Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

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

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

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

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

…and a burning sense of injustice to juice the soul.

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

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

If West Virginia and San Francisco had a love child.

So many bastards, so little time.

You cannot shame the shameless.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Saturday / Sunday, June 19-20

COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Saturday / Sunday, June 19-20

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34Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Oh great, we’ve got the Delta variant here in Upstate NY now and Monroe County has stopped publishing COVID stats on weekends.

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    In hunt for Covid’s origin, new studies point away from lab leak theory

    Marc Van Ranst, a virologist who is helping to coordinate Belgium’s pandemic response, says: “Nature is the biggest bio-terrorist there is. It has shown time and time again that it doesn’t need a lot of help in creating a virus and making it jump between species.”

    The claim that Sars-CoV-2 was suspiciously well adapted to humans at the beginning of the pandemic also finds little support. It infects a wide range of species – including cats, dogs, mink, tigers and lions – and if anything has become better adapted to humans over the pandemic, in part through further alterations to the spike protein.

    This leaves the lab leak theory resting principally, for now, on unverified reports of three cases of respiratory illness among the WIV’s nearly 600 staff in November 2019, a winter month in Wuhan, and the fact that the institute took a database of viral genome sequences offline two months earlier – to protect it from hackers, they told WHO investigators.

  3. 3.

    Betsy

    I come back every morning to read the latest. This is where I get my news, for a year now. One of the many “best things” about this blog. Thank you.

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    As the Covid-19 vaccination drive ramps up around Malaysia, I have finally gotten my Dose 1 appointment: 4:30pm Friday at a convention centre in Shah Alam. I expect it will be the Pfizer, but I’ll be happy with whatever I get.

  5. 5.

    JeanneT

    I’m feeling a bit sad for my vaccinated  95 year old MIL this week.  She is not thriving in her independent living apartment, so I’ve been working hard to move her to assisted living, starting Tuesday.  But when she becomes resident she will no longer be allowed to see her vaccinated family members in her new home without everyone wearing a mask, even though everyone can establish their negative covid status with a rapid test beforehand.  No hugging, no kissing, no eating together, even outdoors.  Visitors by appointment only, only 2 visitors at a time, only in room. No visits at all from her great-grandchildren under 14, except waiving through a window.   I am certainly hoping the increased care she receives and the socializing with other residents will be more valuable than the loss of easy contact with family and friends – but I’m not at all sure….

  6. 6.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Amir Khalid: 

    As the Covid-19 vaccination drive ramps up around Malaysia, I have finally gotten my Dose 1 appointment: 4:30pm Friday at a convention centre in Shah Alam. I expect it will be the Pfizer, but I’ll be happy with whatever I get.

    Woo hoo! ???

  8. 8.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Director-General of Heath Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 5,293 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 696,408 cases. He also reports 60 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 4,408 deaths — 0.63% of the cumulative reported total, 0.70% of resolved cases.

    There are currently 63,815 active and contagious cases; 880 are in ICU, 454 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 5,914 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 628,185 patients recovered – 90.20% of the cumulative reported total.

    19 new clusters were reported today. Of the cumulative total of 2,623 clusters, 834 are still active while 1,789 are now inactive.

    5,286 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 1,676 local cases: 77 in clusters, 1,011 close-contact screenings, and 588 other screenings.

    Negeri Sembilan reports 693 cases: 176 in clusters, 336 close-contact screenings, and 181 other screenings. Sarawak reports 658 local cases: 158 in clusters, 385 close-contact screenings, and 115 other screenings. Johor reports 627 cases: 464 in clusters, 129 close-contact screenings, and 34 other screenings.

    Kuala Lumpur reports 379 cases: 35 in clusters, 224 close-contact screenings, and 120 other screenings.

    Perak reports 205 cases: 171 in clusters, 18 close-contact screenings, and 16 other screenings.

