Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Everybody saw this coming.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

We are aware of all internet traditions.

The willow is too close to the house.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Tuesday-Wednesday, July 7-8

COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Tuesday-Wednesday, July 7-8

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When Trump first raised this ‘idea’ some weeks ago, I (like many other people) hoped (a) he would forget it when his next source of outrage emerged; or (b) the permanent bureaucracy would slow-walk the idea until, goddess willing, it became moot with Biden’s inauguration…



If the order doesn’t go into effect until July 2021, that’s one more reason to ensure that this November’s voting tally is large enough to resist every GOP attempt at suppression, thimblerigging, and foreign interference:


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The American government and our fellow citizens may have had a particularly awful response to the emergence of this pandemic, but we’re hardly unique in our failures, unfortunately…

First & last link in a long thread:

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Reader Interactions

38Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    We’re not the only country with stupid people. We’re one of the few wealthy countries where decent people don’t band together to stand up to stupid people.

  3. 3.

    Mary G

    @Baud: Preach. These viral videos of people screaming their heads off in supermarkets just need to stop. Put on a fucking mask. Tucker Carlson, working from home, tells his suckers that there’s no data showing masks are helpful. It’s all just theater and libs controlling you. I just want to tear my hair out, or someone else’s.

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily numbers. Three new cases: none from local infection, for only the second time (the first was 1 July); three cases from imported infections, all Malaysians returning from Sudan, Mexico and Saudi Arabia respectively. Cumulative total 8,677 cases.

    DG of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announced at today’s media briefing that the Sungai Petaling mosque cluster was now ended, 28 days after the last case was reported. This was the largest cluster in Malaysia, accounting for 3,375 positive cases and 34 deaths.

    Five more patients recovered and were discharged. Total 8,486 patients recovered or 97.8% of the cumulative total. 70 active and contagious cases are in hospital for isolation/treatment, two are in ICU and one of them is receiving respiratory assistance.

    No new deaths; it has been 24 days since 14 June, when the most recent death was reported. Total remains 121 deaths. Infection fatality rate is 1.39%, and case fatality rate is 1.41%.

  5. 5.

    Mary G

    OT- Rolling Stone talks to GOP campaign professionals about why they’re sticking with Twitler even though it looks like an epic ass whupping is in store for Republican candidates:

    “There’s no coming back for these Lincoln Project motherfuckers."@Timodc talks to GOP consultants off the record about 2020: They hate the president's enemies as much as the president does. Fear, hatred – and money – explains why they're still on board.https://t.co/KlqM6tii6D— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 8, 2020

  6. 6.

    terben

    From the Australian dept of Health:

    ‘As at 3pm on 8 July 2020, a total of 8,886 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Australia, including 106 deaths, and 7,487 have been reported as recovered from COVID-19.

    • Over the past week, there has been an average of 112 new cases reported each day. Of the newly reported cases, the majority have been from Victoria.
    • Following the peak of cases at the end of March, there have been a relatively low number of new cases reported daily between mid-April and early-June 2020. Cases have increased since mid-June however they remain below the March peak of daily cases.
    • Of cases with a reported place of acquisition, 56% have recent international travel history, including over 1,300 cases associated with cruise ships.
    • To date, over 2,856,000 tests have been conducted nationally. Of those tests conducted 0.3% have been positive.
    • On 3 July, 189 historic cases reported in crew members on board a ship were classified as Australian cases and included in New South Wales totals.’

    148 new cases today, 17 cases excluded, for a net increase of 131 cases. Victoria had most of the new cases (+134/-16) There were 3 cases in the ACT today, the first for a very long time. These were people avoiding the lockdown in Melbourne, attempting to flee the state before NSW closed the border.

  8. 8.

    Bruce K

    I was starting to think about saving my use-it-or-lose-it annual leave for maybe traveling back to the US over Thanksgiving to visit loved ones.

    It’s starting to sound like I was wildly optimistic in my wishful thinking.

    Meanwhile, in Greece: 27 new cases Tuesday, according to Kathimerini; 14 were tourists tested on arrival, leaving 13 indigenous.

    Granted, those aren’t Arizona numbers, but the up-tick worries me.

  9. 9.

