Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Not all heroes wear capes.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

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

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

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

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday/Wednesday, Nov. 17-18

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday/Wednesday, Nov. 17-18

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Senator Sherrod Brown is a mensch:

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… The announcement by the Food and Drug Administration represents an important step in U.S. efforts to expand testing options for COVID-19 beyond health care facilities and testing sites. However, the test will require a prescription, likely limiting its initial use.

The FDA granted emergency authorization to the single-use test kit from Lucira Health, a California manufacturer.

The company’s test allows users to swab themselves to collect a nasal sample. The sample is then swirled in a vial of laboratory solution that plugs into a portable device. Results are displayed as lights labeled positive or negative…

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Reader Interactions

69Comments

  2. 2.

    TS (the original)

    Sherrod Brown speaks the truth. Senate Republicans do not care who they put at risk to achieve their end of the GOP right to rule.

  3. 3.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. After five days of four-digit increases, Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports just 660 new cases today, for a cumulative reported total of 50,390 cases. Dr Noor Hisham also reports four new deaths for a total of 322 deaths — 0.64% of the cumulative reported total, 0.86% of resolved cases.

    12,814 active and contagious cases are currently in hospital; 103 are in ICU, 41 of them on respirators. Meanwhile, 630 patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 37,254 patients recovered — 73.9% of the cumulative reported total.

    Eight new clusters were reported today: Sabaru, Tomher, and Garden in Sabah; Putra-18 in Putrajaya and Selangor; Murni in KL; Seri Pasir in Penang; Besi Demak in Sarawak; and Parit Kassan in Johor.

    656 new cases are local infections. Sabah has 387 cases: 177 in older clusters, 85 in Sabaru, Tomher and Garden clusters,  51 close-contact screenings, and 74 other screenings. Selangor has 139 cases: 65 in older clusters, two in Putra-18 cluster, 28 close-contact screenings, and 44 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan has 31 cases: 25 in existing clusters, two close-contact screenings, and four other screenings. KL has 18 cases: five in older clusters, four in Murni cluster, four close-contact screenings, and 16 other screenings.

    Penang has 16 cases: 10 in older clusters, four in Seri Pasir cluster, one close-contact screening, and one  SARI screening. Perak has 16 cases: 12 in existing clusters, three SARI screenings, and one close-contact screening. Labuan has 13 cases: five in existing clusters, four close-contact screenings, and four other screenings. Kedah has 11 cases, all in existing clusters. Melaka has four cases, all in existing clusters. Sarawak has three cases, all in Besi Demak cluster.

    Johor has three cases: two in existing clusters, and one in Parit Kassan cluster. Kelantan has three cases, all in existing clusters. And Putrajaya has one case in Putra-18 cluster.

    Pahang and Perlis continue to report no new cases today.

    Four new cases are imported, involving two Malaysians and two non-Malaysians. They are arrivals from Turkey (two), India, and Saudi Arabia.

    The four deaths today are an 80-year-old woman in Perak with hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and rheumatoid arthritis; a 76-year-old woman in Perak with stroke; a 59-year-old man in Sabah; and a 62-year-old woman in Sabah with stroke.

    In other news, His Majesty the Agong has proclaimed a state of emergency in Batu Sapi, Sabah. This is to allow the postponement of a parliamentary by-election, until such time as the pandemic situation allows it, said PM Muhyiddin Yassin in a TV address announcing the state of emergency.

  5. 5.

    NeenerNeener

    187 new cases in Monroe County, NY yesterday with 7 more people in ICU.

    A friend of my father died of COVID back in my hometown; he was 93.

  6. 6.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Yesterday, China reported 1 new domestic confirmed and 1 new asymptomatic cases, both at Tianjin Municipality. Both are room mates of the 1st cold chain logistics worker that tested positive over a week ago, and both have been under quarantine since. Again, it seems regular screening of high risk workers caught infections very early, and prevented a larger cluster.

    In Xinjiang “Autonomous “ Region, 7 cases have recovered and 38 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 8 confirmed cases (none in serious condition), all in Kashgar, and 66 asymptomatic cases in Xinjiang (62 in Kashgar and 4 in Kizilsu). Over the past several days, all areas in Xinjiang have been redesigned as Low Risk.

