Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

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

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

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

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

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

Hot air and ill-informed banter

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

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

We are aware of all internet traditions.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

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

The revolution will be supervised.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

This blog will pay for itself.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

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

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

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

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday / Thursday, May 5-6

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday / Thursday, May 5-6

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The Murdoch empire’s Lord Haw Haw…

Reader Interactions

45Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY stats:

    178 new cases
    4650 active cases – teens and 30s have the most cases again
    Now at 1249 deaths
    2.9% test positivity
    215 people hospitalized, 47 in the ICU

    51.1% with at least one vaccination
    4% totally vaccinated

  3. 3.

    MagdaInBlack

    I am still the only one in my office and shop ( 10 people total) who has had the vaccine, thanks to shit like Tuckums spews.

  5. 5.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 5/5 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation, all at Ruili in Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province. There are currently 30 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases in Yunnan Province.

    Imported Cases

    On 5/5 China reported 5 new imported confirmed cases, 7 imported asymptomatic cases, 1 imported suspect case:

    • Yunnan Province (location not specified) – both Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar, via land border crossing
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Cameroon (via Rwanda); 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Côte d’Ivoire (via Nairobi)
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 2 confirmed cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Japan
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the US
    • Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 2 asymptomatic case, no information released
    • Beijing Municipality – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released

     

    Overall in China, 10 confirmed cases recovered, 16 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 2 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 1,161 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 314 active confirmed cases in the country (284 imported), 3 in critical/serious condition (all imported), 312 asymptomatic cases (305 imported), 12 suspect cases (all imported). 5,390 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 5/5, 289.627M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 5.032M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 5/6, Hong Kong reported 2 new cases, both imported (from the Philippines & Indonesia).

  6. 6.

    Soprano2

    The question is, why does Tucker want his audience to die? Because you know he knows better.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    Spotted within an article from late April about something relatedly egregious.

    According to local media reports, allegations that members of the royal family have received coronavirus vaccines through their connections in the United Arab Emirates sparked backlash.

    Queen Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah reportedly responded to online criticism saying, “are you jealous?”

    The Instagram account, where the comment was reportedly made, was briefly deactivated and did not have the remarks when reinstated. Source

    Amir, anything more to elucidate about this?

  9. 9.

    debbie

    I wish my first-thing-in-the-morning memory was better, but I remember something about a ridiculously low number of cases of COVID and deaths in those who had been fully vaccinated. That information would make Tucker’s head implode.

  10. 10.

    Spanky

    That information would make Tucker’s head implode

    Tuckums knows. Tuckums don’t care. His only mission right now is to sow chaos.

  11. 11.

    debbie

    @rikyrah:

    I don’t watch him every night, but I did watch Jimmy Kimmel last night. He has a feature titled “This Week in COVID History” that’s a bunch of clips from 2020 showing what was being spewed out to the country one year ago. Like Laura Ingraham mocking the idea of 120,000 deaths by the end of summer, T**** insisting the crisis will be over in a couple of weeks, etc. I couldn’t find last night’s episode on youtube yet, but I bet they’re all very, very revealing of the absolute idiocy of this country’s leaders and “influencers.”

  13. 13.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Soprano2: Most of his audience won’t die, since most people who get COVID–especially, most of the younger people who are still unvaccinated–recover without long-term symptoms. And those people will be all the more convinced that COVID is no big deal, reasoning from their personal experience. Basically survivorship bias works to create a more thoroughly convinced audience.

    The one fly in the ointment is that some of the long-haulers are likely to be relatively vocal about what they’re going through. But with enough of a media bubble the effect of that can be controlled. I’ve already seen claims in major media outlets that long COVID is entirely psychosomatic.

  14. 14.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Soprano2: 
    Because his idiocy will kill more non-white people. The losers who watch and listen to Tucker are acceptable collateral damage.

  15. 15.

    The Moar You Know

    The question is, why does Tucker want his audience to die? Because you know he knows better.

    @Soprano2:  Tucker is merely giving his brain-dead audience what they want; they expect and desire to be part of the performative human sacrifice that their leader, Donald John Trump, has always demanded of them.   They want to die.   They want everyone to die.   Tucker is just supplying the thin veneer of bullshit plausibility that they need to feel ok about it.

