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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Friday / Saturday, April 16-17

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Friday / Saturday, April 16-17

by Anne Laurie|  April 17, 20215:32 am| 26 Comments

This post is in: COVID-19, Foreign Affairs

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(Per BBC)

49.1% of all American adults have received at least one vaccine shot; 31.1% are now fully vaccinated.

80.4% of all Americans age 65 or older have received at least one shot; 64.6% are now fully vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/WrR2s5KxmM

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) April 16, 2021

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause will last at least another week. A new CDC panel meeting has been set for next Friday. Dr. Fauci says the J&J vax will be back on track soon https://t.co/sVsiDrK64o pic.twitter.com/HWCWE7a9kR

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) April 16, 2021

The US had +74,479 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total to over 32.2 million. The 7-day moving average declined slightly to below 72,000 new cases per day. pic.twitter.com/XjzZv8JTQW

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) April 16, 2021

Calming clarification on today's #COVID19 news, frm @CDCDirector : >1/2 new US cases involve variant viruses, but, "the B117 variant, originally id'ed in the UK, was 44% of the virus circulating during wk of Mar 27."
The B117 is very contagious but #vaccines work well against it. pic.twitter.com/buKfx1nlzW

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) April 16, 2021

In @WhiteHouse LIVE presser @CDCDirector Walensky is underscoring the need to get vaccinated "as soon as you possibly can" because variant forms of the virus now account for 1/2 all new infections.
The race is on and #SARSCoV2 still has the lead. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/AnqpX0lRtZ

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) April 16, 2021

Thread:

Time to scale up mRNA vaccine production globally, @DrTomFrieden argues. https://t.co/BzVPBLHK86

— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) April 17, 2021

======

BREAKING: The global death toll from the coronavirus has topped 3 million people, according to a count by John Hopkins University. https://t.co/oj4cuGFOvL

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 17, 2021

Global Covid-19 Infections Nearing Highest Rate Of Pandemic, WHO Says—Here’s Where Cases Are Going Up https://t.co/eGz3hjF2nN pic.twitter.com/QKMRIrorFT

— Forbes (@Forbes) April 16, 2021

“Vaccine equity is the challenge of our time. And we are failing."

— @WHO Chief @DrTedros – as UN, government, scientific & civil society leaders call for solidarity & share solutions aimed at improving equal access to #COVID19 vaccines. https://t.co/cnAqsQhQo1

— United Nations (@UN) April 17, 2021

India reports another record daily rise in COVID-19 infections https://t.co/mzaphmf65Z pic.twitter.com/i9uQIE7tM2

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 17, 2021

Analysis: India shifts from mass vaccine exporter to importer, worrying the world https://t.co/0ykADrbjhK

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 16, 2021

India's Kumbh festival attracts big crowds amid devastating second Covid wave https://t.co/hxFChX9gob

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 17, 2021

Sputnik V: How Russia's Covid vaccine is dividing Europe https://t.co/uRccI1lAez

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 16, 2021

Worshippers wear face masks and stand apart for Ramadan prayers in Mecca, in much smaller numbers than the millions of people of the past pic.twitter.com/RyJ0yOCjOB

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 17, 2021

Argentines rebel against new pandemic restrictions even as ICUs fill https://t.co/AgEcVxw8UE pic.twitter.com/0Pti3EdDPh

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 17, 2021

Canada sounds the alarm as Covid cases overtake US https://t.co/opH4kzVSva

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 16, 2021

Thread — Canada, by province:

Ontario reports another single-day record with 4,812 new cases #COVID19 and 25 more pandemic deaths Friday; 1,955 patients hospitalized, 701 in intensive care; province administered 115,634 vaccines yesterday. https://t.co/5cZIy3QGnK via @globeandmail /1

— André Picard (@picardonhealth) April 16, 2021

======

COVID: Scientists identify human genes that carry codes to fight SARSCoV2 infection https://t.co/Pl7u5aridN via @medical_xpress

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) April 17, 2021

What's behind the thrombotic events that appear to be linked to the AstraZeneca & J&J vaccines? @rkhamsi explains the leading theories. Worth your time. https://t.co/5LnFStROqk

— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) April 17, 2021

People with rare #bloodclots after a #COVID19 jab share an uncommon immune response.

