COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Friday/Saturday, Jan. 15-16

19Comments

1. 1.

   OzarkHillbilly

   January 16, 2021 at 6:03 am

   A single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Ad26.COV2.S vax appears to be safe & to induce a robust immune response in key age groups 18 to 55, & 65 and up.

   But you people between 55 & 65 are screwed.

2. 2.

   NeenerNeener

   January 16, 2021 at 6:04 am

   Monroe County, NY yesterday:
   676 new cases. 793 hospitalized, 152 in the ICU. 766 reported dead. 33% of hospital beds available, 24% of ICU beds available. 7.5% positivity.

3. 3.

   Mary G

   January 16, 2021 at 6:15 am

   Orange County had 3,100 new cases reported today, along with more than 82 deaths, 30 more than our record high of 52. Just scary as fuck.

4. 4.

   Amir Khalid

   January 16, 2021 at 6:50 am

   Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports a whopping 4,029 new cases today in his media statement, hundreds more than the record set just on Thursday, for a cumulative reported total of 155,095 cases. Dr Noor Hisham also reports eight new deaths today, for a total of 594 deaths — 0.38% of the cumulative reported total, 0.50% of resolved cases.

   37,126 active and contagious cases are currently in hospital; 205 are in ICU, 79 of them on respirators. Meanwhile, 2,148 patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 117,375 patients recovered – 75.7% of the cumulative reported total.

   Six new clusters were reported today: Senai Cyber, Tembok Nanas, and Jalan Sembrong in Johor; Jalan Permata in Negeri Sembilan; Taman Juta in Perak; and Kampung Lebu in Pahang.

   4.021 new cases today are local infections. Selangor has 1,466 cases: 386 in existing clusters, 675 close-contact screenings, and 305 other screenings. Johor has 719 cases: 348 in older clusters, 163 in Senai Cyber, Tembok Nanas, and Jalan Sembrong clusters, 143 close-contact screenings, and 65 other screenings. Sabah has 449 cases: eight in existing clusters, 335 close-contact screenings, and 106 other screenings. KL has 340 local cases: 94 in existing clusters, 129 close-contact screenings, and 117 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan has 214 cases: 41 in older clusters, 50 in Jalan Permata cluster, 74 close-contact screenings, and 49 other screenings. Kedah has 195 cases: 19 in existing clusters, 62 close-contact screenings, and 114 other screenings. Kelantan has 141 cases: 45 in existing clusters, 63 close-contact screenings, and 33 other screenings. Penang has 120 cases: 36 in existing clusters, 46 close-contact screenings, and 38 other screenings.

   Terenggani has 80 cases: 35 in existing clusters, 22 close-contact screenings, and 23 other screenings. Sarawak has 68 local cases: 50 in existing clusters, and 18 other screenings. Pahang has 65 cases: 10 in older clusters, one in Kampung Lebu cluster, 41 close-contact screenings, and 15 other screenings. Perak has 54 cases: 10 in older clusters, one in Taman Juta cluster, 30 close-contact screenings, and 13 other screenings. Melaka has 44 cases: four in existing clusters, 36 close-contact screenings, and four other screenings. Putrajaya has 35 cases: three in existing clusters, 19 close-contact screenings, and 13 other screenings.

   Labuan has 17 cases: 12 close-contact screenings, and five other screenings. And Perlis has14 cases, all close-contact screenings.

   Eight new cases are imported. Seven were reported in KL, and one in Sarawak.

   The eight deaths today are a 70-year-old man in Sabah with diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease; a 59-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes; a 78-year-old man in Perak with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and a hearing problem; a 70-year-old man in KL with chronic obstructive lung disease; a 40-year-old man in Pahang with diabetes; a 62-year-old man in Sabah, DOA with no listed co-morbidities; a 45-year-old non-Malaysian woman in Sabah with heart disease; and a 61-year-old non-Malaysian woman in Sabah with diabetes and hypertension.

5. 5.

   Chris T.

   January 16, 2021 at 6:55 am

   @Mary G: Orange County had 3,100 new cases reported today, along with more than 82 deaths, 30 more than our record high of 52. Just scary as fuck.

   Well, remember that deaths today are from cases that happened about 3 weeks ago, which are from infections that were about 2 weeks before that.  So if today is about halfway through January, this is from cases in December, which are from infections picked up in late November.  It is indeed scary, but if you think back to November, I think there was some sort of holiday, where people who are either ignorant or tired (or a combination of both) might perhaps get together and spread a pandemic.

   Which, I suppose, is scary in an entirely different way.

