Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Bark louder, little dog.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

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

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

No one could have predicted…

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself. We’re allowed to grow past that.

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

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

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

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

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

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Scoop from Vanity Fair, “Shot Chasers: How Officials in Trump’s Lame-Duck White House Scrambled to Score COVID-19 Vaccinations”:

… Among this group, Vanity Fair has learned, were chiefs of staff of cabinet agencies, some of whose bosses had become notorious for publicly disregarding pandemic safeguards like mask wearing. They wanted to know, “Would they be able to get four or six doses for their front office?” said a former senior administration official. Though some would claim to be inquiring on behalf of their teams, the official said, in fact “their ask was not about their employees.”

Though it is not clear who ultimately succeeded in crashing the list, which morphed continuously as names were punted off of it and then mysteriously reappeared, most petitioners ran into a surprisingly hard line. “It ain’t happening,” was a common refrain, said one career official familiar with the decision-making. In part this was because Meadows—who, like many working in the White House, contracted COVID-19 late last year—had received explicit directions from his boss. On December 13, President Trump tweeted that White House employees would wait their turn unless “specifically necessary.”…

Why, in a White House infamous for flouting pandemic precautions, would some political appointees in the executive branch show such determination in attempting to score a shot? According to the former senior administration official, the answer is simple enough: Vaccinations would enable these high-flying rule flouters to “maintain” their active lifestyles.

The previously unreported struggle over the White House list was just one front in a sprawling secret war that raged for months at the highest levels of the federal government. The question of how to equitably vaccinate a federal workforce of 2.1 million people in the midst of a presidential transition ended up pitting the National Security Council against officials from Operation Warp Speed, and career staff against political appointees. It also sparked resentment, suspicions of missing doses, and allegations of line jumping…

Asked why General Perna didn’t respond to questions from the Trump administration’s task force members, a Pentagon spokesperson said he “briefed the White House COVID task force…on January 21, 2021”—the first full day of the Biden administration. The spokesperson added that an HHS computer system called Tiberius “provides vaccine accountability” and can be audited…

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Thread, for those who miss the Covid Tracking Project:

Commentor H.E. Wolf located a tweet photo comparing a microchip needle (the kind vets use for pets) to a vaccine needle. They are visibly different! If you’re not phobic, you can show this to your ‘vaccine hesitant’ acquaintances, if you think it will help.

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Reader Interactions

28Comments

  1. 1.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 3/15 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Imported Cases

    On 3/15 China reported 13 new imported confirmed cases, 7 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 6 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Nigeria (1 via Cairo) & 1 each from Egypt, Jordan (via Kathmandu) & the Ukraine (via Amsterdam Schiphol), & a US national coming from Nepal; 6 asymptomatic cases, 4 Chinese nationals returning from Jordan (via Kathmandu) & 2 from Nigeria 
    • Shanghai Municipality – 5 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Mali (via Paris CdG), Japan, Mexico (via Amsterdam Schiphol), the UAE & Serbia (via Vienna)
    • Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Mexico
    • Tianjin Municipality – 1 confirmed case, no information released, yet
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Mozambique

     

    Overall in China, 6 confirmed cases recovered, 10 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 2 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 328 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 182 active confirmed cases in the country (178 imported), none in critical/serious condition, 260 asymptomatic cases (all imported), 0 suspect cases. 3,957 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    On 3/16 Hong Kong reported 18 new cases, 3 imported & 15 domestic (2 of whom does not yet have source of infection identified).

  2. 2.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY stats:

    Saturday was 97 new cases.

    They changed the web site format yesterday afternoon:

    Sunday new cases = 123. Currently at 1174 deaths.
    Positivity at 1.5%

    25.4 % of population with at least 1 dose of vaccine
    188,723 with at least 1 dose
    96,088 complete vaccination

    And, God willing and the creek don’t rise, I will be one of today’s new vaccinations.

  3. 3.

    mrmoshpotato

    WATCH: A large wooden castle symbolizing the coronavirus was burned in Russia on Saturday.

    Huh?

  4. 4.

    NotMax

    Maui’s 14 day average for new COVID-19 cases is 17 and test positivity rate over the same period is 2.6 percent.

    The state Department of Health reports that there were 46 additional COVID-19 cases reported in Hawai‘i on Monday, including 22 on O‘ahu, 15 on Maui, seven on Hawai‘i Island, and two in Hawai‘i residents diagnosed out of state. There were a total of 693 cases logged over the past two weeks, 242 of them on Maui.
    [snip]
    On Maui, the DOH reports that 18 percent of the population have received a first dose of the vaccine; and 7.9 percent have completed two doses. In total, Maui County has administered 42,744 doses among a total population base of 167,417. Source

  5. 5.

