Barring an unexpected spate of new discoveries, I’ll probably skip these updates over the holiday weekend (Saturday, Sunday & Monday nights). We can all use the break, IMO!
the timeframe for working out the exact path of SARS in 2003 from horseshoe bats to Asian palm civets to humans was *fourteen years*.
we might work out the course of this one quicker, but there's no guarantees.
— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) May 27, 2021
You can potentially preclude the Virology Institute hypothesis much faster than you can find the source of the disease. All you need is a trail of early cases that leads in any other direction.
— Pinboard (@Pinboard) May 27, 2021
That is very true, too. But there are things working for us—this kind of trail of early evidence is easy to suppress but hard to fake convincingly. And China has a growing incentive to demonstrate that it did not originate in a lab leak.
— Pinboard (@Pinboard) May 27, 2021
62.0% of American adults have received at least one vaccine shot; 50.6% are now fully vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/S9eSgT6Jjn
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) May 28, 2021
I can only *hope* that ‘the covid story is waning’ (at least in the US), but I agree with this take regardless:
vaccines are working! infection rates are falling! We are not out of the woods yet but we are within visual range of the clearing. And the stories left to tell are important but are not as click-y. /5
— Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis (@KendraWrites) May 27, 2021
The US had +24,393 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total to just shy of 34.0 million. The 7-day moving average declined to 23,060 new cases per day, its lowest level since June 15, 2020. pic.twitter.com/AqNF5jL8Am
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) May 28, 2021
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Terrific look at the inequities of #Covid19 vaccine distribution, the ways they could be fixed & some realistic estimates for how long those fixes will take, by the dynamic duo of @sciencecohen & @kakape. https://t.co/0iq8Y5TfKB
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) May 28, 2021
We will NEVER stop the #COVID19 #pandemic with the drip drip drip of dollars, far short of the needs to fund COVAX, purchase billions of doses and get them in arms worldwide. Happy to see @WorldBank support, but it is FAR from needs level. @GaviSeth @CEPIvaccines @DrTedros https://t.co/1h9KA8eAPt
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) May 27, 2021
Coronavirus infections in the South Asia region surpassed 30 million, according to a Reuters tally of official data, led by India which is struggling with a second COVID-19 wave and a vaccine shortage across the region https://t.co/1URNsHKMrg pic.twitter.com/f95oaPP9wR
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 28, 2021
India posts lowest daily rise in COVID-19 cases in over a month https://t.co/KRRlhZDEqU pic.twitter.com/TnWpSoTP4Q
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 28, 2021
India reported on Friday 186,364 new coronavirus infections during the previous 24 hours, for its lowest daily rise since April 14, while deaths rose by 3,660.
The South Asian nation’s tally of infections now stands at 27.56 million, with the death toll at 318,895, health ministry data show.
“This time, the pandemic hurt everyone, it wasn’t a distant thing happening to somebody else, it was every family.” – Dr. Bornali Datta, India
Dr. Datta shares her experience fighting #COVID19 amidst oxygen shortages and the overwhelming second wave. https://t.co/9bmQ1ey7Eb
— The Global Fund (@GlobalFund) May 27, 2021
The teenagers fighting India's deadly Covid crisis https://t.co/Fmt4mUzX4Y
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 28, 2021
Never declare success. Not with the newer variants!
Last year, I had moderated a webinar on how well Malaysia was doing with Covid. This year ?? pic.twitter.com/iGK1VSxe0S
— Madhu Pai, MD, PhD (@paimadhu) May 27, 2021
Malaysian volunteers, who help to give virus victims a Muslim burial, say they are being stretched like never before, as the Southeast Asian country struggles to cope with its worst COVID-19 outbreak since the start of the pandemic https://t.co/Ib4ErBcnkq pic.twitter.com/Fe7JXEICsN
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 28, 2021
— Shehzad Younis (@shehzadyounis) May 23, 2021
Indonesia reported a new cluster of 42 coronavirus infections among medical workers who treated 13 Filipino ship crew who were sick with COVID-19, and is tracing dozens of others, a government official said on Sunday.