  16. 16.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Director-General of Heath Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 3,551 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 427,927 cases. He also reports 19 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 1,610 deaths — 0.38% of the cumulative reported total, 0.41% of resolved cases.

    There are currently 33,762 active and contagious cases; 354 are in ICU, 199 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 2,709 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 392,555 patients recovered – 91.73% of the cumulative reported total.

    14 new clusters were reported today: Jalan Batu Arang, Industri Platinum, Jalan Sungai Merab, and Jalan Teknologi Kota Damansara in Selangor; Persiaran Meru Raya and Persiaran Greentown Tujuh in Perak; Jalan Temangan and Kampung Chat in Kelantan; Jalan Pertama Empat and Jalan Korma in Johor; Industri Lengkuk Teknologi in Negeri Sembilan; Jalan Tunku in Sabah; Indera Mahkota Lima in Pahang; and Dah Lubuk Emas in Kedah.

    Kampung Chat and Indera Mahkota Lima are community clusters. Jalan Sungai Merab is an education cluster at a Ministry of Education school. Jalan Teknologi Kota Damansara is an education cluster at a non-Ministry school. Jalan Korma is a high-risk group cluster. Dah Lubuk Emas is a religious cluster. The rest are workplace clusters.

    3,535 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 1,128 local cases: 25 in older clusters; 79 in Jalan Batu Arang, Industri Platinum, Jalan Sungai Merab, and Jalan Teknologi Kota Damansara clusters; 738 close-contact screenings; and 286 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 471 local cases: three in existing clusters, 268 close-contact screenings, and 200 other screenings. Sarawak reports 391 cases: 51 in existing clusters, 255 close-contact screenings, and 85 other screenings.

    Kelantan reports 326 cases: 86 in older clusters, seven in Jalan Temangan and Kampung Chat clusters, 177 close-contact screenings, and 56 other screenings. Penang reports 305 cases: 88 in existing clusters, 85 close-contact screenings, and 132 other screenings. Johor reports 257 local cases: 101 in older clusters, 16 in Jalan Korma and Jalan Pertama Empat clusters, 88 close-contact screenings, and 52 other screenings.

    Perak reports 137 cases: 35 in older clusters, six in Persiaran Greentown Tujuh and Persiaran Meru Raya clusters, 65 close-contact screenings, and 31 other screenings. Kedah reports 112 cases: 47 in older clusters, three in Dah Lubuk Emas cluster, 37 close-contact screenings, and 25 other screenings.

    Pahang reports 97 cases: 35 in older clusters, six in Indera Mahkota Lima cluster, 35 close-contact screenings, and 25 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 85 cases: two in older clusters, 59 in Industri Lengkuk Teknologi cluster, 16 close-contact screenings, and eight other screenings. Melaka reports 82 cases: 38 in existing clusters, 25 close-contact screenings, and 19 other screenings. Sabah reports 69 cases: 21 in older clusters, one in Jalan Tunku cluster, 27 close-contact screenings, and 20 other screenings. Terengganu reports 58 cases: 35 in existing clusters, 14 close-contact screenings, and nine other screenings.

    Putrajaya reports 12 cases: eight close-contact screenings, and four other screenings. Perlis reports three cases, all close-contact screenings. And Labuan reports two cases, both in existing clusters.

    16 new cases today are imported: nine in Selangor, six in Kuala Lumpur, and one in Johor.

    The deaths reported today are a 62-year-old man in Johor, DOA with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and meningioma; a 79-year-old woman in Sarawak with lymphoma; a 62-year-old man in Terengganu with hypertension; a 63-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and heart disease; a 73-year-old man in Kedah with hypertension and heart disease; a 79-year-old man in Sarawak with hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and chronic obstructive lung disease; a 31-year-old man in Pahang, DOA with obesity; a 44-year-old man in Sarawak, DOA with diabetes, hypertension, and tuberculosis; a 78-year-old woman in Kelantan with no co-morbidities listed; a 57-year-old man in Johor with obesity; a 76-year-old man in Sarawak with hypertension, chronic obstructive lung disease, and chronic kidney disease; a 57-year-old man in Selangor with hypertension; a 92-year-old woman in Kuala Lumpur with chronic kidney disease; a 79-year-old woman in Kelantan with hypertension and stroke; a 79-year-old man im Selangor with hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and psoriatic arthritis; a 74-year-old man in Johor with hypertension; a 62-year-old woman in Kuala Lumpur, DOA with hypertension; a 71-year-old man in Sarawak with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and chronic kidney disease; and a 51-year-old non-Malaysian man in Negeri Sembilan, DOA with no co-morbidities listed.

