Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

White supremacy is terrorism.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Giving up is unforgivable.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

The revolution will be supervised.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

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

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

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

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Sunday / Monday, May 16-17

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Sunday / Monday, May 16-17

by | 40 Comments

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Beginning to feel like the Australian government has decided Letting foreigners come in has caused us nothing but trouble:

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I suspect a lot of these self-styled Repub refuseniks are lying (and not just because, well, it’s what Repubs do):

Reader Interactions

40Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY stats:

    140 new cases – 68.5% were people under 40, including 36 children between 0 and 19

    1267 COVID deaths since March 2020
    3.2% test positivity

    No vaccination numbers this weekend

  2. 2.

    Baud

    In a matter of days, the US covid death rate will drop to the lowest level since the start of the pandemic

    Zero?

  3. 3.

    Matt McIrvin

    Yesterday I went to the supermarket for the first time in months, and, contrary to my predictions, I found that they still had the “masks required” sign up in front and everyone in there except for toddlers was wearing them. I did see a couple of noses sticking out, but it was a different situation from what I expected.

  4. 4.

    MagdaInBlack

    I am still the only one in my office/shop of 10 who is even partially vaccinated. My 2nd Moderna is Thursday. I ask all the parts drivers who come through. They’ve been vaccinated, and I believe them because we compare notes on reactions.
    My company of over 700 shops in the US doesn’t seem to be pushing getting vaccinated, they’re more concerned with pushing to make those up all those lost profits.

  5. 5.

    NotMax

    @MagdaInBlack

    Unionized? If yes, there’s got to be some prodding and pressure the union can exert if sufficient members make noise about it.

  6. 6.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 5/16 China reported 5 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Anhui Province report 2 new domestic confirmed cases. There are 7 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Liu’an report 2 new domestic confirmed cases, both traced close contacts. There currently are 5 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 4 residential compounds have been elevated to Medium Risk. A shopping center & 5 residential compound are currently at Medium Risk. The city has completed the 1st round of mass screening of all residents, and commenced the 2nd round on 5/17.
    • Hefei currently 2 domestic confirmed cases, both traveling sales people who conduct photography seminars. A hotel remains at Medium Risk.

    Liaoning Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There are 9 domestic confirmed & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Yingkou reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both previously asymptomatic) & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 7 domestic confirmed & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 4 villages & 5 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk. 
    • Shenyang reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, a traced close contact. There are 2 domestic confirmed cases there. The new case had vacationed at Yingkou over the May 1st International Labor Day break as part of the extended family party of 12. A residential compound remains at Medium Risk.

    In Yunnan Province, 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 16 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    Imported Cases

    On 5/16 China reported 20 new imported confirmed cases, 17 imported asymptomatic cases, 1 imported suspect case:

    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 7 confirmed cases, all coming from the Philippines; 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Nigeria
    • Yiwu in Jinhua, Zhenjiang Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Russia; the case arrived at Qingdao in Shandong Province on 5/1, passed through the 14 days of centralized quarantine and tested negative on RT-PCR multiple times, upon release from quarantine on 5/15 the case flew to Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province and re-entered centralized quarantine and tested positive on 5/15
    • Shanghai Municipality – 6 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Germany & 1 each from France, Russia, Mali (via Paris CdG) & Côte d’Ivoire (via Paris CdG); 1 suspect case, no information released
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 4 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Thailand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia & Cameroon (via Cairo); 8 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals each returning from Cambodia & Egypt & 1 each from the Philippines, Malaysia, Iraq & Cameroon (via Cairo)
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Kenya
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Indonesia, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed & 1 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Nigeria (via Germany)
    • Changsha in Hunan Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), no information released
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Pakistan
    • Tianjin Municipality – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released, yet

    Overall in China, 25 confirmed cases recovered, 13 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 3 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 354 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 291 active confirmed cases in the country (259 imported), 1 in critical/serious condition (imported), 347 asymptomatic cases (331 imported), 1 suspect case (imported). 6,502 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 5/14, 406.938M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 13.951M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 5/15, Hong Kong reported 1 new case, imported.

