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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Saturday/Sunday, Oct. 17-18

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Saturday/Sunday, Oct. 17-18

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  1. 1.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Yesterday, China reported 0 new domestic confirmed cases and 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Yesterday, China reported 13 new imported confirmed cases and 34 imported asymptomatic cases and 1 imported suspect case:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 5 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from the US, 1 1 each returning from the UK and Nigeria, and 1 Italian national coming from Italy; 1 suspect case, no information released
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 4 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from the US and 1 each from the UAE and Nigeria; 19 asymptomatic case, 3 Chinese nationals each returning from the Philippines and Guinea, 2 each from Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, and 1 each from the US, Mexico, Turkey, Iraq, Cameroon, Uganda and India
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 6 asymptomatic cases, 3 Chinese nationals each returning from Iran and Bangladesh
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 2 confirmed and 1 asymptomatic case, both Chinese nationals returning from Angola (via Lisbon)
    • Chengdu at Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Egypt
    • Tianjin Municipality – 1 confirmed case, a Russian national coming from Russia (via Paris CdG)
    • Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 4 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Yingkou Port in Liaoning Province – 1 asymptomatic case, an Indian crew member off a cargo ship
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Argentina

    Today, Hong Kong reported 4 new cases, 2 from local transmission, both with source of transmission identified.

  2. 2.

    West of the Rockies

    That info box listing 10 Republican governed states… Some more context would be useful. Are those the states with the most cases in the US? Are the bottom 10 states run by Democratic governors?

    Also, F#*! you, Florida football stupidity.

  4. 4.

    West of the Rockies

    I hope Dr. Pinhead Atlas soon experiences a crushing reversal of fortune.  He’s a moron who supports a facist pig-man.

  5. 5.

    Jack Canuck

    For Australia:
    11 cases in the last 24 hours
    Estimated 218 active cases
    16 hospitalised

    For Victoria:
    2 cases in the last 24 hours (no deaths for two(?) days now)
    137 active cases

    Big changes in Melbourne as of midnight tonight:
    – Scrapping the two-hour time limit for exercise and socialising
    – Allowing groups of up to 10 people, from two households, to gather in public outdoor areas
    – Reopening outdoor sports settings like tennis courts, golf courses and skateparks
    – Allowing outdoor swimming pools to host up to 30 swimmers
    – Allowing hairdressers to open
    – Allowing outdoor real estate auctions to go ahead, with up to 10 people, plus staff
    – Permitting non-essential outdoor home maintenance, with up to five workers
    – Resuming face-to-face consultations at many allied health services
    – BUT no changes to the requirement for masks, and people who can work from home must continue to do so.
    The next date for more (and major) relaxations is November 1, with the caveat that if we stay at these really low numbers that could be sooner. That covers stuff like reopening retail & hospitality, etc.

    Regional Victoria (i.e. outside metropolitan Melbourne) is opening up much more – they’re on to the next step already. But there are still serious restrictions on travel between Melbourne and the rest of the state except for pretty strict reasons.

    Personally, while I wish they’d moved further for us in Melbourne, I think they’re being appropriately conservative, because if this gets screwed up we’re right back to square one. And looking at what’s happening in most of the rest of the world right now, we really don’t want that.

  7. 7.

    Brachiator

    A recent study reported in the journal Nano Letters suggests that effectively dealing with Covid-19 requires that the weather and local environment needs to be taken into account. The best non-technical discussion of the study I could find is from the Hindustan Times English language website.

    In short, droplet and aerosol distribution is different, depending on temperature and humidity.

    In summer, the scientists said aerosol transmission may be more significant compared to droplet contact, while in winter, droplet contact may be more dangerous. “This means that depending on the local environment, people may need to adopt different adaptive measures to prevent the transmission of this disease,” Zhao said. The scientists recommended greater social distancing if the room is cool and humid, and finer masks and air filters during hot, dry spells.

    A little more detail.

    According to the researchers, hot and humid environments, and cold and dry ones, did not differ significantly between aerosol and droplet distribution.

    Practical implications

    “We found that in most situations, respiratory droplets travel longer distances than the 6-foot social distance recommended by the CDC,” said Yanying Zhu, a co-author of the study from the University of California (UC) Santa Barbara in the US. In indoor environments such as walk-in refrigerators and coolers, where temperatures are low and humidity is high to keep fresh meat and produce from losing water in storage, the scientists said this effect is increased with the droplets transmitting to distances of up to 6 metres (19.7 feet) before falling to the ground.

    They said in such environments, the virus is particularly persistent, remaining “infectious from several minutes to longer than a day in various environments.” “This is maybe an explanation for those super-spreading events that have been reported at multiple meat processing plants,” Zhu said.

