Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

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

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

This blog will pay for itself.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Consistently wrong since 2002

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Thursday/Friday, August 13-14

COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Thursday/Friday, August 13-14

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  1. 1.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Yesterday, China reported 8 new domestic confirmed cases and 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all of them at Ürumqi in Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region. This is the 3rd consecutive day since the start of the outbreak that the city has reported single digit new confirmed cases. 14 cases are currently in critical condition, and 23 in serious condition. There are currently 464 confirmed cases (462 in Ürumqi, 1 each at Kashgar, Changji Prefecture and Xinjiang Construction Corps), and 130 asymptomatic cases (129 in Ürumqi, 1 in Changji Prefecture), plus 1 asymptomatic case exported to Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province. 49 confirmed cases recovered yesterday and were released from hospitals, 5 asymptomatic cases were released from medical quarantine, 2 serious cases have improved to moderate conditions, 1 critical case improved to moderate. There are 12,501 close contacts remain under quarantine and medical observation.

    For the 5th consecutive day, Dalian in Liaoning Province did not report any new cases, confirmed or asymptomatic. 5 confirmed cases has recovered and was released from hospital, and 2 asymptomatic cases were also released from medical quarantine. 1 serious cases, 37 moderate cases, and 8 mild cases are currently in the hospital, and 6 asymptomatic cases remain under medical quarantine.

    Yesterday, China reported 22 new imported confirmed cases, 24 imported asymptomatic cases, and 2 suspect cases:

    * Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 5 confirmed cases, 3 are Chinese national returning from Kazakhstan, 1 each from Pakistan and Singapore; 1 asymptomatic cases, a Chinese national returning from Singapore
    * Shanghai Municipality – 16 confirmed cases, 8 Chinese nationals returning from the the Philippines, 4 Chinese nationals returning from Côte d’Ivoire, 1 Chinese National returning from the United Arab Emirates, 2 Filipino crew members off cargo ships, 1 Russia national coming from Moscow, via Schipol; 2 suspect cases, no information released
    * Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Qatar; 3 asymptomatic cases, 2 are Chinese nationals returning from Qatar and 1 from Singapore
    * Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 9 asymptomatic cases, all Chinese nationals returning from the Philippines
    * Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, all are Chinese nationals returning from the United Arab Emirates
    * Yangjiang in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the Philippines
    * Foshan in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Singapore
    * Xiamen in Fujian Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Singapore and the Philippines
    * Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Indonesia
    * Jinan in Shandong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Kazakhstan
    * Jiangsu Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released

    Today, Hong Kong reported 48 new cases, 46 from local transmission.

  2. 2.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily numbers. 20 new cases reported. 13 cases from local infection: 11 from the new Tawar memorial-service cluster in Kedah, including one patient who had returned to Penang; one from the Muda cluster in Kedah, and one detected upon screening after presenting with severe acute respiratory infection. Seven imported cases: six Malaysians, returning from Lebanon (three), Taiwan, Indonesia, and Yemen; one non-Malaysian arriving from France. Cumulative reported total 9,149 cases.

    Seven more patients recovered and were discharged, total 8,828 patients recovered, 96.5% of the cumulative reported total. Active and contagious cases being isolated/treated in hospital are up again to 196 patients; four are in ICU, one is on a respirator.

    No new deaths since 31st July. The total remains at 125 deaths, 1.37% of the cumulative reported total and 1.40% of resolved cases.

  4. 4.

    gkoutnik

    When I heard that Biden had called for a national mask mandate, the thought came, unbidden:  so now Trump will never do it.  Not if Biden thinks he should.

    I fantasize about hearing “If the Biden administration were in the WH right now, this is what we would do,” followed by a detailed, effective, science-driven plan.  Daily or weekly.

    We live in a small city and our mayor died tragically a few years ago, in December.  Election was the following Nov; well-liked, unopposed Dem candidate ran a laid-back campaign through  the spring.  By summer the City Council had asked him to take on the job, he accepted.  He’s been the (very successful) mayor since.

    Talk about fantasy, but I can’t help thinking that this is an emergency, we have no President, and we’ve got a whole administration ready to go and take on these crises.

