Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Come on, man.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

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

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

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

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

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

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

“woke” is the new caravan.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday/Thursday, Dec. 23-24

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday/Thursday, Dec. 23-24

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  1. 1.

    satby

    The Post office is in chaos, and so is the vaccine rollout. And politicians (who aren’t old or newly elected) getting it is a travesty. But we knew that would happen with this evil bunch.

    The doctor I work for (eye doctor) can’t get any information about getting the staff immunized though we work in closer quarters to patients than I do as a retail worker in the market. At least that’s in blood-red Indiana while her peers in blue states are already getting immunized. As front line essential workers, not as first line health care workers, which is as it should be. We’re still at less risk than hospital staff.

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    AL,

    Thanks for the info.

    The ones about children break my heart.

    There is nothing good about this disease?

    Let’s get the vaccine to everyone on the front lines.

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    Peru and Ukraine crossing a dread threshold brings the number of countries reporting cumulative case totals of 1,000,000 or more up to 17.

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 1,581 new cases today in his media statement, for a six-figure cumulative reported total of 100,318 cases. Dr Noor Hisham also reports two new deaths today, for a total of 446 deaths — 0.45% of the cumulative reported total, 0.55% of resolved cases.

    18,773 active and contagious cases are currently in hospital; 102 are in ICU, 45 of them on respirators. Meanwhile, 1,085 patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 81,099 patients recovered — 80.8% of the cumulative reported total.

    Four new clusters were reported today: Kebun Baru and Sungai Burong in Selangor; and Jalan Tun Building site and Jalan Pandan in KL.

    1,579 new cases today are local infections. Selangor has 490 cases: 68 in older clusters, 101 in Kebun Baru and Sungai Burong clusters, 206 close-contact screenings, and 115 other screenings. KL has 379 cases: 251 in older clusters, 34 in Jalan Tun Building site and Jalan Pandan clusters, 57 close-contact screenings, and 37 other screenings. Sabah has 249 cases: 20 in existing clusters, 140 close-contact screenings, and 89 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan has 144 cases: 127 in existing clusters, 14 close-contact screenings, and three other screenings. Johor has 115 cases: 80 in existing clusters, 17 close-contact screenings, and 18 other screenings.

    Melaka has 76 cases: 72 in existing clusters, and four close-contact screenings. Penang has 37 cases: 14 in existing clusters, six close-contact screenings, and 17 other screenings. Perak has 26 cases: 14 in existing clusters, seven close-contact screenings, and five other screenings. Labuan has 26 cases: six in existing clusters, nine close-contact screenings, and 11 other screenings. Pahang has 12 cases: eight in existing clusters, three close-contact screenings, and one other screening.

    Kelantan has nine cases: two in existing clusters, five close-contact screenings, and two other screenings. Terengganu has seven cases: three in existing clusters, one close-contact screening, and three other screenings. Kedah has four cases: two in existing clusters, and two other screenings. Putrajaya has four cases: one in an existing cluster, one close-contact screening, and two other screenings. Sarawak has one local case, found in other screening.

    Once again, only Perlis reported no new local cases today.

    Two new cases are imported. One was reported in Selangor, and one in Sarawak.

    The two deaths today, both reported in Sabah, are a 15-year-old girl, and a 61-year-old man with hypertension, dyslipidaemia and stroke.

  5. 5.

    rikyrah

    @satby:

    It’s sad, but expected.

    I know that I sound obsessed because I repeat this over and over.

    But, the vaccine rollout is going EXACTLY AS PLANNED.

     

    They had NO INTENTION OF DOING A GOOD ROLLOUT for the country.

    They fully intended to do a repeat of Spring 2020 with the Hunger Games and the States Except for this time, it wouldn’t be PPE.

    IT WOULD BE VACCINE.

     

    They fully intended to punish Blue States using the vaccine.

    Nothing else makes sense.

     

    Stop calling it incompetence.

     

    It is all DELIBERATE MALICE??