    ETA. Weird mobile browser issues. Could not link to the study. It is discussed on the current podcast “This Week In Science.”

  9. 9.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. DG of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 871 new cases, a record number for the second straight day, bringing the cumulative reported total past the 20,000 mark: 20,498 cases. He also reports seven new Covid-19 deaths, for a total of 187 deaths.

    866 new cases are from local infection. Of these, Sabah has a whopping 702 cases: 79 in the new Kepayan Prison cluster, 81 in existing clusters, and 572 in other Covid-19 screenings. Dr Noor Hisham says this is because the Health Ministry is doing many more screenings there in the field. Next is Selangor with 72 cases: five in the new Auto cluster, 32 in existing clusters, and 35 in other Covid-19 screenings. Penang has 45 cases: three in the Alma cluster, 40 in existing clusters, and two in other Covid-19 screenings.

    Perak has 10 cases, all in existing clusters. Labuan has nine cases: one in the new Bah Layangan cluster, six in existing clusters, and two in other Covid-19 screenings. Kedah has nine cases: eight in existing clusters, and one in another Covid-19 screening. KL has seven cases: four in existing clusters, and three in other Covid-19 screenings.

    Sarawak has five cases: four in existing clusters, and one in another Covid-19 screening. Negeri Sembilan has three cases: one in an existing cluster, and two in other Covid-19 screenings. Terengganu has two cases, both in existing clusters. Johore and Melaka each have one case, from an existing cluster.

    Five new cases are imported: two arrivals from India, two from Nepal, and one from Singapore, all reported in Selangor.

    701 more patients recovered and were discharged, the most in one day since the outbreak. The total is now 13,262  patients recovered — 64.70% of the cumulative reported total. 7,049 active and contagious cases are currently in  hospital; 86 are in ICU, of whom 28 are on respirators.

    The fatality rate is 0.91% of the cumulative reported total, 1.39% of resolved cases.

  11. 11.

    jl

    @Jack Canuck: You in Australia? If you could give more detail on masks, particularly in Melbourne, it’d be much appreciated. Mask regs weaker there than I had thought.

  13. 13.

    jl

    @Brachiator: Those results would explain why some of the European country resurgences started w very large and explosive outbreaks in food processing plants.

  14. 14.

    Jack Canuck

    @jl: Not sure what the requirements are elsewhere in Australia, but here in Melbourne masks are required basically anytime you’re out of your own home (or in a car alone, etc). As of a week or two ago (I think), they have to be proper, fitted masks (e.g. not a bandanna or scarf over your mouth or something). There are limited exceptions for real medical issues, and in some work environments (for instance, reporters on camera can have them off so hearing impaired people are less disadvantaged; as a teacher I can take mine off in the classroom when teaching, but I have to have it on any other time or place at work). Children over the age of 12 are also required to wear masks, and those younger are encouraged but not required to do so. Not wearing a mask when required can land you a fine of around AUD$1600, and there have been quite a few of those given out.

  15. 15.

    Amir Khalid

    @Amir Khalid:

    The deaths reported today, all but one in Sabah, comprise a 61-year-old man; a 70-year-old woman with hypertension; a 57-year-old woman with hypertension; a 55-year-old woman with hypertension; a 41-year-old man; a 44-year-old man with heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidæmia; and a 46-year-old woman who died in KL.

  16. 16.

    jl

    @Jack Canuck: Thanks. From info I could find, mask requirements were weaker (almost optional), and w more loopholes, than I expected in some cities before the big outbreaks, and not well enforced. Does that sound right?

  18. 18.

    Sab

    Talked for an hour today to my Ohio sister stuck in (tiny violins play) LaJolla CA for the duration of covid. I thought I was being careful. She hasn’t been in a car since March! Until yesterday when they drove up the coast.

  20. 20.

    mrmoshpotato

    “Everyone will have the disease eventually”

    Has the Soviet shitpile over in Russia tried yelling like an assclown that the virus is a hoax?

    ETA – I guess in Soviet “I wish the Soviet Union still existed” Russia herd immunity means herd infection.

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    @West of the Rockies:

    Also, F#*! you, Florida football stupidity. 

    Agreed.  What a massively irresponsible thing to do to the team and coaching staff.  Glad the game didn’t become a Plagueapolooza.

  22. 22.

    jl

    I appreciate the AL covid updates, but some of the reporting in the stories sucks, which is not her fault. The reporters rarely go into where the cases came from. AFAIK, France is only country where social gatherings was main cause. In most countries they can ID initial outbreaks and track the spread, unlike US where rarely possible. You can find reports in local press, though 4 most countries I’m limited to what is in English language, and national health agencies. Wish reporters would include that info. I wonder why they don’t. For several European resurgences, weddings, restaurants, bars, etc. were a transmission route not the original source. I think bars should all be closed until a vaccine. but that’s another issue.

