Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Giving up is unforgivable.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

All hail the time of the bunny!

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Monday/Tuesday, Dec. 14-15

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Monday/Tuesday, Dec. 14-15

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When it came to vaccines, people didn’t trust the Trump administration, but now…

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Reader Interactions

33Comments

  1. 1.

    NotMax

    Local statistics reports tend to lag by a day or three so it’s tough to say if this is up to the minute.

    [N]ew cases push the statewide total for infections since the pandemic began to 19,424.

    Here’s an island-by-island breakdown:

    Oahu

    16,423 total cases
    1,099 cases in the last 14 days
    1,202 required hospitalization
    211 deaths

    Hawaii County

    1,733 total cases
    135 cases in the last 14 days
    82 required hospitalization
    43 deaths

    Maui

    707 total cases
    166 cases in the last 14 days
    67 required hospitalization
    17 deaths

    Lanai

    106 total cases
    0 cases in the last 14 days
    5 required hospitalization
    0 deaths

    Molokai

    22 total cases
    5 cases in the last 14 days
    1 required hospitalization
    0 deaths

    Kauai

    134 total cases
    22 cases in the last 14 days
    7 required hospitalization
    1 deaths

    Out-of-state [residents]

    299 total cases
    3 required hospitalization
    2 deaths

  2. 2.

    Mary G

    Because of assholes like the ones in the Huntingdon Beach bar, Orange County reported a new record high of new cases today (Monday, usually a low reporting day) of 3,250. ICU available capacity down to 2.7%. It’s a freaking disaster.

  3. 3.

    WereBear

    @Mary G: I do not understand it.

    My only conclusion is that a significant portion of the population are simply not functioning adults. They may have jobs and marriages and kids, but they aren’t doing any of it well.

  4. 4.

    Brachiator

    In Los Angeles County, ICU beds are evaporating. And yet more individuals and businesses, especially restaurants, are defying health authorities. Idiots are talking about recalling the governor.

    As the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine was delivered at a Los Angeles-area hospital, the county’s hospital and ICU capacity dropped to alarming lows.

    According to Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of L.A. County Health and Human Services, there were only 370 available hospital beds for the county of 10 million. ICU availability was even worse, with just 56 adult ICU beds remaining. That is only the second time availability has dipped below 100, she said.

    Southern California as a whole on Monday only had 2.7% of its ICU bed capacity remaining, according to state figures.

    Los Angeles County reported 7,344 new cases on Monday. L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said the number of new cases is artificially low, due to a lag in reporting of weekend test results from one of the largest processing labs. She says that lag means that Tuesday will likely see an unusually large number of new cases. Between November 1 and December 7, cases in Los Angeles County increased by 625%, said Ferrer. And, she added, cases have swelled further in the past week.

    There are 4,203 people hospitalized with COVID in the county, and nearly half of the county’s ICU beds are now occupied by COVID patients. Ferrer says the county will likely have 5,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19 by the weekend.

    Ghaly noted that the county has been able to add 13% more ICU beds now in comparison to summer peak. But, she said, “That durability is not infinite. We cannot maintain this rate of increase. We will physically exhaust ourselves.”

  5. 5.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY yesterday:

    520 new cases, 681 people hospitalized, 127 people in the ICU, no recorded changes in deaths yet and 8.7% positivity rate.

    As I mentioned in a thread last night, one of these new cases is a co-worker who I saw in a parking lot 10 days ago to hand off a Christmas gift for charity. We were both masked and I only went close enough to her to hand off a bag at the end of my arm and then retreated, but I’m going to stay worried for the next 4 days.

  6. 6.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 1,772 new cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 86,618 cases. Dr Noor Hisham also reports three new deaths today, for a total of 422 deaths — 0.49% of the cumulative reported total, 0.59% of resolved cases.

    14,515 active and contagious cases are currently in hospital; 118 are in ICU, 56 of them on respirators. Meanwhile, 1,084 patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 71,681 patients recovered — 82.8% of the cumulative reported total.

    No new clusters were reported today.