  7. 7.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 12/23, China reported 6 new domestic confirmed and 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Dalian in Liaoning Province reported 6 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic reported on 12/20, found during community mass screening and placed into isolation at that time) and 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases. The 3 new confirmed cases were found during mass screening of all residents at Jinpu New Area. No case summaries were published for the asymptomatic cases, yet. I would not be surprised if the Jinpu New Area goes into lock down, since most of the cases are being found from mass screening, rather than traced close contacts. There are currently 12 domestic confirmed and 20 domestic asymptomatic cases there. The city has extended mass screening to all districts. There are 1 community and 1 residential compound at Medium Risk. 

    Shenyang in Liaoning Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, the spouse of the imported confirmed case detailed below. 1 community and 1 residential compound are deemed Medium Risk.

    Beijing Municipality reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case. The case is a resident at Shunyi District in Beijing. He was tested for RT-PCR at Beijing on 12/22 in advance of taking graduate studies exam, traveled to Ningbo in Zhejiang Province on 12/23 with 2 colleagues for business trip, where he learned of his positive result. Epidemiological investigation is ongoing to determine the source of infection, connections to existing clusters, and potential spread at both Beijing and Ningbo. 269 F1 and 391 F2 close contacts have been traced, 1,900 residents at the compound where the case lives, as well as 3,755 workers at the office park where the case is employed at, are tested, all negative as of this morning. 625 environmental samples from the places the case has frequented, and 132 environmental samples from his work place, have been collected, all negative. Indeed, in the press conference this afternoon, Beijing Municipal Health Commission reported finding 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases. One works at the same office park as the case reported yesterday. The other is a restaurant worker in Xicheng District on the other side of the city, who works with frozen meats. The latter case arrived at Beijing from neighboring Tianjin Municipality on 12/6. Xicheng Districts started periodic screening of all cold chain logistics workers on 12/22. The 2nd case today received positive result on 12/23, and was confirmed this morning.

    At Chengdu in Sichuan Province, 2 residential compounds have been re-designated as Low Risk. 1 village and 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.

    At Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region, 4 confirmed cases have recovered. There are 1 domestic confirmed and 5 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. The last Medium Risk subdistrict has been re-designated as Low Risk.

    Guangzhou in Guangdong Province reported that the domestic asymptomatic case at a quarantine hotel from a few days ago was infected by an imported case returning from Myanmar that in on 12/8 checked , based on genomic analysis and CCTV footage. The authorities traced 170 F1 close contacts, 199 F2 close contacts, 16 regular contacts, and 88 individuals at risk of expose, all have tested negative. All 69,891 residents and people who work at the Dongyong Township (the area surrounding the quarantine hotel) were screened, all have tested negative.

    There are no changes in other Chinese cities with recent/current outbreaks.

    On 12/23, China reported 11 new imported confirmed cases, 14 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 6 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from the US, France and Switzerland, 2 US nationals coming from Canada, and a Serbian national coming from Serbia (via Moscow)
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Iraq (via Tehran); 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Iraq (via Tehran) and Saudi Arabia
    • Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Turkey and the UAE
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 2 confirmed cases (previously asymptomatic), both Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), no information released
    • Shenyang in Liaoning Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese National returning from South Korea; the case (an elderly woman) landed at Shenguang on 11/29, passed through 14 days of centralized quarantine and tested negative on RT-PCR and antibodies, she was released from quarantine on 12/13, she developed symptoms on 12/18 and visited several community clinics and hospitals over the next several days (accompanied by different relatives and neighbors) before finally visiting fever clinic on 12/22, she is now in serious condition
    • Wuhan in Hubei Province – 4 asymptomatic cases, 3 Chinese nationals and 1 Pakistani national coming from Pakistan
    • Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Indonesia 
    • Qingdao in Shandong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Iraq (via Dubai and Seoul-Inchon)
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the UAE

     