    Yesterday, China reported 7 new imported confirmed cases and 4 imported asymptomatic cases:

    * Shanghai Municipality – 4 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Switzerland, Spain and the UK, and a Filipino crew member off a cargo ship
    * Taiyuan in Shanxi Province – 1 confirmed case, no information released
    * Shenyang in Liaoning Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Germany
    * Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Mali; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning Bangladesh
    * Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Cambodia, Myanmar and Egypt
    * Tianjin Municipality – 1 confirmed and 1 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Spain

    Yesterday, Hong Kong reported 9 new cases, 6 imported and 3 local (2 have sources infection identified).

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    Have been watching the statistics out of Poland slide deeper and deeper into the abyss all this month.

  8. 8.

    opiejeanne

    WA set another record on Tuesday, with 2589 new cases. The death rate is started to climb: 25 new deaths; we’ve been in single or low teens digits for months.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    FYI. This needs priority fixing. Stat.

    Hawaii’s reported coronavirus case count numbers will continue to be delayed, with each day’s release from the Department of Health representative of the COVID-19 laboratory test results returned a full two days prior, officials said Tuesday.

    That means the 53 new cases reported Tuesday are actually Sunday’s totals. Source

  10. 10.

    ByRookorbyCrook

    2K Deaths a day. Where will we be by Christmas? Where will we be by 2 weeks into the new year? And still, the Trump Death Cult gives a smokescreen of bullshit to assist a virus… Our New President will be inaugurated into a conflagration as this nation has never seen. God bless and pity Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

  11. 11.

    opiejeanne

    @NotMax: It’s hard to watch, but harder not to. I’m looking at Switzerland and worrying about my niece & nephew and their baby.

  12. 12.

    opiejeanne

    The doctors are urging Trump to brief Biden on Covid-19 and I wonder what good that would do. Trump knows and understands very little about the epidemic, and he will just lie his ass off anyway, not answering questions and just admiring his response to the virus. .

  14. 14.

    cmorenc

    The US response will remain rudderless, disorganized, and fragmented until Jan 20th. Trump doesn’t give a shit, because he is incapable of understanding how properly responding helps him, which is all he is capable of caring about.

  15. 15.

    TS (the original)

    The statistics from South Australia are slightly different today than yesterday. It reads to me that they have tested people they think will be positive but this is not yet confirmed.

    Contracting coronavirus via a surface is considered somewhat rare, (I am still not convinced of this being the cause of the current hotspot) but it’s exactly what seems to have sparked a cluster in Adelaide’s northern suburbs. There are 22 cases directly linked to the Parafield cluster and a further seven suspected cases. Now, as SA plunges into the toughest restrictions it’s had all year, tracing how the virus spread is critical.  Link

    SA has gone into top level shutdown, hoping to stop the spread asap. People will be restricted from going outside of their homes – only one person per household will be able to leave the home each day, but only for specific purposes. Professor Spurrier says authorities have acted to shut down the community, because waiting any longer would see South Australians incur similar lockdowns to Victoria. These are some of the rules

    From midnight the following facilities will be closed:
    All schools, except for those servicing children of essential workers and vulnerable children
    Takeaway food
    Universities
    Pubs, cafes, coffee shops and food courts
    Elective surgery, except for urgent operations and cancer treatment
    Open inspections and auctions
    All outdoor sport or physical activity
    Construction industry
    Factories other than food and medical products

  16. 16.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    Naturally acquired COVID-19  99.9982% percent effective*  * (estimating 200 reinfections out of 11 million Americans, which is likely an overestimation of actual reinfections)

    You will notice that the lying shitweasel has chosen to redefine “effectiveness” as “number of infections / treated population”, which is meaningless weaponised innumeracy. By his definition and his numbers, since only 11 million / 328 million Americans have contracted COVID-19, the effectiveness of doing nothing at all = 96.65%.

  17. 17.

