Donald Trump knew coronavirus was deadly, yet he still brought thousands of people together for his rallies—and wasn’t concerned about whether they were wearing masks or socially distanced. https://t.co/Wilg6O1bnq
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 18, 2020
Beam me up, Scotty…
Is it really that fucking hard to wear a regular mask??? https://t.co/kTM3NjpWhm
— Antifa-American ?️?? (@SJGrunewald) September 18, 2020
UPDATED: Our US #COVID19 projections have declined to 378,000, down from 415,000. If mask use increases to 95%, nearly 115,000 lives could be saved.
View our US COVID-19 estimation updates: https://t.co/8e5fxXGgwM pic.twitter.com/SDowv5g91S
— Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (@IHME_UW) September 19, 2020
======
AFP graphic looking at countries with the highest coronavirus death tolls and their respective death rates@AFPgraphics pic.twitter.com/i9sSUVR09u
— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 18, 2020
Asia Today: India has maintained its surge in coronavirus cases, adding 93,337 new confirmed infections in the past 24 hours. The Health Ministry has raised the nation’s caseload to more than 5.3 million out of the nearly 1.4 billion people. https://t.co/apkNsqDGr4
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 19, 2020
#India – A health worker takes a break sitting in front of a fan while waiting for to collect swab samples from residents for Covid-19 coronavirus tests at a public health centre in Hyderabad.
A picture by #AFP photographer @noahseelam pic.twitter.com/w9CkjxWPCr— AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) September 18, 2020
#UPDATE Israel imposed a second nationwide lockdown on Friday to tackle one of the world's highest coronavirus infection rates, despite public protests over the new blow to the economyhttps://t.co/5vqRHKVhip
— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 18, 2020
???? Large parts of Europe are gearing up for broad new restrictions to stop the spread of the #coronavirus as infections worldwide top the 30-million markhttps://t.co/WUSqyBpX2m by @WardieJerusalem for @AFP & @EUDataNewsHub pic.twitter.com/VhxJhUvW80
— EU Data News Hub?? (@EUDataNewsHub) September 18, 2020
"For the first time since the lifting of the (March-May) lockdown, we are seeing an increase in #Covid-19 deaths," the French public health agency saidhttps://t.co/ZjeczRzyTs pic.twitter.com/O3MvAqmK8a
— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 18, 2020
A big wedding in the Sicilian town of Corleone, made famous by the fictional Mafia clan in “The Godfather,” has been linked to a coronavirus outbreak that prompted officials to order a limited lockdown and the closure of schools. https://t.co/ChzoN264D7
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) September 18, 2020
Emergency triage tents have been put up outside a military hospital as a second wave of the coronavirus takes hold in Madrid. Struggling to contain it, authorities in the Spanish capital announced new restrictions in the worst-affected areas. https://t.co/hlQCFGu5gy
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) September 18, 2020
#UPDATE "We are obliged to take these [partial lockdown] measures in these specific areas…if we did not do so, we run the risk of it being spread to the whole of Madrid," said #Madrid regional government chief Isabel Diaz Ayuso #coronavirus https://t.co/IIAIFzR4nf pic.twitter.com/befRvHmnBl
— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 18, 2020
Coronavirus: Dublin brought under tighter Covid-19 restrictions https://t.co/t2FjWoTFE3
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 19, 2020
"There's no question, as I've said for several weeks now, that we could expect and are now seeing a second wave coming in." @AFP #UK #coronavirus https://t.co/V2ekknqIxm pic.twitter.com/wiaRUEANtP
— AFP London (@afplondon) September 18, 2020
Australia COVID-19 hotspot records fewest cases since June https://t.co/AoFAkj1ixI pic.twitter.com/r2Ms3S4NwH
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 19, 2020
Coronavirus in South Africa: Relief, pride and the 'new normal' https://t.co/UO69KkVDWH
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 19, 2020
South Africa's chief medical adviser says the country should know its true coronavirus toll within weeks after bringing the first surge in cases under control. https://t.co/z1htlY6mcp
— AP Africa (@AP_Africa) September 18, 2020
Mexico reports 4,841 coronavirus cases, 624 new deaths https://t.co/wGy3lE3b5X pic.twitter.com/mZWDqcsr9K
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 19, 2020
Canada is extending the agreement to keep the U.S. border closed to non-essential travel to Oct. 21 during the coronavirus pandemic.https://t.co/7atIAAqIuX
— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) September 19, 2020
AFP chart showing the dates when global #coronavirus cases rose by 1 million and the number of days between each 5-million increase @AFPgraphics pic.twitter.com/xKfCjpQdAx
— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 18, 2020
======
Fast #coronavirus tests: what they can and can't do.
