Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When we show up, we win.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Republicans in disarray!

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Not all heroes wear capes.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Saturday/Sunday, Oct. 10-11

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Saturday/Sunday, Oct. 10-11

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  2. 2.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Yesterday, China reported 0 new domestic confirmed cases and 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 21 new imported confirmed cases and 23 imported asymptomatic cases and 5 imported suspect cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 10 confirmed cases, 5 Chinese and Russian nationals coming from Russia, 1 Polish national coming from Poland (via Russia), 1 Syrian national coming from Syria (via Russia), 1 Chinese national each returning from Turkey (via Russia), Malaysia and the Philippines; 5 suspect cases, no information released
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 6 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, Syria, and Uzbekistan; 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each from Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines
    • Dongguan in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Singapore
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 3 confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic),  2 Chinese nationals returning from Iraq and 1 from Congo (Kinshasa) (via Ethiopia); 2 asymptomatic case, both Chinese nationals returning from Iraq
    • Dalian in Liaoning Province – 1 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national returning from Oman
    • Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Indonesia
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Malaysia, Switzerland and Nigeria
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 12 asymptotic cases, no information released
    • Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
    • Hohhot in Inner Mongolia – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released

    Today, Qingdao in Shandong Province reported 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 2 were found during standard screening before hospital stays (at 2 different hospitals), and 1 is a traced close contact. The first 2 cases had stayed at the Pulmonology hospital in Qingdao until 9/29 and 10/4, respectively. The 3rd case, a taxi driver, is the spouse of one of the 1st 2 cases. The Pulmonology hospital (in an isolated section) is the designated institution for treating imported confirmed cases at Qingdao. This cluster does not appear to be connected to the 2 asymptomatic dock workers likely infected by imported frozen seafood a couple of weeks ago. Instead the most likely suspected vector is nosocomial through the isolation ward treating imported cases, due to breakdown in protocol. The units in the buildings where the asymptomatic cases live are already under lock down, but the residential compounds are not yet locked down. The the ERs of the 2 hospitals, where the 2 asymptomatic cases tested positive at intake, are temporarily closed for disinfection. All hospital staff have been tested on a bi-weekly basis, none were positive during the latest screening.
    As a close contact has tested positive, if asymptomatic, indicates at least 1 of the asymptomatic cases is infectious. It is always a little nerve wracking to detect cases out of the blue in community screening. Expect a massive contact tracing and testing effort. This cluster comes shortly after the end of the China National Day Golden Week, and Qingdao is a prime tourist attraction.
    Today, Hong Kong reported 7 new cases, 4 from local infection, all have sources of infection identified.

  4. 4.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    Was just going to make the same comment. Passive voice would be “Some big events were held at the White House.”

  8. 8.

    p.a.

    Hitler et. al. looking up from hell “pandemic weary, after 10 months?!  Where were these people when we were around?  We could have rolled up the world in 2 years max.  Timing truly is everything…”

    ETA: Fox News, 1942: Blackouts and rationing are s0cialist infringements on our rights!

  10. 10.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. DG of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 561 new cases today, for a cumulative reported total of 15,657 cases.

    553 cases are from local infections, of which 11 are Malaysians from other states who have travelled to high-risk zones in Sabah. Of the rest, 488 cases are in Sabah: 438 from miscellaneous Covid-19 screenings, and the rest from three new clusters: Surat (22), Kasih (15), and Khazanah (13). Kedah has 16 new cases: 15 from the Tembok prison cluster, and one close-contact screening. Selangor has 23 new cases: 11 from existing clusters, five close-contact screenings, three from the new Sungei Way cluster, two symptomatic screenings, and one pre-surgery screening. KL has eight cases: four from the new Sungei Way cluster, two close-contact screenings, one voluntary screening, and one symptomatic screening. Labuan has two new cases: one from the new Bah Bundle cluster, and one hospital-admission screening. Melaka has three new cases, all close-contact screenings. Terengganu, Perak, and Penang have one new case each, all of them close-contact screenings.

    Eight cases are imported: five Malaysians, returning from Indonesia, China (two), Singapore, and Cambodia; three non-Malaysians, two arriving from Indonesia and one from Saudi Arabia.

    133 more patients have recovered and been discharged, for a total of 10,913 patients recovered — 69.70% of the cumulative reported total. 4,587 active and contagious cases are currently in hospital; 90 are in ICU, 29 of them on respirators.