    Aleta

    From link above, El Paso:

    (O)fficials have faced criticism for turning to local prisons for help.
    Inmates have been pictured handling the bodies of Covid victims at the medical examiner’s office, helping load them into the mobile morgues.   A sheriff’s office spokesman said the inmates – who are minor offenders in minimum security prisons – are being compensated $2 (£1.5) an hour. The work is voluntary and they are being provided with protective gear, but the move has still shocked many.

     

    The judge added that officials were waiting for Texas National Guardsmen to help with the efforts – but the military hasn’t confirmed that they could handle the demand.

    It’s not volunteering when someone is a prisoner.

  18. 18.

    Mary G

    The OC is back in the purple tier 1, but today’s numbers not that bad – 352 new cases and zero deaths.

  19. 19.

    raven

    @Aleta: Near the end of WW2 when my old man had been on his tin-can for three years they started letting people out of the brig if they’d go serve at sea!!! “They Were Expendable”!

  20. 20.

    Amir Khalid

    @cmorenc:

    The Trump administration’s malicious neglect in the face of the pandemic would be ample grounds to remove him from office, if it weren’t for the obstructionist Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. (Ptui!)

  21. 21.

    different-church-lady

    THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON’T LISTEN TO YOUR PRESIDENT AND DRINK CLOROX GOD BLESS AMERICA!!1!

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Aleta: Having spent a very small amount of time behind bars I can say that I would jump at the chance of getting outside, no matter how dangerous it might be. Because my sanity would demand it..

  23. 23.

    Amir Khalid

    @Sm*t Cl*de:

    I sincerely hope Rand Paul doesn’t spend his non-Senate time practising medicine. I wouldn’t want this fool treating me for anything.

  24. 24.

    SFAW

    @ByRookorbyCrook:

    2K Deaths a day. Where will we be by Christmas? Where will we be by 2 weeks into the new year? And still, the Trump Death Cult gives a smokescreen of bullshit to assist a virus…

    “I could stand in the middle of the Oval Orifice and murder more than 250 people per day across America and I wouldn’t lose voters. Well, except maybe for the ones I kill, but THEY would be LOSERS.”

  25. 25.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @TS (the original): Based on the restrictions you shared yesterday, I was think South Australia will try to keep the outbreak suppressed at low levels a la South Korea. With today’s restrictions, especially with respect to placing limit on each household’s ventures outside, SA seems to have gone straight to the China/Vietnam/New Zealand playbook of eradication as soon as possible, even with the relatively small outbreak so far. I hope that, by going hard early, SA can achieve eradication quickly. While Victoria’s lock down achieved its intended goal, I am surprised that it took 4 months to do so.

  27. 27.

    SFAW

    @Amir Khalid:

    The Trump administration’s malicious neglect in the face of the pandemic would be ample grounds to remove him from office, if it weren’t for the obstructionist Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell try him in The Hague for Crimes Against Humanity. (Ptui!)

    You’re not wrong, of course.

  29. 29.

    Sab

    @opiejeanne: I have a friend who works in US for a Swiss company. She says people at the home office in Switzerland are running around maskless like Americans in the Great Plains states. She watches them in horror on the teleconferences.

  30. 30.

    satby

    I know people who have been much more obsessive than I who have now been exposed or have actually contracted covid. And it’s been via family exposure before anyone was symptomatic.

  34. 34.

    TS (the original)

    @YY_Sima Qian:

     I am surprised that it took 4 months to do so.

    I think it was closer to 3 months – started early August – ended early November.

    I was surprised by what SA did today. This level was not really expected, but it seems every state does not want to be another Victoria. I doubt the PM is too happy about it. Every state except NSW have closed their borders to people from the capital – Adelaide. The PM has touted NSW as being exceptional in their processes compared to the other states – which simply is not true. They do have a political affiliation which may be why he says this. This comment from the Federal Chief Medical Office indicates the view of the PM

    Australia’s Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly says Adelaide does not meet the Commonwealth’s definition of a COVID-19 hotspot despite its growing cluster, but he understands why the decision has been made to go into lockdown.

    He has also said this – which is past due & has been agreed by all the states

    Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly
    He says there will be increased surveillance at quarantine hotels around the country — anyone working at one will be tested at least weekly for the virus.

