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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Monday / Tuesday, May 24-25

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Monday / Tuesday, May 24-25

by Anne Laurie|  May 25, 20214:58 am| 37 Comments

This post is in: COVID-19, Foreign Affairs

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Seriously, this is well done — keep in mind the target audience:

President Biden's YouTube Town Hall on COVID-19 Vaccination https://t.co/2RaUY03YZ6

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 25, 2021


The United States is now averaging 546 deaths per day from coronavirus, the lowest seven-day average since March 31, 2020, according to data from @CNN and Johns Hopkins University.

— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) May 24, 2021

For the first time in 11 months, the daily average of new #coronavirus infections in the U.S.???? has fallen below 30,000 amid continuing signs of recovery, by @LennyMBernstein @JoelAchenbach https://t.co/fQ6SteWZwS via @washingtonpost #COVID19

— André Picard (@picardonhealth) May 22, 2021

SCOTT GOTTLIEB: “In a crowded indoor, stuffy setting, in a classroom, for example, I think having kids continue to wear masks for a period of time is reasonable, still not in a very low prevalence environment." pic.twitter.com/i6uLpzVfBc

— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) May 23, 2021

Among the triple heads of the antivaccine monster, the one with the greatest relevance now in the US is probably the links to far right extremism, which unfortunately mainstreamed across the GOP and reflected in the low COVID-19 vaccination rates in deep red states @charles_gaba pic.twitter.com/6MiTEzWOUJ

— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) May 22, 2021

======

At least 115k healthcare workers have died from #Covid since the pandemic's onset, the WHO's director-general said Monday. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the global medical workforce & called for a dramatic scale-up of vaccinations in all countries https://t.co/ZLNwwIh4bM pic.twitter.com/c6WOPIybo9

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 24, 2021

Good explainer of what's good, and what isn't working, with #COVAX — the international program that aims to bring equitable access to #COVID19 #vaccines worldwide. https://t.co/43Yp1eg2CW

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) May 24, 2021

Covid-19 vaccine willingness.#AFPGraphic showing the changing trend in people willing to accept a coronavirus vaccine in selected countries, according to the latest figures from YouGov polls pic.twitter.com/1TXEDUC40C

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 25, 2021

Lockdowns & other restrictions are being reimposed throughout much of Asia as SARSCoV2 continues spreading https://t.co/cTZJdUJPCZ via @medical_xpress

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 24, 2021

India posts lowest rise in daily COVID-19 cases since April 14 https://t.co/HstWiGIkBD pic.twitter.com/SYtYbJvNfO

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 25, 2021

I tried to write about what some of us have been going through since the last few weeks. While the West is making post-pandemic plans, here in India, we have plunged into the deepest of the pandemic crisis.

My piece for @washingtonpost https://t.co/Yhjl1isH5P

— Romita (@RomitaSaluja) April 27, 2021

We have stopped praying that we don’t catch the virus; we are waiting for our turn and preparing for when it hits us. The constant dilemma is whether to maintain distance from family members or to stay close — because you never know it may be the last time you see them.

— Romita (@RomitaSaluja) April 28, 2021

The mystery of the hundreds of bodies found in India’s Ganges river https://t.co/Q32gOUfGrj

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 23, 2021

Pfizer in talks with India for COVID-19 vaccine supplies https://t.co/NWMrgPUZdP pic.twitter.com/xcTAJyaFGT

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 25, 2021

Successful ‘supplements’ entrepreneur & major Modi supporter — sound vaguely familiar?:

Doctors furious over yoga guru Baba Ramdev's insulting Covid remark https://t.co/FEmhUUWqBp

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 25, 2021

Taiwan was able to keep Covid at bay for months, possessing one of the best coronavirus-fighting records in the world. Then, #B16171 & #B16172, two variants from India came along and changed everything https://t.co/MVSCypO1rZ pic.twitter.com/0og9a2q1Fq

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 24, 2021

Hong Kong may soon have to throw away millions of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses because they are approaching their expiry date and not enough people have signed up for the jabshttps://t.co/fJydBjZe2z pic.twitter.com/TtOm9ac22Y

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 25, 2021

Australia's second-largest city Melbourne reinstated COVID-19 restrictions as authorities scrambled to find the missing link in a fresh outbreak that has grown to five cases https://t.co/eKVBcgehvM pic.twitter.com/TogFZa2fYA

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 25, 2021

Russia has made deals to sell more than 205 million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine across 45 countries, Forbes Russia reported Tuesday. Just 8% of all orders have been delivered abroad so far with Argentina receiving the biggest share https://t.co/Jpq4tl0ygT

— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) May 25, 2021

Congratulations to the UK, where the lowest covid fatality (7-day average of 6) rate since March 15, 2020, has been achieved pic.twitter.com/IhzVMGMrJe

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) May 24, 2021

A tragedy in slow motion: Latin America passes 1 million reported COVID-19 deaths.