About 140 other medical workers came into close contact with the crew of the Panamanian-flagged cargo ship Hilma Bulker, who tested positive for the new coronavirus after docking in Central Java on April 25, the province’s governor, Ganjar Pranowo, told Reuters. The vessel had come from India.
Genome sequencing showed the crew had the highly infectious B.1617.2 variant first identified in India, Ganjar said, adding that one of them had later died in hospital…
With more than 1.7 million confirmed cases and 49,000 deaths, Indonesia is the worst-hit country in Southeast Asia.
Its COVID-19 crisis is not as bad as that seen in India, but some health experts are concerned mass gatherings at this month’s Eid al-Fitr celebrations and virus variants could trigger a surge of new cases in the world’s fourth-most populous nation…
Japan said it would consider sharing its COVID-19 vaccines with other countries as a ruling party committee urged it to provide a portion of its AstraZeneca vaccine stock to Taiwan https://t.co/f7Oo6E9PQk pic.twitter.com/ROEa5mcJaM
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 28, 2021
Qantas Airways said it was considering a plan to reward customers who have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine with incentives like frequent flyer points or flight vouchers to help boost vaccination rates in Australia https://t.co/hstLwne2er pic.twitter.com/9xLsO3Stah
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 28, 2021
Russia on Friday confirmed 9,252 new coronavirus cases and 404 deaths https://t.co/njmX6iuITK
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) May 28, 2021
African countries have had access to scandalously little #Covid19 vaccine. Now the continent is having trouble sourcing 20M second doses of the AZ vaccine to give to people who received their first dose.
Surely we can do better. pic.twitter.com/kckQl4ibW0— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) May 27, 2021
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Good news: immunity mounted against SARSCoV2 after infection or vaccination probably persists longer than previously thought https://t.co/7J9cOyoO28
— delthia ricks ?? (@DelthiaRicks) May 26, 2021
A DNA vaccine has induced protective immunity against SARSCoV2 in animal models, namely mice & hamsters. The vax encodes a part of the virus to elicit an immune response. A DNA vax can be produced quicker than mRNA vaccines & at lower cost https://t.co/UtNr4XaiNC pic.twitter.com/LiA3EzeT88
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 27, 2021
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A wide-ranging and well-resourced effort to contest vaccine requirements in workplaces and other settings intimidates them with litigation, despite the Supreme Court ruled in Jacobson, 1905, that states can force residents to be inoculated against smallpoxhttps://t.co/z6YipRooPg
— Alfons López Tena (@alfonslopeztena) May 26, 2021
The ACLU is urging the Biden administration to provide Covid-19 vaccine access to immigrants in detention, citing the rapid spread of coronavirus in congregate settings, according to a letter sent to the Department of Homeland Security and obtained by CNN https://t.co/mo26a0JR5k
— CNN (@CNN) May 27, 2021
Antivaxxers are misusing a government database for information to scare the public about vaccines. The VAERS database contains unvetted information. Antivaxxers are using it to fuel conspiracy theories https://t.co/CZid3KdZBF
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 28, 2021
YY_Sima Qian
On 5/27 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Guangdong Province reported 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 4 domestic confirmed & 17 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Anhui Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 2 domestic confirmed case recovered & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are 6 domestic confirmed & 5 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Liaoning Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are 9 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
In Yunnan Province, 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 6 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases.
Imported Cases
On 5/26 China reported 7 new imported confirmed cases, 21 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:
Overall in China, 18 confirmed cases recovered, 13 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & none were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 540 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 316 active confirmed cases in the country (291 imported), 4 in serious condition (3 imported), 405 asymptomatic cases (373 imported), 3 suspect case (all imported). 7,518 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 5/27, 584.360M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 17.637M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 5/28, Hong Kong did not report any new positive cases.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY stats:
93 new cases – 60% were people under 40, including 25 children between 0 and 19. Adults in their 30s had the most new cases at 20. The 10-19 age group had 18 cases.
Deaths are at 1291.
2.5.4% test positivity
169 patients hospitalized, 41 patients in the ICU
56.4% of Monroe County has at least 1 jab
49% are fully vaccinated
mrmoshpotato
Yes! Enjoy your weekend. And thanks again for keeping up these posts.
