Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Consistently wrong since 2002

Let me file that under fuck it.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

We will not go back.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

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

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

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

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

The way to stop violence is to stop manufacturing the hatred that fuels it.

The revolution will be supervised.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Sunday / Monday, April 25-26

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Sunday / Monday, April 25-26

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Milestone numbers:

More than one billion doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered worldwide, less than five months after the first mass inoculation programs began to be rolled out, according to an AFP tally at 17:45 GMT on Saturday.

At least 1,002,938,540 doses have been administered in 207 countries and territories, according to the tally compiled from official sources.

More than half, or 58 percent, have been given in three countries: the United States with 225.6 million doses, China with 216.1 million doses and India with 138.4 million…

While the majority of poor countries have also started to vaccinate, mainly thanks to the Covax program, inoculation is still largely a privilege of high-income countries, as defined by the World Bank, which are home to 16 percent of the world’s population but have administered 47 percent of vaccine doses…

Despite the troubles that has plagued it since it was approved for use, the jab developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University is the most widely used so far, and has been administered in three-quarters or 156 of those countries and territories that have started vaccinating.

A rival jab developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has been administered in 91 countries, or 44 percent of the total. Another shot developed by Moderna has been administered in 46 countries or 22 percent. Sinopharm’s jab has been administered in at elast 41 countries or 20 percent of the total, Sputnik V in at least 32 countries or 15 percent, and Sinovac in at least 21 or 10 percent.

More specifics at the link. (Read the whole thing, it’s not long!)

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If I recall correctly, IHME has a reputation for choosing the most pessimistic numbers, but…

For anyone who missed Cheryl’s post Sunday afternoon:

Summary worth reading:

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More like this, please:

… Reinbold has been a vocal opponent to COVID-19 mitigation measures and has repeatedly objected to Alaska Airlines’ mask policy, which was enacted before the federal government’s mandate this year.

Last year, she referred to Alaska Airlines staff as “mask bullies” after being asked by flight attendants to wear a mask aboard a flight, the newspaper reported. After the incident, she reportedly sent a cake to some flight attendants bearing the inscription: “I’m sorry if I offended you.”

Alaska Airlines has banned over 500 people…

It wasn’t immediately known how Reinbold, who was in southcentral Alaska this weekend, would be able to get to Juneau where the legislative session resumes Monday. No other airline has scheduled flights between Anchorage and Juneau, and a ferry trip could take several days…

Reader Interactions

47Comments

  1. 1.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 4/25 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There are currently 46 domestic confirmed & 11 domestic asymptomatic cases in Yunnan Province. 3 communities remain at High Risk. 3 residential compounds, 1 factory & 2 villages remain at Medium Risk.

    Imported Cases

    On 4/25 China reported 11 new imported confirmed cases, 18 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Yunnan Province (location not specified) – 3 confirmed cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar, via land border crossing
    • Shanghai Municipality – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Russia & the US
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Ghana (via Amsterdam Schiphol) & Egypt; 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Egypt
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Malaysia; 7 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Cambodia & 1 each from Laos, Indonesia, Iran, France & the UK
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Kenya & 1 from Indonesia
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Indonesia, the Philippines & the DRC, off flights that landed at Guangzhou
    • Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from Poland, off a flight that landed at Nanjing
    • Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national each returning from Cambodia
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from Pakistan; 1 asymptomatic case, a Hong Kong resident returning from Pakistan; both off a flight diverted from Beijing

     

    Overall in China, 8 confirmed cases recovered, 14 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 1 was reclassified as a confirmed case, and 1,017 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 311 active confirmed cases in the country (265 imported), 4 in critical/serious condition (all imported), 325 asymptomatic cases (314 imported), 6 suspect cases (all imported). 8,810 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 4/25, 224.901M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 4.592M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 4/26, Hong Kong reported 4 new case, all imported (from the US, Japan, India & Kenya).

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    It wasn’t immediately known how Reinbold, who was in southcentral Alaska this weekend, would be able to get to Juneau where the legislative session resumes Monday.

    Maybe she can hitch a ride from a grizzly.

  3. 3.

    Cermet

    The fact that, unlike all other countries, the US makes makes and distributes well over a hundred million flu vaccines every year to our population. Having this infrastructure (paid for by the Gov and to a lesser extent, our med system) allowed us to quickly shift gears to manufacture covid vaccines in mass and give people shots right away. Britain has learned this lesson and has started building just an infrastructure, too.