  35. 35.

    debbie

    @opiejeanne:

    Ohio’s been above 7,000 cases for each of the last six days. An ineffective curfew will begin on Thursday. Big whoop.

    Meanwhile, I have a plumbing issue in the basement, so for the first time in eight months, I’ll have to let someone come into my apartment. I’ll be shoving a paper mask in his face should he not already be wearing one.

  36. 36.

    Amir Khalid

    @Sab:

    This is the post at the top of The Guardian’s liveblog right now.

    Doctors in Switzerland warn intensive care beds are at full capacity as the Alpine country continues to resist a second lockdown.

    In a press statement on Tuesday, the Swiss Society for Intensive Medicine said all of the 876 certified ICU beds in Switzerland were currently occupied, advising vulnerable people to write down in a will whether they would like to receive life support in the event of a severe illness.

    Andreas Stettbacher, surgeon general of the Swiss armed forces, said there were a further 240 non-certified beds that could offer intensive care for patients in need of specialised, complex care.

    Of 22,211 available acute care beds, Stettbacher said, 16,889 were currently occupied.

    While the wealthy Alpine country emerged almost unscathed from the first wave of the pandemic in the spring, per capita infections this month have been roughly double the average of the European Union.

    While neighbouring Austria this week chose to head into a second hard lockdown with daytime curfews and school closures, Switzerland has so far resisted to reimpose restrictions it was quicker to lift than other European countries.

    A recent article in Foreign Policy journal accuses politicians in the country of indulging the “widely held perception of Switzerland as a ‘special case’ – a unique country divorced from the world’s woes”.

    Former Swiss President Ueli Maurer has asked citizens to be responsible and stick to lockdown rules, saying “Switzerland cannot afford a second lockdown”.

  37. 37.

    Sab

    @opiejeanne: Isn’t the thing with Trump that if you tell him he must do something then he won’t, and if you tell him he can’t do something then he will.

  38. 38.

    Anne Laurie

    @opiejeanne: The doctors are urging Trump to brief Biden on Covid-19 and I wonder what good that would do. Trump knows and understands very little about the epidemic, and he will just lie his ass off anyway, not answering questions and just admiring his response to the virus.

    AFAICT, once Trump is dragging into ‘agreeing’ to ‘brief’ Biden, the people in the current administration who are doing the actual work can start sharing info with their incoming co-workers without fear of reprisals.

    Like the Emperor of Japan ‘agreeing’, by the end of WWII, that ‘things were not necessarily going in the best direction for the Empire’.

    Nobody expects the Oval Office Occupant to do anything useful, but it would be a very good thing for the country if he would stop obstructing.

  40. 40.

    Sab

    @Mary G: Ohio has the same tier colors as California but the numbers are reversed. Purple is the worst but it is called level 4 instead of tier 1.

  43. 43.

    Geminid

    @opiejeanne: Virginia also set its record for new Covid-19 cases yesterday at 2125. We had muddled along at 1000 cases a day in August and September, but the numbers started climbing in October, due in part I think to both colleges and K-12 reopening. I see good masking compliance in stores (except one country store near me where no one is masked), and little political pushback against social distancing measures, although the gripers are still griping. But this virus is so infectious that people have to be careful everywhere and all the time, and many are not.

  44. 44.

    SFAW

    @Sab:

    I believe all he did was lasik eye surgeries. Not exactly an infectious disease specialty.

    And, if memory serves, he had to create his own certification board in order to get certified. Kinda reassuring when ()presumably) actual professionals will not sign off on his skills. Or lack thereof.

  45. 45.

    slightly_peeved

    @TS (the original):

    Professor Spurrier (OUR QUEEN) has said there are about 14 or so cases that haven’t tested positive, but are close contacts and symptomatic so they’re pretty sure they’ve got it.

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    The official reason is that there’s potential for the outbreak to be managed entirely by testing and contact tracing, given there was no virus in the community prior, but that it’s currently spreading too fast for the tracing to keep up. Hence the relatively short period of very hard restrictions – the goal is to stall the virus spread so the tracers can get stay ahead of it and quarantine the appropriate contacts.