The region has 8% of the world population, but has recorded 29% of global COVID fatalities.https://t.co/TnHJb54idb

— Josh Michaud (@joshmich) May 24, 2021

United Airlines, union agree against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for pilots https://t.co/mG8H4wu9Af pic.twitter.com/Vvo5QCvMQv

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 25, 2021

======

The unseen Covid risk for unvaccinated people: Cases are occurring in a narrower slice of the US population. After statistical adjustments for vaccination, the nat'l death rate for Covid-susceptible people is roughly the same as it was 2 months ago https://t.co/wn0IiHvhv6

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 24, 2021

Companies around the world are attempting to develop Covid tests that show quicker results and are easier to use.

One Polish company has come up with a test that gives results in seconds and is being trialled in two airportshttps://t.co/hCCmYb97a7

— BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) May 24, 2021

Coronavirus vaccinations will probably become routine because SARSCoV2 is very likely here to stay https://t.co/qIs1KtCcLz

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 24, 2021

======

In the US, we're rapidly building immunity thanks to highly effective vaccines. Cases have been quickly dropping. What might we expect in the coming months?

A few tweets on how I think about our patchwork of outbreaks… 1/6

— Natalie E. Dean, PhD (@nataliexdean) May 24, 2021

These pockets with lower immunity will remain at risk for outbreaks. While populations with high immunity may no longer be at risk for large outbreaks, movement between areas (and from across the globe) will lead to regular re-introductions and onward cases. 3/6

— Natalie E. Dean, PhD (@nataliexdean) May 24, 2021

The scale of the pandemic in the US thus changes, from when everywhere on the map was a fiery red, to smaller outbreaks. A case-based response (e.g. contact tracing, targeted antibody therapy) becomes more feasible to react to re-introductions. 4/6

— Natalie E. Dean, PhD (@nataliexdean) May 24, 2021

Second, while the US is breathing a sigh of relief, the rest of the world is experiencing a very different pandemic. We have an ethical imperative to further assist other countries by increasing contributions to #COVAX. This will help keep us all safer. 6/6

— Natalie E. Dean, PhD (@nataliexdean) May 24, 2021

1.4 million Americans were in nursing homes in May2020. By Jan2021, according to the @USGAO :
– Nursing homes had an average of 3 #COVID19 outbreaks
– 94% of them experienced more than 1 outbreak
– 85% of the homes had an outbreak lasting 5 or more weeks.https://t.co/7kiaRESB75

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) May 23, 2021

Alabama governor signs bill that prohibits vaccine passports https://t.co/NLgtIBRAiq pic.twitter.com/adCERI66fr

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 25, 2021


There seems to be a minimum daily lying requirement for GOP politicians now:

…. “I am supportive of a voluntary vaccine, and by signing this bill into law, I am only further solidifying that conviction”, Ivey, a Republican, said on Monday.

The governor’s statement added that Ivey has been vaccinated and would “encourage any Alabamian who has not gotten their shot to roll up their sleeves”.

The Alabama Republican party said the law was “protecting the privacy rights of Alabamians from the federal overreach of the Biden Administration”.

The administration of President Joe Biden has opposed the idea of making vaccine passports mandatory…

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Reader Interactions

37Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    May 25, 2021 at 5:46 am

    Monroe County, NY stats:

    81 new cases – 66.6% were people under 40, including 25 children between 0 and 19. Adults in their 30s had the most new cases, followed by children between 10 and 19.

    Deaths are at 1291, up by 24 from last week.

    173 patients hospitalized, 36 patients in the ICU

    55.7% of Monroe County has at least 1 jab
    48.7% are fully vaccinated

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 25, 2021 at 6:30 am

    Sign on the door of the Kirkwood* Walmart yesterday:

    Covid vaccines available
    Walk-ins welcome

    In my travels yesterday, I heard 2 different stories about the disparities in rural/urban vaccination rates, one story noted that rural populations were dominantly Republican/Evangelical both groups being particularly vaccination averse. Both stories predicted a long hot covid summer for rural areas. I had to make a couple stops yestereve at the local feed store and Lowe’s. Could not help noticing that other than the employees, I was the only person still wearing a mask.