  4. 4.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY stats:

    232 new cases – 25 of them under age 10, 180 between the ages of 10 and 59. The 20 year olds are still leading the pack in infections, as they have since this wave started last fall.

    4406 active cases
    1226 deaths

    2.9% test positivity
    213 people in the hospital, 49 people in the ICU.

    47.9% with at least 1 vaccination

    35.4% totally vaccinated

  6. 6.

    Matt McIrvin

    The number of people asserting in strange moralistic terms that diet or exercise is somehow a substitute for COVID vaccination is really getting me down.

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    Some are beautiful

    Others are haunting

     

     

     

    I’ve asked my 3rd year illustration students at @sva to come up with a post-pandemic New Yorker magazine cover. Here is what they sent in:— Tomer Hanuka (@tropical_toxic) April 23, 2021

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Director-General of Heath Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 2,776 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 395,718 cases. He also reports 13 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 1,449 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.39% of resolved cases.

    There are currently 24,713 active and contagious cases; 300 are in ICU, 133 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 1,803 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 369,556 patients recovered – 93.39% of the cumulative reported total.

    12 new clusters were reported today: Pondok Belaga, Jalan Sebauh-Bintulu, and Sungai Senibung in Sarawak; Kampung Batu Sembilan in Selangor; Tanjung Kupang building site, Jalan Raja Bukit Pasir, and Jalan Impian Emas 17 in Johor; Jalan Aramugam Pillai and Kampung Selamat in Penang; Kota Syahbandar and Jalan Kesidang in Melaka; and Kampung Pangkal Chuit in Kelantan.

    Pondok Belaga, Kampung Batu Sembilan, Tanjung Kupang building site, and Jalan Raja Bukit Pasir are workplace clusters. Sungai Senibung is an education cluster at a Ministry of Education school. Kampung Pangkal Chuit is also an education cluster. Kampung Selamat is a prison cluster. Jalan Sebauh-Bintulu, Jalan Aramugam Pillai, Kota Syahbandar, and Jalan Kesidang are community clusters.

    2,773 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 761 local cases: 15 in older clusters, 52 in Kampung Batu Sembilan cluster, 510 close-contact screenings, and 184 other screenings. Sarawak reports 615 cases: 69 in older clusters; 22 in Jalan Sebauh-Bintulu, Pondok Belaga, and Sungai Senibung clusters; 427 close-contact screenings; and 97 other screenings.

    Kelantan reports 343 cases: 42 in older clusters, 25 in Kampung Pangkal Chuit cluster, 213 close-contact screenings, and 63 other screenings. Johor reports 309 cases: 1 in older clusters; 192 in Jalan Impian Emas 17, Jalan Raja Bukit Pasir, and Tapak Bina Tanjung Kupang clusters; 65 close-contact screenings; and 33 other screenings.

    Kuala Lumpur reports 253 local cases: six in existing clusters, 149 close-contact screenings, and 98 other screenings.

    Penang reports 123 cases: 10 in older clusters, 20 in Jalan Arumugam Pillai and Kampung Selamat clusters, 60 close-contact screenings, and 33 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 112 cases: 39 in existing clusters, 37 close-contact screenings, and 36 other screenings.

    Sabah reports 87 local cases: 11 in existing clusters, 61 close-contact screenings, and 15 other screenings. Perak reports 45 cases: six in existing clusters, 28 close-contact screenings, and 11 other screenings. Kedah reports 39 cases: 21 in older clusters, one in Kampung Selamat cluster, 10 close-contact screenings, and seven other screenings. Melaka reports 34 cases: three in older clusters, seven in Jalan Kesidang and Kota Syahbandar clusters, 17 close-contact screenings, and seven other screenings. Pahang reports 34 cases: 12 in existing clusters, 17 close-contact screenings, and five other screenings.

    Terengganu reports nine cases: four in existing clusters, three close-contact screenings, and two other screenings. Putrajaya reports seven cases: two in existing clusters, three close-contact screenings, and two other screenings. And Labuan reports two cases: one close-contact screening, and one other screening.

    Perlis reports no new cases today.

    Three new cases today are imported: one in Kuala Lumpur, one in Selangor, and one in Sabah.