    The very fact this strategy can seriously be considered is testament to how effective the Australian response has by and large been.

    The funny thing was that in the initial reporting of the lock-down, notably absent from the list of open businesses were bottle shops (liquor stores). They later amended that, but apparently some of the bigger local bottle shops looked like something out of a zombie movie this afternoon.

  46. 46.

    SFAW

    @Sab:

    Isn’t the thing with Trump that if you tell him he must do something then he won’t, and if you tell him he can’t do something then he will.

    A lot of his moron supporters (yeah, redundant, I know) are the same way. That’s why I and others used to joke that if then-President Obama went on TV and said “Don’t drink antifreeze,” a lot of America’s problems would be solved within a few days.

    ETA: Including getting an open Senate seat in WI.

  47. 47.

    slightly_peeved

    @TS (the original):

    Part of the selling point for a harsh lockdown now is that it gives a shadow of a chance that we’ll be out of lockdown by Christmas. South Australia is closest to Victoria – by geography, culture and football rivalry – so I believe people are very keen to avoid a similar degree of outbreak.

  49. 49.

    YY_Sima Qian

    While the utter darkness the US is crashing toward is already baked in the cake, I do not understand strategy many/most European nations are employing, as exemplified by the Netherlands. So restrictions that were put in place far too late, in response to the 2nd wave, has started to have the expected impact in causing the daily case counts to peak and trend downward. Instead of staying the course to further suppress the epidemic to even lower levels, heading into the depths of winter and the Christmas holiday season, governments start to relax the distancing measures, when there is still widespread community transmission at a fairly high level?!! All that will do is cause Rt to increase to > 1, and resume exponential growth again. When effective vaccines are only a few months away from being widely available to high risk demographics and high risk occupations?!! Every death from now until then will be a tragedy. It seems that these governments really are only aiming to suppress transmission just enough so as to not overwhelm ICUs. That’s it! To me, that betrays an astounding lack of ambition or imagination. And when case counts start to escalate again in early to mid-Dec., governments need to start impose more restrictions, would they have the cooperation of the population for a 3rd round of lock downs?

    During the height of the 1st wave, the motto was to flatten the curve to save the hospitals. However, at that time there was little confidence or data to show that COVID-19, once entrenched in the community, can be suppressed back to very low levels. Since then, the Asia/West Pacific region has demonstrated repeatedly that substantial suppression and eradication is achievable. Europe itself managed to substantially suppress the 1st wave, though none managed even South Korean levels. When they started relaxing the restrictions at the tail of their 1st wave, they did so at lower incident rates, with greater caution, and was at the middle of Spring, heading into Summer.

    If the delicate dance to maintain suppression is the strategy, then South Korea is the model here. Honestly, what South Korea has managed through the course of the pandemic, keeping daily domestic case counts in the double to low triple digits, modulating restrictions in response to the data, is far more difficult to pull off than the eradication strategy that most of the rest of the region is following.

    One thing is for sure, after this pandemic, people in the Asia Pacific region (elites and average people, and probably Africa, too) will not look at the “West” the same ever again. The Great Financial Crisis already showed the neo-liberal ideology/Washington Consensus promulgated to world over the previous two decades to be bankrupt. The COVID-19 pandemic throws basic competence of western governments into questions. All future sermonizing of liberty, freedom, human rights and value of life will unfortunately ring hollow. The cynical authoritarians will question the desirability liberalism and democracy (as defined by the “West”), and unfortunately many will agree.

  50. 50.

    KM in NS

    Nova Scotia is up to 24 cases as of yesterday and the chief medical officer said we now have community spread. The Premier will put us back in lockdown if the numbers keep rising.

  51. 51.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Yeah I have but it’s been a long time, I’m barely remembering it.

    “They say that memory is the second thing to go.”

    “Yeah? What’s the first?”

    “I forget.”

  52. 52.

    Sloane Ranger

    Yesterday’s figures from the UK. There were 20,051 new cases, about 1300 less than the day before. These figures would be those reported late Monday and early Tuesday so they may not be affected by the weekend delays. We’ll have to see what today brings but, fingers (and toes) crossed. Cases by home nation are,

    England – 17,549 (down @2000)

    Northern Ireland – 549 (up @200)

    Scotland – 1248 (up @500)

    Wales – 705 (down @200).