Rapid antigen tests are designed to tell in a few minutes whether someone is infectious.
Good article summarizing advantages of different #COVID19 tests (PCR, rapid antigen, antibody tests).https://t.co/RNRJybRfcH pic.twitter.com/Za5QhhGoQ7
— Microbes&Infection (@MicrobesInfect) September 18, 2020
Homemade COVID vaccines: Well-intentioned "citizen scientists" are developing DIY COVID19 vaccines. While some think they're inoculating themselves against SARSCoV2, do-it-yourself treatments are fraught w/ legal, ethical & public health concerns https://t.co/bP0EGWRIq3 pic.twitter.com/gnvocnVDi4
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 18, 2020
Companies are struggling to recruit diverse volunteers in final U.S. tests of possible COVID-19 vaccines. Many minority groups are at greater risk from the virus than whites, but a history of scientific exploitation and racism makes some reluctant. https://t.co/CJ1OfedJSD
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 18, 2020
Many countries that had been controlling #COVID19 are now seeing a resurgence, especially among young people. Equally concerning a new analysis shows one-quarter of hospitalized young patients 18-39 years old developed pneumonia https://t.co/F3QYt0dXRR pic.twitter.com/gmN0NKKjCE
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 19, 2020
Slowing of #Covid19 transmission in the US may complicate the administration's drive to greenlight vaccine before election day. "[A] readout in Oct. becomes less & less probable…. We’ve said Nov.'' — Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel. https://t.co/X3CYvn2onX
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) September 17, 2020
Most homemade masks are doing a great job, even when we sneeze — which produces a profusion of droplets https://t.co/vBKg6lD0TT pic.twitter.com/sHzVLDDRtO
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 18, 2020
======
In South Korea, anyone can dial 1339 from anywhere in the country and schedule a COVID-19 test nearby that day. Why hasn’t the U.S. followed South Korea’s example, as so many other countries have? https://t.co/4whTozRlui
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) September 19, 2020
The Atlantic's @jameshamblin calls this "the most salient warning" from Fauci in the pandemic so far: “We must, over the next few weeks, get that baseline of infections down to 10,000 per day… if we want to maintain control of this outbreak.”https://t.co/RbQYrg2TwE
— Adrienne LaFrance (@AdrienneLaF) September 18, 2020
This is absolutely insane. The USPS had a plan to issue masks to every American household, and then somehow it just…. didn't happen. https://t.co/VdOjrAeXNT
— Lyman Expand the House Stone, AKA 石來民 (@lymanstoneky) September 18, 2020
I talked to one state agency official who *said to me*, and I'm almost quoting here "Look, yes, centralized quarantine would save lives, bail out struggling hotels, and we have the personnel and finances to do it. I just don't think we'd survive the political fallout."
— Lyman Expand the House Stone, AKA 石來民 (@lymanstoneky) September 18, 2020
YY_Sima Qian
Yesterday, China reported 0 new domestic confirmed cases and 0 new domestic asymptomatic case, 14 new imported confirmed cases and 24 imported asymptomatic cases:
Today, Hong Kong reported 13 new cases, 4 from local transmission, 3 do not have clear sources of transmission identified.jing
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily CoviD-19 numbers. 20 new cases. The cumulative reported total is 10,167 cases.
17 cases from local infection. 14 Malaysians: nine in Kedah, comprising eight cases from the Sungai private-hospital cluster and one person screened with severe acute respiratory infection; five in Sabah comprising one from the Benteng Lahad Datu police lockup cluster, one person screened upon referral to a hospital, one detected in community screening, one detected in pre-surgical screening, and one person screened with severe acute respiratory infection. Three non-Malaysians, all in Sabah: two persons screened upon referral to a hospital, and one case in the Bakau cluster (new cluster).