    Two more Covid-19 deaths have been reported today, both in Sabah: a 67 year old man with TB and heart disease, and a 63 year old man with diabetes and hypertension. The total is now up to 157 deaths — 1.00% of the cumulative reported total, 1.41% of resolved cases.

  11. 11.

    germy

    DALTON, Ma. – A Berkshire County man is under arrest, accused of setting fire to and trying to destroy a show of support for the Biden-Harris presidential ticket in Dalton, Massachusetts.

    The display was made out of painted hay bales, which were arranged on North Street across from Holiday Brook Farm.

    Farmers there set it up on Thursday evening. Less than 24 hours later someone set it on fire.

    Fortunately, they were able to save a few of the bales to arrange into a new display and police have already found the person they say is responsible for setting the fire.

    Dalton police charged Lonnie Durfee, 49, with burning personal property in the incident.

    https://wnyt.com/albany-new-york-news/berkshire-co-man-arrested-for-setting-fire-to-biden-harris-hay-bales/5890323/?cat=10114

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Many people think an undefined subject (“they”, in this case) makes it passive voice, whereas the passive voice has a different construction from the active voice.

    Trump is soft-pedaling the fact that “they” were acting on his orders.

  13. 13.

    laura

    @Amir Khalid: the steep uptick in positive cases is awful. Things seemed very well in hand for a good long while and your daily reports have been a bright spot. I’m hoping that this is a not a sign of worse to come.

  15. 15.

    TS (the original)

    The premier of Australia’s Victoria state

    Got to admit I am truly sick of media people not understanding how to describe an Australian state. Do they talk about The governor of the USA’s Wisconsin State? Off course not, it would be the Governor of Wisconsin, USA or the Governor of the US State of Wisconsin

    So it should be the Premier of Victoria, Australia or the Premier of the Australian State of Victoria.

    End of rant

     

    Edit: AL – thank you so much for the updates. If I was a twitter person I would reply to their tweets rather than rant on your excellent covid update post.

  16. 16.

    Amir Khalid

    @laura: Yes it’s awful, and the uptick in deaths in Sabah state — mostly middle aged or older people with co-morbidities, but a few days ago there was also a one-year-old girl — is particularly heartbreaking. The Health Ministry figures this current wave of new cases is mostly due to illegal immigrants coming in from Indonesia and the southern Philippines, via staging points in the many islands near Sabah’s long coastline. And of course Sabah is a popular holiday destination for Peninsular Malaysians, and this has driven up new cases on the Peninsula.

  19. 19.

    Amir Khalid

    @TS (the original):

    Americans are typically not very knowledgeable about other countries, so these things have to be explained to them. I do not say this to condescend; American jackals agree with me on this. For example, American writers, even at fairly prestigious publications, often think Britain and England are interchangeable terms.

  20. 20.

    frosty

    @Amir Khalid: Many years ago while chatting with the locals in a pub in Edinburgh I referred to them as “You English” I quickly learned my mistake. They were gracious about correcting me, fortunately!

  21. 21.

    TS (the original)

    @Amir Khalid:  I do realise many Americans know little of the world outside of their country/continent  – I just keep thinking maybe the media – that writes about world wide events – could get it right

     

    Edit: Despite being brought up with all things British – for years I had difficulty with the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom which are also used interchangeably. Coming from Scottish forebears – I’ve always known they are different :)

  23. 23.

    Sloane Ranger

    @TS (the original):

     

    Edit: Despite being brought up with all things British – for years I had difficulty with the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom which are also used interchangeably. Coming from Scottish forebears – I’ve always known they are different :)

    I wouldn’t worry about this. I know lots of my fellow Brits who don’t know the difference either. Fortunately, most of us English know not to call Scots, English – unless you’re looking for a fight!

  24. 24.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Amir Khalid: When did Sabah go under lock down? How tight is it? And when do the authorities expect the cases to peak there?

    I think you commented in yesterday’s post that the Malaysian Air Force is airlifting samples from Sabah to Peninsular Malaysia to help alleviate the testing bottle neck there. I wonder if the Malaysian government has considered purchasing a turn key “Fire Eye” testing lab from BGI, which can process 10K samples / day, and can be relatively easily relocated to hot spots as they pop up. Or comparable systems from other suppliers.

  25. 25.

    Sloane Ranger

    Yesterday’s figures from the UK.

    We had 15,166 new cases. an increase of slightly over 1000 from the previous day. Broken down by nation,

    England – 12,682 (up by about 2000)

    Northern Ireland – 902 (down by about 200)

    Scotland – 1009 (down by about 200)

    Wales – 627 (down by about 120).