    The imported case at Shenyang uncovers several breakdowns in protocol. The cases was supposed to home quarantine for 7 days after 14 days of centralized quarantine, but her travel history showing multiple visits to shops and grocery during this time, so property management and neighborhood committee failed to supervise the home quarantine. Community clinics are also not supposed to treat patients with COVID-19 symptoms and instead directing them to fever clinics, yet the community clinic the case visited gave her IV drips despite symptoms. Epidemiological investigation will also show whether this case was infected in South Korea or at Shenyang, though the case has been designated as imported. So far, 136 F1 close contacts, 293 F2 close contacts, 704 F3 close contacts (close contacts of F2 close contacts) have been traced, all but 1 have tested negative (the aforementioned asymptomatic spouse of the case). All 7,580 residents of the 2 residential compounds where the case and close contacts live have been tested, all negative. As the travel histories of the case and her close contacts cover much of the city (affecting 5 clinics and hospitals, 2 schools and ), and the case was not discovered until several days into her symptomatic period, Shenyang authorities have activated responses at the highest level, in preparation of a potentially larger outbreak. 

    Overall in China, 1 case worsened to serious condition, 22 confirmed cases recovered, 3 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation and 6 was reclassified as confirmed cases, and 699 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 315 active confirmed cases in the country (274 imported), 6 are in serious condition (5 imported), 229 asymptomatic cases (187 imported), and 1 suspect case. 7,488 individuals remain under quarantine.

    On 12/24, Hong Kong reported 71 new cases, 10 imported (from the UK, India and Pakistan) and 61 local (30 of whom without clear sources of infection). There are an additional 50 cases preliminarily positive, awaiting retest. Hong Kong has reported 2 students returning from the UK who have the more infectious B.1.1.7 strain. Yesterday, China CDC had reported that the stain has not shown up in China, yet.

  8. 8.

    mrmoshpotato

    Kirk Cameron says he’s offering people hope. He uses the term “immunity in community” a few times and says we shouldn’t have a mask gestapo.

    Ummmm… You ok, Kirk?

  11. 11.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY yesterday:

    576 new cases, 816 people hospitalized, 134 patients in the ICU. 507 deaths total, up from 488 yesterday.

    Positivity rate at 8.7%

    33% of the hospital beds are available on average and 30% of the ICU beds.

    I hate to think that the increase in available hospital beds is due to people dying.

    We aren’t getting any info yet on how many people have been vaccinated here, probably not enough to report on.

    Oh, and my nephew in Virginia is working for a COVID-denier whose spouse just went to the hospital with symptoms. Not good….

  12. 12.

    satby

    @rikyrah: but this is a red state. It could just be that red states don’t give a shit about their citizens, because they don’t, but it’s not because the Trump admin is punishing them. This is Trump country.

    Edit: and I’ve always objected to calling the current criminals incompetent or “low quality hires” because they’re very competent at achieving the goals THEY want. Their goals just aren’t ours.

  14. 14.

    Amir Khalid

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Kirk Cameron’s that former child star, isn’t he, who quit the celebrity life for evangelical Christianity? He talks like a standard-issue evangelical.

  20. 20.

    Mary G

    CA is now shamefully the worst state in the nation. We set another record in Orange County for new daily cases at 4,406. Only two deaths. Hospitalized cases up but stayed in the chart. My housemates got letters from the state that they will get the vaccine within two weeks. They report that people are running around pretty much as usual. Kirk Cameron is an attention whore who can’t live without a camera on him no matter who gets hurt. Mike Pence’s skin is as white as his hair.

    ,

  21. 21.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Kirk Cameron, the original reality denier grifter, of course he would me a virus denier.

  22. 22.

    J R in WV

    I’m in a red state too, and when I called in a refill of one of my continuing medications, the pharmacy robo-speaker told me to keep in close touch as Kroger’s Pharmacy would be a primary source of vaccinations… some day. Not soon, but some day.

    FUBAR as usual.

    Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition, as the whole pandemic has been from day -14 — after we knew all we needed to know, weeks before we had many cases. Now we have vaccines in production, a complex logistics train in action to move the miracle drug around the country, and, and, and no plan for getting it into people’s arms en mass.

    First vaccination for the TV crews, sure, we got that…

    First vaccination for the EMTs and Fire Dept, sure, we got that — but what about all the other first responders?

