Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This fight is for everything.

The lights are all blinking red.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

I really should read my own blog.

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

So many bastards, so little time.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Update – Wednesday / Thursday, May 20-21

COVID-19 Coronavirus Update – Wednesday / Thursday, May 20-21

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29Comments

  1. 1.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily numbers: 50 new cases, total 7059 cases. Of the new cases, 47 are local infection and only three are in repatriated Malaysians. 34 of the new cases were identified in a new cluster at an immigration detention centre. These 34 people had all been in detention since before lockdown, and how they got infected is currently under investigation.

    90 more patients recovered, total 5,796 recovered or 82.1% of all cases. Of 1,149 active and contagious cases, 11 are in ICU and seven of them are on ventilators. No deaths for the second day in a row, total deaths still 114. Infection fatality rate 1.61%, case fatality rate 1.93%.

  2. 2.

    JPL

    In the most shocking news ever, GA’s numbers have been manipulated again. Testing for antibodies was included with testing to see if you had the virus. Apparently we might not be on that magical downward trend.    I’ve lost track on whether this is the fourth or fifth time, that GA was caught manipulating numbers.

  3. 3.

    Amir Khalid

    @JPL:

    That is really appalling. Not just the statistical fuckery, but the fact that it’s being done in the open.

  4. 4.

    Mary G

    Nate Silver is getting a lot of heat on Twitter for mansplaining epidemic science without any actual knowledge of it.

  6. 6.

    terben

    From the Australian Dept of Health:

    ‘As at 3:00pm on 21 May 2020, a total of 7,081 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Australia, including 100 deaths and 6,472 have been reported as recovered from COVID-19.

    Over the past week, there has been an average of 12 new cases reported each day. Of the newly reported cases, the majority have been from Victoria.

    Of cases with a reported place of acquisition, 62% have recent international travel history, including over 1,300 cases associated with cruise ships.

    To date, over 1,137,500 tests have been conducted nationally. Of those tests conducted 0.6% have been positive.’

    Since yesterday, there have been 6 new cases reported, four cases have been deleted (double counting, false positives) making a net gain of 2. No new deaths reported. There are 509 active cases in the country. (477 in NSW and Victoria combined)
    There are 41 people hospitalized of whom 9 are in ICU, 7 on ventilators.

    From tomorrow, in my State, cafes and restaurants will be permitted to serve alcohol with food. They will be limited to 10 customers inside and 10 customers outside. This is a relaxation from the initial takeaway only, which was followed more recently by 10 customers outside/no alcohol. Happy days.

  8. 8.

    WereBear

    NY is still in Phase One, and I suspect this will run 3-4 weeks to see what effect it has. My area has been good about masking, though I still find myself screwing up: once to go out and get the trash bins, and another to meet the delivery truck. In each instance it was such a routine thing, and I was so distracted, that the transaction was nearly over before I remembered.

  9. 9.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Only 1 domestic confirmed case inChina yesterday, reported by Shanghai, an export from Wuhan. The case had tested negative on PCR at Wuhan on May 8, and went to Shanghai with her husband for an operation on May 11. She was screened on May 18, as part of standard procedure to test prospective caretakers of patients staying in the hospital. CT scan shows mild COPD. 22 close contacts have been identified in Shanghai and isolated. Yet further evidence that the virus has not been completely eliminated here. She also would have not been detected had not 100% screening of patients and caretakers before in-patient stay is standard.

    This is the second case that had tested negative in Hubei, and yet tested positive (with symptoms) after arriving in Shanghai, in the past week.

    Wuhan is reporting that, from May 14 – 19, nearly 2.07M individuals have been tested, finding 71 asymptomatic cases. In those 6 days, Wuhan’s daily testing rate increased from 72.8K persons in the 14th, to 113.6K, 222.7K, 335.9K, 467.8K, and 857.1K individuals in the subsequent days. Not sure how Wuhan is managing over 300K individuals tested in each day, there has not been official confirmation of batch testing. Sample collection continues in residential compounds across the city, include where I live and where my in-laws live, to catch stragglers who were not tested in the previous days due to work or travel.

    Health care officials in northeastern China are concerned that the strain of virus found in the outbreak in Jilin Province, introduced from Russia, may have longer incubation periods than those seen in Wuhan. That makes detection, tracing and containment more difficult. Severe/critical case rate appears to be lower, though, at 10%.

  10. 10.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Mary G: So, what is the percentage of the claimed 10M tests conducted in the US to date that is actually PCR? The way the Trump administration and certain Republican governors are operating, it is almost like a caricature of how many in the West imagine the CCP regime behaves.

  11. 11.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @WereBear: A few days ago, my wife and I left my in-laws’ apartment, and walked toward our car, without masks on. We were past the residential compound gate before either of us realized it, and the security guard did not alert us, either. Fortunate, there is a pharmacy by the gate, so we immediate bought two surgical masks!

  12. 12.

    WereBear

    @YY_Sima Qian: Exactly! When your brain is on auto-pilot, new rules take a while to override previous programming :)

    I can do trash management without a mask, but if someone is coming down the sidewalk, I need to distance.