Baud
Another example of how Biden is discouraging people from working!
A well deserved break, AL. New discoveries can wait till Tuesday as far as I’m concerned.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia reported 8,290 new cases today — a fourth consecutive days of record high new-case numbers.
More numbers to come.
gkoutnik
@Amir Khalid: Stay safe, Amir.
YY_Sima Qian
Thank you A.L. for keep up with this for so long, a break is well deserved!
YY_Sima Qian
@Amir Khalid: Take care down there! The newer variants in largely naive populations have been a big challenge across E/SE Asia.
Dirk Reinecke
Report from South Africa. We are solidly in our Third Wave. My father had been hospitilised for blood clots and then discharged last week.
On Monday he was feeling ill, and I took him to the hospital. They did a covid test and he was positive. The next day I went for a test as well, and the results have been positive.
I’m jealous of you guys who live in a country where the vaccination process is so advanced. We have only vaccinated a small portion of our population here.
Rusty
AL, enjoy the holiday weekend. If you are still feeling motivated after the break, maybe consider posting ever other or every three days. I have very much appreciated your posts, whatever you decide, thank you for keeping us all so well informed. Your work has been a true community service.
sab
@Dirk Reinecke: This has been a bone of contention between me and my spouse.
When we had our shots as far as he was concerned the pandemic was over. Meanwhile our children and grandchildren were still waiting. And even those who had been vaccinated were six weeks from being out of the woods. Not to mention inlaws in Asia, still unvaccinated, and everyone else in the world, still waiting.
p.a.
Anyone see any comments from nonna/la nonna lately? She was in Italy & regularly commenting early in the pandemic.
Gvg
@Dirk Reinecke: oh dear, I hope you both recover.
I wish we could manufacture the vaccines faster. We would still be in trouble if Trump had been re-elected.
Matt McIrvin
Here in MA our governor is declaring victory, lifting nearly all regulations and (as a good Republican in the end) ending the extended unemployment.
Everyone back in the plague pit! My town is still in Yellow status; was going we’d get to Green soon but I guess now that depends on just how effective our existing level of vaccination is.
Meanwhile, there’s an outbreak raging on Martha’s Vineyard, one of the most fully vaccinated places in the state–I suppose if the help are still mostly unvaccinated and they have to congregate together, that fact doesn’t help them much. Expect more of this kind of thing going forward.
p.a.
@Matt McIrvin: With most of the developing & undeveloped world a petri dish for Covid variants it may be just a matter of time before one or some variants are clearly vaccine resistant. To paraphrase Gandalf, you may fence yourself in but you can’t forever fence the world out.
La Nonna
@p.a.: I’m still here, in Puglia, where finally the vaccination program hit high gear…as of 1 June, no appointments needed, no age requirements (still over 16 in Italy), we are due to come out of “yellow” moderate lockdown to full open society (masked) on 15 June. The R rate even in the worst hit areas is under 1.0, and Pfizer-BionTech, Moderna, and J&J now the preferred vaccines. After Astra-Zeneca delivered a scant portion of the contracted doses to the EU, italy is now using its stock only for 2nd doses (me). Looking forward to a cautiously fun summer, all of our US vaxxed family arriving at various weeks after 4 July. Still masked in public, other than walking the neighborhood or taking an early morning swim in the Adriatic, but we are going to have our first Sunday lunch outdoors in a near fishing village this weekend, it’s been 15 months.
rikyrah
@Amir Khalid:
????????
rikyrah
@Matt McIrvin:
The Vineyard????
Cermet
@Dirk Reinecke: Hope you and your father recover quickly!
Yes, the failure to mass produce the vaccine is something that threatens everyone. In the US we have huge facilities always ready to produce vaccines – both for our yearly flu programs (lost why Europe has no such infrastructure) and emergency reserve facilities for just such an event. This is part of the reason we have the ability to create vaccines in the hundreds of millions of doses in short order.
Seriously, all modern first world countries should have this type of infrastructure – just for flu would pay for itself. Flu is far deadlier than people realize. Yes, this would be only only a dozen or so countries but that would create the required infrastructure needed to enable a fast production of vaccines for the world.