    First vaccination for an ER doc, ICU nurse, sure, we got that — but what about all the other nurses and doctors and phelobotomists and respiratory therapists? We don’t appear to have that at all~!!!!~

    Mass immunizations for millions and millions of ordinary people, we don’t appear to have that either~!!~ FUBAR strikes again, the only thing Trump is actually good at is FUBAR!!

  23. 23.

    Amir Khalid

    @rikyrah:

    The Ministry of Health has begun its approval process for the Pfizer/BIONTech vaccine, which is expected to take three to four months but the MoH hopes to expedite that. I expect it is also awaiting the test data for the other vaccines it is ordering, from AstroZeneca/Cambridge, CanSinBio and SinoVac of China, and the Russian vaccine.

    MoH says the vaccines should begin arriving in February. The plan is to finish the approval process and begin vaccinations — which will be free to Malaysians — in Q1/2021.

    However, Malaysia has ordered only enough vaccines on order to cover about 83% of the population. Science Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaludin, whose ministry is in charge of the acquisition and approval, says rich countries are buying up nearly all the supply: Canada, he claims, has ordered five times as many doses as there are Canadians. The former claim is known to be true: WHO has been saying the same thing. About Canada, I don’t know.

  24. 24.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Amir Khalid: He’s also a young earth creationist and a bunch of other cutler wars nonsense.  As far as I am concerned young earth creationism is what set the American Right up for Trumpism.

  25. 25.

    Mousebumples

    @mrmoshpotato: unfortunately, he and his family have always been a bit kooky on the religion side of things…

    @Amir Khalid: yeah, he was on Growing Pains, though he may have been in his 20s by then, so child star may not be wholly accurate. The Evangelical part is, though, i believe.

  26. 26.

    Suburban Mom

    @rikyrah: Here in the pretty darned blue metropolitan NY area I know three medical professions who received  their first vaccines this week.  They include an RN, PT, and orthopedist.  None are involved in emergency services or ICU work.  This seems encouraging.  I hope the rest of the country will follow soon.

  27. 27.

    Amir Khalid

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Having carolling events is not wise on Kirk Cameron’s part. I’ve already mentioned before that carolling is not allowed this year in Malaysia because Covid, and the Malaysian tradition of the holiday open house is also either restricted or, in red zones, forbidden outright. As it was for Eid and Diwali.

  28. 28.

    Sloane Ranger

    Yesterday in the UK we had 39,237 new cases. This is about 2400 more cases than the day before, a new all pandemic high and an increase of 61.3% in the rolling 7-day average.Cases by home nation,

    England – 34,247 (up @2000)

    Northern Ireland – 787 (up @350)

    Scotland – 1190 (down @100)

    Wales – 3013 (up @300).

    Deaths – As AL notes in her post, we had 744 new deaths yesterday, 625 in England, 21 in Northern Ireland, 47 in Scotland and 51 in Wales.

    Testing – 453,903 tests were processed yesterday out of a capacity of 715,114. This is an increase in the 7-day rolling average of 19.4%.

    Hospitalisations – 20,917 people were in hospital on Monday, 21 December and 1529 were on ventilators on Tuesday, 22nd. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions has increased by 15.6%.

    Vaccinations – As of 16th December 138,000 vaccinations had been done in the UK. It has been reported that all people aged 80+ have been vaccinated in the town where I live.

    General – Lorries are now rolling onto ferries at Dover and extra ones have been laid on for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Even so, many drivers expect to be spending those days in their vehicles.

    The counties of Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Hampshire (less New Forest) and those parts of Essex and Surrey not already in Tier 4 (virtual total lockdown) will enter Tier 4 on Boxing Day. Almost all of the rest of England (including Northamptonshire, where I live) will enter Tier 3 on the same date.

    Apparently, the UK is a world leader on genome sequencing or something similar (who knew?) and this has meant that, in addition to the new Kent/London mutation, a few cases of the South African mutation have been detected in England. This isn’t surprising given the amount of travel between us and them but is disheartening. The government has stopped travel between the UK and South Africa as a result, but it’s probably too late.

    Oh, well, what can’t be cured must be endured, as my old Mum used to say. Wishing everyone who celebrates, a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day morning and Happy Holidays to everyone who doesn’t celebrate!

