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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday/Wednesday, Dec. 1-2

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday/Wednesday, Dec. 1-2

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… Health experts point to several key takeaways: Many states were overwhelmed by unexpected surges in testing — with many families hoping a negative result might make their planned gatherings a little safer. Some airports were not prepared for the huge crowds that had not been seen since the beginning of the pandemic, making it difficult for travelers to maintain social distancing.

But perhaps the most obvious lesson: Public health messaging needs to be retooled, as whole swaths of the country are simply tuning out the warnings from officials and experts.

“We have to rethink how we’re communicating. Blaming people, yelling at them, stigmatizing them — clearly it’s not working,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security. “We have to show compassion and empathy. Understand where people are coming from and persuade them to do otherwise.”…

In recent days America’s infection curve has already become a sheer mountain-climber’s cliff with record-breaking case numbers and hospitalizations. If people travel and gather for Christmas as they did this past week, they project, the country’s already catastrophic situation could reach levels where hospitals are forced to choose which patients to save and which to let die, and where lockdowns become unavoidable realities of everyday life.

“What concerns me is that Thanksgiving is an American holiday,” said Melissa Nolan, an epidemiologist at the University of South Carolina. “Christmas is an international holiday — it’s celebrated around the world. So if Thanksgiving is an indicator of how much travel we can expect at Christmas, I think that is very concerning.”…

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The jokes write themselves, but seriously: Bull semen is a fragile, high-value commodity for which precise record-keeping is essential. (No breeder wants to pay for inferior product, or to risk wasting his cows’ once-a-year fertility window on a ‘straw’ that fails because it hasn’t been kept at the proper temp.) Using an existing network to facilitate vaccine shipment is an excellent idea:

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Reader Interactions

27Comments

  1. 1.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 851 new cases today at his media briefing, for a cumulative reported total of 68,020 cases. Dr Noor Hisham also reports two new deaths for a total of 365 deaths — 0.54% of the cumulative reported total, 0.64% of resolved cases.

    Dr Noor Hisham notes that Malaysia’s R0 is currently just over 0.9, but adds that the target is around 0.5.

    10,484 active and contagious cases are currently in hospital; 122 are in ICU, 47 of them on respirators. Meanwhile, 658 patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 56,969 patients recovered — 83.8% of the cumulative reported total.

    Five new clusters were reported today: Desa Pinang in KL and Selangor, Impian in Selangor, Jernai and Seri Wangsa in KL, and Baloi in Johor.

    847 new cases today are local infections. Selangor has 249 cases: 77 in older clusters, five in Impian and Desa Pinang clusters, 86 close-contact screenings, and 81 other screenings. Sabah has 229 cases: 39 in existing clusters, 103 close-contact screenings, and 87 other screenings. Johor has 102 cases: 64 in older clusters, 23 in Baloi cluster, nine close-contact screenings, and six other screenings.

    KL has 81 cases: seven in older clusters; 40 in Desa Pinang, Jernai and Seri Wangsa clusters; three close-contact screenings, and 31 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan has 62 cases: 43 in existing clusters, four close-contact screenings, and 15 other screenings. Penang has 60 cases: 53 in existing clusters, five close-contact screenings, and three other screenings. Perak has 34 cases: 31 in existing clusters, and three other screenings. Kedah has 26 cases: 19 in existing clusters, and seven close-contact screenings.

    Kelantan has two cases: one in an existing cluster, and one close-contact screening.  Pahang has one case found in other screening. And Melaka also has one case found in other screening.

    Labuan, Sarawak, Terengganu, Putrajaya, and Perlis reported no new cases today.

    Four new cases are imported. They were all reported in KL, and are arrivals from Morocco (two), India, and Nepal.

    The two deaths today, both reported in Sabah, are an 84-year-old man with diabetes; and a 63-year-old non-Malaysian man with hypertension and asthma.

  2. 2.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY yesterday: 504 new cases.

    422 people are hospitalized, 68 of them are in ICU. No new deaths reported yet. Yuck.

  3. 3.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Yesterday, China reported 2 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, the other from traced close contact) cases, reported by Manzhouli of Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region. Currently there are 20 confirmed cases, 1 asymptomatic case and 2 suspect cases. 1,066 F1 (Tier 1) &  > 2,772 F2 (Tier 2) close contacts are under currently quarantine. The local authorities also shared that the 2nd round of mass screening of all residents in the city was completed by 11/20, with 8 positive cases found (7 confirmed and 1 asymptomatic as of 7 AM on 12/1). Of the 8 positive cases, 3 were discovered from traced close contacts under quarantine, and 5 from community mass screening. Clearly, cryptic community transmission had been occurring for some time, and the intensive contact tracing efforts has yet to get ahead of the curve. Expect the lock down to continue, and a 3rd round of mass screening to kick off some time soon.