Reboot
Adding my thanks, Anne Laurie, from a mostly lurking, infrequent commenter–have a safe and happy holiday!
p.a.
@La Nonna: ??????????
Betsy
So glad you are taking a break! And so very glad the situation now allows you to take a break.
I’ve been coming to see these posts first thing in the morning for a year. You’ve been our early warning system, and more. Thank you.
wvng
Thank you Anne, for all you do. Take a break.
Robert Sneddon
Scotland — Nicola Sturgeon began her briefing to the Scottish parliament today by saying 641 new positive cases of COVID-19 were identified in the past 24 hours with a test positivity rate of 2.6%. Two more deaths of people with recently confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported. We got a breakdown of the areas of concern:
234 of the cases were in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area.
132 were in Lothian
104 in Lanarkshire health board
Those numbers don’t look good, more than double the number of cases since Scotland mostly came out of lockdown a couple of weeks ago. There’s a report from Tayside where there seems to have been a superspreader event at a Dundee pub last Saturday that resulted in a cluster of 20 cases and the authorities are scrambling to track other patrons before the disease spreads further.
Hospitalisations throughout Scotland have also been increasing — the number of people in hospital has risen to 90, an increase of seven in 24 hours. Six people are also in intensive care units, two more than yesterday.
Vaccination numbers are remaining high with surge operations in hotspots getting more needles into arms than before. There have been about 50,000 vaccinations carried out over the past 24 hours, up from the regular 40,000 vaccinations per diem rate. Whether the vaccine supply situation can keep up with this rate for long is another matter. The surge in vaccinations won’t have a visible effect on new case numbers for a while though.
Given these numbers the Scottish government has postponed moving Glasgow out of level 3 restrictions for at least a week and maybe more. The silver lining news is that most of the new cases reported are appearing in the younger population which is giving hope that the vaccination program has prevented the disease spreading through older members of the public who are nearly all vaccinated now.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Director-General of Heath Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 8,290 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement — a record for a fourth consecutive day, and the first daily total exceeding 8,000 — for a cumulative reported total of 549,514 cases. He also reports 61 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 2,552 deaths — 0.46% of the cumulative reported total, 0.54% of resolved cases.
There are currently 72,823 active and contagious cases; 808 are in ICU, 403 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 4,814 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 474,139 patients recovered – 86.29% of the cumulative reported total.
21 new clusters were reported today: Jalan Satu Olak, Perusahaan Satu Batu Caves, Persiaran Sepang Sebelas, Sri Gombak Lapan in Selangor; Kemumin, Kampung Chekok, Kampung Teliar, Bukit Ilmu in Kelantan; Wangsa Perdana building site, Kampung Chubadak, Seksyen Dua, and Bukit Jalil immigration detention depot 2 in Kuala Lumpur; Jalan Hospital Tampoi and Tawar Empat in Johor; Perusahaan Valdor, Jalan Kampung Bukit in Penang; Dah Emas Suria and Dah Pinang in Kedah; Jalan Padi and Jalan Seroja Kepis in Negeri Sembilan; and Tanjung Kepah in Perak.
Persiaran Sepang Sebelas, Kampung Chekok, Kampung Teliar, Dah Emas Suria, Jalan Padi, and Tanjung Kepah are community clusters. Kampung Chubadak, Jalan Kampung Bukit, Jalan Seroja Kepis, and Seksyen Dua are religious clusters. Sri Gombak Lapan and Dah Pinang are other education clusters. Bukit Ilmu is a higher-education cluster. Tawar Empat is a high-risk group cluster. Bukit Jalil immigration detention depot 2 is a detention cluster. The rest are workplace clusters.
8,288 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 2,052 cases: 65 in clusters, 1,553 close-contact screenings, and 434 other screenings. Kelantan reports 851 cases: 97 in clusters, 572 close-contact screenings, and 182 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 828 local cases: 188 in clusters, 458 close-contact screenings, and 192 other screenings.
Johor reports 762 cases: 241 in clusters, 418 close-contact screenings, and 103 other screenings.
Sarawak reports 698 cases: 38 in clusters,474 close-contact screenings, and 186 other screenings.