    The deaths reported today are a 70-year-old man in Selangor with hypertension, heart disease, and dyslipidaemia; a 40-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity; a 71-year-old woman in Selangor with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obesity, and chronic kidney disease; a 49-year-old woman in Sarawak with diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease; an 82-year-old woman in Johor with diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease; a 75-year-old man in Sarawak with hypertension; a 73-year-old woman in Sarawak with diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia; a 34-year-old woman in Sarawak, DOA with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity; a 61-year-old man in Sabah, DOA with diabetes and hypertension; a 59-year-old woman in Saeawak with diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease; a 32-year-old woman in Sarawak with obesity and obstructive sleep apnoea; an 84-year-old woman in Kelantan with hypertension and heart disease; and a 38-year-old non-Malaysian man in Sabah with hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and gout.

  13. 13.

    debbie

    @NotMax:

    There were 820-something new cases reported yesterday in Ohio. I’m hoping that’s not because it was Sunday. My county’s at the highest level (purple), and they’ve opened up walk-in vaccinations at all of the major sites. Even the public schools are holding clinics.

  15. 15.

    Mousebumples

    forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2021/04/23/israels-covid-deaths-hit-zero-with-almost-60-of-population-vacc…

    Israel reported zero new coronavirus deaths Thursday, and daily new infections are at their lowest level in almost a year, a promising sign for the rest of the world as Israel’s speedy vaccination drive helps the country suppress the virus and reopen its economy.

    …

    Israel has led the global vaccination race for months, turning the country into a massive test of the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness. The country’s small size and tight network of HMOs have helped it get shots into residents’ arms rapidly, and the government secured scores of doses from Pfizer early on by offering real-life data on vaccinations. Results are promising so far: The Pfizer vaccine has prevented severe illness and death in the vast majority of Israeli patients, and it appears to hold up against most new virus variants, though a variant discovered in South Africa has occasionally evaded the vaccine. As a result, health experts around the world have pointed to Israel as an optimistic sign that the vaccine works.

  17. 17.

    Ken

    @rikyrah: I saw my first COVID antibody treatment commercial last night.

    That seems particularly unsuited for the usual “Ask your doctor about Xyzzy” pitches.

  18. 18.

    NorthLeft12

    @Cermet: Up here in Canada our government [believe it was Conservative at the time] let our vaccine manufacturing capability dwindle to nothing expecting to rely on foreign suppliers [free trade!].

    We are feeling the consequences of that decision now. It is humbling to be at the mercy of other countries who rightly put the interests of their citizens first.

  19. 19.

    WereBear

    @Matt McIrvin: The number of people asserting in strange moralistic terms that diet or exercise is somehow a substitute for COVID vaccination is really getting me down.

    It’s that general WOO trend where happy thoughts and a colon cleanse will fix ANYTHING and it drives me around the bend.

  20. 20.

    rikyrah

     

    When I say that if Dolt45 had won we would be Brazil or India, that is not an exaggeration ???

    Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) Tweeted:
    Horrible—India ?? government **will not import #COVID19 vaccines** itself, but expects states and companies to acquire them on their own—a “recipe for disaster”.

    Having spoken to J&J, Moderna, Pfizer—my India source says “there is no way this will work”!

    t.co/wResncJ7CC t.co/ZsBc20Q3IN twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1386633914400268290?s=20

  21. 21.

    Soprano2

    @Matt McIrvin: The number of people asserting in strange moralistic terms that diet or exercise is somehow a substitute for COVID vaccination is really getting me down.

    That’s been driving me crazy, too. How can it be after all this time that people don’t understand that our immune systems don’t have experience with something like Covid-19, so it doesn’t matter how “strong” your immune system is? I agree in general that being healthier is better than not if you get Covid, but it’s not a substitute for getting vaccinated.

  22. 22.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    Patrick Chovanac via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    74% of Democrats say they are already vaccinated, and 8% more say they plan to ASAP. Only 40% of Republicans say they are already vaccinated, and 5% more say they plan to. 24% of Republicans say they won’t get vaccinated, and another 10% will only if required.

    Republicans: The New Biological Suicide Bombers (Virucide Bombers?).

    So. That’s 45% of Republicans vaccinated or planning to be vs. 82% of Democrats vaccinated or planning to be. I’m just wondering what kind of impact this will have on the political make-up of the 2022 and 2024 electorates.

  23. 23.

    schrodingers_cat

    @rikyrah: what is unfolding in India the moral catastrophe which dwarfs anything that the ? ? pulled. The man in charge of India has been a lifelong number of an organization that drew its inspiration from the Nazis.

    Incompetence alone doesn’t explain the what we are seeing in India right now.

  24. 24.

    Taken4Granite

    @Ken: I presume that she lives somewhere in south central Alaska, where she at least has the option of driving home. As noted upthread, Juneau is not accessible by road, so if she were in Juneau she would have to either charter a flight or take a ferry, either of which would expose innocent third parties to unnecessary risk.