    Stupid is as stupid does, WASF.

    • context, Kirkwood is an STL suburb
  3. 3.

    NotMax

    May 25, 2021 at 6:35 am

    ~799,000,000: Total number of reported vaccinations (all flavors) worldwide
    ~7,900,000,000: World population
    .

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 25, 2021 at 6:40 am

    Misery’s vaccination rate is 33.7%. There are 10 states even worse.

  5. 5.

    NotMax

    May 25, 2021 at 6:49 am

    Monday marked 2 weeks since shot #2 for yours truly. Extra garnish in the martini to celebrate.

  6. 6.

    Soprano2

    May 25, 2021 at 6:54 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Springfield will probably get to 50% by sometime in June. We’re at 42% with one shot right now. Getting higher than that will take a long time IMHO. Every pharmacy is offering walk-in vaccinations.

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    May 25, 2021 at 6:55 am

    @NotMax:

    Yeah ???????

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 25, 2021 at 7:07 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Heard on the radio yesterday that all the new England states have reached 70% vaccination. Those numbers are not reflected in the chart I linked to, so it’s a little bit dated.

  9. 9.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 25, 2021 at 7:09 am

    @Soprano2: The only way we’ll ever see 50% vaccination here is if 25% of the population dies.

  10. 10.

    NotMax

    May 25, 2021 at 7:15 am

    @OzarkHillbilly

    Or when Branson requires proof of vaccination?

    (Which will be shortly after hippopotami master flying.)

  11. 11.

    Amir Khalid

    May 25, 2021 at 7:17 am

    Malaysia’s Director-General of Heath Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports a record 7,289 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 525,889 cases. He also reports 60 new deaths today, one shy of yesterday’s record, for a cumulative total of 2,369 deaths — 0.45% of the cumulative reported total, 0.45% of resolved cases.

    There are currently 63,458 active and contagious cases; 726 are in ICU, 373 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 3,789 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 460,062 patients recovered – 87.48% of the cumulative reported total.

    15 new clusters were reported today: Persiaran Setia Dagang building site, Jalan Enam Selatan 1A, Jalan Tahir Manan, and Desa Pinggiran Putra in Selangor; Jalan Cemerlang Elektrik, Jalan Selendang, and Jalan Sekuntum in Johor; Tasik Raja in Kelantan; Jalan Segambut Lentang in Kuala Lumpur; Perusahaan Maju Enam in Penang; Dah Charok Bemban in Kedah; Kalabakan Selatan in Sabah; Industri Kledang Satu in Perak; Sungai Isap Perdana in Pahang and Selangor; and Jalan Dato Permaisuri in Sarawak.

    Jalan Tahir Mann, Jalan Dato Permaisuri, Jalan Selendang, and Jalan Sekuntum are community clusters. Desa Pinggiran Putra is a religious cluster. The rest are workplace clusters.

    7,285 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 2,641 local cases: 108 in clusters, 2,010 close-contact screenings, and 523 other screenings. Johor reports 664 cases: 159 in clusters, 365 close-contact screenings, and 140 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 601 local cases: 75 in clusters, 377 close-contact screenings, and 149 other screenings.

    Sarawak reports 513 cases: 29 in clusters, 411 close-contact screenings, and 73 other screenings.
    Kelantan reports 425 cases: 113 in clusters, 248 close-contact screenings, and64 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 410 cases: 82 in clusters, 224 close-contact screenings, and 104 other screenings.

    Penang reports 380 cases: 53 in clusters, 193 close-contact screenings, and 134 other screenings. Kedah reports 336 cases: 44 in clusters, 150 close-contact screenings, and 142 other screenings.

    Terengganu reports 268 cases: 64 in clusters, 164 close-contact screenings, and 40 other screenings. Sabah reports 266 cases: 94 in clusters, 117 close-contact screenings, and 55 other screenings. Melaka reports 258 cases: 83 in clusters, 126 close-contact screenings, and 49 other screenings. Perak reports 218 cases: 30 in clusters, 126 close-contact screenings, and 62 other screenings. Pahang reports 211 cases: 67 in clusters, 108 close-contact screenings, and 36 other screenings.