    Northern Ireland has now broken the 1000 cases per 100,000 of population with a rate of 1008.2.

    Deaths – 81 deaths. 54 in England, 6 in Scotland and, sadly, a massive 21 in Wales. Northern Ireland has had no deaths for the second day in a row.

    Testing – 285,015 PCR tests were processed out of a capacity of 313,844. Still not seeing the expected issues with the supply chain.

    Hospitalisations – 3837 people were in hospital as at Thursday, 8 October and 442 were on ventilators as of Friday, 9th. All figures steadily increasing.

    General – Top Government health advisors warning that the UK is at a tipping point and our good friend Boris is expected to announce tougher restrictions tomorrow. The row with local governments in the north of England continues. Local Mayors are saying they are not being consulted but the Minister of Health insists they are. Clearly they can’t both be right. I know who I believe.

  27. 27.

    Amir Khalid

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    The enhanced movement control order zones were designated last week, and the ban on crossing district boundaries was imposed this week.

    ETA. Not all of Sabah is under lockdown — only districts like Tawau and Sandakan and a couple of others, where new infections are concentrated.

  28. 28.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Sloane Ranger: Top Government health advisors warning that the UK is at a tipping point and our good friend Boris is expected to announce tougher restrictions tomorrow. The row with local governments in the north of England continues. Local Mayors are saying they are not being consulted but the Minister of Health insists they are. Clearly they can’t both be right. I know who I believe.

    It depends what the word “consult” means. I suspect that the UK Government is about to announce a near-total lockdown for the entire country. This would mean taking buggerall account of what the various local authorities and city mayors might say about it since the partial here-and-there lockdowns aren’t doing much good while folks go on visits to friends and holiday trips outside the lockdown areas. I blame Dominic Cummings.

     

    In other news Margaret Ferrier, an SNP MP in the Westminster Parliament who tested positive for COVID-19 then travelled on a train back to Scotland is trying to justify her arrant stupidity as a, quote, “blip”. Apparently it was the disease that made her do it, really.

    The SNP High Heid Yins have called her out for doing this and repeatedly demanded she resigns from her seat and she’s had the whip withdrawn by the Westminster party (i.e. she’s no longer officially recognised as an SNP MP). However she was elected by her constituents and they’re the only ones who could force her out of her incumbent position via a recall after the Westminster Standards committee passes judgement. Since she’s being stupidly stubborn on this matter I suspect this will continue for some time.

  29. 29.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Here is Qingdao Municipal Health Commission’s update on the 3 asymptomatic cases reported today, translated from Chinese into English (not by me), for reference for readers here:

    Qingdao Municipal Health Commission reports on 11/10/2020, three asymptomatic carriers found in the city of Qingdao, two of them were discovered by routine PCR test of patients at the hospital, one was discovered via contract tracing of the original two. From initial epidemiological investigation it is believe that these three asymptomatic carriers are related to city’s chest hospital which has a stand alone section responible for treating COVID-19 patients. Exact chain of transmission are still under investigation.
    Mr Han, male, 58 years old. Resides at Shibei District Luoyang Road Sub-district Office, 7 Wuyang Road. On 09/09 Mr Han was hospitalised at chest hospital for tuberculosis treatment. Mr Han was discharged on 04/10/2020. Mr Han was due to returned to hospital on 12/10/2020 for further treatment. To prepare for his hospital visit he undertook PCR test on 10/10/2020 and was found positive. He was tested again on 11/10/2020 by Municipal CDC and was found positive again. Per laboratory test result and clinical presentation Mr Han was determined to be an asymptomatic carrier and has been put into medical observation at dedicated hospital.
    Mrs Jiang, female, 53 years old, employee at the chest hospital for patient care. Resides at Shibei District, 81 Zhoukou Road, Kangju Apartment. Between 21/07/2020 to 29/09/2020 she worked at chest hospital building 2, chest ward 1 looking after patients. She was tested positive on PCR test on 10/10/2020 and retested positive on 11/10/2020 by Municipal CDC. Per laboratory test result and clinical presentation Mrs Jiang was determined to be an asymptomatic carrier and has been put into medical observation at dedicated hospital.
    Mr Shao, male, 57 years old, husband of Mrs Jiang, taxi driver. Resides at Shibei District, 81 Zhoukou Road, Kangju Apartment. Mr Shao’s taxi has the plate U-T4923. According to Mr Shao he always wore a mask while driving taxi and he does not speak to his passengers. He suffered a mild microcerebral infarction on the morning of 10/10/2020 and went to Qingdao Central Hospital emergency care. As he required hospitalisation he was first tested for COVID-19 with PCR test and was found positive. He was tested again on 11/10/2020 by Municipal CDC and was found positive again. Per laboratory test result and clinical presentation Mr Han was determined to be an asymptomatic carrier and has been put into medical observation at dedicated hospital.
    After being notified, Municipal Epidemic Prevention and Control and Economic Activity Command Centre immediately activated emergency response procedures. Epidemiological investigation began at once. PCR tests and medical isolation were rolled out on close contacts, close contacts of close contacts and regular contacts. The residential complex of the three asymptomatic carriers, chest hospital, Qingdao Central Hospital Emergency have been put under closed management overnight and have been disinfected. All other pandemic prevention measures are now under way. Any new information will be notified to society at large once they are available.
    As a reminder to the citizens: intensify personal protection. Wear mask according to scientific guidelines, wash your hands often, maintain good ventilation, maintain social distance and cooperate with relevant health monitoring authorities. If you experience any symptoms like fever then take as much preventive measure as possible. Avoid public transport and seek medical attention at nearest fever clinic as soon as possible.
    Qingdao Municipal Health Commission
    11/10/2020