  25. 25.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    @Amir Khalid:

    Malaysia’s Director-General of Heath Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 2,776 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement …

    See, this is what I’m talking about when I complain that America is falling behind other countries. I mean, seriously, why don’t WE have a Director-General of Heath?

    I don’t see how we’re ever going to cope with the climate crisis when we don’t even have anyone in the government tasked with figuring out how to efficiently deploy our precious heath.

  26. 26.

    Cermet

    @schrodingers_cat: Glad the US is removing export controls on the critical materials needed for the India vaccine production; as well as supplying some critical materials for hospitals. Yet this is far too late to help many millions and will take time that is in such short supply. A year wasted by Indian leaders and millions of Indians will pay the price. Tragic is an understatement. And still, I bet racism will enable that leader to survive this disaster.

    As the US learned over and over, racism is a power that even exceeds self interest for many people.

  27. 27.

    JML

    I hate this idiot state senator and her bullshit “apology”. It’s not that you “offended” anyone (although you are very offensive you ginormous assclown) it’s that you broke the rules and put other people’s health & wellness (and potentially their lives) at risk because you’re a selfish twat.

    I hope she’s banned for life.

  29. 29.

    Barbara

    @rikyrah: ​My understanding is that Indian companies working in India have developed two vaccines but because data has not been made transparent and they were approved prior to original projected date many Indians have resisted taking them. This is similar to Russia. After reading an article in which Russian scientists working on the vaccine were interviewed, I was convinced that the cloak and dagger was even more stupid than I originally thought. As they said, they had developed many vaccines and unlike the mRNA vaccines, the technology that they used (similar to J&J vax) is a standard vaccine development platform.

    So the secrecy is probably just another manifestation of their leader’s relative lack of scientific knowledge, and a projection of their own tendency to misrepresent data onto scientists working in good faith. In other words, “everyone lies so they must by lying too.”​​​

  30. 30.

    Barbara

    @matt: ​We’ll never know because many people were asymptomatic or had very mild cases or just never got tested because our testing regime was just absolutely abysmal.

  31. 31.

    matt

     

     

    @Barbara: specifically, I was wondering, in that survey by party, how many of those who “won’t get vaccinated” feel they already have immunity. It would be a bit more understandable.

  32. 32.

    Peale

    @Matt McIrvin: I think we’re going to crap out at 57% of the population. The internet is a horrible invention. Dealing with 3 co-workers who a month ago who were complaining that they couldn’t get a vaccine appointment, now telling me that they aren’t going to get one because of something they saw on Reddittubebuzzkilltok.com called “28 reasons not to get a vaccine”.

    I think I wrote a couple of months ago wondering where the liberal woo pitchers have been during the crises. The conspiracies and woo cures were all on the right, which was unusual. Its not like left isn’t immune to the idea that COVID can be cured by “10 jumping jacks and the smell of boiling potatoes that costs a nickel but evil big pharma and industrial beef doesn’t want you to know.” Its just been muted for the past 12 months. But that stuff appears to be floating around my personal liberal spaces. Not surprised that we’re going to cap out willing arms soon, and far lower than is needed.

  33. 33.

    Sloane Ranger

    Sunday in the UK we had 1712 new cases. This is a decrease in the rolling 7-day average of 4.6%. This and subsequent figures should be treated with caution due to weekend reporting delays. New cases by nation,

    England – 1401 (down 43)
    Northern Ireland – 73 (down 7)
    Scotland – 176 (down 1)
    Wales – 62 (up 62, but may include Saturday where Wales showed 0 cases).

    Deaths – There were 11 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is a decrease of 12.6% in the rolling 7-day average. Deaths by nation, England – 7, Northern Ireland – 0, Scotland – 1 and Wales – 3.

    Testing – Not updated at weekends.

    Hospitalisations – Not updated at weekends.

    Vaccinations – As of 24 April, a total of 33,666,638 people had received 1 shot of a vaccine and 12,587,116 had received both. In percentage terms this means that 63.9% of all adults in the UK had received 1 shot and 23.9% were fully vaccinated.

    General – AL’s post about our favourite Prime Minister is all part of the fall out from the sacking of Dominic Cummings. Remember him? He was previously BoJo’s Senior Policy Advisor and the guy himself gave cover for when it was discovered he’d broken the 1st lockdown to take his COVID infected self, his wife and son to their family estate near Durham and later drove with his son to Barnard’s castle to “check his eyesight.”

