Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Infrastructure week. at last.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

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

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

I really should read my own blog.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

The revolution will be supervised.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday/Wednesday, September 15-16

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday/Wednesday, September 15-16

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  1. 1.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. 62 new cases. 61 cases from local infection. 41 Malaysians: 28 from the Benteng Lahad Datu police lockup cluster, four healthcare workers at Lahad Datu Hospital, two at the Lahad Datu public health clinic, one from the Pulau family cluster,  three people arriving from Peninsular Malaysia, one inmate at Sandakan Prison, all in Sabah; one in Kedah from the Sungai private hospital cluster; and one close contact of a known case in Penang state. 20 non-Malaysians, all from the Benteng Lahad Datu police lockup cluster.

    One imported case, a Malaysian returning from India.

    The cumulative reported total has now hit five figures: 10,031 cases.

    26 more patients recovered and were discharged from hospital for a total of 9,235 patients recovered — 92.06% of the cumulative reported total. 668 active and contagious cases are currently being isolated/treated in hospital; 15 are in ICU, five are on respirators.

    There have been no new Covid-19 deaths since 1st September, and the total stands at 128 deaths –1.28% of the cumulative reported total, 1.37% of resolved cases.

  3. 3.

    Mary G

    The OC is doing much, much better. Only 150 new cases today, hospitalizations plummeted – 4.2% test positivity. LA and other SoCal counties didn’t keep their numbers in the target level and so are still in tier 1, the most restrictive level, except for San Diego County also in tier 2.

  4. 4.

    Chyron HR

    So when asked about the US vaccine, the President (attempted to) say we’re going to develop herd immunity instead? I guess I should be relieved that they’re apparently not even close to developing a fake vaccine for the election, but Jesus Christ.

  5. 5.

    Leto

    “this is just not a planet that has much promise for the future”

    Pretty much sums up 2020, and the past three and a half years. The Garmisch bar hopping American was either a service member or service member’s spouse. There’s a really popular military resort in Garmisch so once again, big hat tip to our unofficial ambassadors on a job well done…

  6. 6.

    Leto

    @Chyron HR: No, Trumpov said, “Herd mentality”. He probably meant herd immunity but he’s too stupid to understand even basic talking points, let alone remembering the basic talking points to regurgitate out of his KFC-hole. There’s also the fact that to get to a natural herd mentality will result in so many deaths it’s just staggering. There’s also no promise/guarantee that we’ll ever develop herd immunity but hey, he has the best medical people this country can assemble so he doesn’t give two fucks about anyone not named Dotard or Ivanka.

  7. 7.

    Chyron HR

    @Leto:

    I said “attempted to say”.    The point is that “No vaccine, herd mentality” is a wild shift from the Trump administration’s messaging for the past few months.

  8. 8.

    MomSense

    In a state with a really low virus positivity rate we’ve had a couple schools close in the first week, including my son’s school. I can’t imagine what must be going on in red state schools.  Are they lying about Covid cases or just staying open no matter what?

    Also fuck the Millinocket wedding groom.  He is a sociopath.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    FYI.

    An O‘ahu man, with underlying health conditions who had been hospitalized, becomes the 100th person to die from coronavirus-associated illness since the pandemic began in late February. Source

    In a less onerous development –

    In a time of shut downs, canceled events and struggling business, there is a bright spot in Lahaina where investors are helping to keep Maui’s Koholā Brewery afloat.

    The small independent brewery was hit extraordinarily hard by economic impacts brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Not only did they have to close their Lahaina tap room, the business reports that the demand for beer fell by about 90%.
    [snip]
    A developer from the Big Island of Hawaii and a West Maui resident teamed up to inject enough capital to address past debts, restart operations and have a cash reserve to last through the pandemic. The business reports that several suppliers and partners also contributed substantially to the recovery of the company. Source

  10. 10.