  29. 29.

    PaulB

    Obligatory thank you to Anne for the effort she continues to put in every day to deliver this news to us. Please have a wonderful holiday, Anne, and a better new year. I thought I’d one more good-news story to the mix, since we need that so much this year.

    A teacher in Brazil, after receiving a note from one of her students about how much they missed her hugs, came up with the idea of a pandemic “hugging kit,” using disposable raincoats, surgical gloves, face masks, and hand sanitizer.

    She rolled out the hugging operation in late July, renting a sound truck and driving from door to door, blasting a classroom playlist her students loved.

    “Distance can’t destroy what we have built,” Ms. Silva, 47, said on a recent rainy afternoon after visiting three students. “I needed to show them that our bonds are still alive, even if I’m not able to hold them every morning.”

    The kids beamed as Ms. Silva draped herself and each student in plastic with a surgeon’s precision. Then she wrapped her arms around each one and lifted them off the ground for a long, tender embrace.

  30. 30.

    scav

    ok, got it for the bazillionith time.  Mask gestapo bad, actual neo-nazis good people. Yet another faded tv star hungry for air-time heard from.

  31. 31.

    Miss Bianca

    I can attest to the surgical mask thing, about being best for speaking. We did a recording of a radio play in my theater just recently, and that’s what I had on hand for everyone. (KN95s were ok, but muffly compared to the surgical masks).

  32. 32.

    Morfydd

    I stopped posting as cases in Germany started spiking up from very low, and they’ve only gotten much worse. :(

    32,195 new cases today, bringing the total to 1, 587, 115.

    802 deaths for a total of 28, 770.

    The majority of the new cases are in the Leipzig/Chemnitz/Dresden area, bordering the Czech Republic, which I understand is slammed even worse.  Former East Germany was not hit hard by the first wave, which may have made them complacent for the second.  However, no one’s doing well.

    Data as always from https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/478220a4c454480e823b17327b2bf1d4/page/page_1/

    On the bright side, the EU has approved the Pfizer vaccine and rollout is starting now.  Germany seems to be prepping crazy-efficiently.  You would think this would be normal, but sometimes it’s shockingly not.  “Where is your FEMA?  Where is your National Guard?” I ask as a clueless American.  But for good historical reasons the federal government is weak and the Länder are strong.

    Schönes Weihnachten und ein guten Rutsch!

  34. 34.

    J R in WV

    @Amir Khalid:

     

    People who convince  themselves that the Earth is 6007 years old based upon allegorical writing of oral folk tales of desert shepherds are frequently not that bright, nor capable of critical rational thought.

    So, many of that sort of people may be inclined to ignore the medical science about singing and the spread of invisible little demons [the virus] through the air, causing a new plague the likes of which we have never seen before.

    So many Darwin Awards being created this year, imposed on people who know better by people who should know better, but either don’t know or don’t care that they are killing people as they drink and party. I just got back from a 4 hour voyage out to our tiny post office and thence to Kroger’s where I stocked up on essentials, we should be all set for at least 14 days of everything we routinely consume…

    Also got some fresh cranberries to try TaMara’s Upside Down Cranberry Cake recipe, which seems like it will be really, really good. I’ll jazz it up with some fresh lemon juice in the cake batter… We like things  dessert things to be tart and tangy. I’ve been doing Meyer’s Lemon sponge cake with red raspberries inside, that’s really good too…

  35. 35.

    Jay

    @Amir Khalid:

    Canada ordered 9 vaccine doses per person, back when it was unclear if 1 dose was sufficient for a year, and when conditions and handling was unclear,

    The current plan, is that when there are enough vaccinated Canadians to creat a glut of available vaccines, that some of that glut will be released for the use of countries that can’t afford to buy the vaccine, as part of the WHO/UN sharing program.

    This will be in addition to the funding Canada has provided to the WHO/UN program to buy vaccines and set up distribution/injection sites in the Third World.

    the current numbers suggest that Canada will be providing over 350 million vaccinations to countries that can’t afford them.

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