Three imported cases: two Malaysians, returning from Qatar and New Zealand; one non-Malaysian arriving from India.
51 more patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 9,315 patients recovered — 91.62% of the cumulative reported total. active and contagious cases currently being isolated/treated in hospital accordingly fell to 722 patients; 12 are in ICU, two of them on respirators.
One new CoviD-19 death, an 82-year-old man in Kedah with a history of stroke, for a total of 130 deaths — 1.28% of the cumulative reported total, 1.38% of resolved cases.
Baud
I didn’t realize Belgium was doing so poorly.
mrmoshpotato
Are these shitstains going to the ISS? I’m so confused. Surely a nail-studded Louisville Slugger would break through their astronaut-cosplay and make short work of their faces.
senyordave
At this point it would not bother me in the least if all of the people going to Trump rallies caught Covid-19 and died.
WereBear
@senyordave: Yup. Killing one’s most fervent voters is an odd choice.
mrmoshpotato
Is that mop-headed shitstain flobalob (thank you Tony Jay) BoJo? XKCD can help with firing him into the Sun.
CarolDuhart2
@mrmoshpotato: At least a cloth mask doesn’t run out of power or need replacement parts or break if a rock hits it. While I can see a use for something like that for people who are very high risk for short trips or something, the aforementioned vulnerabilities won’t make it very practical. Also it advertises one’s vulnerability far better. Cheaper and more discreet to do what I do, wear both mask and face shield when going out.
Sab
@WereBear: Well, Olivia Troye says Trump thinks they are disgusting.
Kayla Rudbek
@Baud: Belgium has been more honest in their reporting than other European countries
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
I was watching a video last night of a walking tour of the Tower Bridge in London. It was jammed packed because it’s a stunningly beautiful bridge with gorgeous views of London and trendy shops and eateries along the banks of the river. 98% of the people were not wearing masks! People were eating inside, there were 12 to a table outside, making social distancing impossible, and the walk ways were congested, and barely anyone wore a mask. The video was from early August so I looked up the stats and UK is now back to the Covid peak levels from spring, averaging 4,000 cases per day.
It was so sad. I’ve always had great experiences with Brits and watching them engage in such mind numbing behavior was shocking.
Repatriated
@CarolDuhart2: Expect them to fog up on the inside in anything less than mild dry weather.
Also expect them to become personalized solar ovens in direct sunlight.
And of course, massive fingerprint magnets.
And whatever you do, don’t sneeze!
Also needs a drinking tube (either ending in a straw or a canteen/camelback adapter) so you don’t have to remove the whole thing to avoid dehydration or sobriety.
I mean, they might not be hopelessly impractical in ideal conditions, and very likely actually filter air as claimed. Maybe for airline travel, just for while you’re in the airplane and perhaps the airport. (TSA might become VERY interested in you, though.) Still…
In practice though, it’s just something for people with stupid money to spend stupid money on.
Amir Khalid
That Associated Press headline … It is not Corleone, Sicily that is fictional, it’s the Corleones. Big difference, AP.
Amir Khalid
@CarolDuhart2:
I think that helmet design looks bland. It needs flashing lights and antennae that move around at random.
Tony Jay
@mrmoshpotato:
Yep. Lying through his teeth as usual, confident that the UK Media (especially the cowed and broken BBC) will retro-fit history to pretend he wasn’t saying the opposite just a week ago.
The really blacky funny thing is that the only hope of Media pushback rests with the internal politcs of the right-wing Press. Lord Chubby of Chequers is getting it in the neck from some billionaire owned propaganda rags who can see the writing on the wall and want to position their bought and paid for placemen for the top job once the Bullingdon Beast has waddled off into the sunset.
This country has fallen so low we’re looking up the skirts of Bulgarian limbo-dancers and thinking “Out of your league, Mister”.
Baud
@mrmoshpotato: Honestly, unless it just doesn’t work, I don’t care what people use.
mrmoshpotato
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Wow. The descendants of people who were literally bombed and had to massively change their lives…
WWWWAAAAHHHHH! Lower face coverings!
