Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

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

The willow is too close to the house.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

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

This fight is for everything.

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

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

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

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

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

We still have time to mess this up!

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Monday/Tuesday, Feb. 15-16

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Monday/Tuesday, Feb. 15-16

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(It would be the most Japanese event ever to hold the torch marathon, and then or (despite) cancel the Olympics themselves… )

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41Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY yesterday: 142 new cases, 1069 reported deaths

    2.2% positivity
    323 people hospitalized, 74 people in the ICU
    40% available hospital beds, 35% available ICU beds

    After I read Central Planning’s post about getting vaccination appointments for her parents in Monroe County I went looking for the website. I tried for one of the two remaining appointments on 3/28 but by the time I answered all the questions the appointments were gone. I started the process all over and they had opened up a whole bunch of times on April 2nd so I did manage to get a spot that day. Then I texted one of my co-workers whose RA meds would qualify her as having a comorbidity, and by the time she got through the process they were filling up April 15th. I checked again at 5 pm today and whatever appointments they had are all gone for now.​​​​​​​​

  2. 2.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 2/15 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Hebei Province

    Hebei Provincial Health Commission did not report any new domestic positive cases. There are currently 153 domestic confirmed cases (134 moderate and 19 mild) & 9 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province:

    • At Xingtai, there are currently 21 domestic confirmed cases in the city.
    • At Shijiazhuang, there are 132 confirmed cases & 9 asymptomatic cases. Gaocheng District remains at Medium Risk.

     

    Heilongjiang Province

    Heilongjiang Provincial Health Commission reported that 17 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 11 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 75 domestic confirmed (51 moderate and 24 mild) & 82 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.:

    • At Suihua, 8 confirmed cases recovered & 8 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 58 domestic confirmed & 53 domestic asymptomatic cases there. Wangkui County remains at Medium Risk.
    • At Harbin, 9 domestic confirmed case recovered & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 19 domestic confirmed & 29 asymptomatic cases there. 1 sub-district was re-designated from High Risk to Low Risk. 2 sub-districts remain at High Risk. 2 sub-districts were re-designated from Medium Risk to Low Risk. 1 sub-district & 1 townships remain at Medium Risk.

     

    Jilin Province 

    Jilin Provincial Heath Commission reported that 12 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 96 domestic confirmed (2 critical, 6 serious, 64 moderate and 24 mild) & 5 domestic asymptomatic cases:

    • At Songyuan, there are 2 domestic confirmed cases there.
    • At Tonghua, 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 78 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 village, 9 buildings & 13 residential compounds were re-designated from High Risk to Low Risk. 3 buildings & 13 residential compounds within Dongchang District remain at High Risk.
    • At Changchun, 7 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 16 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. The Medium Risk township has been re-designated as Low Risk.

     

    Imported Cases

    On 2/15 China reported 16 new imported confirmed cases, 11 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 7 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals each returning from the DRC (via Nairobi), Nigeria (via Nairobi) & the UAE, and 1 from Canada; 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from the DRC (via Nairobi), the UAE & Malaysia
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a South African national coming from South Africa
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from the UAE; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Myanmar; both off flights that landed at Guangzhou
    • Shanghai Municipality – 5 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals each returning from Japan & France, and 1 from the US
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 2 confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic), 1 Chinese national each returning from the UAE & Uzbekistan, both off flights diverted from Beijing; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Algeria (via Frankfurt)
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Algeria; 2 asymptomatic cases, a Chinese national returning from Egypt, and an Indian national coming from India (via Kathmandu)
    • Changsha in Hunan Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Panama (via Amsterdam Schiphol)

     

    Overall in China, 48 confirmed cases recovered, 18 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation and 2 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 828 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 605 active confirmed cases in the country (234 imported), 10 are in critical/serious condition (2 imported), 387 asymptomatic cases (286 imported), 1 suspect case (imported). 9,643 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    On 2/16 Hong Kong reported 8 new cases, 2 imported & 6 domestic (3 of whom do not yet have source of infection identified).

  3. 3.

    germy

    Sometimes I feel like I must go mad.

    I’m always reading about the newer COVID strains, and all the hospitalizations and deaths…

    And then yesterday I visit the supermarket and see a customer come walking in with his mask down around his neck.  He seemed acquainted with some of the employees, because they were all talking and joking with each other.  (Employees were masked, fortunately)

    I’m at the checkout (self checkout was closed) and the cashier is telling me she was out for three months and on a ventilator.  Had to spend three weeks learning how to walk again.

    She rings me up and I swipe my credit card, and then she asks me if I’d like to round up the total and give the extra to charity.  “Yes,” I reply.  And then she spends fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to round it up.  No problem, but I’m sort of anxious to get out of there because the maskless dude is now in line with his two items.