Studies suggest that some of the inoculated people develop an immune response that attacks a protein called platelet factor 4 or PF4, which makes platelets form clots.https://t.co/MouAM1MJO5

— MicrobesInfect (@MicrobesInfect) April 17, 2021

Australia on Friday reported its first fatality from blood clots in a recipient of AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) COVID-19 shot, and its regulator said there was a likely link between the 48-year-old woman's death and the vaccine.​ https://t.co/bQriqHiHTE

— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) April 16, 2021

Why are cases rising when we have awesome vaccines?

Because it's not vaccines but *vaccination* that matters.

Those vaccines need to go into people's arms. They don't protect people simply by existing in the world.

And opening back up too soon gives the virus an edge. https://t.co/mXiVYEg6aL

— Dr. Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen) April 15, 2021

New in OFID: A survey assessing COVID-19 knowledge found that participants, overall, overestimated their own expertise, with poor performers more likely to use mass media and social networks as sources of information.

??: https://t.co/Rg5vJDzUSo#IDSAJournals @PaulSaxMD @DrJLi pic.twitter.com/mRbxBIUFY0

— IDSA (@IDSAInfo) April 16, 2021

======

The @WhiteHouse LIVE is announcing a new $4B scheme to tackle #COVID19 among American Indians and Indigenous People, mostly by beefing up the Indian Health Service and increasing access to #vaccines. pic.twitter.com/f9ZNChMhcP

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) April 16, 2021

CNN: So far, more than 26 US colleges and universities have decided that students must be vaccinated to return to campus in the fall.

— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) April 15, 2021

Alternatively, maybe don't wear a mask but instead wear a prominent sticker proclaiming: "I got vaccinated. This could be you!" But you know the idiots among us would compare it to wearing a yellow star, so sadly no.

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) April 17, 2021

bold of them to assume they won’t be out of business in 2023 https://t.co/ZQM25AHcM2

— counterfactual (@counterfax) April 15, 2021

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Reader Interactions

26Comments

  1. 1.

    YY_Sima Qian

    April 17, 2021 at 5:42 am

    On 4/16 China reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases all in Yunnan Province. 1 domestic confirmed recovered & 2 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There are currently 80 domestic confirmed & 17 domestic asymptomatic cases in Yunnan Province.

    • Ruili in Dehong Prefecture 1 new domestic confirmed case (moderate), a Burmese national and a traced close contact already under quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed recovered & 2 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There are currently 80 domestic confirmed & 16 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 3 communities remain at High Risk. 3 residential compounds, 1 factory & 2 villages remain at Medium Risk.
    • Gengma County in Lincang City did not report any new positive cases. There is 1 domestic asymptomatic case there.

    Imported Cases

    On 4/16 China reported 14 new imported confirmed cases, 19 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 3 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Thailand, Russia & the US
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 3 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Malaysia, Bangladesh & Tanzania (via Iatanbul); 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Cambodia, Chad (via Cairo) & Nigeria (via Amsterdam Schiphol)
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 5 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese & 3 Japanese nationals coming from Japan
    • Tianjin Municipality – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from France & Lithuania (via Warsaw); 1 asymptomatic case, a Polish national coming from Poland
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Cambodia & Algeria
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from the UAE & Kazakhstan (via Tashkent); 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Uzbekistan
    • Hohhot in Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region – 1 confirmed case, no information released
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), coming from Indonesia & Cameroon
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 7 asymptomatic cases, 3 Chinese nationals each returning from the Ghana (via Amsterdam Schiphol) & the US, & 1 from Hungary (via Amsterdam Schiphol)
    • Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Indonesia
    • Nanning in Guangxi “Autonomous” Region – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from overseas, no further information released

     

    Overall in China, 5 confirmed cases recovered, 10 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 2 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 437 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 309 active confirmed cases in the country (229 imported), 4 in critical/serious condition (3 imported), 326 asymptomatic cases (309 imported), 2 suspect cases (both imported). 10,628 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 4/16, 187.368M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 3.842M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 4/17, Hong Kong reported 18 new cases, 10 imported & 8 domestic (6 of whom do not have sources of infection identified).

  2. 2.

    gkoutnik

    April 17, 2021 at 6:02 am

    At last – an anthem!

  3. 3.

    Cermet

    April 17, 2021 at 6:12 am

    Look’s like China’s virus vaccine doesn’t work so well in a country (Chile) that can’t impose extreme police state control on its population. Hope the Chinese medical experts determine a better vaccine mix to enable their original vaccine to perform a good bit better – then it will be a helpful in aiding the control of covid-19. Hope Sputnik doesn’t turn out to have similar issues. More inexpensive and easier to process/store vaccines would be essential to controlling this pandemic.