  7. 7.

    MagdaInBlack

    @NotMax: Oh god no, they’d shut down before they’d let a union in. The collision repair industry, even the big guys, is pretty much the wild west.

  9. 9.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Matt McIrvin: Well of course. CEO put out a company video asking for ideas about hiring and retention. A stroll through the Indeed and Glassdoor reviews provides the answers, if they’d pay attention: Money, respect, work/life balance.

    Eta: I retire in 2 years, I’m gritting my teeth, biting my tongue and holding on til then.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    @MagdaInBlack:

    Glassdoor reviews provides the answers, if they’d pay attention: Money, respect, work/life balance.

    Ask for the moon, why doncha? Freaking socialists.

  11. 11.

    Barbara

    @MagdaInBlack: It’s like there is a filter that prevents them from hearing certain words, like increased wages. I read an interview of the owner of a small bakery saying she couldn’t raise wages because customers wouldn’t pay the resulting price, and I get that, but it’s as if she considers employees to be duty bound to give up living wages so her customers can buy cheap cakes. She was hoping the governor would cut off unemployment to make more people desperate. It’s been a long time since we had a labor shortage.

  12. 12.

    Soprano2

    @MagdaInBlack: That sucks. I’m lucky in that I work for a city government that has done everything they can to incentivize vaccination – $20 gift card for 1st shot, day off with pay for 2nd shot, special leave pay to take off to get shots and if you have symptoms,  setting up clinics, letting spouses and eligible children get shots at the clinics.  The last I saw, our total rate of vaccination among employees was 41%. To me that’s pathetic with all those incentives. That’s life in MAGA-land.

  13. 13.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Barbara: Saprano2 has pointed out that small businesses feel that if they raise their wages they’ll be undercut by competitors who don’t.  I think she’s right.  The solution is to raise the minimum wage, but most small business owners don’t like that idea either.

  14. 14.

    Soprano2

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I like that idea a lot better because then it’s a level playing field. Unfortunately, that woman’s alternative is to go out of business. I saw someone posted last night about wages at a plant near Chicago that were higher than any small employer could pay.

  15. 15.

    Barbara

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I am sympathetic to their issues but my point is that employees are not indentured servants and have the right to put their own welfare first even if that makes life difficult for others.

  16. 16.

    Barbara

    @Soprano2: or do more work herself, or reduce hours, or lower her own salary or offer flexible schedules, or some combination.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    @Soprano2:

    What did we think would happen if we gave employees a living wage?  Businesses often fail when costs rise.  They certainly don’t care when workers suffer when there’s a labor glut.

  19. 19.

    rikyrah

    Got a text from a co-worker. She took the first shot. Had to go to a red state for son’s college graduation. Now she, husband, both sons are positive for COVID-19.??
    Told her to demand monoclonal antibodies treatment.

    COVID is still very real out in these streets.??

  20. 20.

    Barbara

    @Baud:  We also continually fail to consider the role of a safety net in smoothing out these sorts of disparities. When people have zero margin for safety they are going to prioritize wages.

  22. 22.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Barbara: It doesn’t seem to me that we fail to consider it, it’s that certain among us don’t want a safety net. The system requires a ready pool of low wage unskilled (desperate) workers.

  23. 23.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Baud: The employer that’s paying subsistence wages is depending on other local companies, other businesses paying more so their employees have spare money to spend in the skinflint’s store. If everyone is only earning enough to pay the rent and keep their beater car on the road so they can get to their 8-buck-an-hour jobs then the cookie store isn’t going to get much footfall.

  24. 24.

    Robert Sneddon

    @MagdaInBlack: ​
     

    The system requires a ready pool of low wage unskilled (desperate) workers.