    Leto

    @Chyron HR: Idk, it fits right in with everything else he’s said over the past 6-7 months. Lies, shifting goal posts, more lies, non-sensical medical jargon… I know herd immunity has been a thing among his base/most dipshits since the very beginning. I know I was seeing talk about it at least in April. Surprising it’s taken this long for him to regurgitate it.

  13. 13.

    MJS

    The ads write themselves. (Clip of Trump saying “herd mentality”). Joe responding, saying, “The term is ‘herd immunity’, not ‘herd mentality’, and before we get to it, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, more people will die. That’s not a plan.”

  14. 14.

    Leto

    @MomSense:

    just staying open no matter what?

    Ding ding ding! Did you see LSU’s head football coach admit that basically his entire team has COVID? That’s roughly 80 people. Most red states are just refusing to address reality. On top of that even in blue states, or purplish states like here in PA, Republican legislators (as well as business/citizens/Repub funded groups) are directly challenging/suing governors over any type of preventative restrictions put in place and having Trumpov/McConnell appointed judges rule in their favor. They’re simply going to kill as many of us as they can to keep the money flowing. Selfish doesn’t even come close to what they’re doing.

  15. 15.

    raven

    I read yesterday that they think it was here in December. I was REALLY sick for about a week so I wonder?

  16. 16.

    gkoutnik

    @MomSense:   I listened again to make sure, and confirmed my initial impression:  At first he said “turd mentality” and then corrected himself.

    Noted without comment, due to my great maturity and restraint.  /s

  17. 17.

    Leto

    @MJS:

    FTFNYT link:

    Democrats are sending a truck to Trump’s Michigan rally to play audio of his coronavirus comments.

    Ahead of President Trump’s rally in Michigan on Thursday night, Democrats are planning to use his own words to skewer him.

    The Democratic National Committee is dispatching a mobile billboard truck to MBS International Airport in Freeland, Mich., where the rally will take place. The truck will play a brief audio clip of Mr. Trump speaking to the journalist Bob Woodward about the coronavirus: “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down.”

    As his words ring out, the truck will display statistics showing the virus’s toll. The back of the truck will carry a blunt message: “Trump Lied. Americans Died.”

    Democrats, including Joseph R. Biden Jr., have long attacked Mr. Trump over his handling of the virus. But the president’s comments to Mr. Woodward are giving the party a new and powerful way to raise the issue.

    “While Trump will continue to use these rallies to lie to the American people,” said Lily Adams, a spokeswoman for the D.N.C., “we’re using his own words to remind Michigan voters that when Americans needed the facts during this pandemic, Donald Trump lied to them, costing an untold number of lives and causing economic devastation.”

    Maddow, last night, had a clip of the truck doing this. It was sitting in the vehicle line just blaring, “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down.”, over and over. If you click the link, you can see the truck. I didn’t know they had mobile video panels like that, but that’s pretty cool. Sort of a 1950s Back to the Future vibe to it.

  18. 18.

    gkoutnik

    @Amir Khalid: Amir, I haven’t been keeping strict track, or doing any kind of formal scorekeeping, but I read your comment every day and it seems the numbers are going in the wrong direction.  Is there a reason for this?  Stay safe!

  23. 23.

    debbie

    @raven:

    I had a 13-week bout of some sort of crud over the winter. My doctor agrees I should get tested for antibodies once they’ve come up with a reliable test.

  25. 25.

    Amir Khalid

    @gkoutnik:

    Malaysia was doing fine until about mid-July, when new clusters erupted in Kedah state and now in Sabah. Since then, it’s these new clusters that have been driving up the daily new cases.

    So far the biggest of these new clusters is the Benteng Lahad Datu cluster, which erupted in the lockup at Lahad Datu district police HQ subsequent to a joint police/military roundup of illegal immigrants. I suspect that there was a failure to comply with police SOP re handling of arrested persons, maybe because they rounded up more people than they could handle. But the Royal Malaysian Police have not so far issued an explanation, which I think the public deserves to hear.