    Anyway, they had some sort of falling out a few months ago and he got sacked. Just recently, Cummings has gone public with all sorts of juicy revelations about dodgy goings-on in No 10. As well as this one, there’s the getting Tory donors to pay for re-decorating the PM flat (BoJo’s significant other apparently thinking the previous decor was “too John Lewis” and a text where Boris promised to help fix a tax issue for vacuum cleaner entrepreneur Sir James Dyson. Cheering for injuries to all concerned.

  34. 34.

    Barbara

    @matt: Yes, agreed.  It’s confounding to me that the vaccine might confer immunity in ways that the disease would not, but the effect of the vaccine on “long haul” Covid symptoms suggests that it does.  It had always been my understanding that having the disease and surviving it (as I did for measles, mumps and chicken pox) would confer the strongest kind of immunity.  But it’s possible that this class of viruses, and maybe others, are different.

  35. 35.

    Barbara

    @Peale: This is where employer mandates, however obnoxious, are going to kick in.  Making vaccine refusal inconvenient usually brings along at least half of the remaining refusers.  At least.  Before it changed the law, California implemented a public health policy that if a case of measles was documented in a school district anyone without vaccine confirmation would have to stay home for 21 days.  Within days of such confirmed cases, upwards of 80% of those without documentation provided it.  Free riding is an expression that is even truer than you realize.  Once the riding is no longer free, they are no longer interested.  Some people are motivated purely by self-interest, and they place such a high value on themselves that any inconvenience — in one direction or the other — is the decisive factor in whether they are willing to do something to benefit someone else.  Literally, using up 10 minutes of my time is more important than the fact that your life will be upended by a communicable disease.

  38. 38.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Barbara: Chickenpox is an interesting case, in that surviving it can mean there’s virus still resident in you that can cause shingles decades later (and there are vaccinations against that now). Getting the chickenpox vaccine seems to reduce the likelihood of that, too. I’ve heard speculation that long COVID might be something like that, though nobody is sure.

    My vague understanding is that the vaccines have the ability to deliver a gigantic amount of COVID spike protein without making you mortally ill. Just intuitively, I could see that producing stronger immunity later on than a mild infection that gets beaten down quickly.

  39. 39.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Peale: Political tribalism cuts both ways. When Trump was gunning for a vaccine before Election Day, there was a lot of skepticism on the left–as Kamala Harris said, if nobody but Donald Trump was telling me to get a vaccine, I wouldn’t take it. But a lot of that skepticism evaporated once we were rid of Trump.

  40. 40.

    J R in WV

    Here are my thought about not getting vaccinated:

    • NO vaccine, no job.
    • No vaccine, no school.
    • No vaccine, no shopping.
    • No vaccine, no eating out.
    • No vaccine, no bar drinking,
    • No vaccine, no airline flights.
    • No vaccine, no movie theater tix.
    • NO vaccine, no concerts, no sports events, nothing like that.

    Get vaccinated, or STAY HOME FOREVER~!!!~

  41. 41.

    gvg

    @matt: latest data I read was that natural immunity from having had COVID only lasts about 3 to 6 months. The vaccines last longer, but still that is why the manufacturers think there will be boosters needed. Other diseases don’t have such a short memory. 1 report, that I didn’t save disclaimer

  42. 42.

    Uncle Cosmo

    Goddamnit, I knew that name sounded familiar! More on that below, but first – RANT INCOMING!

    I’m totally fed up with my home town getting shat upon for things it has precious little to do with.

    No one said a word when the Emergent Solutions plants in Baltimore were manufacturing tens of millions of perfectly OK vaccine doses and shipping all of them out to practically everywhere on the frackin’ planet while the good people of Baltimore City (and surrounding ‘burbs) – probably including their own employees – were screaming for vaccination but couldn’t get a jab for love or money. “Fuck it, Jake, they’re Baltimorons, screw ’em!” – amirite?

    But as soon as the manufacturing plant screws up, it’s the BALTIMORE plant. Not “the Emergent Solutions plant” – which corporation is headquartered in Gaithersburg (suburb of Washington DC) and has fuck-all to do with Baltimore except for locating 2 of its 8 manufacuring plants within the city limits (just north of the Johns Hopkins Bayview campus). (NB Corporate Fact Sheet in PDF form is here.) “Fuck it, Jake, LET’S BLAME BALTIMORE!”