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    April 17, 2021 at 6:51 am

    Thanks for the info.

    The building where I work is offering shots. By next week, Everyone on my floor will have had their first shot ??????

    Even the previous skeptics have signed up

    I hope that this is inching us closer to employers requiring Vaccinations

  5. 5.

    NeenerNeener

    April 17, 2021 at 6:53 am

    Monroe County, NY stats:

    234 new cases
    3659 active cases currently

    3.2% test positivity now.

    12 more deaths…now at 1223

    43.9% have had at least 1 vaccination

    31.03% totally vaccinated

    I just heard from my niece in South Carolina. She’s  in food service and can’t find time to get vaccinated because she’s working so many hours. Ugh…..

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    April 17, 2021 at 6:53 am

    Did the South Koreans develop a vaccine?

  7. 7.

    Amir Khalid

    April 17, 2021 at 6:57 am

    Malaysia’s Director-General of Heath Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 2,331 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 372,859 cases. He also reports five new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 1,370 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.39% of resolved cases.

    There are currently 19,094 active and contagious cases; 225 are in ICU, 92 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 1,882 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 352,395 patients recovered – 94.51% of the cumulative reported total.

    Eight new clusters were reported today: Jalan Ding Lik Kwong, in Sarawak; Jalan Damai Tawau and Bukit Quoin in Sabah; Jalan Wawasan Lima in Johor; Jalan Maktab in Selangor; and Seri Kuantan in Pahang.

    Jalan Ding Lik Kwong, Jalan Damai Tawau, Bukit Quoin, and Jalan Wawasan Lima are workplace clusters. Ulu Balingian, Jalan Disa, and Jalan Maktab are education clusters at Ministry of Education schools. Seri Kuantan is a community cluster.

    2,319 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 750 local cases: 36 in older clusters, four in Jalan Maktab cluster, 583 close-contact screenings, and 127 other screenings. Sarawak reports 512 cases: 50 in older clusters; 117 in Jalan Disa, Jalan Ding Lik Kwong, and Ulu Balingian clusters; 222 close-contact screenings; and 123 other screenings.

    Kuala Lumpur reports 241 local cases: five in existing clusters, 149 close-contact screenings, and 87 other screenings. Kelantan reports 225 cases: 65 in existing clusters, 128 close-contact screenings, and 32 other screenings.

    Sabah reports 163 cases: 62 in older clusters, 10 in Bukit Quion and Jalan Damai Tawau clusters, 62 close-contact screenings, and 29 other screenings. Penang reports 116 cases: 29 in existing clusters, 35 close-contact screenings, and 52 other screenings. Johor reports 100 cases: 37 in older clusters, six in Jalan Wawasan Lima cluster, 39 close-contact screenings, and 18 other screenings.

    Negeri Sembilan reports 89 cases: 63 in existing clusters, 18 close-contact screenings, and eight other screenings. Kedaj reports 45 cases: 15 in existing clusters, 18 close-contact screenings, and 12 other screenings. Perak reports 42 cases: 28 in existing clusters, five close-contact screenings, and nine other screenings. Pahang reports 20 cases: three in older clusters, five in Seri Kuantan cluster, three close-contact screenings, and nine other screenings.

    Melaka reports nine cases: two in existing clusters, two close-contact screenings, and five other screenings. Putrajaya reports four cases: one in an existing cluster, and three close-contact screenings. Labuan reports two cases: one in an existing cluster, and one other screening. And Perlis reports one case, a close-contact screening.

    Terengganu reports no new cases today.

    12 new cases today are imported: 11 in Kuala Lumpur, and one in Selangor.

    The deaths reported today are a 78-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and obesity; a 76-year-old woman with diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease; a 61-year-old man in Sabah with diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and heart disease; an 85-year-old woman in Sabah with diabetes, hypertension, and stroke; and a 68-year-old woman in Sarawak with heart disease.

  8. 8.

    Amir Khalid

    April 17, 2021 at 7:02 am

    “No entry if you’re vaccinated?” That’s a new one on me.

  9. 9.

    Taken4Granite

    April 17, 2021 at 7:09 am

    @Amir Khalid: And almost certainly not enforceable.