  13. 13.

    New Deal democrat

    The inflection point for when premature “reopening” caused the previous improving trend to end may have been May 10. The South has had an increase in new cases since then, and the 7 day average for the US as a whole has increased by 2% since May 17.

    BTW, I think Nate Silver has been doing an excellent job, especially in pointing out that increased testing leads to increased positives.

  14. 14.

    Nelle

    Iowa has again changed the reporting method, so instead of once a day, it is a rolling release as numbers come in to health departments.  It means that no news outlets have similar numbers.  The variances are small but it gives me the sense that there is nothing trustworthy or reliable.

    My neighbor, who is stricter than me, and I agreed that the next four to six weeks, we need more, not less vigilance (we were talking across tge street to each other).  Yet, that vigilance is unsupported by our government and clearly at crosscurrents from the air of relaxation around us.  The media here is breathlessly “reporting” on all that is opening up, without much cautionary talk.  I dont want further spread, but if there isn’t,  the knuckleheads will take that as endorsement of their chosen route of stupidity

  16. 16.

    VOR

    @Mary G: I think there is just so much pressure to do anything, anything to avoid admitting the Great Leader screwed up. Reality will be denied right up until their own family gets sick.

    We’re looking at 93k deaths, most deaths and most cases in the world, and people still don’t admit this is a real thing. I’m still seeing the “it’s just the flu” claims from Right Wingers on Facebook.

    Why does EVERYTHING, even a global pandemic, have to be about Trump?

  17. 17.

    frosty

    @JPL: I found KN95 and surgical masks this week in the local True Value hardware store. They broke down boxes of 100 surgical masks and packaged 10 for $16.95.

  18. 18.

    barbequebook

    @Mary G: 

    It just dawned on me that this approach could be extended to may other aspects of our lives, wherein people with little or no technical expertise modify things based on what “common sense” seems to dictate. For example, because I often trip the circuit breaker when I run the microwave and toaster oven at the same time, I can solve this problem by wiring these two 110 volt appliances into the 220 volt circuit because, you know, 110+110=220. Anyone can be an electrician, just like everyone is an epidemiologist/virologist.

  19. 19.

    different-church-lady

    The real news there is that an astonishing 58% of Republican know what the word respectfullness even means.

  20. 20.

    Glidwrith

    To translate for those that don’t know: that quote about ‘cotton candy’ at the top of the post, that is exactly what ‘glycan’ in the picture means – sugar. And ‘glycoprotein’ means ‘sugar-protein’.

  22. 22.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @JPL: Surgical and KN95 masks have been readily available in China for nearly two months. However, there is a chance that what one buys here is counterfeit that is not up to snuff.

    Following quality complaints from overseas about certain shipments, the Chinese government has been clamping down the export shipments of medical supplies, requiring inspection of every shipment and only entities with Chinese certification and export licenses are allowed to export. Unfortunately, that means now the counterfeits are diverted to the domestic market.

  23. 23.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @frosty: Geez. I just bought 120 surgical masks (since I bought them from TMall, I think they are legitimate) for RMB¥ 117, or US$ 16.45.

    Who are making the obscene profits selling Chinese made masks in the US?

  24. 24.

    The Moar You Know

    I found KN95 and surgical masks this week in the local True Value hardware store. They broke down boxes of 100 surgical masks and packaged 10 for $16.95.

    @frosty: I’d be more inclined to believe you literally saw Jesus.  You can’t even get “surgical” masks here anywhere in San Diego, never mind a 95 series.

    I had a job where I used PPE for five years, every day.  Toxics, not biologicals.  I would have never, pre-pandemic, remotely considered reusing a mask.  You just didn’t do that.

    Was cleaning out the garage – got the dumpster from the trash company and everything – and found about 6 very used 95 series masks over the course of the day.  Saved ’em all.

    My wife’s a teacher and may have to go back in the fall.  We’re a wealthy district.  But even our district – no PPE.  Literally none, and no plans to buy any.  So I’m just trying to scrape together whatever I can to keep her alive if she’s made to get into a classroom.  I’d pay a lot for a 100-count box of 3M P95s.  I used to go through about one or so a month back in the day.  Never thought twice about it.

  25. 25.

    The Moar You Know

    Who are making the obscene profits selling Chinese made masks in the US?

    @YY_Sima Qian:  Everyone from the goddamn so-called president on down to the guy who owns the local grocery that was the last place I saw “surgical” masks.

    The last time I found masks at normal retail prices was in February.  Heard there was a bad flu coming and thought I’d grab a box at the hardware store.  I should have bought their entire stock.  HAD I BEEN WARNED BY MY GOVERNMENT WHO ALREADY KNEW THERE WAS A PROBLEM ON THE WAY, I would have.

  27. 27.

    Matt McIrvin

    There have been weeks when I didn’t wear a mask because I never left my home.

  29. 29.

    kmax

    so the survey says 70% are using masks.

    Went to Home Depot last night (Missouri) and I think the number there was more like 7%.

    Scary.

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