    RANT ENDS

    Disclaimer: In 1998-99 I spent most of two years as a biostatistical consultant to Emergent Solutions (under its previous name, BioPort). Mostly nice, decent folks. They never asked me to do anything illegal, immoral, unethical or fattening – but did pull a couple of maneuvers that could be classified as “Abuse of Hired Hand.” (NB I am not including in the latter having to drag my butt to BWI at 6 AM on Monday to ride a 737 to Cleveland & a 19-seat puddle jumper to Lansing, & being told on my way out the BioPort portal Friday afternoons that I’d have to do it again the next Monday. Nor routinely working & charging 13-hour days & being paid for 8 while my company pocketed the rest for upper management bonuses. Ask me about the thrill and glamor of the consulting life sometime whydoncha…grrr.)

  43. 43.

    Soprano2

    @Barbara:  We’ll never know because many people were asymptomatic or had very mild cases or just never got tested because our testing regime was just absolutely abysmal.

    Someday number crunchers are going to try to figure this out. That’ll be the closest we ever get to knowing. I personally know of 3 people who told me they had Covid symptoms last summer, including losing their sense of smell/taste, but never got tested for various reasons. Any time I see the official percentage of those who’ve had Covid in the U.S., I double it. I think it’s at least 20% if not higher.

  44. 44.

    Soprano2

    I just saw some discouraging news about my city. Our vaccinations are above 30%, which is good, and the 7-day average of cases is at 17.71, which is also a lot better, but our hospitalizations are up to 41 from 26 last Thursday, which is a big jump. I’m not sure what’s causing it; lots of the smaller towns around here have gotten rid of their mask mandates in the past couple of weeks, but that wouldn’t account for the sudden jump in hospitalizations; there hasn’t been enough time for that yet.  I dread seeing what’s going to be happening by next week. I’m hopeful that the relatively high number of people over 65 who’ve been vaccinated with keep the death toll down. Last week they announced zero Covid deaths in my county, which was a good sign, but now the most serious cases are going in the opposite direction.

  46. 46.

    Mel

    @J R in WV: 
    What you said, screamed from the hilltops!!

    I went to a lab, located inside a medical office building, to get bloodwork this morning. Signs are posted everywhere, noting that masks must be worn at all times, and staff and patients must socially distance whenever possible.
    This same health system has oncology, rheumatology, and endocrinology offices in the same medical complex. In other words, lots of people in vulnerable and / or immunosuppressed populations (myself included), will be getting blood drawn at the lab.

    Walked in, and three techs were in the front office, practically shoulder to shoulder, one with her nose hanging out of her mask, another completely unmasked, chatting and looking at the computer. The completely unmasked tech looked up and told me to “come on and sign in.” The sign up sheet was less than a foot and a half from her unmasked face, with no safety glass or partition in place. I told both unmasked techs to put on their masks b/c they were putting everyone, including themselves, at risk.

    Then, the tech who was doing the draws cane out with a ratty looking, clearly well-used paper mask on, with it hanging down below her nose and upper lip, laughing loudly and open-mouthed at something another tech had said.

    I am sick beyond belief of these selfish idiots. I refused to let her near me until she had masked properly and washed her hands, but then while I was captive in the chair with a tourniquet on and the needle in my arm, she started ranting about how “schools shouldn’t be closed, it’s a government plan“, “people with small heads can’t wear masks”, (?) and, “They teach kids to do witchcraft and devil things at those colleges”.

    WTF?! I proceeded to inform her that that was ridiculous on all counts, and informed her that as a former college instructor and someone with a Wiccan friend, I didn’t enjoy hearing her nonsense.

    I have to say, it was unnerving to be trapped there, needle in my arm, having tests that are vitally important and had to be done stat, and knowing that people like that are in control of my safety and of my personal health information.

    I tried to call the customer service line for the medical group, to try to notify someone in charge about the mask issue, and ended up on hold for over 25 minutes, three separate times.

    I am not surprised about the sheer selfishness and lack of concern in the general public, but to see and hear that nonsense in a medical facility?!?

    There was an elderly woman alone in the waiting room when I was leaving. She had a bag with an oncology group’s logo on it, and unfortunately I recognize that bag – it contains the info kit that they give to people who are starting chemo or immunosuppressant therapy.

    I hope against hope that those morons stayed masked and didn’t expose her to Covid.

  47. 47.

    Chris T.

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    which corporation is headquartered in Gaithersburg

    Oooh, G’burg. Almost my old stomping grounds, but only “almost”. Let’s just say “adjacent”. (Bawmer was a bit further away.)

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