  26. 26.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Yesterday, China reported 0 new domestic confirmed cases and 0 new domestic asymptomatic case, 12 new imported confirmed cases and 16 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 4 confirmed case (2 previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from the Sudan (via Egypt) and 1 from Singapore; 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from the Philippines (via Rangoon) and Singapore
    • Shanghai Municipality – 2 confirmed cases, a Chinese student returning from the US (via Schipol) and an Indian national coming from India
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from India and the US; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the US
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Bangladesh; 5 asymptomatic cases, 3 Chinese nationals returning from Bangladesh, 2 from Singapore
    • Qingyuan in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Singapore and the Philippines
    • Kunming in Yunnan Province – 1 confirmed and 1 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese national returning from Myanmar
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Columbia
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 confirned case, a Chinese national returning from the Philippines (via Phnom Penh)
    • Chongqing Municipality –  4 asymptomatic cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Singapore
    • Qingdao in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese National returning from the Philippines

    At Ruili in Yunnan Province, the mass screening continues apace. All 1,745 residents in the compound with the imported cases have been tested, all negative. So far, of 60K of the city’s residents have been tested, all negative. If the mass screening do not uncover any more positive cases, the lock down will probably end fairly soon.

    Today, Hong Kong reported 9 new cases, 5 from  local transmission, all have source of transmission identified.

  29. 29.

    Quinerly

    @debbie: I was sick on and off end of Jan thru Feb on my New Mexico trip. Started after my round-trip Amtrak trip from Las Vegas, NM to Winslow, AZ. Entire observation full of old coughing Amish men (learned that the Amish beat that route back and forth on the SW Chief from east to west, west to east to Tijuana for dental care). Towards the end of my 7week trip, did a guided tour of Canyon de Chelly in March with a group of 5 total, plus Navajo guide. I was finally feeling better at that point, but the vehicle was full of coughing, sneezing fellow tourists. 4 weeks later I read where my guide died of Covid. (I spent last 10 days of my trip in 4 Corners Area and mostly in and out of Navajo Nation. When I got back to St. Louis in March, I immediately self quarantined for 2 weeks before the lock down here. Been reading Navajo Times and the obits ever since. ?)

  30. 30.

    gkoutnik

    @Amir Khalid: Thanks.  Sounds like “the public deserves to hear” what the chances are of infection spreading to the community via lockup employees.  Still waiting to get that info from our local college, which had to shut down because of an outbreak.  There has been some (voluntary) community testing, which has generally been negative, but we still don’t know if/how it’s spread to the community.

  31. 31.

    satby

    @MomSense: I’m positive several red states, like Indiana and Florida, are outright lying. If mainly by ommission, because getting tested and getting test results back in a timely fashion is still hard. Can’t count cases that are never confirmed.

  32. 32.

    Noncarborundum

    @MomSense: If you mean the “they knew the risks” guy, that’s not the Millinocket groom, it’s somebody from Texas. I haven’t heard anything in particular about the Millinocket groom (except for the fact of the reception itself, which is not just on him).

  33. 33.

    Immanentize

    Data point of success?

    Rice Univ. Approx. 7000 students plus faculty, staff, service workers, etc.  Since August 1: 19,605 tests (everyone tested weekly) — 16 positives total all before Labor Day — 10 students, 6 returning staff.  Positivity rate of .08%

    Whew

  34. 34.

    debbie

    @satby:

    OT, but can you please remind me of the reader you use for both reading and online stuff? My iPad died last night and needs replacement.

  37. 37.

    Sloane Ranger

    German resort town sees more COVID-19 infections linked to American woman’s bar crawl. Bavaria’s governor calls it a “model case of stupidity.”

    If UK experience is anything to go by she’s already been flown out of the country and the US will refuse to extradite her.

    Now, to yesterday’s figures from the UK.

    There were 3105 new cases nationwide, about the same as we’ve been seeing recently. That probably means that Monday’s dip was due to reporting delays. Broken down by home nation, 2649 cases were in England; 79 in Northern Ireland and 110 in Wales. Scotland’s figures were reported by Robert Sneddon yesterday.