    I told her nevermind if it was too difficult, but she was determined.  Apparently, she had to relearn a lot of her job, so I wasn’t going to be impatient with her.  But the dude made me nervous.

    But no one else seemed bothered by him.  Not the employees, managers, or cashier who’d spent months in the hospital.

    And then I come home and see this photo:

    https://dailygazette.com/2021/02/14/lennon-mohonasen-girls-basketballs-lone-senior-embracing-mentor-role-on-young-team/

    My news programs are full of impatient students and parents who want school sports again.  “We want to play sports!”  “My kids want to play sports!”  Everyone insists they’ll be safe.  Uh, okay.

    But am I the only one who sees a problem with the photo?

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 2,720 new cases today at his media briefing, for a cumulative reported total of 269,165 cases. He also reports eight new deaths today for a cumulative total of 983 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.44% of resolved cases.
    There are currently 44,129 active and contagious cases; 253 are in ICU, 118 of them intubated. Meanwhile, a record 5,718 patients recovered and were discharged, again over twice as many as tested positive today, for a cumulative total of 224,053 patients recovered – 83.2% of the cumulative reported total.

    19 new clusters were reported today: Rawang Bestari, Jalan Lazuardi, Jalan Industri Dua Belas, and Jalan Industri Tiga in Selangor; Package Pengerang, Wawasan Kulai, Industri Cyber, and Jalan Pelepas Empat in Johor; Jalan Segambut building site in Kuala Lumpur; Kidurong Dua, Gelong, Univista, Kampung Sungai Maong, and Jalan Geronggang in Sarawak; Jalan Apas Empat and Simpang Tiga in Sabah; Jalan Kayu Manis in Perak; Jalan Day in Kedah; and Jengka Tujuh in Pahang.

    Gelong, Kidurong Dua, Univista, and Kampung Sungai Maong are community clusters. Jalan Geronggang is a high-risk group cluster. The rest are all workplace clusters.

    All 2,720 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 1,300 cases: 563 in older clusters; 82 in Rawang Bestari, Jalan Lazuardi, Jalan Industri Dua Belas, and Jalan Industri Tiga clusters; 422 close-contact screenings; and 233 other screenings. Johor reports 451 cases: 49 in older clusters; 316 in Package Pengerang, Wawasan Kulai, Industri Cyber, and Jalan Pelepas Empat clusters; 37 close-contact screenings; and 49 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 318 cases: 49 in older clusters, 173 in Jalan Segambut building site cluster, 33 close-contact screenings; and 63 other screenings.

    Sarawak reports 193 cases: 14 in older clusters; 48 in Kidurong Dua, Gelong, Univista, Kampung Sungai Maong, and Jalan Geronggang clusters; 28 close-contact screenings; and 103 other screenings. Sabah reports 132 cases: 55 in older clusters; eight in Jalan Apas Empat and Simpang Tiga clusters; 56 close-contact screenings; and 13 other screenings.

    Penang reports 72 cases: 30 in existing clusters, 14 close-contact screenings, and 28 other screenings. Perak reports 69 cases: 58 in older clusters, three in Jalan Kayu Manis cluster, five close-contact screenings; and three other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 64 cases: seven in existing clusters, 44 close-contact screenings, and 13 other screenings. Kedah reports 38 cases: 24 in older clusters, two in Jalan Day cluster, six close-contact screenings; and six other screenings. Terengganu reports 26 cases: 20 in existing clusters, two close-contact screenings, and four other screenings.

    Pahang reports 19 cases: two in older clusters, 14 in Jengka Tujuh cluster, two close-contact screenings; and one other screening. Kelntan reports 17 cases: 15 close-contact screenings, and two other screenings. Melaka reports 14 cases: seven in existing clusters, four close-contact screenings, and three other screenings. Putrajaya reports six cases: one in an existing cluster, four close-contact screenings, and one other screening. And Labuan reports one case, found in other screening.

    Perlis reports no new cases today.

    The deaths reported today are an 84-year-old woman in Sarawak with diabetes and hypertension; a 74-year-old man in Selangor with Parkinson’s disease; an 84-year-old woman in Sabah with diabetes and hypertension;a 56-year-old man in Selangor with low immunity; an 81-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, heart disease, and a pulmonary embolism; a 76-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease; an 86-year-old man in Negeri Sembilan with chronic lung disease; and a 47-year-old non-Malaysian man with no co-morbidities listed.

  5. 5.

    satby

    The weather is going to be a significant disruption to vaccine distribution, both in potential wastage of vaccine spoiled by power outages if not used, and in preventing people from getting to appointments. Disaster on top of disaster.