    1,370 new cases today are local infections. KL has the most cases, 688: 629 in existing clusters including 568 fifth- and sixth-generation cases in Damanlela building site cluster alone, 31 close-contact screenings, and 28 other screenings. Selangor has 500 cases: 62 in existing clusters, 165 close-contact screenings, and 273 other screenings. Sabah has 260 cases: 52 in existing clusters, 137 close-contact screenings, and 71 other screenings. Perak has 110 cases: 105 in existing clusters, and five close-contact screenings.

    Negeri Sembilan has 67 cases: 56 in existing clusters, four close-contact screenings, and seven other screenings. Johor has 48 cases: 24 in existing clusters, 19 close-contact screenings, and five other screenings. Penang has 33 cases: 21 in existing clusters, four close-contact screenings, and eight other screenings. Kedah has 20 cases: 11 in existing clusters, seven close-contact screenings, and two other screenings. Labuan has 11 cases: five in existing clusters, three close-contact screenings, and three other screenings.

    Pahang has eight cases, all in existing clusters. Terengganu has seven cases: five in existing clusters, and two close-contact screenings. Melaka has five cases: one in an existing cluster, one close-contact screening, and three other screenings. And Kelantan has three cases: one close-contact screening, and two other screenings.

    Sarawak, Putrajaya, and Perlis reported no new local cases today.

    12 new cases are imported. Eight were reported in KL, three in Selangor, and one in Penang.

    The three deaths today, all reported in Sabah, are a 45-year-old woman with diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and stroke; an 88-year-old man with hypertension, prostate disease, and blindness; and a 75-year-old man with hypertension, chronic lung disease, and heart disease.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    “The White House declined to say whether Trump has contributed to the effort.”

    Translation: “Fuck no.”

  9. 9.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Yesterday, China reported 3 new domestic confirmed and 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang Province reported 2 confirmed cases, both at Suifenhe, they are traced F1 and F2 close contacts already under quarantine. There are currently 10 confirmed (8 at Suifenhe and 2 at Dongning) and 2 asymptomatic cases (both at Suifenhe) in Mudanjiang. 1,879 contacts of various categories have been traced. 2 residential compounds and an office building at Suifenhe, and 1 sub-district at Dongning, remain designated as Medium Risk.

    Chengdu in Sichuan Province report 1 new confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a traced close contact and has been under quarantine since 12/8. There are currently 11 confirmed (1 serious, 8 moderate and 2 mild) and 1 asymptomatic cases there. 1,122 contacts are under quarantine. 2 villages and 3 residential compounds are designated as Medium Risk.

    Turfan in Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region did not report any new positive cases. There are currently 4 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. The city has completed the 1st round of mass screening of all residents, no additional positive cases were found. All 4 four cases had tested negative on IgM and IgG antobodies when they tested positive on RT-PCR, so they were likely discovered early. The municipal CDC reported that the genomic sequence of the cases belong to SARS-CoV-2, L genotype, European branch, B.1.1 sub-branch. They claimed that the genomic sequencing shows the current cluster is unrelated previous outbreaks at Kashgar, Ürumqi, or current outbreaks elsewhere in China. 1 residential compound, the one with active cases, has been designated as Medium Risk.

    At Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region, 1 confirmed case recovered. There are 22 confirmed and 2 asymptomatic cases in the city. 10 close contacts were released from quarantine, 156 close contacts remain under quarantine. 5 sub-districts remain at Medium Risk.