    The increase in positive tests in the 7 days to 17 November compared to the previous 7 days was 10.7%. This is high, but the rate of increase is coming down.

    Deaths – There were 598 new deaths, 518 in England, 9 in Northern Ireland, 37 in Scotland and 34 in Wales.

    Testing – No update since Monday.

    Hospitalisations – There were 15,830 people in hospital as of Sunday, 15th. 1391 people were on ventilators as of Monday, 16th. Both trending up.

    General – Scandal here with a National Audit Office report showing that, in the early days of the pandemic, contracts for PPE provision were awarded to companies with connections to government ministers and senior Tory MP’s and that some of the companies concerned were not ones you would immediately think of as supply sources, including, in one case, a rodent extermination firm. Plus people who supply PPE for a living saying they contacted the government with offers to supply and were ignored. Current government explanation = we panicked.

  53. 53.

    Geminid

    @Amir Khalid: I was a little surprised at Switzerland’s surge, because I also tend to see the country as a special case- prosperous, very well organized. My understanding is that my crappy body repair on the back of my Honda would get me a ticket in Switzerland. But I guess Swiss have a libertarian streak, and some cultural quirks. I read about a September superspreading event in the Canton of Swyz, where hundreds of Swiss gathered outdoors for a yodeling convention.

  54. 54.

    Raven

     

    Offering the vaccine first to health care personnel and Veterans

    Initially, we expect supplies to be limited. Based on these risk factors, VA will offer the vaccine first to high-risk health care personnel (HCP), as they are essential in continuing to care for patients throughout the pandemic. As more vaccines become available, VA will offer the vaccine to high-risk Veterans. VA’s ultimate goal is to offer it to all Veterans and employees who want to be vaccinated.

  56. 56.

    RSA

    @satby:

    IIRC heart disease

    Yes, heart disease and cancer. Newsweek had a story in April about COVID-19 moving up from number 3 to the top (briefly, I think). So it’s not unexpected that this could happen again.

  57. 57.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

     

    Connecticut COVID-19In Connecticut there were 1702 new cases between Monday and Tuesday. The state’s positivity rate is 5.16%. On Tuesday (Nov. 17), New Haven County had the highest number of hospitalizations with 294, followed by Fairfield County with 231 and Hartford County with 173.

    Database of US healthcare workers lost to COVID-19

    An ongoing piece by the Guardian of the lives/stories of the frontline healthcare providers who have died, so far of COVID-19.  They are also gathering age and ethnicity and occupation information.  It’s a work in progress.

  58. 58.

    Brachiator

    @Sab: 

    I have a friend who works in US for a Swiss company. She says people at the home office in Switzerland are running around maskless like Americans in the Great Plains states. She watches them in horror on the teleconferences.

    Maybe it’s because you can’t yodel with a mask on?

    /snark

  60. 60.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    Related- Nurses on strike against Trinity Health in Bucks County  PA.  They unionized this year and the nurses are striking for safer staffing numbers and better pay.  Trinity is a Catholic health system.

    800 Bucks County PA nurses on strike

    “Trinity Health, headquartered in Livonia, Mich., owns more than 90 hospitals across 22 states, including five in the Philadelphia area. The 371-bed St. Mary hospital made an average of $58 million in annual profit in the last three years, according to Trinity Health’s audited financial documents. In 2019, it was the most profitable major acute-care hospital in Southeastern Pennsylvania, after the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, according to an analysis by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.”

    Trinity also spoke out against the nurses for the timing of the strike:

    ““We are hearing concerns from our community that PASNAP, which has placed patient safety at the center of their platform, would choose this time — when the country and our local community contend with a COVID-19 surge — to exercise their right to strike,” officials said in a statement.”

    I guess Trinity would like them to just shut up and take it.  Patient safety happens to be part of why they are striking.

  61. 61.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @TS (the original):

    He has also said this – which is past due & has been agreed by all the states

    Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly
    He says there will be increased surveillance at quarantine hotels around the country — anyone working at one will be tested at least weekly for the virus.