    The level of case information details shared by the Qingdao MHC is about average in China. Having followed the sporadic outbreaks across the country, after the big 1st wave in Jan. – Feb., I have seen much more detailed case information released by local authorities in Harbin and Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang Province, Jilin City in Jilin Province, Dalian in Liaoning Province, and Ji County in Henan Province. Any reader could reconstruct the itinerary of each case for the 14 days prior to identification as confirmed or asymptomatic case. From Qingdao in Shandong Province (small nosocomial cluster back in Apr.), Beijing Municipality and Shenzhen and Shanwei in Guangdong Province, the case reports are similar as above, high level summaries of the cases’ past activities. For Ürumqi in Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region, no individual case reports were ever released. Likewise, Guangzhou in Guangdong Province did not release any cases report information, beyond the briefest of descriptions, from the outbreak among the African immigrant community there in Apr. I am not sure why the China National Health Commission does not provide uniform reporting and information disclosure guidelines across all regional authorities. Instead, each regional/local government strikes its own balance between informing the public and protective individual privacy.

    Similarly, reporting practices of imported cases are quite uneven across China, as well. Provinces of Hebei and Henan, as well as “Autonomous” Regions of Guangxi and Inner Mongolia, never report any information of imported cases (confirmed or asymptomatic). Jiangsu Province only releases information of imported asymptomatic cases if there are imported confirmed cases on that day, as well. Sichuan, Shaanxi and Liaoning Provinces will note the origin of each case, where they transferred (if any), the incoming flight number and arrival date, and date when tested positive. Some provinces will note if an imported confirmed case was previously identified as asymptomatic, some would not.

    I am sure all of the local health authorities have similar levels of case information from contact tracing at their disposal, which are probably much more granular than even the most detailed case reports shared with the public, the only difference is how much they publish. Overall, I have been very impressed by the quality and intensity contact traces all parts of China have demonstrated to date, all the more so considering the vast spaces and populations, and disparities in levels of wealth/development and quality of local governance across the country. All the more impressive because authorities in China have apparently (and surprisingly) declined to leverage the massive digital foot print every individual in China leaves with super mobile APPs run by private companies, in the form of mobile phone GPS and Bluetooth data, mobile payments, ride hailing, mobile shopping, etc. (I think Singapore and South Korea are accessing credit card information and GPS positioning.) Most of the contact tracing in China is done via traditional, shoe leather and notepad investigative work.

    A good indicator of effectiveness of contact tracing is the number of Tiers 1 & 2 close contacts identified from each case. For each of the outbreaks in China, the local authorities have consistently identified 50 – 90 contacts and close contacts (people under centralized quarantine) to each confirmed and asymptomatic case, most within 24 hours. I think it stands up well to the gold standards previously established by Singapore and South Korea. Taiwan and possibly New Zealand have similar level of efficiency and effectiveness in contact tracing. In comparison, according to the NYT article I shared a few days ago, contact tracers in Western Europe are averaging 3 close contacts identified for each case, and at NYC it is barely over 1.

  30. 30.

    The Moar You Know

    Americans are typically not very knowledgeable about other countries, so these things have to be explained to them. I do not say this to condescend; American jackals agree with me on this

    .
    @Amir Khalid: yep. It’s pathetic.