Kedah reports 544 cases: 24 in clusters, 354 close-contact screenings, and 166 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 520 cases: 100 in clusters, 327 close-contact screenings, and 93 other screenings.
Penang reports 421 cases: 108 in clusters, 173 close-contact screenings, and 140 other screenings. Perak reports 405 cases: 53 in clusters, 258 close-contact screenings, and 94 other screenings.
Melaka reports 380 cases: 173 in clusters, 158 close-contact screenings, and 49 other screenings. Sabah reports 308 cases: 116 in clusters, 104 close-contact screenings, and 88 other screenings.
Pahang reports 254 cases: 90 in clusters, 126 close-contact screenings, and 38 other screenings. Terengganu reports 207 cases: 47 in clusters, 124 close-contact screenings, and 36 other screenings.
Putrajaya reports 44 cases: one in a cluster, 33 close-contact screenings, and 10 other screenings. Perlis reports eight cases: three close-contact screenings, and five other screenings. And Labuan reports six cases: one close-contact screening, and five other screenings.
Two new cases today are imported, both in Kuala Lumpur.
prostratedragon
Smooth sailing this weekend AL, and continuing thanks for all the info.
Ohio Mom
I don’t often comment on these Covid threads but I always check Anne Laurie’s updates every morning — right after I check the weather. It is my main source for Covid news outside my Ohio bubble. I have learned so much science and geography through these snippets (and from you regular commentators).
That said, enjoy your well-deserved time off, Anne Laurie! I am glad to hear you are giving yourself this gift.
Zzyzx
I learned yesterday that King County (Seattle) still will have a mask mandate until 70% of the 16+ population is fully vaccinated. Right now 73.8% have one dose and 63.4% have 2 so it’ll be achieved in the next few weeks. Our numbers are still high so it’s probably a good idea
(The reason I didn’t know is that I still rarely go anywhere and when I do, I wear a mask so it didn’t affect me at all.)
WayneL140
Again, I nominate AL for a Pulitzer for covering the pandemic. Nobody has done it better, and we all appreciate your efforts. Take a raise out of petty cash.
Laura Too
Many thanks Anne Laurie for all you do! These posts have been such a valued part of my day. There is nowhere else that I can come to find out the latest science and news from around the world. Added bonus of being able to hear from people on the ground in other countries. It is easy to get myopic with our news, especially when things were so bad here that global perspective slipped away. Thank you too, to all who comment-what a beautiful place to gather a global family. Amir and Dirk, please stay safe!
Robert Sneddon
More news from the UK, the Janssen single-dose vaccine has just been approved for use nation-wide after stage-3 trials indicated an 85% efficacy rate and no noticeable issues. 20 million doses have been ordered by the UK government and should start being delivered later this year. I’m not sure if the Janssen vaccine has been approved for use anywhere else in the world at this time.
The UK has other vaccines in train to be approved if they pass their trials, including locally-made ones like Valnava but right now the main vaccines being distributed here are the astraZeneca adenovirus-based vaccine and the Pfizer mRNA vaccine. The Moderna mRNA vaccine has been approved but only a small amount has been delivered under contract until now.
Sloane Ranger
Have a good rest AL.
Thursday in the UK we had 3542 new cases. This is an increase in the rolling 7-day average of 20.5%. New cases by nation,
England – 2936 (up 396)
Northern Ireland – 84 (up 18)
Scotland – 464 (down 82) but see above for the latest information from Robert Sneddon.
Wales – 58 (up 30).
We are told that the vast majority of new cases are of the Indian variant, that they are mostly among unvaccinated people and that they aren’t getting as ill as previously. Even so, not good. Hopefully the fact that high numbers of people are already vaccinated will limit, or at least slow, the growth in numbers.
Deaths – Another bad sign. There were 10 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is an increase of 14% in the rolling 7-day average. Deaths by nation, England – 8 and Wales – 2.
Testing – 1,132,061 tests were conducted on Wednesday, 26 May. This is an increase of 1.6% in the rolling 7-day average. The PCR testing capacity estimated by labs on this date was 652,516.