  23. 23.

    artem1soo

    trying to reopen campuses have to be part of this third surge. Now fall semester is nearly over and the students who were on campus will be spreading it all over again. And then 6-8 weeks later the schools will make the same mistake so they can try to salvage, what basketball? The first 100 days are going to be nothing but COVID all day, all the time. That’s what Joe should respond when the media hound him about packing the courts.

  26. 26.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission just reported that they have used genomic sequencing to confirm the asymptomatic case reported on 10/16 (a service staff at a quarantine hotel for arrivals from overseas) was indeed infected by an imported case while at the hotel. The genetic sequences are almost identical between the two cases, which suggests direct transmission, rather than through intermediaries. There is still not explanation on where the protocols broke down,.

  27. 27.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    @artem1soo: 

    Big Ten schools were opening for class even when they were still cancelling football; they decided to go ahead with football afterwards.

    It’s that sweet tuition money they need.

  30. 30.

    There go two miscreants

    @mrmoshpotato: That really is excellent. I forwarded the link so my grandkids and grandnephews  can get to see it if they haven’t.

    Now, if someone would just hack Dump’s phone so that little ditty is his notification tone, wouldn’t that be nice!

  32. 32.

    Gvg

    @mrmoshpotato: it is the coach, not the University and he got a lot of pushback from the fans. I think athletes and coaches really like the crowds cheering, like lesser Trumps, however BEFORE this foot in mouth mistake, the University was allowing 20% occupancy which came to around 17,000 fans…and the tickets weren’t all selling. Only about 15,000 went to the last game, so the football loving crowd wasn’t quite as stupid as the coach.
    What worries me is the University has actually been fairly successful at managing this so far but is pushing for more in person classes in Spring. They indicate this is financially necessary because we are losing money this way. Enrollment is down. Layoffs may happen if we don’t reverse the financials. That is the problem with a year wasted by Trump and DeSantis. Also no prospect of an effective bailout, not just for the school but…almost everything.
    By spring term we are also going to have more behavior fatigue IMO. This part of Florida is not hit as hard as South and Central Florida. Hospitals not full. It’s a big state geographically so the high case loads actually seem a long way away. I wish the bars could have been kept closed, that would have helped.

  34. 34.

    The Moar You Know

    I think bars should all be closed until a vaccine. but that’s another issue.

    @jl:  As someone who plays music in bars for part of my livelihood, I agree completely.  I haven’t played since March and have resigned myself to the realization my next gig is probably going to be in 2022.

    To that list I’m going to add schools.  My wife, who teaches, well, we saw this all summer and it’s about to get far worse.  Kids don’t distance or isolate. A kid gets it from a parent.  The kid never gets “ill”, but is infectious.  Kid spreads it to other kids, none of whom get sick, but all of them infectious.  They all give it to their parents, who DO get sick.  Rinse, repeat, die.

    We’re starting to see “COVID orphans”, where the kids give it to the parents and both parents die.

    Close the fucking schools until we get a vaccine.

  35. 35.

    Sloane Ranger

    Yesterday in the UK we had 16,171 new cases, about 500 cases more than the day before. Broken down by home nations,

    England – 13,299 (up by @1000)

    Northern Ireland – 1031 (down by @200)

    Scotland – 1167 (down by 29)

    Wales – 674 (down by @300).

    These figures are probably low due to the usual weekend delay in processing.

    Deaths – There were 150 deaths (up 15 from the day before). 128 deaths were in England, 2 in Northern Ireland, 15 in Scotland and 5 in Wales. The trend continues upwards, as expected. More infections = more deaths.

    Testing – 304,315 PCR tests were processed out of a capacity of 323,006.

    Hospitalisations – As of Thursday, 15th October there were 5608 people in hospital. There were 592 patients on ventilators as of Friday, 16th. Both figures are slowly trending upwards.

    General – The row between the government and Andy Burnham continues. Burnham has argued that Manchester’s figures are coming down already and further intervention is, therefore, unnecessary. There is some evidence to support this view but whether it will outlast Tuesday and Wednesday’s figures remain to be seen. As usual in the UK people are identifying anomalies and loopholes in the government’s orders. One story concerns a couple living in the lowest tier who were planning to go and stay with their son in order to look after their grand-son while their daughter in law had their 2nd grand-child by caesarean, thus allowing their son, who is a police officer to continue to go to work. Unfortunately, the area where the son and his wife live has been placed in a higher tier where mixing households is forbidden. They thought there was an exception for child care but, it turns out, this covers professional child carers only.

  36. 36.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Gvg: 

    I wish the bars could have been kept closed, that would have helped.

    What’s the current deal with the bars? Didn’t DeScumbag declare the pandemic was over and everything could reopen?