6. 6.

   rikyrah

   January 16, 2021 at 6:55 am

   It feels like a relief to have people working on COVID that actually want to help the American people

7. 7.

   raven

   January 16, 2021 at 7:06 am

   @OzarkHillbilly: After the mask thread yesterday it appears we are all screwed vaccine or not.

8. 8.

   raven

   January 16, 2021 at 7:15 am

   “As I waited for my shot, I wondered if I should be there.”

   Her situation is exactly the same as here. They expanded it to 65 and up partly because so many eligible people are not getting it. Our neighborhood listserv includes the former mayor and she posted registration information and people signed up (including me). Would I give it to a teacher if I could? Yes? I can’t so I got it.

9. 9.

   Mary G

   January 16, 2021 at 7:22 am

   @Chris T.: Yes, these are from Thanksgiving, so we still have Christmas and New Years to go. Going to be a long winter.

10. 10.

    satby

    January 16, 2021 at 7:48 am

    My sister in assisted living in IL finally got her first shot of vaccine  yesterday. She’s only 64, but severely disabled and very frail from MS so we’ve all been very concerned even though they’ve been on lockdown for almost a year.

11. 11.

    YY_Sima Qian

    January 16, 2021 at 8:47 am

    On 1/15 China reported 115 new domestic confirmed, 56 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Liaoning Province did not report any new domestic positive cases:

    • At Dalian, 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered and 1 domestic asymptomatic cases was released from isolation. There are currently 5 domestic confirmed cases and 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 village, 2 residential compounds and 8 communities were re-designated as Low Risk. There are 5 communities currently at Medium Risk in the city.
    • At Shenyang, 4 domestic confirmed case recovered. There are currently 15 domestic confirmed and 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 residential compound were re-designated as Low Risk. 2 residential compounds were re-designated as Low Risk. There are 2 buildings and 4 residential compounds currently at Medium Risk in the city. 

     

    Beijing Municipality reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic), the new case is a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine since 1/10. 1 village was elevated to Medium Risk. There are 7 villages currently at Medium Risk.

    Hebei Province:

    Hebei Provincial Health Commission reported 90 new domestic confirmed (9 previously asymptomatic) and 12 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There are currently 643 domestic confirmed cases (2 critical, 22 serious, 532 moderate and 87 mild) and 197 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province:

    • Xingtai reported 7 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) and 1 new domestic asymptomatic case. 4 of the confirmed cases are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine since 1/ or 1/7, the other 3 cases live in the same village and were traced as F2 close contacts, sent to centralized quarantine on 1/14 where they tested positive, No information released for the asymptomatic case. There are currently 41 domestic confirmed and 8 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 2 communities were elevated to Medium Risk. 2 communities, 5 residential compounds, 2 offices and 1 village are at Medium Risk. Nangong government just implemented a Wuhan-style lock down for the entire district, all residents restricted to their homes. Essential workers will be eating and sleeping at their places of work. A very dramatic reaction (over-reaction?) based on the case count reported so far, and after at least 4 rounds of mass screening. On the other hand, other districts of Xingtai are returning to normal, after 2 rounds of mass screening.
    • Shijiazhuang reported 83 new domestic confirmed cases (7 previously asymptomatic) and 11 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 asymptomatic case was released from isolation. 71 of the confirmed cases at Gaocheng District (7 previously asymptomatic already under isolation, 4 traced close contact already under centralized quarantine, 60 from mass screening already under home or centralized quarantines), including 63 at the epicenter township; 3 at Xinle District (2 traced close contacts and 1 from mass screening); 1 at New Development Zone (traced close contact); 1 at Yuhua District (from mass screening); 5 at Zhengding Country (4 traced close contacts and 1 from mass screening); 1 at Qiaoxi District (from mass screening); 1 at Pingshan County (from mass screening). No information have been released for the asymptomatic cases. 1 asymptomatic case was released from isolation. Currently, there are 601 confirmed cases and 189 asymptomatic cases. 2 villages and 3 residential compounds were elevated to Medium Risk. There are 1 district, 17 residential compounds and 5 villages are at Medium Risk in the city, and 1 district at High Risk. The city will remain under lock down until at least 1/19.
    • Gu’an County in Langfang did not report any new domestic positive cases. There is 1 domestic confirmed case there. 1 residential compound was elevated to Medium Risk.

     

    Jinzhong in Shanxi Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine since 1/11. There are currently 1 domestic confirmed and 2 domestic asymptomatic cases there. The cluster is seeded by imported cases from Shijiazhuang.