  5. 5.

    Amir Khalid

    The Government here is not playing nice with people who break quarantine. A woman in Ipoh who was seen in public with her pink quarantine bracelet on was jailed one day and fined RM8,000 under the Prevention an Control of Infectious Diseases Act of 1988. Nur Emah Mohamad Hashim, 72, was just two days into a home surveillance order after returning from the UK. She was outed on social media, which is pretty much inevitable here these days; there is no public sympathy for people who violate Covid-19 restrictions.

  6. 6.

    raven

    I went to the pharmacy yesterday and was told (by a pharmacist I really like) that flu shots were in and ,according to the CDC, it’s not to early to get one. So I went ahead and now I read the director of the CDC’s statement that you should wait until September or October

     

    While the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has not yet voted on the flu vaccine recommendations for 2020-2021, CDC does not anticipate a major change in the recommendation on timing of vaccination. Getting vaccinated in July or August is too early, especially for older people, because of the likelihood of reduced protection against flu infection later in the flu season. September and October are good times to get vaccinated. However, as long as flu viruses are circulating, vaccination should continue, even in January or later.

  7. 7.

    raven

    Federal health officials say it’s better to get the shot whenever you can. An early flu shot is better than no flu shot at all. But the science is mixed when it comes to how long you’ll get optimal protection from a flu shot promoted and given during the waning days of summer; the typical flu season peaks in midwinter or beyond. Immunologists and public health officials are divided on how patients should respond to such offers.

    “If you’re over 65, don’t get the flu vaccine in September. Or August. It’s a marketing scheme,” says Laura Haynes, an immunologist at the University of Connecticut Center on Aging.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    US hospitals pressure healthcare staff to work even if they have Covid symptoms

    Guidance from public health experts has evolved as they have learned more about the coronavirus, but one message has remained consistent: if you feel sick, stay home.

    Yet hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities have flouted that guidance, pressuring workers who contract Covid-19 to return sooner than public health standards suggest is safe. Some employers have failed to provide adequate paid leave, if any, so employees felt they had to return to work – even while possibly infectious.

    Many hospitals with an onslaught of patients have found themselves short-staffed. That need dovetailed with an entrenched culture in medicine of “presenteeism”. Frontline healthcare workers, in particular, follow a brutal ethos of being tough enough to work even when ill, reasoning that other “people are sicker”, said Andra Blomkalns, the chair of Stanford University’s emergency medicine department.

    In a survey of nearly 1,200 members, the Health Professionals and Allied Employees Union found roughly a third of those who said they had gotten sick reported returning to work with symptoms.
    ……………………………………..
    Meanwhile immunocompromised workers at high risk from the virus have faced difficult choices, said Liz Stokes, the director of the American Nurses Association’s Center for Ethics and Human Rights. She recounted the experience of a surgical nurse with Crohn’s disease who took leave at her doctor’s recommendation but was pressured by her bosses and co-workers to return.

    “She really expressed severe guilt because she felt like she was abandoning her duties as a nurse,” she said. “She felt like she was abandoning her colleagues, her patients.”

    Money pressures are also a factor. Shenetta White-Ballard carried an oxygen canister in a backpack at work. A nurse at Legacy Nursing and Rehabilitation of Port Allen in Louisiana, she needed the help to breathe after a serious respiratory infection. When Covid-19 appeared, she showed up for work. Her husband, Eddie Ballard, said his paycheck from Walmart was not enough to support their family.

    “She kept bringing up, she gotta pay the bills,” he said.

    She died on 1 May at age 44.

    But “Heroes Work Here,” another hollow slogan. We’re all just cogs in the big machine, of limited value, and eminently replaceable.

  9. 9.

    JPL

    The local fire chief is in the ICU on a vent and I wish him well.   I hope he returns to work and promotes wearing masks.   The first thing I thought of was whether or not he had tried hydroxychloroquine .

  14. 14.

    Ken

    Now I’m wondering what Dr. Fauci will say at his first press conference under the Biden administration.

  16. 16.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Appalling that employers don’t insist their sick employees stay home when they’re sick, especially now.  How’s she gonna help out when she’s dead? //

  18. 18.