Sab
@Repatriated: Off to the Hammecher Schlemmer catalogue for it?
Sloane Ranger
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: The UK only mandates mask wearing when inside shops etc. Most people don’t wear them when outside and there’s about 10% of people who don’t bother to wear them inside either. Most shops say that it’s up to the police to enforce the mandate as they don’t want to subject their staff to abuse from non maskers. The police say they’re too busy and can’t be everywhere. There was some talk about setting up mask enforcement officers similar to ARP Wardens during the war. Some places have done this, most haven’t.
Repatriated
@Sab: Unless it’s Sharper Image.
Or Skymall. No, wait. Apparently Skymall folded five years ago.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Fogilicious.
Into. The. Sun. And slap the shit out of them beforehand.
ETA – and beat them with their own bones.
Repatriated
@mrmoshpotato: As the old slogan went, “Into the fiery orb with ye!”
Tony Jay
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
People have been told for months that everything was okay now and it was important for the country, the economy and the future happiness of all the little kiddiewinks, fluffy bunnies and magical unicorns that they got back out there and enjoyed normal life again. The Tory Government even tossed £100 million and change of public money into subsidising meals out for families to “save the leisure industry”, which is probably what you saw.
Sure, they told everyone that it was important to social distance and businesses to put in place health and safety measures to reflect the guidelines, but it was all left up to each person’s ‘common sense’ with zero enforcement and confusing rules. Add on the summer holiday season and the widespread rejection of trust in the Tories after they showed they didn’t give a toss about rule-breaking, and you get what we’ve had, sensible attempts to stay safe by most people undermined by Government incompetence and pursuit of profit at all costs.
It’s a shitstorm. Predictable as hell but somehow inevitable when you’ve got a Government as virulently contemptuous of the public good as ours is.
Thanks again racist voters and partisan media. Love your work.
mrmoshpotato
@Repatriated: And yet Zig lived on. :)
OzarkHillbilly
Interesting, infection, maybe even death, is more desirable than abuse.
Sloane Ranger
@mrmoshpotato: Unfortunately the myths of the Blitz are what drives some peoples behavior, eg, My street was bombed one night, they pulled Granny’s dead body out of the rubble but that didn’t stop Dad from going to his war production job, then for a pint with his mates, or keep Mum from her WVS work.
We show the enemy we’re not afraid by carrying on as usual!
Sab
Neighbor (for twelve years) catty corner across the street has her tRump yard sign aimed at us. It is very weird. Not facing forward to street or sideways to oncoming traffic. Facing kind of sideways towards us.
Also the current odd man in her life comes down the driveway and glares at my husband when he takes the garbage out. We used to be on civil terms. But then we started wearing masks, which apparently offends her.
My husband is actually seriously discussing getting a gun.
I do not like this timeline. On the other hand I spent my childhood white in the Jim Crow South. This isn’t new. It is just new to me.
Repatriated
@mrmoshpotato:
SCP-1543-J – The Sun Launcher
(Much of the humor is lost if you’re unfamiliar with the SCP Foundation writing project.)
Tony Jay
@Sloane Ranger:
Quite. The inconvenient fact that the Virus doesn’t wear a uniform doesn’t have a stratey and isn’t capable of being impressed by stiff-upper lips or jutting chins is left out of what passes for a thought process.
Not to mention the murkier truth of how little choice most people had during The Blitz. They “got on with it” because there simply wasn’t any other option. That’s more or less the opposite of the situation we’re in now.
Sab
@Tony Jay: Didn’t everyone who could during the Blitz send their children off to safe remote locations? Instead of clamoring to have schools open and high school sports resume?
Tony Jay
@Sab:
Indeed. Good point.
Sloane Ranger
@Sab: Not Tony Jay but…the Government organised the evacuation of children to the countryside. Some families didn’t comply and some children came back for one reason and another.
Opinion on reopening schools has been split among families, the opening has been pushed by all the home governments (and there are legitimate arguments in favour of reopening). The UK doesn’t, generally, have High School sports in the same way the US does so that’s not been an issue as far as schools go.