    Amir Khalid

    @JPL:

    Dr Noor Hisham likes to remind Malaysians at his media briefings: our numbers look good, but this fight ain’t over yet. So don’t get complacent. Wear a mask, keep your distance, wash your hands. We keep ourselves safe, we keep our family safe, we keep our community safe, we keep our country safe.

  10. 10.

    Chyron HR

    If the order doesn’t go into effect until July 2021, that’s one more reason to ensure that this November’s voting tally is large enough to resist every GOP attempt at suppression, thimblerigging, and foreign interference:

    Oh yeah?  Well, give me a reason to vote for Biden WITHOUT mentioning Trump, the Supreme Court, or the Andromeda Strain.

  13. 13.

    YY_Sima Qian

    For the first time since the start of the Xinfadi outbreak, Beijing reported no new domestic cases yesterday (confirmed/suspect/asymptomatic). For all of China, a single asymptomatic case was found in Enshi Prefecture in the mountainous western part of Hubei Province.

    There are currently 4 asymptomatic cases in Hubei Province, 2 in Wuhan (both imported cases, Chinese students returning from Moscow, their flights landed in Wuhan), 1 in Xiangyang (someone returning from Beijing), and the new case in Enshi (also someone returning from Beijing). So, no evidence of COVID-19 spread within Hubei province, but Beijing exporting cases to Hubei suggests that the authorities have not identified all of the transmission chains. If the case in Xianghyang and Enshi had been identified as close contacts or at high risk of exposure, they would have been placed under centralized quarantine, let alone being able to leave the city. Neither Xiangyang or Enshi Health Commissions have published case reports for the asymptomatic cases, so it is conceivable that these are asymptomatic or very mild cases who have self healed, and are now just shedding viral fragments that are testing positive on RT-PCR. It has been nearly a month since the Xinfadi outbreak was detected, likely longer since the cluster actually formed, so that is enough time for someone to become infected and self-heal. If either case frequented the Xinfadi exchange in Beijing in early June, then that would be a plausible explanation.

    The imported confirmed and asymptomatic cases found during mandatory quarantines over the past couple weeks in China (and Hong Kong) have largely come from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka).

  14. 14.

    Mary G

    Orange County sets new records again. Went over 1,000 new cases reported in a day for the first time, also record hospitalizations & people in icu. More than 40% of all cases are age 35 or younger.

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    Another reason why Fox News should be sued into oblivion:

     

    Their repeated insistence that SWEDEN was the model the US should follow with regards to COVID-19.

     

    Wish someone would tell us how many

     

    ‘ we should do it like Sweden’ segments they did???

  16. 16.

    YY_Sima Qian

    I do not understand the opposition to collecting and studying bat coronaviruses. (I can understand opposition to gain of function research into these viruses). COVID-19 is the third global epidemic caused by a bat coronavirus in the past two decades. The world lucked out with SARS and MERS because both are highly virulent (meaning almost no moderate cases, let alone mild or asymptomatic) and do not transmit asymptomatically/pre-symptomatically. Bats carry thousands of coronaviruses, their habitats cover the globe (not just southern China, the Chinese horsehoe bat is also found in Southeast Asia), and human habitation (and animal husbandry) increasingly encroach on their habitats. Furthermore, we need to understand how coronaviruses (and viruses in general) evolve to in order to understand the threat they pose, and the potential treatment and mitigations. Bats are also natural reservoirs for the  very deadly (though fortunately not very contagious) Nipah, Hendra and Marburg viruses.

    I believe Gilead R&D has credited Dr. Shi’s research for help inspiring them to investigate Remdesivir’s potential efficacy against COVID-19, and I recall the developers of at least one of the leading vaccine candidates (do not remember which one) also credited her research in help selecting candidates.

    I do not know what alternatives the naysayers are proposing. Just wait until the next zoonotic epidemic, and then scramble?

  17. 17.

    rikyrah

    Once again I ask:

     

    Why aren’t the Governors of AZ, TX, FL on television telling us how they’re working with the Army Corps of Engineers to build makeshift hospitals in the convention centers and professional sports arenas?

    Why aren’t they asking for medical personnel from around the country to come and help them like Cuomo, Pritzker, Inslee did?

     

    THEIR HOSPITALS ARE FULL??

  18. 18.

    JPL

    Why does trump care if Harvard teaches online or in classrooms?   Why does he want to use children as guinea pigs?    Are his son and grandchildren going back to school?

  19. 19.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL:Are his son and grandchildren going back to school?