    Labuan reports 63 cases: 42 in clusters, 14 close-contact screenings, and seven other screenings. Putrajaya reports 23 cases: 12 close-contact screenings, and 11 other screenings. Perlis reports eight cases: six close-contact screenings, and two other screenings.

    Four new cases today are imported: three in Kuala Lumpur, one in Selangor.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    May 25, 2021 at 7:23 am

    Le sigh.

    A West Maui man says he was punched in the face over the weekend after reminding visitors to wear their masks.

    Lahaina resident Humberto Cardenas said he was in line at Panda Express about 6 p.m. Saturday when the family came in. “The son and the father aren’t wearing a mask,” he said.

    Cardenas, 21, said he tried to educate the family visiting from Florida about Hawaii’s mask mandate, but they refused to listen to him. Source

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 25, 2021 at 7:24 am

    @NotMax: Never happen, Branson likes money more than life and fleecing the rubes is their only business.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    May 25, 2021 at 7:25 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Darwin take the wheel.

  15. 15.

    Zzyzx

    May 25, 2021 at 7:30 am

    One thing that’s changed over the last 2-3 weeks is that I sometimes forget to check the case numbers. It used to be a daily ritual but now that we’re in the teens and low 20s (which was my personal benchmark I was looking for), I’ve definitely relaxed.

    In grocery store news, one of our local grocery stores moved from masks to masked OR vaccinated and then went back to masks required a week later. In Seattle, everyone was just wearing them anyway so…

  16. 16.

    Amir Khalid

    May 25, 2021 at 7:33 am

    I missed this yesterday, but the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs has imposed a two-hour limit on the time you can spend in a shopping mall. The shopping malls say they don’t have the power to enforce a time limit on shoppers. I’m not sure how this is supposed to work, either. Am I allowed to spend two hours at the mall, wait outside 10 minutes, and then go back in again? Or does it mean two hours total on any given day?

  17. 17.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 25, 2021 at 7:40 am

    @NotMax: Good to hear!

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 25, 2021 at 7:40 am

    @Amir Khalid: I thought the whole point of shopping malls was unlimited consumerism.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    May 25, 2021 at 7:42 am

    @mrmoshpotato

    Kind’a glad no obvious superpowers manifested. Spandex does me no favors.

    ;)

  20. 20.

    MomSense

    May 25, 2021 at 7:44 am

    I’m so disgusted by the anti-vaxxers.  They are too “pure” for vaccines but they will ingest all manner of completely unregulated and untested supplements recommended by people who have zero credentials.  They will drink silver FFS.  I hope they all turn blue.

  21. 21.

    Al Z.

    May 25, 2021 at 7:45 am

    I used my NY Excelsior vaccine pass for the first time over the weekend to attend a Syracuse Mets minor league baseball game and it was great. One of the best parts is not having to guess who is and who isn’t vaccinated. You can still attend unvaccinated if you show a negative covid test result – you just can’t go around maskless in non-indoor spaces. It really felt like events like this could be major drivers encouraging vaccination.   But not in Alabama and other red states apparently. Privacy my ass. They’re just toddlers who don’t want to be told what to do.

  22. 22.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 25, 2021 at 7:46 am

    @NotMax:

    Cardenas, 21, said he tried to educate the family visiting from Florida about Hawaii’s mask mandate, but they refused to listen to him

    Floriduh Man.

  23. 23.

    YY_Sima Qian

    May 25, 2021 at 7:54 am

    On 5/24 China reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Guangdong Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case.

    • Guangzhou did not report new domestic positive cases. There currently are 1 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases, both at Liwan District. 1 residential compound remains at Medium Risk.
    • Shenzhen reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Yantian Port. The new case is also dock workers, found via 2nd round mass screening of all employees after the initial asymptomatic case reported in 5/21. The case had boarded the same international cargo ship on 5/17 as the 4 previously reported asymptomatic cases, but also work in the same area at the port and live in the same dormitory, and had previously tested negative on 5/21. There currently are 5 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. Genomic analysis of viral samples taken from 1st 2 cases indicate that they were infected with the B.1.1.7 strain (1st detected in Kent, UK).