    Amir Khalid

    @gkoutnik:

    America may need, if it doesn’t have already, a federal law that can be invoked to authorise centralised action to prevent and control infectious diseases, such asa mask mandate. Malaysia has such a law, and I believe so do many other countries.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    World reported cases total pass 21 million.

    Countries with more than 500k reported cases:

    U.S. – ~5338k
    Brazil – ~3230k
    India – ~2441k
    Russia – ~913k
    South Africa – ~573k
    Peru – ~508k
    Mexico – ~506k
    .

  22. 22.

    WereBear

    @debbie: Appalling that employers don’t insist their sick employees stay home when they’re sick, especially now. How’s she gonna help out when she’s dead? //

    They think there are always more cogs.

    Fish rots from the head.

  23. 23.

    different-church-lady

    Would have been something if our response to Polio had been, “Well, let’s just have everyone get Polio.”

  26. 26.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — Again no deaths were registered in the last 24 hours of people who tested positive. 65 new confirmed cases have been reported, a test positivity rate of 1.6%. About half of the new cases are in the Grampian health board area but how many are linked to the Aberdeen outbreak cluster is unknown. This cluster is now up to 198 confirmed cases, Aberdeen remains locked down.

    In other news from the UK 300 workers at a food processing plant in England have tested positive for COVID-19. The management of the facility are shocked! shocked! that people working on closely-packed food production lines indoors with limited ventilation might spread this disease easily. Fingers will be wagged most vigorously, I am certain.

  27. 27.

    Ohio Mom

    Raven:
    I wonder if you can get a second flu shot later in the season? I’d put in a call to your PCP for advice on that.

    Another point to remember is that there is a stronger flu shot for the over-65 set. As we age, our immune systems weaken and so we can benefit from a stronger vaccine.

  28. 28.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Amir Khalid: Instances of similar breaches of quarantine in China caused similar popular reactions in China back in Mar. The infamous videos of local authorities locking people into their apartments actually only happened a few time, each time it was frustrated community workers taking matters into their own hands against repeated offenders. There is also a notorious case of a Chinese Australian (a high level manager working for Bayer China) going out jogging without mask while under 14 day home quarantine after entry into China, and was caught on video verbally abusing a security guard who was trying to convince her to go home. It caused such popular outrage that she was promptly fired by her employer and was expelled from China.

    These cases helped convince the government to go for centralized quarantine of all infected cases, all close contacts, and all person entering the country from abroad. Surprisingly, there’s is no legal or administrative penalties in China for breaking self-quarantine, but there is for lying to, or withholding information from, contact tracers.

  29. 29.

    YY_Sima Qian

    News hot off the presses in Guangdong Province in China:

    1 new domestic confirmed and 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases reported by Lufeng County of Shanwei City. The confirmed case works at a supermarket in Shenzhen, and traveled to her home town at Lufeng with her three children on 8/6. She experienced throat discomfort on 8/7, fever and diarrhea on 8/8. She attempted to self-medicate, but was unsuccessful. She visited a fever clinic on the evening of 8/12, found to have pneumonia in the lungs. She tested positive on 8/13, and was confirmed on 8/14.

    Epidemiological investigations has already kicked into high gear at both Shanwei and Shenzhen. Shanwei has traced and tested 3,184 individuals who has had contact with the confirmed case: passengers on the same bus from Shenzhen, residents of the same compound at Lufeng, medical staff at the fever clinic, etc. Of the 1105 test results received so far, 3 are positive – all relatives of the confirmed case, all of whom are asymptomatic so far. Shanwei’s daily testing capacity has surged from 2.5K / day to 23.5K / day.

    Meanwhile, Shenzhen has tested 1,730 individuals who are connected to the confirmed and asymptomatic cases, and collected 2,140 environmental samples from the cases’ living and work places.

    Both cities have placed the residential compounds the cases lived at under lock down, and all connected individuals under home quarantine. The supermarket the confirmed worked at is closed and being disinfected.