    Melaka reports 183 cases: 110 in clusters, 38 close-contact screenings, and 35 other screenings. Kedah reports 170 cases: 57 in clusters, 92 close-contact screenings, and 21 other screenings. Kelantan reports 167 cases: 53 in clusters, 69 close-contact screenings, and 45 other screenings. Sabah reports 163 cases: 38 in clusters, 95 close-contact screenings, and 30 other screenings.Labuan reports 156 cases: eight in clusters, 70 close-contact screenings, and 78 other screenings. Penang reports 114 cases: 54 in clusters, 28 close-contact screenings, and 32 other screenings.

    Pahang reports 77 cases: 39 in clusters, 29 close-contact screenings, and nine other screenings. Terengganu reports 12 cases: one in a cluster, nine close-contact screenings, and two other screenings. Putrajaya reports four cases: one in a cluster, one close-contact screening, and two other screenings. Perlis reports two cases, both found in other screenings.

    Seven new cases today are imported: four in Selangor, three in Sarawak.

  9. 9.

    mrmoshpotato

    @JeanneT: I hope the increased care for your MiL outweighs the restrictions.  And, hopefully, vaccines for the kiddos are available sooner than later.

  12. 12.

    Cermet

    China’s achievement of a billion doses delivered has to be measured against the vaccines’ effectiveness – it appears that three doses are required to prevent illness (but one dose does appear to prevent serious illness – i.e. hospitalization.) So, their doses delivered and effective vaccination levels are very different.

    Very glad our friend Amir gets his first dose soon. I was so excited when I got mine back in mid March (via hard work by my daughter staying up late refreshing her computer. Now, we can’t give vaccines away without paying people … I can’t get my mind to accept such stupidity but facts are facts.)

  16. 16.

    Other MJS

    Curious to see where the chewing gum thing goes. Needles are effective props for anti-vaxxers. Now if they came up with something that could be smoked …

  17. 17.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — 1,205 new cases of COVID-19 reported yesterday, zero deaths (but as always remember that some reporting offices are closed at the weekend). Test positivity rate is 5.8%. The case numbers are remaining high, no signs yet of it peaking or decreasing and the test rate is worryingly high too.

     

    Over 35,000 vaccinations were administered in Scotland yesterday, a little down on the normal weekday rate of 40,000-plus. Surge vaccination operations are continuing in some city-centre locations where the logistics and access requirements are easier to meet. The health services are starting to another door-to-door vaccination campaign for some of the housebound people missed first time around. Vaccine hesitancy remains low among the general public. Stocks and supplies of vaccine seem to be keeping up with the demands of the government’s attempt to offer everyone over 18 a first vaccination by the middle of next month as well as shortening the delay between jabs to eight weeks or less.

     

    Generally the Delta variant is now overwhelmingly the variety of COVID-19 that is spreading through the UK’s population. Unless there’s something peculiar about the situation here in the UK then I expect other Western countries will see an increased proportion of Delta variant cases in the future.

  19. 19.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 6/19 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Guangdong Province did not report any new domestic positive case.

    • Guangzhou did not reported any new domestic positive cases. To date, the outbreak in the city has accumulated 146 domestic confirmed cases & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases, with 20 domestic confirmed cases having recovered. 1 residential compound was re-designated from Medium Risk to Low Risk. 1 sub-district remains at High Risk, 3 sub-districts & 4 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
    • Zhanjiang did not report any new domestic positive case. 1 residential compound remains Medium Risk.
    • Foshan did not reported any new domestic positive cases. 1 residential compound was elevated to Medium Risk. 2 residential compounds are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Shenzhen did not report any new domestic positive cases. Genomic analysis shows that the sequences of viral samples from both domestic confirmed cases reported on 6/18 are identical to the infected Customs worker (at the Bao’an International Airport) reported on 6/14, as well as 16 imported positive cases from South Africa, all having the Delta variant. While one of the cases is a restaurant service staff at the airport, other case only visited the airport once for a meal and purchase at a convenience store there. Then there is the spouse of the 2nd case, identified as domestic confirmed case at Dongguan on 6/18. The exact transmission chain remains unclear, but the Delta variant only requires casual contact for transmission. 1 residential compound remains Medium Risk.
    • Dongguan did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 residential building remains at Medium Risk.