    Yesterday, China reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both at Qingdao in Shandong Province. 1 of the cases was discovered during regular screening of cold chain logistics workers, the other was found during screening of close contacts of the 1st case. 101 close contacts have been traced and quarantined, all have tested negative so far. Qingdao government announced today the construction of 4 units to test and disinfect all cold chain products imported through the city. I imagine Tianjin, Dalian, Shanghai and Shenzhen will be doing the same. I think we have more than enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that international cold chain logistics is a vector for transmission. For countries and regions that have achieved eradication or substantial suppression, this particular hole need to be plugged to prevent new outbreaks; especially the meat importers like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, etc.

    Yesterday, China reported 7 new imported confirmed cases and 1 imported asymptomatic cases and 1 new imported suspect case:

     

    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from the US and Bangladesh; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the US
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a truck driver making delivery from Hong Kong
    • Shanghai Municipality – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Japan; 1 suspect case, no information released
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from the US
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 confirmed case, no information released
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Russia

     

    Yesterday, Hong Kong reported 103 new cases, 6 imported and 97 local (15 of whom without clear sources of infection).

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Anticoagulant treatment called DOAC doesn’t protect against severe COVID19. DOAC is used to prevent blood clots & means ‘direct oral anticoagulant’ & is taken as pills. It’s used in heart disease. Although clots contribute to Covid, DOAC isn’t protective

    Figures.

  5. 5.

    WereBear

    @Amir Khalid: I appreciate your updates, Amir. Especially the part at the end, where the lost are listed, along with co-morbidities. Which they tend to have.

    Not a scientific sample, but I keep running across US deaths, of much younger people, not known to have health compromises.

    But then, as screwed up as our response has been, it would not surprise me at all if all kinds of US data is not what it should be.

  6. 6.

    Amir Khalid

    @WereBear:

    Thank you. There’s also been a wide range of age among fatalities here: from babies under a year old to a 130-year-old man. You just can’t assume that being a robust young adult will save you if you get Covid-19.

  8. 8.

    Sloane Ranger

    Greetings from the UK.

    Here are yesterday’s figures. There were 13,439 new cases, about 1000 more than Monday, but this may still be due to the figures still being affected by the weekend reporting delays. The rolling 7-day average continues to show a decrease. Yesterday it was 17.6%. New cases by nation,
    England – 11,618 (up @750)
    Northern Ireland – 391 (up @100)
    Scotland – 754 (up @400)
    Wales – 667 (down @150).

    Deaths – There were 603 deaths yesterday and 3038 with COVID listed on the Death Certificate in the week ending 20 November. 531 of yesterday’s deaths were in England, 15 in Northern Ireland, 34 in Scotland and 23 in Wales.

    Testing – 214,835 tests were processed on Monday, 30th November out of a capacity of 574,395. The rolling 7-day average shows a significant reduction in tests of 7.2%. As I said yesterday, this might be due to declining case numbers leading to fewer people being referred/feeling they need a test.

    Hospitalisations – 15, 438 people were in hospital on Sunday, 29th November and 1415 were on ventilators on the same day. Numbers are declining and the rolling 7-day average on hospital admissions shows a decrease of 11.6%.

    General – The English national lockdown has ended. Visible evidence of this is that the barber’s opposite my house is open and has a guy in and another hanging around outside.

    The new Tier arrangements passed the House of Commons by 291 votes in favour and 78 votes against, with Labour and the other opposition parties whipped to abstain. About 56 Tories voted against the Government with a number of others abstaining. 16 Labour MP’s defied the Whip to vote against the Government, including newly minted Independent MP,Jeremy Corbyn. My own MP, Peter Bone ended up supporting the Motion.

    As AL has noted the Pfizer vaccine has been passed for use in the UK with vaccinations of those most at risk, health workers, care home residents and workers and those over 80 due to start from next week. As is common, people who have been screaming for a vaccine for almost a year are now going, Oh I don’t know. It’s all happening so fast. Are we sure it’s safe?

    Finally, the government is making millions of tests available to care homes in England so that they can test family members who want to see their elderly relatives. This should come on line later this month.

  9. 9.

    Geminid

    Israel’s Director of Public Health is warning of a “third wave” of Covid-19 cases. New cases had risen by over 7,000 a day before a late October lockdown, hovered in the mid-hundreds as the country reopened, but now have topped 1200 two days in a row, with an estimated R of 1.17. Gaza reported 700 new cases Monday.    From the Jerusalem Post.

  10. 10.

    debbie

    @WereBear:

    When I saw her on Monday, my GP told me of the “fair number” of COVID deaths in her practice, the ages ranged from 18 days to 90 years.

  11. 11.

    Geo Wilcox

    @Spanky:  Our neighbor’s 25 year old son found that out the hard way. He went back to college in ID. Got covid, was sick for weeks and finally came home. He was a runner, avid hiker, heart rate before covid 45 bpm now close to 100, He’s scared shitless of what this means for his future. He wanted to join the marines after he graduates but will they take him with that kind of heart damage? He hopes it will get better but who the fuck knows with this shit.

  12. 12.

    Brachiator

    @WereBear:

    Not a scientific sample, but I keep running across US deaths, of much younger people, not known to have health compromises.

    Where are you seeing this? I don’t see it in the summaries I run across.