    If you asked him, I’m pretty sure he’d get this blank look on his face and say, “Who?”

  20. 20.

    hueyplong

    @rikyrah: It would mean acknowledging error, and the Confederates and anti-maskers have demonstrated that there is nothing worse for them than being forced to acknowledge error.

    It’s the corollary to Owning the Libs.

  21. 21.

    Ohio Mom

    Back in March, a friend’s 89 yo father announced he did not expect to be able to leave his Florida condo until his birthday in August.

    That sounded like an impossibly long time to my then-naive ears. Poor guy no longer sees an end in sight, and considering his advanced years, he may not see one.

  23. 23.

    Robert Sneddon

    National Records of Scotland (NRS) maintains the public records of births and deaths. Each week on Wednesday they publish information on deaths in Scotland for the previous Monday through Sunday.

    This week’s report published today (covering 29/06 through 05/07) states that 17 deaths over the past week mention coronavirus on the death certificate. This isn’t the same number as the NHS reporting of deaths where coronavirus is confirmed or suspected but it’s indicative. The previous week’s number was 35 deaths, the week before that 48.

    The trend here in Scotland is firmly downward, the lockdown has suppressed the numbers of new cases and deaths. Whether contact tracing and general hygiene procedures continue to work for us as the lockdown is eased over the next few weeks is another matter.

  24. 24.

    Bruce K

    @Ohio Mom: I hear ya. Before my folks and brother escaped from New York, my mom (84) was talking about how she and my dad (89) were starting to fear that if they couldn’t get out, they’d die in their apartment.

  25. 25.

    Kay

    @Mary G:

    campaign professionals

    They’re all such “professionals” that 90% of their approach is determined by their petulance and hurt feelings around people being mean to them because they work on behalf of Donald Trump. They’re a big bunch of whiny crybabies who want it both ways. They want to stick with Trump but suffer none of the real or possible career or personal downside and they’re all clinging to the idea that there will be a miracle and the economy will be booming in 3 months. They’re not even adults let alone “professionals”.

  26. 26.

    prostratedragon

    According to the JHU data, there are 13 State/day reports of more than 10000 new cases. 7 of those reports were from New York State in April. The remainder are from Florida (3), California (2), and Texas (1), all this week.

    State          Date               New Cases

    1 California 2020-07-07 .. 12977
    2 California 2020-07-05 .. 11786
    3 Florida 2020-07-04 ..11458
    4 New York 2020-04-15 .. 11434
    5 New York 2020-04-08 .. 11186
    6 New York 2020-04-04 .. 10846
    7 New York 2020-04-09 .. 10718
    8 New York 2020-04-10 .. 10569
    9 New York 2020-04-25 .. 10553
    10 New York 2020-04-03 .. 10481
    11 Texas 2020-07-07 .. 10384
    12 Florida 2020-07-02 .. 10109
    13 Florida 2020-07-05 .. 10059

     

    Edit: To be clear, within the last week.

  27. 27.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @rikyrah: Makeshift hospitals converted from convention centers are more appropriate for mild and moderate cases, and in the US and much of the world such cases are asked to self-quarantine at home with follow up on the phone. The reports I have read indicate that these makeshift facilities (including the USN hospital ships) were underutilized in most US cities in Apr. & May, even as COVID-19 cases and at-home deaths surged. The best I can determine, the root cause for the underutilization appear to be lack of centralized coordination in these cities to fully pool, leverage and allocate all available resources. The logistical and bureaucratic obstacles of moving patients to and from the makeshift medical facilities proved to be key deterrents.

    Rapidly increasing number of hospitals in AZ/FL/TX are out of ICUs, and these require specialized equipment and staff. When Wuhan constructed the 2 temporarily hospitals consisting entirely of ICUs (2200 beds total), and added hundreds more ICU beds in converted wings of existing hospitals, China had to bring in tens of thousands of medical personnel (each team bringing their own PPE supplies to as to not further stress the PPE situation in Wuhan in early Feb.), thousands of ventilators and nearly 100 ECMO machines (including an emergency order of over 40 from a supplier in Germany) from across the country. I am afraid such rapid concentration of resources is highly unlikely in the US, which in any case is confronting multiple hot spots states, each with multiple hot spot cities.