    Due to the cluster of Delta variant cases centered around the airport at Shenzhen, most flights into & out of the airport have been canceled over the past couple of days. All personnel at the airport have been swabbed and tested negative in the past 24 hours (though many of them would have been tested on a weekly basis, anyway). Dongguan is testing 2.5M residents at 5 townships where the domestic confirmed case reported on 6/18 had visited in the past 14 days, to be completed today. 

    Imported Cases

    On 6/19, China reported 23 new imported confirmed cases, 20 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 7 confirmed cases (5 previously asymptomatic), all Chinese national returning from the South Africa
    • Jiangmen in Guangdong Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Indonesia & Saudi Arabia, off flights that landed at Guangzhou; 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Saudi Arabia, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 each coming from Cambodia & Liberia (via Nairobi); 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 each coming from Kenya & Sierra Leone, off flights that landed at Guangzhou
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a foreign national returning from Mali (via Côte d’Ivoire, the Congo, Rwanda & Nairobi); 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the UK (via Amsterdam Schiphol)
    • Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both coming from Saudi Arabia, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Zhuhai in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Saudi Arabia, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Dongguan in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from the UAE, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Shanghai Municipality – 3 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Sri Lanka, Russia, Canada & the DRC (via Addis Ababa); 1 suspect case, no information released
    • Kunming in Yunnan Province – 2 confirmed cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Cambodia
    • Yunnan Province (locations not specified) – 2 confirmed cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar via land border crossing
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 each coming from Cameroon & Taiwan; 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Spain
    • Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Indonesia; 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Japan
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the Philippines 
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from Algeria
    • Jiangsu Province (location not specified) – 4 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Tianjin Municipality – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Senegal (via Paris CdG) & Japan
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, no information released

    Overall in China, 16 confirmed cases recovered, 8 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 9 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 489 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 510 active confirmed cases in the country (363 imported), 18 in serious condition (8 imported), 458 asymptomatic cases (437 imported), 1 suspect case (imported). 16,348 traced contacts are currently  under quarantine.

    As of 6/19, 1,010.489M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 20.232M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 6/20, Hong Kong report led 1 new positive case, imported.

  22. 22.

    YY_Sima Qian

    I happened to visit Shenzhen and Dongguan in Guangdong Province for a business trip in the second half of this past week, though I did not come anywhere near the places that the cases had visited. Due to the infected Customs worker at the airport reported on 6/14, I had made the decision not to fly into Shenzhen, but took the high speed rail from Wuhan (and back), instead. I also decided to stay in a hotel at the suburbs of Shenzhen, though still in Bao’an District. The airport is in the district, and one of the cases resides in the district, both at the other end of the district from the hotel I stayed at. However, the new policy in Wuhan (updated on 6/19, after my return) is that anyone with travel history in Bao’an District since 6/10 needs to go through 14 days of centralized quarantine followed by 14 days of home quarantine. :-( 

    I got a call from my district’s pandemic control & prevention command this morning asking for my rough itinerary during the Shenzhen & Dongguan trip, confirmed that I had stayed in Bao’an District. I was told to wait for further instructions from neighborhood committee & community workers. I told them that it made no sense that no one at Bao’an District in Shenzhen (except for the residential compound with the case) is under lockdown, but returning from a brief trip to Shenzhen (& my itinerary well away from those of the positive cases) back to Wuhan results in my getting quarantined for 28 days. The response was that each provincial and municipal jurisdiction make different decisions to minimize the risk of an outbreak, and policy is policy. In fact, the planes loads of passengers from Shenzhen yesterday went straight into centralized quarantine. :-0 I checked in with my relative at the Wuhan Municipal CDC, he confirmed the official policy, but also said that there likely tens of thousands of people who returned to Wuhan from Districts and townships with cases at Guangzhou, Dongguan & Shenzhen over the past week+, & that there aren’t enough hotels in the city to quarantine all of those people. While Beijing sets the overall direction and objectives, most of the time the local governments are afforded a lot of leeway in developing policies to achieve those objectives. Where there are reports of outrageous policies or actions at one corner of China or another, this is often the dynamic at play, not necessarily that these policies are encouraged or condoned by Beijing. There is a joke that “when Beijing says cut the hair, the local government often says cut the head.” Then again, I am sure the leaders in Beijing know that overreaction at the local level occurs frequent, they do not care enough to minimize such occurrences, unless there is significant popular backlash.