    The 13th Amendment dealt a body-blow to that economic system back in the 1860s. It was patched-up by vagrancy laws and later drug laws to provide a pool of prison farm labour in the Jim Crow period after Reconstruction but even that’s fallen by the wayside to a large extent now that marijuana is being legalised everywhere.

    You still have Slavery 2.0 with non-visa labour volunteering to cross the border and work a 12 hour day in the fields for a hundred bucks off-the-books but that’s not covering the employment gaps so wages are rising, much to the dismay of the modern slaveowners at Wal-Mart and Mar-a-Lago.

  25. 25.

    Spanky

    @Baud:

    At some point, the small business community needs to learn that hewing the GOP line hurts them.

    Rationally, we passed that point some time ago. Certainly by the depths of the pandemic.

    We are not dealing with rational actors. That point doesn’t exist.

  26. 26.

    Sloane Ranger

    Sunday in the UK there were 1926 new cases. This is an increase of 8.6% in the rolling 7-day average, but the usual weekend warnings apply to these and subsequent numbers and we will likely see an increase in today’s and tomorrow’s figures. New cases by nation,

    England – 1471 (down 143)

    Northern Ireland – 109 (did not report yesterday so this is 2 days worth)

    Scotland – 292 (down 121)

    Wales – 54 (does not report on Saturday’s so this is 2 days worth).

    Deaths – There were 4 deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported yesterday. This is an increase of 10.4% in the rolling 7-day average. New deaths by nation, England – 3 and Wales – 1. None in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

    Testing – Not updated at weekends.

    Hospitalisations – Not updated at weekends.

    Vaccinations – As of 15 May, a total of 36,573,354 people had received 1 shot of a vaccine and 20,103,658 had received both. In percentage terms this means that 69.4% of all adults in the UK and 38.2% had received both.

    General – There have been concerns raised by various health groups concerning the relaxation of restrictions today given the growth of the Indian variant here but Matt Hancock (Health Minister) did the talk shows yesterday re-assuring people that it is safe providing people behave responsibly. Not much chance of that!

    He said that, although the evidence is provisional, it appears that the vaccines work against the Indian variant, but, to me, it seems like a risk until we can be sure.

  27. 27.

    Ramiah Ariya

    I worked for a short period in a volunteer group associating COVID patients with Oxygen supported beds or ICU in the southern Indian city of Chennai. The situation is bad, but our volunteer driven work is slowly being replaced by the govt itself managing to find both Oxygen and ICU beds. Different districts all over India are in various stages of this wave.

    I expect that around a month from now, the govts (state, local, central) will have enough Oxygen and enough vaccines to slowly improve the situation. Till then, those who can are confined within home.

    The lockdown implementation is not as harsh as last time – govt workers are tired and spent.

    Everyone of us know someone in family or friends who has passed away, which means the death toll is very high.

    It appears the Indian vaccines do protect against the new variant, so that is the best hope along with the lockdowns. I do not plan to step out of home for the next month.

  28. 28.

    Zzyzx

    My local co-op grocery store switched to a “vaccination or mask” rule this weekend. Despite my zip code being the most heavily vaccinated one in Seattle which is doing well across the board and it being a store more likely to appeal to those who would get it, 100% mask compliance.

    Maybe in a month or two that will change but not yet.

  29. 29.

    satby

    @Soprano2: I saw someone posted last night about wages at a plant near Chicago that were higher than any small employer could pay.

    Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.

    Honestly, a lot of you have headed into “one simple trick” land, assuming it’s just wages. I just was on Glassdoor checking prevailing wages for the jobs I’m trying to hire for, and we already pay higher than our competition. I’ve even reached out to reentry programs for the formerly incarcerated, because they can be great employees, but there I’m competing with local factories offering $17-20/ hour with shift differentials. There’s a shortage of bodies. And as to owners “do more work herself, or reduce hours, or lower her own salary or offer flexible schedules, or some combination” that’s pretty glib, since many small business owners (the onesI know, like my son and the doctor) already work 60 hours a week. “Some businesses might fail”, sure businesses often fail. At least we’ll always have giant corporations to pick up the slack.