  17. 17.

    Sloane Ranger

    Wednesday in the UK we had 2144 new cases. This is a decrease of 12.1% in the rolling 7-day average. There may still be a small knock on effect from the Bank Holiday weekend. New cases by home nation,

    England -1906 (up 242)

    Northern Ireland – 99 (up 16)

    Scotland – 85 (down 54)

    Wales – 54 (down 11).

    Deaths – There were 27 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is a decrease of 41.2% in the rolling 7-day average. New deaths by nation, England – 27. Other home nations had no deaths.

    Testing – On Tuesday, 4 May, a total of 860,368 tests were conducted. This is a decrease in the rolling 7-day average of 8.7%. The PCR testing capacity estimated by labs on this date was 657,184.

    Hospitalisations – There were 1285 people in hospital on Monday, 3 May and 181 were on ventilators as of Tuesday, 4 May. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions was down 14.4% on 28 April.

    Vaccinations – As of 4 May, a total of 34,795,074 people had received the 1st shot of a vaccine and 15,887,493 had had both shots. In percentage terms this means that 66.1% of all adults in the UK had had 1 dose of a vaccine and 30.2% were fully vaccinated as of that date.

  18. 18.

    Nicole

    Ugh. I watched that Carlson clip and not only is it infuriating in his dancing around stating anything obviously false (his MO is to just ask questions.  Stupid and misleading questions, but questions), is that it’s so easy to see why even bringing the issue up is total bullshit.  Yes, a couple thousand deaths have been reported to VAERS since the Covid vaccinations started.  Anyone can report to VAERS.  Anyone.  VAERS even says their data is not necessarily verified or correct.

    On top of that, he said it comes out to something like 30 deaths a day.  Aside from the sheer absurdity of acting like that is a big deal when we were losing a 9/11 a day for awhile to the actual virus,  the majority of people getting the first roll out of the vaccine were over 65 so… yeah, that sounds about right. People are going to die, and some of them were going to die regardless of when they got the Covid shot, because they were old, and your odds of dying increase the older you get until they hit 100%.  He even comments that VAERS has its criticisms and I was thinking, “Like… that anyone can report something to them as a vaccine injury or death and they’re not necessarily going to see if that’s true?”  AUGH.  It’s such ass-covering while he stirs his viewers into a frenzy.

    He makes me crazy like few others, now that Limbaugh has gone room temperature (hey!  We could report his death to the VAERS as Covid; they’ll take data from anyone!), because the fact that he is still on FOX News is a constant reminder to me of how absolutely bovine stupid a lot of Americans are.  No offense to bovines.  I got into it with a right-winger on FB yesterday who touted another right-wing favorite- that the states are reporting motor accidents as Covid. That one is based on a single motorcycle accident that was mistakenly reported as Covid, but later corrected.  Because humans make mistakes.  I had not heard of this, but it took me less than 5 minutes to find A) where the lie started and B) what the truth was.

    Ugh.  Like, I don’t know how you fix stupid.

  19. 19.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    So what is Fucker Carlson saying that all the Virus Deaths are really because of the Vaccine? Recycling Young Earth Creationist and Flat Earther arguments Carlson, tsk tsk

  21. 21.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @The Moar You Know: This predates Trump by a long while. The all comes from Young Earth Creationism. All the Covid Denier/Anti Vac arguments are just updated Young Earth Creationist arguments.

  22. 22.

    Soprano2

    @Nicole:  Ugh. Like, I don’t know how you fix stupid.

    I don’t either. I was talking with the guy who owns the company we get our karaoke DJ from. He said his dad died three weeks ago, about a week after getting vaccinated. Then I asked what happened, and he said his dad lived a hard life and was in poor health, but he wasn’t sure exactly, probably heart failure. I said so, probably not the vaccine. He repeats that every time he tells someone his dad died, implying he thinks it’s because his dad got vaccinated. I don’t know how you fix that.

  23. 23.