Hospitalisations – Also, not good. The number of COVID patients in hospitals on Tuesday, 25 May was 916. The number of people on ventilators on Wednesday 26 May was 125. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions as of 23 May was up 19.9%.
Vaccinations – As of 26 May, a total of 38,614,683 people had received their 1st jab of a vaccine and 24,043,956 had had both. In percentage terms this means that 73.3% of all adults in the UK have had 1 shot and 45.6% were fully vaccinated.
General – As this will be the last COVID thread for a few days, I am reporting that I will be having my 2nd shot tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Matt McIrvin
@Robert Sneddon: The Janssen is the same vaccine we usually refer to as “the Johnson & Johnson vaccine” here–it became much less popular here after reports of very rare clotting issues comparable to the ones you’ve already got with the AstraZeneca, but it’s back in use. My wife got that one.
Scout211
Thank you, Anne Laurie for these Covid update posts. Have a great holiday weekend!
My husband and I were dreaming about how we were going to spend our $1.5M in California Covid lottery money. LOL.
Actually, I think this lottery is a good way to hook in a lot of vaccination doubters, like several of my neighbors. I’m also glad that every person in California with at least one dose will be eligible.
Amir Khalid
Other news. Malaysia is going into “total lockdown” for the first two weeks of June, the Government has announced. And then we’ll see.
Matt McIrvin
@p.a.: I figure with the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA platforms well-established and most of the logistical problems already solved, a booster that covers any variants different enough to evade the existing vaccines will be relatively quick to roll out. The regulatory cycle will be faster than it was for initial authorization. It’s unlikely that we get one that’s truly impossible to vaccinate against.
Betsy
@Dirk Reinecke:
Well-wishes for you and your father. So sorry.
Lacuna Synecdoche
Patrick Chovanac via Anne Laurie @ Top:
At that rate, it multiplies out to about 191,000 deaths/year.
Or about 4.65 times the number of U.S. gun deaths in 2020 (approx. 41,000).
Which is to say that while 526 deaths per day may sound low, especially compared to the rates we saw in Jan. and Feb., it’s still WAY too fucking high.
We’re nowhere near the point where we can start getting complacent about it.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Lacuna Synecdoche: supposedly if the vaccinated are taken out of the population totals the US is well into a third wave now. The anti vaccers are eating their own just to pown the libertards now.
Lacuna Synecdoche
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Yep. That makes sense. If we assume yesterday’s 526 CoViD-19 deaths were largely among the unvaccinated, then the death rate among the unvaxxed is a little more than twice that of the population as a whole.
Or about the same rates we experienced in November and March (but not as high as the rates we saw Dec.-Feb.).
Fair Economist
The Indian variant is looking very bad. All over the world, countries that had been doing well either by public health measures (Taiwan, South Korea) or by vaccination (UK) are struggling with increasing case rates. We are not out of the woods yet. Things may become especially grim in places doing neither (Russia)
This is an example of how the incompetence of conservative government anywhere threatens the whole world.
laura
Enjoy the well earned weekend Holiday AL. The sole reason the US is doing well is because tfg lost to a competent, empathic president and administration. It breaks my heart to see Amir’s daily report as well as the very concerning stats from around the globe knowing that this touches lives near and far.
Sister Golden Bear
Many thanks to Anne for your excellent and diligent work! Enjoy your well-deserved break!
J R in WV
@Dirk Reinecke:
Sorry to hear about those positive tests — best of luck with everything. We are all hoping for the best for you and your family~!!~
Jay
Thank you so much Anne and everybody for all the work, the comments, the global snapshots, the sanity and lack of clickbait.
Dirk, take care, I hope you do well.
Dirk Reinecke
Thanks for the kind thoughts everyone. My father is still stable in hospital. I’m still stable at home. In some surprising news I was actually contacted by the provincial department of health to find out if I’m doing okay, adhering to the lockdown regulations etc, and if they needed to send a letter to my employer etc.
In slightly more bad news. The health minister in South Africa is implicated in corruption with regards to Covid-19 spending.
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-05-28-exposed-digital-vibes-bankrolled-maintenance-work-at-zweli-mkhize-property-r300k-paid-to-ministers-son/