OzarkHillbilly
@Sab: Put up a running death count facing their house.
Sab
@Sloane Ranger: I had forgotten that it was government organized.
Didn’t the NHS start as a temporary solution to children being away from their home doctors?
I am really of mixed minds on schools reopening. US just doesn’t want to do it safely. No testing and health privacy so parents don’t know what is going on even in individual classrooms.
My youngest grandchild is autistic and 6 years old. Home schooling for her. We aren’t risking classrooms, and all day in front of Zoom just won’t work. The older ones are in high school and very athletic. But risking chronic heart disease in their teens? I have a bad ticker and I hate the health limitations. But I am in my 60s and had a full healthy life before that. No way would I risk feeling like I do now if I was 16 in order to have a few years of high school sports.
Sab
@OzarkHillbilly: They won’t care if the dead aren’t their own immediate family. Their ilk that I know have a goofy view of Darwinist eugenics. If you die you had bad genes so good riddance.
TS (the original)
The Victorian Premier who has reduced the covid numbers from 700 in a day to the latest of 21 is being attached on all sides because of restrictions, masks, curfew. Seems you can’t win – he is also being blamed for the outbreak.
Working together to defeat this virus lasted about 4 months in Australia – then it all became political.
OzarkHillbilly
@Sab: I’d do it anyway, just to piss them off even more.
Amir Khalid
@CarolDuhart2:
That helmet is essentially a high-dollar purchase for those want to show that they have money to burn.
rjnerd
The bubble faces are actually a good option for one demographic, those of us with beards. This sort of thing is routine in some environments (like automotive paint which is first cousin to a superglue mist, and is moisture catalyzed, imagine a lung full of that). I would be wearing one myself, except the current units have 4 digit price tags, (and would need modification to filter the exhaust.)
YY_Sima Qian
@Amir Khalid:
Completely agree, status symbol of dubious utility, but that’s human nature for you. Whatever the circumstance, there will be people who have the urge to flaunt their wealth and status, and people who cater to such urges.
Months ago I read about a Chinese nouveau riche who purchased a custom made N99 mask worth millions of dollars from an Isreali jeweler, fully studded with diamonds and other precious gems, far too heavy to be worn comfortably.
Sloane Ranger
@Sab:
I hadn’t heard that. My understanding is that the NHS was based on workers medical associations where members paid weekly subs, which went to pay a doctor who would treat members and their families when required. The one in Aneurin Bevan’s home town was so well organised, virtually the entire town paid in, all the doctors were signed up and dental and optical care was also available.
I know what you mean about opening schools. I am in two minds about it as well as I don’t see any way of doing it that is 100% safe but children were suffering as a result of not attending. I think it comes down to mitigating as many risks as you can.
Bluegirlfromwyo
@Sab: If they’re like the ilk I know, they believe in the Darwinian eugenics but not Darwin. I’m so sorry.
Sloane Ranger
OK, well after covering a number of other subjects I am now reporting yesterdays figures from the UK.
There were 4322 new cases, about double what they were 2 weeks ago. 3771 of the new cases are in England, 163 in Northern Ireland, 185 in Wales and, as Robert Sneddon reported yesterday, 203 in Scotland. Nicola Sturgeon has just announced that Scotland’s has had 350 new cases today.
Deaths – there were 27 new deaths yesterday, 23 in England, 2 in Northern Ireland and 1 each in Scotland and Wales. The First Minister has just announced that a further 3 people have died in Scotland in the last 24 hours.
A total of 233,199 tests were processed yesterday out of a capacity of 253,521. Both Robert Sneddon and I have covered the issues with testing here.
On 16th September 183 people were admitted to hospital in England, 65 in Wales, 0 in Northern Ireland. Scotland’s figures unavailable. 1020 people were in hospital on that date. As of 17th September 127 people were on ventilators (108 in England, 3 in Northern Ireland, 5 in Scotland and 11 in Wales).
The government is considering tighter restrictions nationwide. This may include closing pubs for a few weeks, but will more likely involve shorter opening hours (how that helps I have no idea. As far as I can see, it will simply encourage people to get pissed faster!) Schools and most workplaces are expected to continue as normal. Hospitality sector already complaining!