontario.
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Here's the latest variant picture for Canada, to mid-February.

XFG.* "Stratus" remained dominant, but fell sharply to finish at 50% frequency.

NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" grew strongly to 43%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #Canada #XFG #Stratus #NB_1_8_1 #Nimbus
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Report link:
mike-honey.github.io/covid-19-gen...
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"Stratus" sub-lineage XFG.1.1 was characterised by a reversion to Spike W452R, which captured the attention of the Variant Hunters.

Wisconsin seems the current hotspot for XFG.1.1, reaching 42%.
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Here's the latest variant picture for the United States, to mid-February.

The XFG.* "Stratus" variant remained dominant, but fell to 71%.

NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" grew slightly to 14%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #USA #XFG #Stratus #NB_1_8_1 #Nimbus
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Report link:
mike-honey.github.io/covid-19-gen...
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A moderately significant wave is underway - the wastewater concentrations reported at poops.nz are around the level of the prior wave in mid-2025.
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Here's the latest variant picture for New Zealand, to late February.

NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" remained dominant at 39%, while XFG.* "Stratus" rebounded to 31%.

BA.3.2.* "Cicada" finished at 13%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #NZ #XFG #Stratus
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Report link:
mike-honey.github.io/covid-19-gen...
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Recent data is only from NSW & WA. No data has been shared from Victoria, South Australia or Tasmania for over 8 weeks.
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Here's the latest variant picture for Australia, to mid-February.

NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" rebounded to 36%, vying with XFG.* "Stratus" at 32%.

BA.3.2.* "Cicada" finished at 12%.

#COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #Australia
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Alternatively you can contribute with a one-off sponsorship via Stripe, if you prefer.
buy.stripe.com/00waEWchwcaz...
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Sponsor @Mike-Honey on GitHub Sponsors Hi I'm Mike Honey, a data visualization specialist from Melbourne, Australia. I build open-source dataviz projects for anyone to use to turn complex raw data into insights. My current topic is COVI...

If you are in a position to support my open-source project work, then any amount is welcome. You just need to create a free GitHub account, and you can remain anonymous if you prefer.
There’s info on that page about how your contribution will be used.
github.com/sponsors/Mik...
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Here’s the February 2026 update I just sent to my GitHub Sponsors.
I continued to share results from these projects, here and on other social media platforms
mike-honey.github.io/sponsors/Git...
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”Enrollments” for that cohort of unvaccinated children started with those who were born before 2021 (or mother was unvaccinated) and who were under 5 when we stopped vaccinating non-IC children - 2023 or 2024?

Yes when I look at studies like this, it seems the early waves (that we mostly skipped) had a much higher impact.
bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/6...

Things seem to be heading in the right direction here in Australia (so far) - health-adjusted life expectancy at birth is still rising.

The comparison to the UK is quite stark - we are up to ~73 while they are down to ~60 - a gap of over 10 years.

From:
www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burd...

Things seem to be heading in the right direction here in Australia (so far) - health-adjusted life expectancy at birth is still rising.

The comparison to the UK is quite stark - we are up to ~73 while they are down to ~60 - a gap of over 10 years.