    Yesterday, China reported 14 new imported confirmed cases, 8 imported asymptomatic cases:

    * Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 5 confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic), 1 Chinese national each returning from Nepal, Côte d’Ivoire (via Cairo), Ghana (via Cairo), and the Congo (Kinshasa) (via Addis Ababa), and a Chinese freighter pilot flying in from the US; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Nepal
    * Hohhot in Inner Mongolia “Autonomous “ Region – 4 confirmed cases, off a flight diverted from Beijing, no information released
    * Shanghai Municipality – 3 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Japan and Russia, and a Russian national coming from Russia
    * Beijing Municipality – 1 confirmed case, a Mainland Chinese resident returning from Hong Kong, the case had landed on 11/28 and passed through the 14 days of centralized quarantine with negative RT-PCR tests, he checked into a hotel after being released from quarantine on 12/12, developed symptoms on 12/13 and was diagnosed at a hospital on 12/14
    * Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a foreign national coming from the Jordan (via Cairo); 2 asymptomatic cases, a Chinese national returning from Saudi Arabia and a foreign national coming from Serbia (after driving to Netherlands)
    * Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    * Xiamen in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese student returning from Canada
    * Tianjin Municipality – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Spain

    The freighter pilot reported by Chengdu is a curious and concerning case. The pilot flew back from the US on 11/29 and entered centralized quarantine, where he tested negative on RT-PCR. On 12/9 he flew round trip freighter flights from Chengdu to Jinan in Shandong Province, and back, then he returned to quarantine until 12/12. He drove to Jiangyou in Mianyang, Sichuan Province to attend a 300 person wedding on the same day of release from quarantine. He went to a hospital on 12/14, where he tested positive on RT-PCR and with ground glass opacities in the lungs on CT scan. Questions abound: how long did the pilot stay in the US; why was he allowed to fly a mission to Jinan and back within 14 days of quarantine, and then had to go back to quarantine; why was he not home quarantined following the 14 days of centralized quarantine? There are assertions on Chinese social media that freighter pilots only need to be centrally quarantined 7 days after returning to China (because of their short exposure overseas?), this is why he could fly the mission to Jinan. Then, why did he need to return quarantine after the mission? Why are the local authorities sure he is an imported infection, and not a local transmission. In any case, Jiangyou has traced 22 close contacts (all at the wedding), though all 300 guests at the wedding are being quarantined. 289 individuals have been swabbed, as well as 95 environmental samples collected. 91 test results have been obtained, all negative so far. (However, anyone infected at the wedding would likely not yet test positive at this point).

    Yesterday, Hong Kong reported 98 new cases, 9 imported and 89 local (30 of whom without clear sources of infection).

  10. 10.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WereBear:

    I do not understand it.

    My only conclusion is that a significant portion of the population are simply not functioning adults. They may have jobs and marriages and kids, but they aren’t doing any of it well.

    A significant portion of the population are selfish assholes.

    It’s not even worth calling these people idiots anymore – that’s an insult to idiots.

    ETA – and fuck McTurtle for not giving the nation actual economic relief.

  11. 11.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Amir Khalid: I hear that Malaysia is decreasing mandatory quarantine period for overseas arrivals from 14 days to 10? Sounds risky.

    China has been seeing a handful of imported cases with > 14 days of incubation periods, and only testing positive during the 7 – 14 days of centralized or at home quarantine at final destination, after the 14 days of centralized quarantine at point of entry. This despite China requiring negative RT-PCR and IgM+IgG antibody tests within 72 hours of departure to board a China bound flight. Of course, a small percentage of cases > 14 incubation has always existed. It just feels the frequency of such cases are increasing. Some are even diagnosed as confirmed COVID-19 cases, so not recovered patients shedding dead viral particles. It is possible that such cases are infected during quarantine due to breakdown of protocol, but that does not appear to be something that Chinese media or social media is discussing, at least not in the open.

  12. 12.

    WereBear

    @mrmoshpotato: ETA – and fuck McTurtle for not giving the nation actual economic relief.

    It’s just an excuse to be cruel. The asshole CHUCKLED when his Senate opponent this cycle told him people were suffering.

    In a sensible world, signs of such psychopathology would be at least acknowledged for dangerousness in people in positions of power…

  13. 13.

    Barbara

    Even as they approach NY and NJ death rates and even if you double the number of infections to account for people with few or no symptoms, the Dakotas maybe have a 20 to 25% total rate of infection. It is a long way and a lot more dead people until “herd imunity,” but maybe this is Noem’s policy for addressing the acute shortage of nursing home beds in SD. It is just grotesque.