    Betty Cracker

    Things are turning around in Florida, thank dog! The test positivity rate in my county is down to 8% (was in double-digits a couple of weeks back). About 20% of Floridians have received one shot and 11% are fully vaccinated. I’m not eligible for a shot yet, but our shitty governor is allegedly going to lower the age range soon.

  6. 6.

    Eunicecycle

    Dear Tucker, President Biden did NOT say if you don’t take the vaccine you can’t celebrate the Fourth of July. He said all the people getting the vaccine may make it possible for an almost normal Fourth of July for us. If he’s trying to appeal to Trump voters, I don’t get it. I thought Trump voters wanted him to get credit for the vaccines. But then they may be bad? It seems some mixed messaging there.

  7. 7.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    I’d like to feel badly for these folks, I really would. But after all that has happened, all the death, all the possibly PERMANENT damage suffered by some of the survivors, anyone listening to Tucker Carlson at this point is an idiot. First he’s part of the “civilian leadership” insulting women in the military, now he’s an immunology expert?

    I DON’T THINK SO.

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    One of the descriptions of Carlson during John Oliver’s rotisserie-ing of him:

    “A walking yacht club, scrunching its face up for an hour every night.”

  15. 15.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 1,063 new cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 326,034 cases. He also reports five new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 1,218 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.39% of resolved cases.

    There are currently 15,204 active and contagious cases; 152 are in ICU, 68 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 1,365 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 309,612 patients recovered – 94.96% of the cumulative reported total.
    Five new clusters were reported today: Jalan Kampung Hilir, Nanga Bulo, and Jalan Sanyan in Sarawak; Banggol Chicha in Kelantan; and Jalan Taiping in Kuala Lumpur.

    Jalan Sanyan and Jalan Taipig are workplace clusters. The rest are community clusters.

    1,059 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 323 cases: 60 in existing clusters, 224 close-contact screenings, and 39 other screenings.

    Sarawak reports 183 cases: 34 in older clusters; 23 in Jalan Kampung Hilir, Nanga Bulo, and Jalan Sanyan clusters; 102 close-contact screenings; and 24 other screenings. Penang reports 175 cases: 69 in existing clusters, 83 close-contact screenings, and 23 other screenings.

    Johor reports 91 cases: 54 in existing clusters, 16 close-contact screenings, and 21 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 82 local cases: 15 in older clusters, three in Jalan Taiping cluster, 33 close-contact screenings, and 31 other screenings. Kelantan reports 67 cases: eight in older clusters, seven in Banggol Chicha cluster, 42 close-contact screenings, and 10 other screenings. Sabah reports 38 cases: eight in existing clusters, 21 close-contact screenings, and nine other screenings. Kedah reports 32 cases: 17 in existing clusters, nine close-contact screenings, and six other screenings. Perak reports 24 cases: 12 in existing clusters, eight close-contact screenings, and four other screenings. Terengganu reports 23 cases: 10 in existing clusters, 12 close-contact screenings, and one other screening.

    Negeri Sembilan reports 17 cases: 10 in existing clusters, five close-contact screenings, and two other screenings. Pahang reports two cases, both in existing clusters. Melaka reports one case, found in other screening. And Labuan also reports one case, found in other screening.

    Putrajaya and Perlis report no new cases today.

    Four new cases today are imported, all in Kuala Lumpur.

    The deaths reported today are a 74-year-old man in Kuala lumpur with diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease; a 72-year-old man in Sarawak with hypertension and heart disease; a 69-year-old man in Sarawak with diabetes and hypertension; an 83-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes and hypertension; and an 84-year-old man in Sarawak with hypertension, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

    Plenty of other news today.

    After the fortnightly National Security Council review, the states of Selangor, Johor, Penang, Kelantan, and Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur remain under conditional movement control orders. Kedah (except for Kuala Muda and Kulim districts), Negeri Sembilan (except for Seremban district) and Perak move up to the more liberal recovery movement control orders.

    Crossing district boundaries is now allowed in all states except Sabah and Sarawak, but crossing state borders will still require a police permit.

    More good news: Ramadhan and Eid al-Fitri bazaars will be allowed this year. (Ramadhan begins next month.)

    Top Glove, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of of medical latex gloves, was charged in court today with failing to provide Labour Department-certified dormitory accommodation to its immigrant staff. The overcrowded dormitories were the sites of a huge Covid-19 outbreak late last year.

  16. 16.

    Joey Maloney

    Pfizer CEO hails ‘obsessive’ Netanyahu for calling 30 times to seal vaccine deal

    Israel’s Crime Minister aside, for the first time in a while I am cautiously optimistic. Our 7-day moving average has fallen to below 3K new infections/day and is on a steady downward trend. Hospitalizations and deaths are down; 55% of the population has had at least one shot, including virtually everyone over 50. (It’s a young country – about a quarter of the population is under 18 and hence not currently eligible to be vaxed, though in the article above the Pfizer CEO says their shot will probably be approved for over-12 before summer. Best news, the R-number has been below 1 for the past 2 weeks and is “currently” (for reasons I don’t completely understand, the newest number is always from 10 days past) at .73 and heading downward.