    Soprano2

    I just heard a report on NPR about a hospital where people aren’t allowed to visit their loved ones in the hospital, even if they’re vaccinated. That seems like a bad policy to me – here’s another place where we could easily reward vaccinated people, by saying “If you’ll wear a mask you can visit your loved one in the hospital”. That seems pretty low-risk to me.

  24. 24.

    NotMax

    @Soprano2

    The greatest number of heart attacks occur during the morning hours.

    No one of any non-feeble intelligence pins the cause on breakfast.

  25. 25.

    Bill K

    I just want to thank Anne for putting this together on a daily basis.  It’s incredibly informative to get the global picture.

  26. 26.

    Nicole

    @Soprano2: Maybe it’s a natural desire to have someone or something to “blame”- see!  It wasn’t the inevitable outcome of my dad’s bad health; it was a single thing that someone else did to him!

    Which is weird to me; I’d find much more peace in accepting it was something that was going to happen anyway.  Which his dad’s death clearly was.  But by God, he’s got his story and he’s sticking to it.

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    As always, people need to remember that This One Weird Trick is not an actual thing…

    The US supports waiving IP on #Covid vaccines to spur production. But if the WTO approves the move, will this actually lead to more production? People who understand vaccine manufacturing say on its own, no. Tech transfer, massive investment must follow. https://t.co/QuE0BmUItp

    — Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) May 6, 2021

    There are few actual shortcuts in life.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  29. 29.

    ziggy

     I follow Dr. Scott Gottleib on twitter for Covid news and appreciate his straightforward take on things, his predictions have panned out, he’s not one to speculate wildly. He linked to an article yesterday that has kind of blown my mind.
    (trying to insert link and not having any luck)
    I’ll try and remember how to attach the tweet. I would encourage everyone to read the article–it is rather long and technical, but well-written. And the implications are rather staggering. I can’t help but believe, after reading this, that the virus was lab-created and introduced via an accidental lab leak.​​

  31. 31.

    The Moar You Know

    That seems pretty low-risk to me.

    @Soprano2: low risk to the visitor. Not in any way low risk to the patients, who by virtue of simply being hospitalized, have compromised immune systems.

    I just recently got out of a two week stay in the hospital (long non COVID related story) and the only person they’d allow in was my wife and for a very limited time at that. Which was fine. I felt far too shitty to have visitors anyhow.

  32. 32.

    Another Scott

    @ziggy: I’d be very careful about Wade’s take, myself.  First, (no links handy), I believe there’s been reports of COVID-19-like illnesses months before the Wuhan outbreak in regions far from Wuhan.

    Second – ScienceMag (from 2014):

    A best-seller by former New York Times science writer Nicholas Wade about recent human evolution and its potential effects on human cultures has drawn critical reviews since its spring publication. Now, nearly 140 senior human population geneticists around the world, many of whose work was cited in the book, have signed a letter to The New York Times Book Review stating that Wade has misinterpreted their work. The letter criticizes “Wade’s misappropriation of research from our field to support arguments about differences among human societies,” and is slated to appear in the 10 August issue of the Book Review. It’s available online today.

    The book, A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History, contends that human races are a biological reality and that recent human evolution has led to racial differences in economic and social behavior. In the book, Wade suggests that such genetic differences may help explain why some people live in tribal societies and some in advanced civilizations, why African-Americans are allegedly more violent than whites, and why the Chinese may be good at business.

    tl;dr – Beware reporters pushing a story farther than the experts are willing to go.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  33. 33.

    Peale

    @Amir Khalid: Now I want to go there to try the chicken rice to see if its worth it. I mean, its delicious in general. So maybe this one is spectacular.

  34. 34.

    The Moar You Know

    @ziggy: a poorly written opinion take by a journalist with no formal science training.  But such a lot of big scary-sounding words!  Which don’t mean what the author thinks they do!

    Thanks, I’ll just punch up Tucker Carlson if I need some of that.

  36. 36.

    WhatsMyNym

    @ziggy: You mean this person ?

    Scott Gottlieb is an American physician and investor who served as the 23rd commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration from 2017 until April 2019.

    So who was President during this period? Name on the tip of my tung, just can’t quite remember…

  37. 37.

    Another Scott

    @ziggy:  It’s possible for there to be useful information in a popular-press article while rejecting the framing.

    What is your goal amplifying this article? This is another article that attempts to create paranoia based on nothing solid. Maybe the aliens sent it down to us, I keep hearing about UFOs. Prove that theory wrong or just promote it if you are bored.