  28. 28.

    charon

    @Mary G:

    Rolling Stone talks to GOP campaign professionals about why they’re sticking with Twitler even though it looks like an epic ass whupping is in store for Republican candidates:

    Talking to each other, living in the same alternate reality as the rest of the GOP people. I have no symathy.

  29. 29.

    Amir Khalid

    @rikyrah:

    It wasn’t just in the US. There was this belief among rightwing/libertarian “thinkers” elsewhere in the West a few months ago that Sweden’s approach — not making lockdown compulsory and letting the population build herd immunity — was more respectful of people’s liberty, and thus better than the heavy-handed communistic imposition of stay-at-home orders and forced closing of businesses.

    Presenting an irrelevant political argument against a public health measure fits Professor Frankfurt’s famous definition of bullshit. That the preferred alternative turns out to cost human lives makes it dangerous bullshit.

  30. 30.

    prostratedragon

    @prostratedragon:  Those 4 States — California, Florida, New York, and Texas, are the only States so far to report more than 5000 new cases in a day. Arizona,  Illinois, Massachusetts,  and New Jersey have all had one or more 4000 case days. For comparison, California is similar in population to Malaysia (~38m people, 8677 total cases from forever); the others are somewhere between Australia (8886) and Ecuador (63,245 which sounds like a lot but is just one bad week in NY and possibly some of these other hotspots soon), in population, more or less.

  31. 31.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Trump administration has also issued warning that all international students whose classes are exclusively online in the Fall will have their student visas invalidated and must then leave the country. While this is an existing rule (probably to prevent people from signing up with dodgy online universities as a means of getting a student visa to enter the country), it is extraordinarily inhumane to try to enforce it in the time of COVID-19. None of the international students came to the US to attend online classes, universities are only holding classes online as social distancing measure against COVID-19. I have heard speculation that this action is the administration playing chicken with the universities and colleges, forcing them to reopen classroom instruction in the Fall. International students are a vital source of revenue, especially for the poorly funded state schools, as well as a critical source of research talent for the top research universities (and dirt cheap ones at that).

    There are nearly 400K international students from China alone. Flying all them home, at ~ 200 passengers / flight (for proper distancing), it will take ~ 2K flights. Not even China will be able to quarantine and monitor such an influx of people, and it may just ignite a real second wave. Along with sending flights full of infected refugees to Central America, I have to wonder if some in the Trump Administration is actually trying to spark new outbreaks around the world!

  32. 32.

    Amir Khalid

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    … mild and moderate cases, and in the US and much of the world such cases are asked to self-quarantine at home with follow up on the phone.

    Malaysia seems to be an outlier. The Health Ministry’s stated policy is to isolate all positive cases in hospital, symptomatic or not, until they test negative. Going by the reported numbers, it appears to have helped reduce spread. I’ve been wondering why more countries don’t do the same.

  33. 33.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Looks like there is a new outbreak in Hong Kong, 14 locally transmitted cases on 7/7, and 19 today. 8 cases in a nursing home. The transmission chain not yet determined in nearly a third of the cases. With the surge in imported cases, including returning Filipino maids, a local outbreak is perhaps only a matter of time.

  34. 34.

    mrmoshpotato

    “A president whose politically motivated defiance against a global health emergency meets the reality that’s becoming clearer with every crushing new day in the coronavirus pandemic. That under his leadership… the United States has failed” –

    Hell, the failure was made in November 2016 by nearly 63 million and tens of millions of selfish shithead children who loudly proclaimed, “Fuck Hillary!  I’m not gonna vote!”

  35. 35.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Amir Khalid: The policy is pretty established in East and South East Asia, and was key to crush the Rt down to ~ 0.3 in Wuhan in early to mid-Feb., but much of the populations in Western countries appear to believe forced quarantine of suspect and asymptomatic cases in centralized facilities is an unacceptable infringement on personal liberty.

  36. 36.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Mary G:

    “There’s no coming back for these Lincoln Project motherfuckers.” 

    Fuck Rick Wilson, etal, but ?????

  38. 38.

    Yutsano

    @YY_Sima Qian: You mention the hospital ships. They are not equipped to handle Covid-19 cases because of their compact spacing and ventilation systems. It is true they were underused to handle things other than Covid*, but they could be at most just support for other medical needs besides Covid.

    *I think the one exception here was NYC. The ship there was used quite a bit during their peak. One would hope they sail to Houston now.

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