    What concerns me for the immediate future is that restaurants reopened for inside dining Sunday a week ago, and they have been crammed ever since. The rule is supposed to be only people with the tav yarok (“green pass”, showing that you’re fully vaccinated) are allowed inside seating, but since this is the land of “you’re not the boss of me” I’m hearing that it’s being widely disregarded. So I’m concerned for what the numbers will look like this time next week.

  17. 17.

    Cameron

    I’m guessing Tuck has already had his jab, so he’s doing the traditional right-wing IGMFY….to his own followers.

  18. 18.

    Cameron

    @Betty Cracker: I have faith Governor DeCovid will find a way to screw things up.  Certainly the presence of both unchecked clueless spring breakers and the B117 variant within the state convinces me to stay hidden here in OldFartLand for a few more months.

  19. 19.

    WereBear

    When it comes to Republicans, cruelty is the point.

    “I have the power to kill you, peons,” is the message, and they don’t even hide it.

  20. 20.

    Sloane Ranger

    Yesterday in the UK we had 5089 new cases. This is an increase of about 400 from the day before but a decrease of  2.3% in the rolling 7-day average. The R number, as of 12 March, is now 0.6 to 0.8. New cases by nation,

    England – 4264 (up @390)

    Northern Ireland – 121 (down 22)

    Scotland – 456 (down 28)

    Wales – 248 (up 31).

    Deaths – There were 64 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is a decrease of 29.6% in the rolling 7-day average. Deaths by nation, England – 61, Northern Ireland – 1, Scotland – 0 and Wales – 2.

    Testing – Yesterday, there were 965,127 tests conducted out of a capacity of 734,609. This is an increase in the rolling 7-day average of 62.2%. From yesterday, Northern Ireland discontinued daily reporting of lab capacity, moving to weekly reporting so this will affect all figures going forwards.

    Hospitalisations – Not updated.

    Vaccinations – As of 14 March, a total of 24,453,221 people had received 1 dose of a vaccine and 1,610,280 had received both doses. We continue to roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine and, I believe, the Moderna one is on order.

  21. 21.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Sloane Ranger: 

    Re: UK vaccination program.

    We continue to roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine and, I believe, the Moderna one is on order.

    The Moderna vaccine has been approved for use by the UK health authorities, delivery is to begin “in the Spring” but no fixed date has been given. I’d guess it will be some time in April, after Easter.

    The UK government has announced there’s been a big delivery of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute production facilities in India which has now passed QA and testing and this will start getting into people’s arms at an accelerated rate over the next few weeks, maybe 600,000 vaccinations a day. A large number of these will be second vaccinations though as a lot of people who got their first injection eight weeks ago are coming up to the twelve-week limit between vaccinations for the two-jab formulations.

    As yet the J&J one-shot vaccine has not received approval for use in the UK but I think the UK government has ordered a large number of them anyway in a justifiable overreaction.

  23. 23.

    Ruckus

    @Eunicecycle:

    It seems some mixed messaging there.

    The only thing they have been consistent about is being wrong. Of course it’s mixed messaging, they are grasping at straws to stay relevant, they are stupid, and they lost big time. They went with a personality, a shitty one, with absolutely nothing behind it. They are the kind of people who can not admit defeat or being wrong. They are broken, and of their own doing. They will likely never admit they were wrong but they are acting out like they know. They are spoiled children, having a pout and no one is bringing them dinner.

  24. 24.

    Ruckus

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant):

    I’m sure fucker carlson is none of things he thinks he is. Other than being a loudmouthed moron, he’s got nothing. And he keeps proving it every single day. As more and more people see that acting like this virus is nothing is exactly the wrong thing to do, even if they will never admit it, or stop being the petulant children they act like, they are beginning to see, at least a few of them are. Their glorious “leader” is being shown for what he’s always been, a total failure.

  26. 26.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    You know, it’s great that we have umpteen-hundred ( or is it thousand?) possible channels, but back in the day, the FCC would have grounds for threatening to yank Fox News’ broadcast license; broadcasting had to be in the public interest.

    And yes, I know, “but it violates free speech to prevent a broadcaster from killing people, so long as they don’t know who will die as a result of their broadcast! It’s OKAY to kill people so long as you don’t know who they’ll be, which is why it’s okay for people to support the Republican Party.”

    I never found that argument very convincing. For me, killing people is wrong, even if you never see their faces.

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    @Ruckus: He thinks Orwell’s 1984 is a how-to book.  It’s all about him being the arbiter of the approved thoughts of the day.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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