    — Diane Hallinen, MD (@hallinen_diane) May 5, 2021

    Maybe harsh, maybe not. She’s not a crank (worked on the Ebola response).

    (Gottlieb (your Twitter source) works for AEI, CNBC, and previously for TFG. He’s got an agenda.)

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  38. 38.

    Robert Sneddon

    @ziggy:  There have been multiple reports by various epidemiologists and biologists shooting down the idea that the coronavirus was man-made or that it escaped from a lab somewhere. Its ‘fingerprint’ is that of a wild coronavirus that mutated to be specifically infectious in human beings and spread into the human population.

    Mr. Wild is full of it, basically.

  39. 39.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — 283 new cases of COVID-19 reported, covering today and much of yesterday when the reported numbers were lower due to data transmission problems. There were zero deaths reported, same as yesterday. The test positivity rate is 0.9%.

     

    Nothing much more to report, today is a busy day in Scotland as we vote for the Scottish Parliament. It’s cold and a bit wet today, it’s been snowing further north and that sort of weather usually depresses turnout but it’s possible a lot of people have chosen to vote by mail this time around for obvious reasons. We’ll see how it goes.

  40. 40.

    MisterForkbeard

    @ziggy: I’ve read the first few pages of the article. It’s crap.

    There’s a lot of “But the initial declarations that it was not lab-made included one by a guy whose board had funded some research in Wuhan, therefore huge conflict of interest!” and “in the first article they said it was ‘clearly not’ lab made but in the 2nd article they said it was ‘highly improbable’. Why did they lose so much certainty! It sounds like it was in doubt!”

    There’s also a fair amount of ‘This idea deserves scrutiny, not rejection out of hand! Why is the science press doing such a disservice to the world, unlike me?”

    Basically: No real facts, lots of leading innuendo and questions, lots of self congratulation.

  41. 41.

    MisterForkbeard

    @MisterForkbeard: One last update, since I read more of the thing. Basically, the author has no proof and no evidence of anything. What he HAS is a series of “lab conditions in Wuhan were not as safe as I think they should have been” and “designing new viruses is dangerous and someone high up in the government had to sign off on the funding for Wuhan” and “We have a hard time infecting bats with the current strain of Covid-19, therefore isn’t it less likely that it came from them?” crap.

    He finishes off with “If the case that SARS2 originated in a lab is so substantial, why isn’t this more widely known?”

    Because the case that SARS2 originated in a lab is fucking weak.

  42. 42.

    JustRuss

    Just found out a coworker has Covid.  He’s on the mend but had a few days  of hell.  Vaccine has been available to anyone who wants it for a few weeks here, and he has disease vectors kids, don’t know why he didn’t get it.  Not a Trumper.

  44. 44.

    Bill Arnold

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I’ve already seen claims in major media outlets that long COVID is entirely psychosomatic.

    There’s this:

    Evidence for covid-induced autoimmunity in the central nervous system in 5 of 7 patients with neurologic symptomshttps://t.co/TrJuNYgnnA by @ericsongg @YaleMed @YaleIBIO @ShelFarFar and colleagues @CellPressNews pic.twitter.com/nFhDlLl3FI
    — Eric Topol (@EricTopol) April 30, 2021

    To translate, small sample (7) but sometimes an auto-immune reaction that might attack neurons in the brain (the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) was sampled) can result from a SARS-CoV-2 infection. (Probably when it gets into the brain, though not proven.)
    At least cortex, olfactory bulb, thalamus, hippocampus, cerebellum, brainstem might be affected. Needs more work, and especially needs tests to verify that intramuscular vaccinations do not have this effect.

    I tried out talking about this effect at the supermarket yesterday. Cashier, young man, was saying he hadn’t gotten vaccinated, that he didn’t like needles. Two other cashiers were listening intently when briefly described the paper and also talked about potential long term lung damage, etc. That any risks from any of the vaccines were dwarfed by the risks of damage or death from the actual COVID-19 disease. Pretty sure he’s getting vaccinated.

    Wish I could find a solid paper on a link between something like Fournier gangrene and COVID-19 infection, or some negative effect on male genitals and/or male fertility, and/or female fertility. Haven’t found a solid observational or experimental paper yet.

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