  14. 14.

    gkoutnik

    Has any organization put up a counter to track how many people have been vaccinated and how/where – how many in each state/country, which vaccine, first or second shot, percentage of total, etc (kind of like the Johns Hopkins cases/deaths tracker)? Numbers are tiny now but will become a more and more significant part of the COVID picture as time goes on and more are vaccinated.

    Personally, nine months of checking in with AL’s post (again, thank you!), and the local/national/global cases/death trackers is a wearying, numbing business and I’d so love to watch a number increase that tells a hopeful tale, during the six more months or so of quarantining we have ahead of us.

  16. 16.

    Amir Khalid

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    Yes, effective yesterday. Yes, it does sound risky, but the Ministry of Health hasn’t steered us wrong yet, and there’s a lot of public confidence in its judgement.

  17. 17.

    Mary G

    @eclare: Orange County’s sheriff, Don Barnes, refuses to enforce any mask/public health regulations because of FREEDUMB.  We need to get him out, and all the other local officials, who are still Republicans.

  19. 19.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Amir Khalid: What is driving this change in policy? Is Malaysia running out of quarantine hotels? I can’t imagine 10 versus 14 days make that much difference to the person being quarantined.

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Platonicspoof: and 6th highest in the country for test positivity (10.1%).

    I went looking because Misery currently has a positivity rate of 17.8% (down from the 20% it held for a couple weeks) which if SD was at #6 at 10.1% we’d have to be at #1 or 2.

    This place has them at #3 in the country with a 42.6% positivity rate. I am hardly surprised at there being variance between different sites, but that is a ridiculous difference. (they have MO at #14, 16.5%)

    WTF, from where do these people pull their data?

  22. 22.

    Platonicspoof

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    These CPI reports are the Whitehouse Coronavirus Task Force weekly reports that they release to state governors, but which  they didn’t want to release to the public.

    So if you go to these pages, you’ll see various sources, mostly Liz Whyte, but also governors’ offices like Kate Brown in Oregon, a U.S. congressional subcommittee, etc.

    Your page is Johns Hopkins, which is what I think I usually see in the press.

    You have reinforced the point that all the data should have continued to be reported to the CDC, one central national agency, and every state system apples to apples. And without excess “Birxian” paperwork, with funding, etc.

  23. 23.

    Ramalama

    @Mary G:  2 more examples of madness.

    I have a web client who’s a Chicago cop (I’m working on his side job) who believes that the US Covid numbers are skewed because “hospitals make more money if they declare a death to be Covid and not cancer.” I said, Dude, do you have no friends who work in the ERs in the city? No, he does not.

    I have a friend in Missouri who got Covid really early, in Feb, along with her elderly parents. All made it out alive, but the friend is still having major long-haul symptoms that are kicking her in the arse. Lung problems, heart problems. Her parents are avid Trump supporters, Fox news addicts.

  24. 24.

    Sloane Ranger

    Yesterday in the UK we had 20,263 new cases. This is about 1800 more than Sunday. The R number, last calculated on 11 December still shows 0.9 to 1.0 but the rolling 7-day average shows an increase of 21.6%. New cases by nation,

    England – 17,882 (up @700)

    Northern Ireland – 419 (down @70)

    Scotland – 734 (down @70)

    Wales – 1228 (up 1228). You’ll remember that Wales didn’t report any new cases on Sunday.

    Deaths – There were 232 deaths yesterday. 194 in England, 5 in Northern Ireland, 0 in Scotland and 33 in Wales.

    Testing – 312,273 tests were processed on Sunday13th out of a capacity of 542,366. The rolling 7-day average shows an increase of 2.9%.

    Hospitalisations – There were 16,531 people in hospital on 10 December and 1275 on ventilators on Friday, 11th. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions shows an increase of 14.2%.

    General – AL has already covered London entering Tier 3 restrictions but, despite the increased spread the Government has said it has no intentions of changing it’s mind about relaxing restrictions over Christmas, so some people will catch the virus and die or suffer long term complications but at least they had a nice Christmas Day!