    Deaths – 27, 25 in England and 1 each for Northern Ireland and Scotland.

    There were 227,075 tests processed on Monday 14 September, 213,173 of these were for the disease, the remainder checking for antibodies. Testing continues to be a major issue here and people’s patience is wearing out.

    Information on hospitalisations has been updated. There were 972 people in hospital as of Sunday 13 September and 106 on ventilators on Monday 14 September.

  39. 39.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — 267 new cases, exactly the same number as yesterday by coincidence, one death reported. The National Record of Scotland weekly report said there were 5 cases where COVID-19 was mentioned on death certificates, a similar number to previous reports.

    The current Big Thing is the pressure on testing and getting a fast turnaround on results — this is a national problem, not just in Scotland. It doesn’t help that there’s several different testing systems operating to cover different parts of the population like healthcare workers and essential workers (police, emergency services, infrastructure workers etc.). By now I’d have expected the UK government to have oversupplied the entire country with surplus testing capabilities by throwing money and effort at the problem but it’s not happened, instead we’re supposedly getting a single new “Lighthouse” testing facility in the UK some time in the next few weeks.

  40. 40.

    Leto

    @Immanentize: Hopefully they’re looking at LSU’s example and rethinking that entire endeavor. Yeah, college football (sports in general) is a big part of the experience but so is… living. Finger’s crossed and all.

  41. 41.

    Immanentize

    @Leto: I told the Immp last year that he just had to experience a big college game -+ Rice Stadium seats 47k expandable to 60k!  That right there would be an experience!  This year I said if you go to a game you can pay your own tuition. ?

  46. 46.

    YY_Sima Qian

    It seems most of Europe has opted for the South Korean model of delicately dancing to keep infection rate at a manageable level, without it blowing up, but at a much higher level of infection than Korea. These governments appear to believe that this is a less challenging path that can open up economic activity as much as possible. However, I think it is actually easier to attempt to eradicate the virus, and then tamp down and eradicate each new cluster as they appear. Yes, there is a lot of disruption whenever there is a lock down (see Auckland in New Zealand, Melbourne in Australia, Da Nang in Vietnam, and Ürumqi in China), but with eradication these lock downs can be very targeted and of comparatively short duration, while the rest of the country can return to near pre-COVID normalcy.

    Maintaining the slow burn requires accurate and up to date data on infection rates, which is difficult given the high percentage of mild and asymptomatic cases, as well as the testing bottlenecks that is appearing across the Continent. Hospitalization and death rates are more reliable, but are also weeks delayed from infection. To me, only the Northern European countries are responding with the rapidity and energy required for this dance, and even they are plateauing at a much higher level that South Korea. The responses from Western, Southern and Eastern Europe seem… sluggish. Perhaps that is the only option available to them. Eradication is not an option when closing intra-EU borders to travel cannot be sustained, and too many EU economies are highly dependent on tourism.

    I see a lot of quotes about the high percentage of young people among the infected, hospitals far from overwhelmed, and better treatment resulting in low mortality rate. I am sure that is true based on the current available data. They were also the common responses out of Florida, Texas and Arizona in early July. Look at where they ended up in August. By the time hospitalization and deaths before high enough to draw concern, it is already too late to prevent a crisis. At least masking is not as controversial on the Continent, and even the more sluggish European countries are much more proactive that the governments of those red states.

  47. 47.

    catclub

    @Leto: Did you see LSU’s head football coach admit that basically his entire team has COVID? That’s roughly 80 people.

     

    1. he had no numbers. -bad
    2. he said had had it – and presumably already recovered, not all present cases.
  48. 48.

    bluefoot

    @Chyron HR:  All I can say to Trump is: “You first.”
    He’s such a freaking sociopath. Everyone around his is constantly tested but everyone else can suffer and die. I don’t understand the mindset – it’s so nihilistic.

  49. 49.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Trump: You’ll develop like a herd mentality

    I just noticed this, WTF does “herd mentality”  have to do with a pandemic?

  52. 52.