  6. 6.

    NeenerNeener

    @germy: Nope, the picture with her mask under her nose bothers me too. And you know she’s breathing heavily from the exertion so if she’s got the ‘rona she’s spreading it all over the gym.

  7. 7.

    Amir Khalid

    Other news:
    Senior Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced today that most of Malaysia will revert to the less restrictive conditional movement control order status from Thursday. The exceptions are Kuala Lumpur and the states of Selangor, Johor, and Penang, which remain under movement control order 2.0 status. The state of Perlis , which has reported no new cases for the past few days, will be under the least restrictive recovery movement control order status.

    The situation willl be evaluated again in two weeks, and any adjustments will be announced at that time.

    Also, Dr Noor Hisham stated that the first shipment of vaccines from Pfizer will arrive on the 21st of this month, five days earlier than previously announced, and vaccination of frontline health workers will begin on the 26th.

  8. 8.

    sab

    What? Masks aren’t supposed to protect your chin?

    I had heart surgery. The whole surgical team wore masks. They danced around a lot (cold room to protect the surgical equipment.) Nobody fainted from lack of oxygen.

    My husband has had two brain surgery and one back surgery. Very intense. Whole team wore masks over their whole face. Nobody fainted.

    ETA reply to germy at #4.

  9. 9.

    sab

    @Amir Khalid: Wow. Frontline workers vaccination starting February 25. And Americans (including me) complaining that frontline workers had to wait until early January or early February.

    And Malaysia has pretty much done everything right on quarantines and lockdowns. And most of America has done little if nothing. America is doing it’s alleged exceptionalism really bass ackwards.

  10. 10.

    Cameron

    So….the mutant strains are running wild down here, and Governor DeCovid’s response is….open the schools in defiance of CDC guidelines.  Sounds like a plan!

  11. 11.

    mrmoshpotato

    We’ve finally met a healthcare problem that requires massive spending, complete saturation of infrastructure and a huge rollout of cutting-edge new drugs. We’re like Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer stunting on all the Euro’s who made fun of our healthcare system for decades.

    Interesting brag in a do-or-die situation.

  12. 12.

    Cameron

    @germy: Yeah, the chin mask is quite the hawt look down in my neck of the woods.  I’ve seen both men and women wearing them that way, and I’m stumped.  If you want to protest about wearing masks, don’t wear one at all.  I’m more than a bit annoyed with the folks who get on the bus with mask on (you’re not allowed on without a mask in Manatee County) and then promptly take it off as soon as they sit down.  FREEDUMB!

  13. 13.

    Cameron

    @mrmoshpotato: Indeed.  No mention of the fact that such heroic mobilization was required due to the incompetence that caused us to have the worst stats in the world.

  14. 14.

    Amir Khalid

    @sab: ​
     One thing that has hindered the US response, it seems to me, is that it is fragmented among the 50 states, with no coordination or help from DC until a few weeks ago. If our states and federal territories had been left to their own devices, Malaysia would probably be up the same creek right now.

  16. 16.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Cameron: Yup.  Or the fact that our death rate has left everyone else in the dust.  And this isn’t a “Woo!  We’re #1!” situation.

  18. 18.

    Sloane Ranger

    Yesterday in the UK we had 9,765 new cases. This is about 1200 less than the previous day and a decrease of 29% in the rolling 7-day average. New cases by nation,

    England – 8609 (down @800)

    Northern Ireland – 234 (up @60)

    Scotland – 559 (down @350).

    Wales – 363 (down 31).

    Deaths – Yesterday, there were 230 reported new deaths within 28 days of a positive test. This is a decrease of 26.2% in the rolling 7-day average. New deaths by nation, England – 210, Northern Ireland – 4, Scotland – 0 and Wales – 16. In total there were 667 deaths reported yesterday where COVID was mentioned on the Death Certificate. 614 in England, 3 in Northern Ireland, 3 in Scotland and 47 in Wales.

    Testing – On Sunday, 14 February, 401,786 tests were conducted out of a capacity of 773,541. This is a decrease of 9.3% in the rolling 7-day average.

    Hospitalisations – As of Thursday, 11 February, 23,341 people were in hospital and 2943 were on ventilators as of Friday, 12th. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions has decreased by  25.5.%.

    Vaccinations – As of 14 February, a total of 15,300,151 people had received the 1st dose of a vaccine and 539,630 had received both doses.

    General – BoJo is expected to announce a “cautious but irreversible” plan for getting England out of lockdown next Monday and Nicola Sturgeon (First Minister, Scotland) has said she will be making an announcement about a staged re-starting in-person education in Scotland this afternoon.

  22. 22.