    Yes, should have been done since the Victoria outbreak. But better late than never.

    @slightly_peeved:

    The very fact this strategy can seriously be considered is testament to how effective the Australian response has by and large been.

    Agree. COVID-19 response in Oceana stand in stark contrast to North America and Europe, despite the much greater cultural and political affinity. In pandemic response, Oceana aligns more closely with their regional neighbors. I do not recall Australia and New Zealand being significantly impacted by SARS, H1N1, MERS or Avian Flus.

    The funny thing was that in the initial reporting of the lock-down, notably absent from the list of open businesses were bottle shops (liquor stores). They later amended that, but apparently some of the bigger local bottle shops looked like something out of a zombie movie this afternoon.

    I initially thought nations exempting liquor (and tobacco) stores from lock downs as signs of misplaced priorities. However, having alcoholics and tobacco addicts suddenly go to abstinence is probably a bad idea in a pandemic.

  63. 63.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @SFAW: Then there’s the classic –

    Why did you join the Foreign Legion?

    I needed to forget.

    What did you need to forget?

    I’ve forgotten.

  64. 64.

    J R in WV

    I read this report every day, because it helps us protect ourselves.

    But OMG the ignorance being displayed world-around on a daily basis!!! So depressing.

    Yesterday I left the home hollow early on a tax-related emergency. Stopped at the bank for certified checks, then to the main bldg at the statehouse. Was really strange — every time I’ve been to the statehouse it has been full of people, busy, sounds of things being done. This time it was like visiting a closed monument. I saw one person (on my business) and two security guards. Everyone was wearing a mask properly. Silent and dark, empty parking lot.

    Then I went to the local shops, everyone was properly masked, even at Kroger’s, which was crowded with pre-Thanksgiving shoppers intent on getting all the traditional fixin’s for a big family dinner, which was a terrible sign that no one will observe the strong signals to avoid gatherings this year. At least everyone was wearing a mask.

    I am trying to stock up so as to stay in until into December. We will see some neighbors, old friends, at a safe distance, chat a little with them, stay safe. But I have a terrible feeling about the next 3 months of late fall and early winter.

    I hope we don’t run out of reefer trucks for morgues, and backhoes and excavators for safe burials.

  65. 65.

    PaulB

    “Teen who built popular coronavirus tracking website has COVID-19 and calls it ‘pretty terrible’ ” Link.

    Avi Schiffmann, the Seattle-area teen who built a website to track the early and ongoing spread of coronavirus, has tested positive for COVID-19.

    Schiffmann, 18, tweeted about his diagnosis on Monday evening and in an email to GeekWire said that he feels “quite bad.” He tested positive on Thursday and is quarantining at his family’s cabin along with his mother, a doctor who has also tested positive, according to Schiffmann.

    “I had a bad headache and a sore throat, but it’s since progressed into a bad cough, shortness of breath (like it’s actually pretty hard to breath with a mask on) and somewhat feels like my lungs are on fire,” Schiffmann said. “Overall it’s pretty terrible. Hopefully it will give a message to other people my age who think we are all invincible. Because I really thought that, too.”

  66. 66.

    PaulB

    Oh, and Anne? I don’t say this nearly enough but thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you [repeat, ad infinitum] for these updates.

  67. 67.

    PaulB

    “The Pro Bowl will play out on the EA Sports Madden NFL 21 video game after the real-life version of football’s all-star game was canceled.” Link.

  68. 68.

    Bill Arnold

    @TS (the original):

    They said she was a close contact of the elderly woman, and contracted COVID-19 “via a surface”. They maintained she did not come into contact with any hotel guests.

    Sounds like exhaled air was shared. I haven’t seen a proper writeup of this. They need to nail this down; transmission-via-fomites of SARS-CoV-2 has not yet been solidly proven yet, and yet surface cleaning is sucking a lot of effort that could be redirected to reducing sharing of unfiltered exhaled air. (Recently exhaled air, technically, though we don’t know the linger time without air changes. (Dilution also reduces exposure to exhalations).)

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