  30. 30.

    Soprano2

    @Barbara: She’s probably already done all of that. My manager has sometimes had to work 80 hour weeks because of us not having enough people. Luckily, that’s not a permanent situation.

  31. 31.

    Soprano2

    @satby:Honestly, a lot of you have headed into “one simple trick” land, assuming it’s just wages.

    You and I are in complete agreement on this. Jobs are never about only wages – it’s also about the working conditions and benefits and the boss and the potential for better things. We have a great cook who could probably get more money if he went to a chain like Applebee’s, but with us he has a lot of freedom to create specials and do other special things that Applebee’s wouldn’t let him do. (He made a chicken alfredo lasagna Friday night was was amazing!) It’s also about what the market will bear – as I said a while ago, I’d love to pay all my employees $20/hr – but then I’d go out of business and they’d all be unemployed, because my prices would be so much higher than those my competitors charge that I’d have no business.

  32. 32.

    Ken

    The statistics in two reports caught my eye.

    In the graph for India’s deaths, back in June of 2020 there was a huge spike, probably from the late reclassification of some deaths from earlier that year. The reason I noticed it was the small “plateau” in the 7-day average figure, which jumps up on the reporting day, then back down a week later. I hope I am being excessively cynical in thinking that someone might have learned the wrong lesson from that — i.e., that underreporting deaths and then “correcting” them all at once gives you months of good numbers, at the cost of just a week of bad numbers.

    The other thing, which I’ve mentioned before, is that Russia’s 340 deaths and 9328 cases mean one of two things – they are missing a lot of cases, perhaps because they’re only testing people who get really sick; or the numbers are propaganda with minimal relation to reality.  And at this point, someone will chime in with the Russian equivalent of “Porque no los dos?

    (For my own sanity, I am ruling out a third possibility, that they have a variant with a 4% death rate.)

  33. 33.

    satby

    @Soprano I said a while ago, I’d love to pay all my employees $20/hr – but then I’d go out of business and they’d all be unemployed, because my prices would be so much higher than those my competitors charge that I’d have no business.

    Yeah, “businesses fail, tough luck” is an odd take from liberals who presumably want diversity in choices of purchasing and are (again presumably) against megacorps dominating a market. Plus, all those small businesses failing lead to unemployed people who are willing to work for less for the only jobs in town: the history of how WalMart came to dominate.  I know most of the people making these assumptions haven’t been hiring at an entry level for a long time if ever, but it gets tedious hearing we must be neo-slavers who want to deprive our staff of living wages.

  34. 34.

    Ramiah Ariya

    @Ken: India is too vast and under too many local govts for a “fix” like you are saying. The “underreporting” mentioned in media is misunderstood (and meant to be misunderstood) – death classification around India is not accurate and has never been accurate, pandemic or otherwise. It is a poor country with a big rural population.

    When the media says “undercount”, it is common for people in the first world to interpret this as malicious, leaving out the context.

  35. 35.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Director-General of Heath Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 4,446 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 474,556 cases. He also reports a record 45 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 1,947 deaths — 0.40% of the cumulative reported total, 0.44% of resolved cases.
    There are currently 43,506 active and contagious cases; 522 are in ICU, 273 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 2,784 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 429,103 patients recovered – 90.42% of the cumulative reported total.

    14 new clusters were reported today: Taman Repek, Kampung Kual, and Kampung Perah in Kelantan; Kampung Paya Teh and Taman Jati in Pahang; Jalan Jambusan in Sarawak; Jalan Imam Jalilul and Sungai Langgas in Sabah; Kundang Jaya, Jalan Jambu Bol, and Jalan Kusta in Selangor; Parit Kassan Jegol in Johor; Jalan Kuak Luar in Perak and Kuala Lumpur; and Dah Serdang in Kedah.

    Kundang Jaya, Parit Kassan Jegol, Sungai Langgas, and Jalan Kuak Luar are religious clusters. Jalan Jambu Bol, Jalan Kusta, and Dah Serdang are workplace clusters. The rest are community clusters.