    In a small human interest story, a guy who travelled from Scotland to the Isle of Man on Jet-skies has been imprisoned for 2 months for breaking Man’s quarantine restrictions. Apparently, they have no community spread there and want to keep it that way!

    In other news, I don’t think someone up there likes me at the moment. I had to have someone in yesterday to fix a uPVC window surround that had come loose. fortunately, he was only here for 5 minutes, a couple of nails and it was fixed and he was masked and gloved and I had opened every down stairs window before he arrived. A few hours later – my central heating died on me. I only had the system flushed after the last time a couple of months ago. They’re coming round to (hopefully) fix it tomorrow. another day of open windows and me wearing a mask and anorak inside my own home!

  26. 26.

    lowtechcyclist

    I have a web client who’s a Chicago cop (I’m working on his side job) who believes that the US Covid numbers are skewed because “hospitals make more money if they declare a death to be Covid and not cancer.”

    In addition to the politicians who did so, I would like to see every person at every news agency who spread bullshit propaganda minimizing the dangers of Covid-19 tried for treason. They are a traitorous fifth column operating to undermine America from within, and Covid-19 has been their tool, their means of doing so.

  27. 27.

    PaulB

    Obligatory thank you, thank you, thank you, to Anne for these amazing compilations. The amount of effort required each day adds up to a staggering amount when you consider just how many of these she has posted.

    One story I’d like to add today is the AP story about how health officials are being treated and what’s happening in public health across the country. It’s not good. It’s a longer read but important. Some excerpts:

    Across the United States, state and local public health officials such as Coleman have found themselves at the center of a political storm as they combat the worst pandemic in a century. Amid a fractured federal response, the usually invisible army of workers charged with preventing the spread of infectious diseases has become a public punching bag. Their expertise on how to fight the coronavirus is often disregarded. …

    The backlash has moved beyond the angry fringe. In the courts, public health powers are being undermined. Lawmakers in at least 24 states have crafted legislation to weaken public health powers, which could make it more difficult for communities to respond to other health emergencies in the future. …

    One in 8 Americans — 40 million people — lives in a community that has lost its local public health department leader during the pandemic. Top public health officials in 20 states have left state-level departments, including in North Dakota, which has lost three state health officers since May, one after another.

    Many of the state and local officials left due to political blowback or pandemic pressure. Some departed to take higher-profile positions or due to health concerns. Others were fired for poor performance. Dozens retired. …

    The departures accelerate problems that had already weakened the nation’s public health system. AP and KHN reported that per capita spending for state public health departments had dropped by 16%, and for local health departments by 18%, since 2010. At least 38,000 state and local public health jobs have disappeared since the 2008 recession.

  28. 28.

    mrmoshpotato

    @PaulB:

    The backlash has moved beyond the angry fringe. In the courts, public health powers are being undermined. Lawmakers in at least 24 states have crafted legislation to weaken public health powers, which could make it more difficult for communities to respond to other health emergencies in the future. 

    These stupid, murderous bastards.

  29. 29.

    Jay

    For those interested,

    so far, I am finding that 4 hours “reduced”, with a 1 hour break, is too much. 3rd day back, but sometimes, just walking to the elevator, is too much, or tying shoes. It’s weird, it’s not a steady state. One moment, I am fine, the next, couldn’t sign my name with a pen, and the brain fog is just wonderful.

  30. 30.

    Another Scott

    To amplify a tweet above, at a virtual work meeting yesterday, a manager made the point that lots of people are anxious to take vacations and travel and are hoping to start doing so next summer.  But unless destinations have COVID under control, and trust that travelers from the USA aren’t bring infection with them, then things are still going to be Not-Normal.

    And we should remember that the virus was spreading rapidly all over the world in the winter – Iceland in late February, Peru in early March, etc., etc.

    We won’t be over this until (mostly) everyone is over this.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  32. 32.

    Platonicspoof

    @Jay:

    I’m sure we are all more than interested, so please keep us updated. The stories of self sacrifice, casualties and long term effects will go on for years now.

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