    I hope that the various health agencies are collecting and categorizing the data so that. It can be later reviewed from a number of perspectives.

    I don’t think that I have seen a breakdown of hospitalizations and recoveries by age and gender, even though this may later be useful in tracking people who recovered but who may still have health issues in the future.

    Also even though cumulative totals are an easy way to view the impact of the pandemic, I would also like to focus on what has been happening since the surge, say from September to now.

  13. 13.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Brachiator:  Yes, state of California says the vast majority of deaths are 80+, the majority of cases are 18 to 35 and 2/3 are Latinos.

    All I can say is I live in Alameda county California and according to county the vast majority of the infections are in South Oakland, which is the poor part of the county and pretty much the Hispanic getto.  It really looks like here the COVID problem is with Latinos, which if true means this Cletus outreach effort isn’t going to work.

    Personally, while I all do is go to work and grocery shopping, all I see is everyone wearing their masks and keeping their distance, yet the cases in County is spiking, that does indicate some community that out of sight of the rest of us has collectively decided to forgo precautions.

  14. 14.

    Brachiator

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    All I can say is I live in Alameda county California and according to county the vast majority of the infections are in South Oakland, which is the poor part of the county and pretty much the Hispanic getto.  It really looks like here the COVID problem is with Latinos, which if true means this Cletus outreach effort isn’t going to work.

    There was a news story about vaccine priorities

    The decision on who should get the vaccines first was made by the committee, a panel of independent advisers to the CDC. They decided Tuesday afternoon to recommend that both health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities go to the front of the line.

    If it were up to me, I would include South Oakland and similar communities on a high priority list. It may be that a lot of people in these communities have to work jobs that expose them to the virus. Then they bring it home to their families.

  16. 16.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Personally, while I all do is go to work and grocery shopping, all I see is everyone wearing their masks and keeping their distance, yet the cases in County is spiking, that does indicate some community that out of sight of the rest of us has collectively decided to forgo precautions.

    Masks aren’t a magic bullet against the spread of COVID-19, especially the Etsy-style cloth masks worn by the general public when they feel like it. Staying at home and social distancing does work though, with bars, clubs, restaurants, churches, malls etc. closed to prevent opportunistic cross-infection.

     

    People are tired of making enough of an effort to stop the spread of this disease. This was actually figured in to the original estimates of infection spread made back in the spring, the models said would be second and subsequent waves as people stopped taking sufficient precautions to prevent further outbreaks.

  17. 17.

    Suzanne

    @Brachiator:

    It may be that a lot of people in these communities have to work jobs that expose them to the virus. Then they bring it home to their families. 

    So it isn’t exactly known how many groups overlap. For instance, they’re talking about healthcare workers and those in immediate support of healthcare workers (like the cleaning and facilities management crews of hospitals) getting it first, then communal living residents like nursing homes and behavioral health hospitals, then people who are high risk due to age or health conditions. But there are lots of people who are high risk who, say, work in healthcare facilities. We don’t have great data on the overlap factor but it’s likely big. So I am guessing that, as this rolls out, we’ll start to see positive impacts in hard-hit communities.

  21. 21.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Brachiator:  Yes, the son is working some high risk service job, likely considered an essential worker, ends up asymptomatic, comes home and gets his grandparents sick.

    @Robert Sneddon:  Masks do signal the wearer is being conscious of the risks, that’s why Cletus and Karen refuse to wear theirs. Then again like the anti vaccers they can get away with because everyone else arround them is taking precautions.

    I will point out than in the business park down the street from me there is a big problem with Side Shows,  complete with deadly car accidents and shootings. Sounds like the kind of high risk situation that would attract a Latino male, 18 to 30 (or that age group otherwise known as the Dumb Zone of manhood). I suspect they aren’t wearing masks during these things.

  24. 24.

    StringOnAStick

    @Geo Wilcox: Didn’t the military state early this year that having had Covid means you are DQ’d from ever joining?  Sorry about your neighbour’s son.

  25. 25.

    charon

    @StringOnAStick:

    That sounds like an incentive to not get tested/diagnosed.

    Also, there are reasonable estimates that in the high positivity places, the actual number of cases is about 3 times the confirmed (i.e. diagnosed) cases.

  26. 26.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    @Another Scott: If memory serves, many of the “100+” crowd were in fact men who dodged the draft in the Tsar’s army by adding 10 or more years to their age. The women followed suit, to make things look legit. Decades later, Soviet Georgia was teeming with “110+age” liars. Eventually, researchers noticed there weren’t very many people in their 80s and 90s behind this group.

  27. 27.

    DaveInOz

    A couple of things I’ve been reading about the UK which is dealing with a triple threat of COVID-19, the looming onset of Brexit on January 1st and a totally inept and corrupt government.

    They are talking of lifting restrictions for Christmas to give you the chance of going to visit your elderly at-risk parents and infect them. They are also the first country to authorise the use of the Pfizer vaccine. There is a good chance that this was rushed through as the vaccine is being manufactured on the continent (in Belgium I believe) and it looks like transport into the UK is going to grind to a halt as Brexit hits.

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