     

    Anhui Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There are 9 domestic confirmed & 10 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Liu’an reported 2 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases. The 2 new domestic positive cases are a couple, one of whom had visited the photo studio that is the center of the cluster there on 5/8, both had been locked down in residential compound since 5/13. The city currently has 7 domestic confirmed & 10 domestic asymptomatic cases there. A shopping center & 5 residential compound are currently at Medium Risk. 
    • Hefei currently has 2 domestic confirmed cases, both traveling sales people who conduct photography seminars. A hotel remains at Medium Risk.

     

    Liaoning Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are 12 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • At Yingkou, 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. The city currently has 8 domestic confirmed & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 4 villages & 7 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
    • Shenyang did not report any new domestic positive cases. The city currently has 4 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 4 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.

     

    In Yunnan Province, 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 8 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Imported Cases

    On 5/24 China reported 13 new imported confirmed cases, 16 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 3 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from France, Niger (via Paris CdG) & the UK (via Amsterdam Schiphol)
    • Tianjin Municipality – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Brazil & Guinea (both via Paris CdG)
    • Taiyuan in Shanxi Province – 2 confirmed cases, both coming from Poland
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 2 confirmed cases, a Mainland Chinese & a Taiwanese resident coming from Taiwan 
    • Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from the Argentina; 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
    • Changsha in Hunan Province – 1 confirmed & 2 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese nationals returning from Ghana (via Amsterdam Schiphol); 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Nigeria (via Frankfurt) & Ghana (via Amsterdam Schiphol), & a Chadian national coming from Egypt
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 confirmed case, 
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 7 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Canada & 1 each from Turkey, Bangladesh, Myanmar & Côte d’Ivoire, & a foreign national coming from Mexico (via Amsterdam Schiphol)
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Mainland Chinese resident returning from Hong Kong
    • Rizhao Port in Shandong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both crew members off a cargo ship with last port of call in India

     

    Overall in China, 21 confirmed cases recovered, 15 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 2 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 202 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 319 active confirmed cases in the country (289 imported), 3 in serious condition (all imported), 389 asymptomatic cases (363 imported), 2 suspect case (1 imported). 6,980 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 5/24, 527.253M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 16.395M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 5/25, Hong Kong reported 2 new case, both domestic (a Filipino domestic worker & a Pakistani construction worker, sources of infection not yet identified). Both are asymptomatic, identified during regular bi-weekly screening. They may be recovered cases shedding dead viral particles.

  24. 24.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 25, 2021 at 7:54 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Flying Floriduh man.

  25. 25.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 25, 2021 at 7:55 am

    @Al Z.: Minor League ball!

  26. 26.

    Matt McIrvin

    May 25, 2021 at 7:56 am

    Mainstream news channels now have a new scare all over them about a possible connection between myocarditis and COVID vaccines in younger people.

    It’s a good bet that whether it’s real or not, it’s lower than the risk of heart trouble in these same populations from catching COVID-19 (myocarditis is apparently a possible complication). It’s also a good bet that this will scare a lot of people away from vaccination, much like the J&J clotting story.

  27. 27.

    Amir Khalid

    May 25, 2021 at 8:06 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Yes, but these are pandemic times. And did you see Malaysia’s numbers that I posted just now? They’re kind of frightening.

  28. 28.

    Matt McIrvin

    May 25, 2021 at 8:17 am

    Meanwhile Naomi Wolf just gets weirder and weirder on Twitter–now talking about the unvaccinated getting unbearable crawling sensations and vertigo from being in the presence of vaccinated people. As many immediately commented, most of the symptoms sound like those of a panic attack.

  29. 29.

    Ken

    May 25, 2021 at 8:21 am

    @Matt McIrvin: sound like a panic attack.

    Because, deep down, they know that they’re risking a fatal disease.

  30. 30.

    Robert Sneddon

    May 25, 2021 at 9:23 am

    Scotland — 318 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 2 deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours. The test positivity rate is 2%. Hospital occupancy numbers, both regular beds and ICU have ticked up slightly.

    Vaccinations — 45,500 vaccinations administered in the past 24 hours, again mostly second-doses. This is up from the weekend lull as expected.

    The number of people not turning up for vaccination appointments is starting to cause some concern. This may be due to the priority scheme is now sending out appointments to younger people who move home more often than senior adults and the NHS and GP offices may have lost track of them resulting in the appointment letters being sent to invalid addresses. There’s an anecdotal report on the BBC website of someone who’s received five vaccination appointment letters for people who haven’t lived in that building for several years and more. There’s also the access problem — one of the biggest vaccination sites in Glasgow is at the Hydro, a big entertainment venue down by the river. It’s not that well-served by public transport especially during the weekend and this may have affected the numbers.