  37. 37.

    marklar

    @West of the Rockies:

    Just noticed that Baud mentioned this…Louisiana’s governor, John Bel Edwards, is a Democrat.

    We need to be 100% accurate, or they’ll hit us with “Fake News” (because 9 of the 10 top states having Republican governors isn’t damning enough).

  38. 38.

    frosty

    My younger son who’s living with us recently was in contact with someone who tested positive. He checked with the grocery where he works and they told him they’re following CDC guidance – as long as he doesn’t have symptoms he’s OK to work. We’re flabbergasted, but there it is in the tweet above.
    He’s staying home* until the test comes back negative.

    * Mostly isolated in his room, we wear masks when we’re together. The contact was outside and distanced, odds are that he’s negative.

  39. 39.

    ant

    so after my husband went home sick last monday, and tested on tuesday, the test came back not detected.

    he got over whatever it was, and is back to work as of yesterday.

    others at his workplace are not as lucky. he texted me today:

    I wonder how many more people will have it at my work? Because of our sales man having Covid and his girlfriend they are both in there later 20’s… and we’re recently at two wedding.. he is also the guy that does stand up Comedy an open mic night skyline Comedy club. Where many coworker’s went
    On Monday we are down to only 3 people working the evening shift every one else is out for Covid testing

  41. 41.

    Amir Khalid

    @jl:

    Bars absolutely need to be shut down because, obviously, tipsy customers get careless about masking up and social distancing. All bars are closed in Malaysia and have been since the initial lockdown, but it’s hard on any business to have to close for months and months with no reopening in sight. So some bars here resort to holding speakeasies which police here are raiding every night.

  42. 42.

    terry chay

    @West of the Rockies: it’s a link to the latest data listing the top states by capita. The top 10 are listed there and the person just reports them every day without comment.

    I think I had to go 15 states before I found one with a Democratic governor (Nevada) besides the red state with one already on that list (Louisiana). On the bottom side (the fewest per capita) 5 states had Democratic governors. The sixth state was West Virginia and I think the 8th state was Alaska with Republican Governors, but overall there is a large red/blue divide at this point.

    There is no context, but one can guess it is because, at this point, the novel coronavirus is everywhere. Before it was located mostly is cities and minority populations (both favor blue states). The virus exploits vulnerabilities in a country’s response. Ours happens to be the lack of a national one meaning people of a certain political persuasion who do not believe in common sense things like masks can gather and spread the disease amongst their locality when they return home after picking it up.

  43. 43.

    CatFacts

    I’ve got friends in Louisiana, and I’m not surprised they’re on that list. The legislature and many local officials are actively undermining the governor’s position on Covid-19. The state was hit with two hurricanes in six weeks. The hurricanes really increased a lot of people’s exposure, what with evacuations, adjusters, repairs, extra shopping, helping older neighbors, etc.

  44. 44.

    West of the Cascades

    @terry chay:  It’s definitely the case that Nevada is the first “blue” state on that list (and it’s still purplish when it comes to “personal liberty/libertarian” things). I’m intrigued that among the bottom 10 of the list of per capita cases are Vermont, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Alaska, and Wyoming, all with Republican governors (but sparsely populated … as, however, are ND and SD … and Vermont and New Hampshire are “blue” states).

    So the answer seems to be, “all states that are doing the worst for per capita infections are red states, but not all red states are doing badly for per capita infections.”

  45. 45.

    Ruckus

    @Amir Khalid:

    For the good of it’s country, any nation should figure out some way to support the people who have to shut down. People have a need to make money to exist. But governments print money and in a once in many lifetimes disease situation, existence should take precedence over exposure. Now most governments are massively against this because the economy suffers. But economies can be rebuild, lives lost can not. Our current government is against this because our president is a fucking moron who has no idea how anything works and who thinks that as it’s leader, he owns it all. As I said, fucking moron.

  46. 46.

    scott (the other one)

    If I’m reading that right–and I might not be–sorting by number of cases per million indicates that the 20 worst hit states are all red states: New York is the first blue state, down at 21.

    [ETA: Missed a few states. Not quite as stark as I’d thought, although still extremely stark a difference.]

  49. 49.

    Royston Vasey

    3 new cases in New Zealand
    – 1 case in the community (from a port worker who had been on ships), 23 days since last community case
    – 2 imported cases from overseas (returning Kiwis)

    42 active cases
    0 cases in hospital
    1,530 confirmed cases since March + 350 probable cases (from April)
    for a total of 1,880

    Zero deaths today (34 days since last death)
    25 deaths in total

    The entire country is at Alert Level 1 (no lockdowns), which means the borders are closed to non-New Zealanders (which special exceptions), and masks are not mandatory.

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