    I am sure more information will emerge in the coming days. Going by the prior experiences of Harbin, Mudanjiang, Jilin City, Beijing Xinfadi, Ürumqi and Dalian, 1 case showing up at a fever clinic probably means a cluster of dozens of cases may have already formed. I think Shenzhen is the more worrying location, being a dense metropolis of 20+M, one of high tech hubs of China and the world, lots of domestic travel, with huge number factories large and small both within the city and neighboring Dongguan and Huizhou that forms probably the biggest manufacturing cluster in the world. The company I work for has a big satellite office in the city. Shenzhen is not a major international travel hub, unlike nearby Hong Kong and Guangzhou. However, it is next to Hong Kong (where there is still a sizable outbreak that is not yet fully under control), and there are still thousands of people traveling across the border every day.

  30. 30.

    Another Scott

    @raven: Relatedly…

    .@sciencecohen reports on groundbreaking research at Emory University shows why the protection from a flu shot wanes so quickly. Something to keep in mind when you're planning when to get your flu shot this fall. There is such a thing as too early. https://t.co/8U5Sh0KLke

    — Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) August 14, 2020

    (Points to a ScienceMag article.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  31. 31.

    Jager

    My daughter is a school teacher in Santa Cruz, last month she flew to North Dakota to visit her mother at her lake cabin (my ex lives in Arizona in the winter). She masked up and went to the store for her mom. Some asshole in camo bibs and no shirt followed her around the grocery store making crude remarks and decided it would be clever to cough in her face. He got kneed in the nuts for his behavior.

    She said, no one in the store wore masks and there was no protection for customers or workers. My kid said she was so nervous while she was there, she ran 3 times a day, wore her mother’s dog out.

  32. 32.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ohio Mom: …there is a stronger flu shot for the over-65 set.

    Really??!?!??!

    I’ve been over 65 for a few years now and I have never been informed of this by any medical professional – not in my four yearly visits with my PCP, not by any pharmacist who has offered me an injection.

    Upon googling, I see that the higher-dose flu vaccine for geezers is trivalent (protects against 3 strains of Da Flew) whereas the normal version for the non-decrepit is quadrivalent (protects against 4 strains). So it appears that we Olds-sessile** who encounter that 4th not-included strain will likely be (I believe the technical term is) fucked.

    ** Opposite of Olds-mobile; for the amusement of those superannuated enough to remember discontinued auto models…

  34. 34.

    The Pale Scot

    One way to to do it in the UK

    People whose positive Covid-19 test was obtained more than 28 days prior to their death will now be excluded from the headline figure. This does not mean that any less or any more of them have died as a consequence of Covid-19

     

    A measure of acute deaths which can be used to understand current trends is further defined as a “a death in any person with a laboratory-confirmed positive COVID-19 test AND within (equal to or less than) 28 days of the first positive specimen date

    Coming to Florida real soon now

  35. 35.

    Sloane Ranger

    @Robert Sneddon: The food processing plant in question is in Northampton, my county town. At least it goes some way to explain why cases have been steadily increasing locally.

    As far as the UK generally is concerned, there were technical difficulties with the government coronavirus dashboard yesterday, preventing it from being updated. This is twice in a week.

    They are still updating the data on deaths, using the new, UKwide agreed criteria of any death occurring within 28 days of a positive test so all I can report on that front is that there were 11 such cases today.

    As far as cases are concerned, there were 1129 new cases in the UK on the 13th and 1441 reported today (as at 4pm local time). The trend remains upwards. England continues to have the bulk of the new cases with over 1000 on each day. The other Home Nations are in the teens.

    The UK government has increased the fines for failing to wear a mask but that’s no use if the law isn’t enforced. There was a guy from the shopworkers union on the radio this morning with the same sort of horror stories about his members being insulted and threatened for trying to enforce the mandate I’ve heard here.

    In good news, those of us over 50 will be eligible for a free flu shot this year but we will have to wait until after the over 65’s get theirs.

  36. 36.

    featheredsprite

    Sturgis:

    Several of the bikers are actively being infected. They’ll go home next week, exposing people on the way. Covid cases and deaths will increase and probably peak in October.

    Is that the “October surprise” Team Trump is planning?

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