    Heilongjiang Province:

    Heilongjiang Province reported 23 new domestic confirmed (13 previously asymptomatic) and 30 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all are F1 or F2 close contacts of previously reported positive cases:

    • Suihua reported 23 new domestic confirmed (7 previously asymptomatic) and 29 new domestic asymptomatic cases. Wangkui County reported 21 confirmed cases (7 previously asymptomatic) and 25 asymptomatic cases, Beilin District reported 1 confirmed case, Anda reported 1 new confirmed and 2 new asymptomatic cases, and Suiling County reported 2 new asymptomatic cases. All cases are traced F1 or F2 close contacts already under centralized quarantine. There are currently 121 domestic confirmed and 130 domestic asymptomatic cases there. The entire Wangkui County was elevated to High Risk. Following Shijiazhuang’s example, Suihua authorities have also moved all residents at the epicenter (and adjacent) villages to centralized quarantine.
    • Harbin reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, found via mass screening. No connections has been found with other positive cases, yet. There are 5 domestic confirmed and 1 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 4 residential building units were elevated to Medium Risk.
    • Qiqihar did not reported any new domestic positive cases. There are 14 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 1 village is at Medium Risk.
    • Yichun did not report any new domestic positive cases. There are 2 domestic asymptomatic cases there.
    • Daqing did report any new domestic positive cases, there is 1 asymptomatic case there.
    • Mudanjiang did not report any new domestic positive cases, there are 4 domestic asymptomatic cases there.
    • At Heihe, 1 confirmed case from the recent outbreak recovered, with 6 cases remaining. There are 6 villages and a building at Medium Risk.

     

    Jilin Province reported 13 new domestic asymptomatic cases on 1/15, and 49 more on 1/16, there are currently 89 asymptomatic cases there:

    • Songyuan reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, an imported case from Wangkui County. There are 2 domestic asymptomatic cases there.
    • Tonghua did not report new domestic asymptomatic cases on 1/15, but reported 49 new asymptomatic cases by the morning of 1/16, all F1 or F2 close contacts of positive cases. There are currently 69 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
    • Gongzhuling in Changchun reported 12 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all traced close contacts of the same asymptomatic super spreader that caused a chain of infection at Tonghua, all were already under centralized quarantine. There are currently 18 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. As I mentioned in previous posts, The super spreader himself was infected by a couple of passengers that boarded the same train carriage from Wangkui County in Heilongjiang Province. The case is one of those dodgy traveling salesmen holding workshops to lure elders into spending big sums on health products. Between Tonghua and Gongzhuling, he has directly or indirectly infected 81 people, the vast majority in their 60 – 80s. Amazingly, they are all still asymptomatic for the time being, but that probably will not last. Unfortunately, there will likely be a few deaths, given the dominant demographic of the clusters.

     

    Dongguan in Guangdong Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There is 1 domestic asymptomatic cases there, infected by a truck driver making delivery from Hong Kong.

    On 1/15, China reported 15 new imported confirmed cases, 24 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 7 confirmed cases, 3 Chinese nationals returning from Israel, 2 from the US, 1 Mainland Chinese resident returning from Hong Kong, and 1 Columbian national coming from Columbia (via Amsterdam Schipol)
    • Tianjin Municipality – 3 confirmed cases (1 previous asymptomatic), 1 Chinese national each returning from France and Côte d’Ivoire (via Paris CdG), and a Polish national coming from Poland; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from France
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Nepal and Pakistan (via Djibouti, Istanbul and Amsterdam Schipol); 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Pakistan (via Djibouti, Istanbul and Amsterdam Schipol)
    • Changsha in Hunan Province – 1 confirmed and 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Chongqing Municipality – 1 confirmed and 1 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Nepal
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a foreign national coming from South Korea; the case had landed at Xi’an on 11/26, was diagnosed as an asymptomatic case on 12/18, nearly a month later he turned symptomatic(!)
    • Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 14 asymptomatic cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Indonesia
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a foreign national coming from Turkey
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Nigeria, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Jiangmen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Algeria (via Paris CdG), off a flight that landed at Guangzhou

     

    Overall in China, 18 confirmed cases recovered, 7 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation and 20 were reclassified as confirmed cases, 1 suspect cases was ruled out as COVID-19, and 1,053 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,113 active confirmed cases in the country (281 imported), 38 are in serious condition (2 imported), 670 asymptomatic cases (262 imported) and 1 suspect case (imported). 33,409 traced contacts are currently under quarantine.

    On 1/16, Hong Kong reported 50 new cases, 1 imported and 49 domestic (15 of whom do not have sources of infection identified). There are another 30+ cases preliminarily positive, awaiting retesting for confirmation.

12. 12.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 16, 2021 at 8:59 am

    Now that the Democrats are taking over DC, suddenly Politico is interested in how fast Covid-19 is spreading…

    Good morning.  Anyone see a couple eyeballs roll this way?

13. 13.