    Robert Sneddon

    @David Evans: The UK’s head start and current performance in the race to vaccinate the population is mostly due to our early approval of the Pfizer and later the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines (we’ve also approved the Moderna vaccine but the first contracted deliveries of that product aren’t expected until March).

    Another factor is that the British government signed contracts with most of the promising vaccine manufacturers back in late Spring last year, guaranteeing first place in the queue for deliveries when the vaccines went into production which has also helped. We actually delayed starting up mass vaccination centres until recently, targetting the available vaccines at specific groups such as older people in care homes, healthcare professionals and the like. This actually slowed down the numbers of people getting vaccinated initially.

  24. 24.

    mrmoshpotato

    @satby: Not sure about the vaccine life span.

    ETA – just hoping for Texans’ safety.  (Open your doors, megachurches!)

  25. 25.

    Dan B

    @germy: The parallels with AIDS are mind boggling. 1. People, medical professionals, politicians, and gay men denied it was dangerous, some for years. 2. Once the grim reality was accepted by most people there were those who rebelled. It kept spreading. 3. For most people AIDS was “other people”. Gay men and lesbians tried to get everyone’s attention but the sickness and death were kept from view or appeared sporadically in the media. 4. It became endemic and the responses became focused on spiritual healing, angry protests, and organizing to influence policy.
    Finally there were treatments but compassion for the Ill and the most vulnerable, instead of shame and demonization, couoled with acceptance that safe sex was necessary for a year or more during the early years, could have stopped AIDS before it was everywhere.

    We failed to realize that human behavior is often ignoble and short sighted. We don’t like listening to experts and we don’t like to be assertive when people behave irresponsibly. These make room for demagogues who preach blame instead of working for the pathways to solutions.

    Joe’s “unity – with everyone who wants to make things better” is a good path marker.

  27. 27.

    Dan B

    @germy: Thanks.

    If human behavior were as well intentioned and noble as our mythos implies we would not have wars, pogroms, famine, and terrorism.

    If we were as logical and individuals were as self interested we would not be facing the climate crisis (and the polar vortex we are experiencing at the moment – ask me about the destruction if the circumpolar Jet Stream).

    Interesting times!

    Learn from the past and soldier on with making things better and making time for joy, as well as sorrow.

  30. 30.

    Ivan X

    So, my right leaning friends (yes, I have a couple; though none are full blown Trumpists) have been asking me, since I’m in California, why CA and FL have similar rates of infection and death by percentage of population, when CA has been highly restrictive of business, and FL has not. So I looked into it, and this is a story that’s making the rounds on the usual RWNJ media sources, to make the point, of course, that Democrats love to take away freedoms and destroy economies, for little or no benefit.

    But, I actually think it’s a question that I don’t have a good answer to — if CA’s lockdown measures were working, wouldn’t we be seeing better numbers? I hate to find myself asking whether it was worth it (and, selfishly, I’ve avoided COVID-19 thus far, so those results are hard to argue with), but the thought has now been planted in my head. Why *isn’t* CA doing better than FL?

  31. 31.

    NeenerNeener

    @wenchacha: this is the only time having a chronic illness has worked in my favor. But I would gladly trade my MS for health and a vaccination spot next November.

  34. 34.

    gvg

    @Ivan X: ​
     From Florida-we know the govenor and allies tried to downplay the numbers. No idea how reliable are numbers really are. Two, Florida’s elderly population of retirees knew perfectly well they were the vulnerable ones and many of them took steps to protect themselves. they were also more able to do that by virtue of being retired, whereas the California problems seem to revolve around those who have to go to work, especially recent immigrants. I doubt that is all, but that is what I know off the top of my head.
    I also remeber driving by malls and seeing maskless idiots but seeing the parking lots weren’t as full as in the past, and realizing that the people who understood the science, stayed at home and didn’t call attention to themselves. So many people were smarter than the politicians gave us credit for wanting.

  38. 38.

    VFX Lurker

    @Ivan X:

    Why *isn’t* CA doing better than FL?

    Define “better.” Looking at the Washington Post’s numbers, Florida is #25 for reported deaths per 100k and California is #33.

    California’s full of crackpots and idiots, but we’re doing a much better job keeping our COVIDiots alive than Florida.

  39. 39.

    charon

    @Ivan X:

    Why *isn’t* CA doing better than FL?

    Expensive housing.

    Crowded housing.

    Multigenerational households living in apartments.

    There was a piece in the LAT about how COVID is much more prevalent in places like East Los Angeles where there is a lot of high density housing occupancy.

  40. 40.

    Chris T.

    @charon: Yes, but VFX Lurker (at 38) is correct as well: California is doing better than FL. The hottest spots for problems in CA are where the population density is very high and there is a great deal of poverty.

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