    But the notice is useful, in the sense that it warns prospective customers that the owner/manager is a nut and that they should seriously consider taking their business elsewhere.

  10. 10.

    MomSense

    April 17, 2021 at 7:18 am

    This morning my youngest and I are driving about an hour and a half north to get his pfirst Pfizer.

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    April 17, 2021 at 7:19 am

    The thing about right-wingers..

     

    Their Orange Savior is VACCINATED.

    Did it in secret.

    I agree with Chelsea Clinton-

    Publish the photo of him getting VACCINATED

  12. 12.

    MagdaInBlack

    April 17, 2021 at 7:25 am

    I (finally!) got an appointment! Thursday the 22nd, near my work ?

  13. 13.

    Baud

    April 17, 2021 at 7:30 am

    @MomSense: Bangor?

  14. 14.

    WereBear

    April 17, 2021 at 7:38 am

    @rikyrah:

    Publish the photo of him getting VACCINATED


    Problem is, nothing works with Wingnuts. Reality doesn’t exist, so they just rearrange the Tupperware that has sealed away all cognitive dissonance and call it good.

  15. 15.

    MomSense

    April 17, 2021 at 8:17 am

    @Baud:

    Ayuh!

  16. 16.

    The Golux

    April 17, 2021 at 8:43 am

    Is anyone else seeing all of the tweets unformatted on this page? Happening here on both Chrome and Firefox.

  17. 17.

    Fair Economist

    April 17, 2021 at 8:45 am

    @Cermet: The fundamental problem with China’s vaccine is that it’s not good enough to lower R0 below 1 even if most of the population is vaccinated. So everybody is going to end up getting it, and restrictions need to stay in place until almost everybody is vaccinated. There will still be a nontrivial amount of deaths then – it doesn’t absolutely stop deaths, unlike the mRNA vaccines, which I don’t think have had one death among the fully vaccinated.

    Unfortunately because of our large antivaxxer contingent I think we’ll also see a population sweep in the end as well in spite of the incredibly good results of the mRNA vaccines.

  18. 18.

    There go two miscreants

    April 17, 2021 at 8:47 am

    @The Golux: Yes, Win10 FF. Just get the text and links, even after a refresh. Didn’t bother me as the pix included with most tweets are useless. If it looks interesting I just click the link.

  19. 19.

    Another Scott

    April 17, 2021 at 8:49 am

    @The Golux: Twitter had a big outage yesterday and seems to still be having issues this morning.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  20. 20.

    NeenerNeener

    April 17, 2021 at 8:54 am

    @MagdaInBlack: Woo hoo!

  21. 21.

    Elizabelle

    April 17, 2021 at 9:18 am

    Enjoyed that music video; lyrics are fun.

  22. 22.

    Robert Sneddon

    April 17, 2021 at 9:20 am

    Scotland — 210 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed today, 2 deaths. The test positivity rate is 1.2%.

    The trend downwards in cases and spread of this disease here in Scotland and the UK in general is looking promising. I’d hope it’s being driven by the vaccination numbers and not the improving weather which, it seems, drove down the numbers last year after the first initial peak of cases and deaths. We’ll see.

     

    Vaccinations in Scotland continue but at a reduced rate. We were told supplies of vaccines would be somewhat variable through April. We’re still managing about 40,000 vaccinations a day typically with more and more of them being second-dose vaccinations. At the moment all three authorised vaccines are two-dose (Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca). The one-shot J&J vaccine has still not been approved by the UK authorities but it’s likely another 2-shot candidate vaccine, Novavax will get approval soon after third-stage trials were reported a few weeks ago. The UK government has pre-ordered 60 million Novavax doses and most of it would be made in the UK.

  23. 23.

    Suzanne

    April 17, 2021 at 10:11 am

    Our cases here are still going the wrong way. I’ve been looking for some predictive models for the state or region with no luck.

  24. 24.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 17, 2021 at 12:39 pm

    @MomSense: Woo hoo!

  25. 25.

    Ruckus

    April 17, 2021 at 12:39 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    As if you’d really want to go in a place like that if you had 2 or more brain cells to talk to each other.

    And….

    Is the name of that place,

    The Death Bar

    or

    Ignorant Foodstuffs

    or

    Join Us In Death?

  26. 26.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 17, 2021 at 12:40 pm

    @MagdaInBlack: Woo hoo!

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