    For fun, tell an American that England does not have a constitution. Which is true. Watch their brain short circuit.

    On the approach to the Mexican border, about 20 miles from my house, you see increasing and ever larger signs that “firearms and weapons are NOT ALLOWED in Mexico”. In spite of this, about 5-10 Americans a year get busted at the border crossing going into Mexico with guns. Our local paper ends up interviewing their families while their loved one is getting acquainted with what “real jail” is like. They always, always, ALWAYS say the same fucking thing; “what about the second amendment? He’s got rights dammit!”

  31. 31.

    ThresherK

    As a big fan of the book The Ghost Map (read it a decade ago when I couldn’t find another book about a ship disaster, a doomed Arctic expedition, or a conflagration), I appreciate any reference to it.

  32. 32.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @p.a.: There were there until Pearl Harbor. One of the big isolationist objections to America’s entry into WW2 was it will take socialism to fight a war this big.

  33. 33.

    Robert Sneddon

    @The Moar You Know: For fun, tell an American that England does not have a constitution. Which is true. Watch their brain short circuit.

    Actually, we do, sort of, have something that if you squint hard, looks like a constitution, maybe. I’ve seen it described as “a thousand things that looked like a good idea at the time flying in close formation”. What we don’t have is anything written in stone so if a particular “good idea” like, say, slavery outlives its welcome we can toss it with a simple Act of Parliament and done and dusted, no need to go to war to get rid of it.

     

    Britain has a Supreme Court, a court of last resort like the US Supremes but it was only instigated in 2009, taking over powers and responsibilities from the Law Lords, a House of Lords subcommittee. Since we aren’t a gerontocracy there’s a hard age limit of 70 on the incumbents. It’s notable that several of the UK SC Justices attended Harvard Law during their legal education, just like a recent President you guys had a while back.

  35. 35.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Qingdao municipal government has just announced that they will conduct mass screening of all ~ 6M residents in the city over the next 3 days (I assume they mean sample collection, followed by batch testing). Sample collection from all staff at all medical facilities in the city is to have been completed by 5 PM today (which is 6 hours ago). I suppose the authorities are spooked by two small clusters of asymptomatic cases within the past two and half weeks, do not want to rely on the assumption that the dock workers were infected by imported frozen seafood, and want to make sure there is no crypt transmission in the city that is waiting to burst into the open in a super spreading event, which would likely require an economically damaging lock down (even a targeted one).

    The city also saw 4M+ visitors over China National Day “Gold Week” holiday, who have now scattered back to all corners of Shandong Province and Mainland China. I am reading on social media that other cities in China are asking people who visited Qingdao in the past 2 weeks to get tested, as well. It may all seem like a lot of sturm und drang over a few asymptomatic cases, but the authorities must have calculated that the expenses of a mass testing campaign is still much cheaper than targeted lock downs due to outbreaks (such as at Harbin, Dalian and Beijing), or city wide lockdowns and paying for centralized quarantine of 10K+ close contacts (such as Ürumqi). There is clearly a competition going between different regional and local governments in China to see who can conduct mass screening more quickly, snuff out each cluster more quickly, and minimize the economic and social impacts the best. The exception is Xinjiang, whose administration has somewhat different priorities.

  36. 36.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    @Amir Khalid:

    I was working on a post-doc in Cambridgeshire in 2010, and my English co-workers invited me to watch the England-US World Cup match with them at a pub.

    Some American tourists in the pub overheard my American accent, and invited me to join them to watch the match, but I politely declined, explaining that I was there with friends.

    It turned out to be a good decision not to be seen with them–first, the US national anthem was played before the match, and then they played “God Save the Queen”. But on the opening notes of “God Save the Queen”, that table of tourists broke out singing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (same tune), while I just sat at our table cringing, with my co-workers reassuring me that they knew that not all Americans were that ignorant.

  37. 37.

    bluefoot

    @Geo Wilcox: Mutation is another good reason to slow the spread. The fewer people who get infected, the fewer chances the virus has to mutate into something potentially worse.

  38. 38.

    greenergood

    @Amir Khalid:  Amir – have not time to read down the thread, but just hope thatthe fact that immigrants were part of the uptick doesn’t mean that they are now cannon-fodder for prejudice. I hate this happening in the UK – it’s an excuse for people who don’t want to stick with the quarantine rules to blame immigrants, and also goes along with the whole disgusting Brexit vibe.

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