    SteveinSC

    January 16, 2021 at 9:08 am

    Thank you Jesus!  My wife and I are signed up for the vaccine to be given Monday!  It is from the release of the stockpiled vaccine.  What? What? Oh, wait, there is no stockpile?

14. 14.

    YY_Sima Qian

    January 16, 2021 at 9:13 am

    With respect to the ice creams that tested positive, the Tianjin authorities have exhaustively tested all materials, products, environment and personnel at the ice cream factory, the only positive samples were from a batch of milk powder from the Ukraine. In any case, there is no evidence that live viral particles were found on the ice creams or the milk powder.

15. 15.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 16, 2021 at 9:35 am

    @SteveinSC:

    Thank you Jesus! My wife and I are signed up for the vaccine to be given Monday! It is from the release of the stockpiled vaccine. What? What? Oh, wait, there is no stockpile?

    Here in Maryland, Gov. Hogan had said that the 65-74 age group, which I’m in, could begin getting vaccinated in early March.  I fully expect that the no-stockpile news will set that back a bit.

    98 hours, 25 minutes…

16. 16.

    SteveinSC

    January 16, 2021 at 9:45 am

    @lowtechcyclist:   Well, here in SC they are signing up everyone over 70.  There are no residency requirements and people we know were vaccinated yesterday and before that, even.  So, it’s going out for sure.  Walk-ins as well.  I thought “Holy shit, maybe she got the flu vaccine!”  But no it was Moderna COVID-19.  Check neighboring states, call the local health department.  Get the vaccine wherever and get on with your life!

17. 17.

    Sloane Ranger

    January 16, 2021 at 10:22 am

    Yesterday in the UK we had 55,761 new cases. This is an increase of about 7000 from the day before but a reduction of 13.7% in the rolling 7-day average. New cases by nation,

    England – 50,741 (up @6400)

    Northern Ireland – 1052 (up @80)

    Scotland – 2160 (up @500)

    Wales – 1808 (up @200).

    Deaths – There were 1280 deaths yesterday, An increase of 31.7% in the rolling 7-day average. 1139 deaths were in England, 26 in Northern Ireland, 61 in Scotland and 54 in Wales.

    Testing – 695,148 tests were processed on 14th January out of a capacity of 806,881. This is an increase of 22.8% in the rolling 7-day average.

    Hospitalisations – 37,282 people were in hospital on Wednesday, 13th January and 3672 were on ventilators on Thursday, 14th. There has been an increase in the rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions of 22.1%.

    Vaccinations – As of 14th January, 3,234,946 people had received the 1st dose of a vaccine and 443,234 had received their 2nd dose.

    General – The British Medical Association (the professional association for doctors) has asked the government to pass a law protecting them from wrongful death suits if the NHS becomes overwhelmed. They are concerned that they would be liable if they have to use triage to decide who gets a ventilator or is denied a bed for an non-COVID medical emergency because there are none available.

18. 18.

    J R in WV

    January 16, 2021 at 10:25 am

    I see the national news reports that WV is way ahead of most states in administering Covid-19 vaccines.

    Not from where I sit. Last week (so 10 days ago) I called the county health dept, who told me the local Walgreens drug store was administering vaccine, call them for an appointment. Called Walgreens, not so. Had to be 80+ or front line health care workers according to the CDC, according to the pharma tech who doesn’t watch the news.

    Which is not what the Gov was saying in his press conferences, nor the CDC in their news releases.

    I’ll call again next week to see if the pharma tech is awake yet. Sweet that WV is ahead of the rest of the nation, right? Grrr.

19. 19.

    Another Scott

    January 16, 2021 at 12:09 pm

    @SteveinSC: Excellent!  But stay safe – it takes a while for immunity to build up.

    On the US “Stockpile”… Reuters:

    Pfizer says it has second doses of COVID shot on hand, expects no supply problems

    By Reuters Staff

    Jan 15 (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc has been holding onto second doses for each of its COVID-19 vaccinations and anticipates no problems supplying them to Americans, a spokeswoman said in a statement on Friday.

    Pfizer has shipped more than 15 million doses to destinations around the U.S. from its Michigan facility and expects to be able to produce around 2 billion doses worldwide in 2021, the spokeswoman said, adding that U.S. health officials recently asked the company to begin distributing its second doses.

    That’s it. That’s the story.

    True? Dunno. But it’s often the case that the important actors in the Pandemic in the US have little idea what the others are doing.

    Maybe things aren’t as bad as the soundbites indicate (though it’s usually safe to assume with Donnie’s henchmen that things are actually worse).

    (Also note that Pfizer is only one of the players in the US.)

    FWIW, pound of salt, etc.

    Cheers,
    Scott.