    4,443 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 1,650 cases: 126 in clusters, 1,177 close-contact screenings, and 347 other screenings. Sarawak reports 433 cases: 86 in clusters, 288 close-contact screenings, and 59 other screenings. Johor reports 390 local cases: 106 in clusters, 193 close-contact screenings, and 91 other screenings. Kelantan reports 343 cases: 22 in clusters, 239 close-contact screenings, and 82 other screenings.

    Kuala Lumpur reports 297 cases: 13 in clusters, 180 close-contact screenings, and 104 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 243 cases: 32 in clusters, 137 close-contact screenings, and 74 other screenings. Kedah reports 236 cases: 24 in clusters, 135 close-contact screenings, and 77 other screenings. Perak reports 203 cases: 45 in clusters, 126 close-contact screenings, and 32 other screenings. Terengganu reports 201 cases: 82 in clusters, 106 close-contact screenings, and 13 other screenings.

    Penang reports 158 local cases: 11 in clusters, 92 close-contact screenings, and 55 other screenings. Pahang reports 139 cses: 69 in clusters, 51 close-contact screenings, and 19 other screenings.
    Melaka reports 80 cases: 16 in clusters, 42 close-contact screenings, and 22 other screenings. Sabah reports 59 local cases: 13 in clusters, 26 close-contact screenings, and 20 other screenings.

    Putrajaya reports 11 cases: seven close-contact screenings, and four other screenings.

    Perlis and Labuan report no new cases today.

    Three new cases today are imported: one in Sabah, one in Johor, one in Penang.

    The deaths reported today are a 61-year-old man in Selangor with hypertension; an 83-year-old man in Selangor with heart disease; a 73-year-old man in Terengganu with diabetes; a 49-year-old woman in Selangor with intestinal cancer; a 39-year-old man in Johor with obesity; a 71-year-old man in Sarawak with hypertension and gout; a 76-year-old woman in Kelantan with hypertension; a 54-year-old woman in Kelantan with diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease; a 64-year-old man in Kelantan with Parkinson’s disease; a 68-year-old man in Pahang with diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia; a 64-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with no co-morbidities listed; a 58-year-old woman in Kedah with liver disease and chronic kidney disease; a 62-year-old woman in Selangor with diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease; a 70-year-old man in Johor with diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease; a 62-year-old man in Selangor with no co-morbidities listed; a 46-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes, hypertension, haemophilia, obesity, dyslipidaemia, and chronic kidney disease; a 59-year-old woman in Penang with hypertension; an 86-year-old woman in Melaka with no co-morbidities listed; an 83-year-old woman in Selangor with diabetes and hypertension; an 82-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with hypertension; an 82-year-old man in Selngor with hypertension; a 62-year-old woman in Selangor with hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and obesity; an 81-year-old man in kuala Lumpur with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and chronic kidney disease; a 75-year-old man in Selangor with hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; a 90-year-old woman in Melaka with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and chronic kidney disease; a 77-year-old woman in Selangor with amyloid angiopathy and stroke; an 81-year-old woman in Johor with hypertension and dyslipidaemia; an 89-year-old man in Perak with diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease; a 73-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes and hypertension; a 63-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and chronic kidney disease; a 42-year-old man in Selangor with no co-morbidities listed; a 36-year-old woman in Sabah with asthma and obesity; a 78-year-old woman in Perak with diabetes, hypertension, and stroke; an 81-year-old woman in Kedah with diabetes, hypertension, and skin cancer; a 73-year-old man in Kedah with hypertension, dyslipdaemia, and stroke; a 70-year-old woman in Selangor with diabetes; a 90-year-old woman in Selanor with diabetes, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, and parotid cancer; a 46-year-old msn in Perak, DOA with hypertension; a 90-year-old woman in Selangor, DOA with intestinal cancer; an 81-year-old man in Selangor with hypertension; an 84-year-old woman in Selangor with hypertension; a 72-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and heart disease; a 74-year-old woman in Negeri Sembilan with diabetes, hypertension, stroke, chronic kidney disease, and heart disease; a 54-year-old woman in Negeri Sembilan with diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and dyslipidaemia; and an 86-year-old non-Malaysian in Selangor with diabetes.