    There’s “cautious optimism” regarding the Glasgow outbreak while Clackmannanshire peeks its head over the parapet, reporting high per-capita numbers recently but in an area with a small population where a few linked cases being reported together can distort the reality.

    The Scottish government may be moving away from using numbers in local outbreaks to set control levels for pubs and clubs being open for business towards monitoring hospital bed numbers instead along with targeted test and trace operations. This is a risky strategy since such indicators lag any possible outbreak but people are tired of isolated lockdowns especially when places only a few kilometres away are more open than they are. The significant numbers of people in Scotland who are now partially or fully vaccinated might make this work out though.

  31. 31.

    Sloane Ranger

    May 25, 2021 at 9:27 am

    Monday in the UK we had 2439 new cases. This is an increase of 17% in the rolling 7-day average but these and subsequent figures may still be affected by the weekend reporting delays. New cases by home nation,

    England – 1972 (up 238)

    Northern Ireland – 53 (down 24)

    Scotland – 313 (down 65)

    Wales – 101 (up 55).

    Deaths – There were 3 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is a decrease of 46.7% in the rolling 7-day average. All 3 deaths were in England.

    Testing – 1,165,801 tests were conducted on Sunday, 23 May. This is an increase of 3.1% in the rolling 7-day average. The PCR testing capacity estimated by labs on that date was 638,411.

    Hospitalisations – Has not been updated.

    Vaccinations – As of 23 May, a total of 38,070,038 people had received the 1st jab of a vaccine and 22,895,556 had received both. In percentage terms, this means that 72.3% of all adults in the UK have received 1 shot of a vaccine and 43.5% have had both.

  32. 32.

    Origuy

    May 25, 2021 at 9:55 am

    Here’s a new Covid effect.

    A handful of COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals have developed severely swollen tongues—and doctors are trying to understand why the condition, known as macroglossia, is occurring.

  33. 33.

    frosty

    May 25, 2021 at 10:54 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Same thing in Southern Utah in a hardware store and an RV dealer. I had the only mask. Ugh.

  34. 34.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    May 25, 2021 at 10:58 am

    @NotMax: i shouldn’t have to get a vaccine to see that japanese guy who plays the fiddle really fast. it’s my right as an american.

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    May 25, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    That Reuters story:  Is United full of wingnut pilots?  I never fly them anyway, and this motivates me to stay off of them.  At least the smart ones are getting extra pay for being vaccinated.  And, possibly, the overseas routes.

    And “cultural backlash?”  I would be delighted to have a reason to clear out the deadweight, gullible, self-absorbed and malevolent, although I’d be sure to have a policy for those who honestly cannot be vaccinated.  (Immune system; health issues, etc.)

    United Airlines (UAL.O) and its pilots’ union have reached an agreement to prohibit the airline from mandating COVID-19 vaccinations to its pilots, the Air Line Pilots Association said on Monday.
    “Since the COVID vaccination is not mandatory, pilots who elect not to be vaccinated will not be subject to any discipline,” the agreement stated.
    United’s chief executive officer, Scott Kirby, had told workers at a meeting in January that the company may make the vaccine mandatory for employees and urged other companies to do the same. read more
    The agreement between the airline and the union also adds that those pilots who have been vaccinated would be eligible for extra pay.
    Earlier this month, Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) said it would require all new hires in the United States to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. read more
    American Airlines (AAL.O) had said in January it does not plan to make vaccinations mandatory for pilots and other employees unless it was mandatory for entry into certain destinations. read more
    While private U.S. companies can require employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, experts have said they could put themselves at risk of legal and cultural backlash if they do so.

  36. 36.

    glc

    May 25, 2021 at 3:08 pm

    pluralistic.net/2021/05/25/the-other-shoe-drops/#quid-pro-quo

     

    Vaccine waivers (patent law, history). Lead-in:

     

    The world’s 125 poorest countries (2.5b people) have received zero covid vaccine doses to date. The 85 poorest countries project vaccination in 2023/24. This is vaccine apartheid.

  37. 37.

    Chris T.

    May 25, 2021 at 7:32 pm

    @NotMax: my modest proposal: an automated (computerized) system that detects people not wearing masks and drills them open with laser beams. “Mask or death?”

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