    Aleta

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Once you have succeeded at developing  your herd mentality,  you’ll rush into rallies without a mask.  This is important if you’re going to have a  pandemic, because video to advertise the popularity of the liars in charge of talking about it will be essential.

  54. 54.

    Sloane Ranger

    @YY_Sima Qian:

     

    At least masking is not as controversial on the Continent, and even the more sluggish European

    You wouldn’t say that if you’d just come from shopping in an ordinary British supermarket. I got into a row with a couple in my local one this afternoon. They both walked in without masks. Normally I would have done the usual British passive-agressive thing and just kept my opinion to myself or, at worse, muttered something rude under my breath, but I overheard the husband saying something about it being too hot to wear masks and I just blew up at him. The wife came to his defense and we stood there just inside the supermarket screaming at each other. A nearby security guard did nothing except stand there ignoring us.

    I complained but was told that staff had been instructed to leave it up to the police to enforce the rule about face coverings in shops. Methinks an email to the supermarket in question will not be long delayed. I hate these arrogant, selfish people!

  57. 57.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @AndoChronic: Perhaps he’s attempting to think in terms of peer pressure

    Sort of the like with Racism, peer pressure means it won’t be polite to talk about the number of people dying.

  58. 58.

    chopper

    “i think we should get to the big…group…thingy”

    “you mean herd immunity?”

    “that’s why i’m the president and you’re the health-talking guy”

    “you mean doctor?”

  59. 59.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @chopper: “i think we should get to the big…group…thingy”

    “you mean herd immunity?”

    “that’s why i’m the president and you’re the health-talking guy”

    “you mean doctor?”

    “Ya’ what ever dude” *crushes a Diet Coke can on his forehead “Got to run, Fox and Friends is coming on the…picture…thing”

    “Television?”

    “Yes, that, the big wonderful television. You know I had new 48″ HD TVs installed in every room in the White House including the bathrooms? No wonder the Obama and Bush administrations were such failures, not enough TVs”

  60. 60.

    bluefoot

    @Noncarborundum: This kind of thing makes me see red. What is wrong with people that the insist on having a wedding?  If you want/need to get married now, do the legal part of it and hold off on the big party for when it’s safer.  Why risk killing or hurting people?

    Granted, I am biased about this.  My mom died right at the beginning of the pandemic, shortly before all the stay-at-home orders.  We would have loved to have a funeral, but there was no fucking way we were putting the people we and my mother loved at risk.  Many people called and asked about a funeral, even though we explicitly stated in the obit that we’d have a memorial service post-pandemic.  Instead we are all grieving alone and far away from each other.

    I can’t even with these narcissistic jerks.

  62. 62.

    Robert Sneddon

    @bluefoot:  Weddings, unlike most funerals are planned some time ahead of the day chosen. The bigger the wedding the longer it takes to organise, book the venue, the band, the catering and decor, the everything and a lot of it is paid for up-front. Guests book time off work and make travel arrangements to come to celebrate, buy new dresses and hire tuxes etc.

    And then three months before the wedding folks have been looking forward to for nearly a year it’s all supposed to be cancelled, thousands of bucks flushed down the drain, hundreds of people disappointed because of a sniffle and cough and a government over-reaction? No way!

  63. 63.

    Jay

    The @Sloane Ranger

    Daily, I get asked by customers, ( not wearing masks), if masks are mandatory in the store, ( they are only mandatory on Bus and Skytrain, Government morons),

    I say, “no, but you are a moron if you are out in public with out one, properly worn and fitted”.

    Had some complaints to Mgmt, now that Mgmt has taken to wearing masks, their basic answer to complaints is “fuck off”.

    I no longer wear a mask to protect others, I wear a mask to protect me, everybody else not wearing a mask can just fuck off and die already, and take the rest of their “bubble” with them.

  65. 65.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    @Sloane Ranger: When I lived in Cambridgeshire, I always felt safe asserting myself when someone was being a jerk, because I could be fairly sure the idiot I was arguing with wasn’t armed.

    Here in the States, though…

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