  36. 36.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — 161 new cases of COVID-19 reported, no deaths. Test positivity rate is 1.6%. These numbers are affected by some reporting offices being closed for the weekend. I’ll wait for tomorrow’s numbers to get a better idea what’s going on.

     

    Most of Scotland has entered level 2 restrictions with the exception of Moray in the north and most of Glasgow and its suburbs to the south due to higher-than-comfortable case numbers locally so they are remaining at level 3. To give you an idea Glasgow’s weekly case rate per capita is about the same as America’s average case rate. My own area (City of Edinburgh) is about a third of that.

     

    Vaccination numbers were down over the weekend, at about 33,000 or so over the past 24 hours. They are split roughly 50-50 for first and second jabs (all approved vaccines in the UK are 2-dose formulations). My landlord got his second vaccination appointment about 8 weeks after he got his first jab. He was able to reschedule this appointment online so he could get vaccinated at a local centre (about 500 metres from our front door) rather than having to travel several miles to the originally specified vaccination centre as well as getting an earlier appointment.

     

    Sadly he’s been reading horror stories on the Internet about side-effects from the vaccines and worrying about them although he has done a bit more investigation — the case of a nurse who got vaccinated and then was found dead a few days later concerned him somewhat until he looked up the VAERS report and discovered she weighed over 200 kilograms at time of death.

  37. 37.

    Another Scott

    @Baud:

    Businesses often fail.

    FIFY.

    It’s tough, it honestly really is, but small businesses have to adapt. Nobody is guaranteed a profit or even continued operation as a going concern. Even in “good times”, busineess fail. Massive changes are happening because of TFG’s incompetent and malicious response to COVID-19 and there is going to be turmoil as people and the economy adjusts.

    It was ever thus.

    Fortunately, now we have sensible leadership who understands that people and businesses need help, but it’s still going to be traumatic for many as the economy changes.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  38. 38.

    Soprano2

    @satby:  I know most of the people making these assumptions haven’t been hiring at an entry level for a long time if ever, but it gets tedious hearing we must be neo-slavers who want to deprive our staff of living wages.

    Yes, it does. There are realities in the market that some people don’t want to acknowledge. Companies like WalMart and McDonald’s can afford to pay more; I can’t compete with their buying power. The fast-food industry model was set up to have teenagers and college-aged people filling most of those jobs; it was never intended that adults try to live on the wages those jobs pay, but the factories those people would have worked at have closed so that’s where a lot of them are working now. The same people who want me to pay all my workers $20.00 an hour would blanch at paying the prices that would require; they’d go to my competitor down the road who pays less but also charges less. This is exactly how we got WalMarts in rural towns. They’ve been here since the ’80’s because we’re close to Bentonville, and they expanded out in a circular fashion from there.

    I also want to say that the first real useful help restaurants and bars got from the government as far as I’m concerned was in the 3rd Covid relief bill, with the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. It’s a grant, not a loan I have to worry about paying back. It was relatively easy to apply, and I’m hoping it will go a long way to making us whole from the losses we incurred last year. That’s the thing, I’m expected to raise wages a lot in the face of big losses from last year. That’s a heavy lift for small businesses.

  40. 40.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Ramiah Ariya: Are you in India now, or are you assisting from overseas? Is the customs clearance situation as messed up as reported?

    At least the B.1.617 variants do not appear to have significant immunity escape properties. This would also suggest that the high seroprevalence survey data out of Delhi and Mumbai, and other Indian cities hard hit in the 1st wave last year, were misleading.

    Anyway, best of luck to your family and friends in India.

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