    After I received the call from the district pandemic control & prevention command, I looked up the phone number on Baidu (Chinese equivalent of Google), and it was flagged as potentially fraudulent. Concerned, I called back seeking explanation. The worker on the other end was almost apologetic, saying that they had annoyed a lot of people as part of their contact tracing efforts (persistent nagging), and some people decided to flag their phone number as potentially tied to telephone fraud to Baidu, in minor act of rebellion.

    The people who made the quarantine decision did not account for the prohibitive difficulties in execution, and those tasked with execution will likely try to bend and obfuscate until a workable solution is found. The charitable explanation for the overreaction from the Wuhan authorities is that they are spooked by the Delta variant. The uncharitable explanation is that the authorities do not want to risk even a cluster in advance of the 7/1 centennial for the founding of the CCP. Probably a mix of both.

    I will wait to see if the call comes. There won’t be any business trips for me in next 4 weeks, regardless whether I am sent to quarantine, that is for sure.

  24. 24.

    JeanneT

    @rikyrah:  I think they should – and I think the staff thinks they should,  but the state of Michigan disagrees.  Considering how hard the residential long term care facilities got hit with Covid, I can appreciate that the last thing the State (or the long term care businesses) wants is for a variant to sweep through and take out another batch of residents.  But I think if they  follow the science, they should at least open up a little more to reward the residents and staff for their high vaccination rates – much higher than the community at large.

  25. 25.

    Sloane Ranger

    Saturday in the UK we had 10,321 new cases reported but bear in mind weekend reporting delays. This is an increase of 33.2% in the rolling 7-day average. New cases by nation,

    England – 8954 (down 331)

    Northern Ireland – 158 (down 20)

    Scotland – 1209 (up 259). See Robert Sneddon’s post above for more information.

    Wales – does not report on Saturdays.

    Deaths – There were 14 deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported yesterday. This is an increase of 23.3% in the rolling 7-day average. 12 of the deaths occurred in England and 2 in Scotland.

    Testing – Not updated at weekends.

    Hospitalisations – Not updated at weekends.

    Vaccinations – As of 18 June, 42,679,268 people had received 1 shot of a vaccine and 31,087,325 had had both. In percentage terms this means that 81% of all adults in the UK have had 1 shot of a vaccine on that date and 59% were fully vaccinated.

    General – A row has broken out between Andy Burnham (Mayor of Greater Manchester) and the Scottish Government. On Friday, Nicola Sturgeon (First Minister) announced that travel between parts of the north of England and Scotland would be banned unless there were exceptional circumstances. Andy Burnham is complaining that this has come out of the blue without any consultation and wants the Scottish government to compensate anyone left out of pocket as a result. Personally, I think that, while there are some public health arguments in support of Nicola Sturgeon’s decision, it was in part political calculation, anything that asserts Scotland’s independence from England is a good thing as far as the SNP are concerned.

    Finally, this is the last update from the UK I will be posting until next Saturday as I am going on holiday tomorrow and will be away until Friday. I am now 3 weeks out from my 2nd jab and will be taking all standard precautions while away so, hopefully, I will be OK. The hotel has just sent me an email reminding me of the do’s and don’ts while staying with them. I have to wear a mask when outside my room except when sitting down in the restaurant, sit outside if I can and I’ll have to fend for myself as the room won’t be cleaned during my stay.

    Hopefully, Robert Sneddon will be popping in from time to time with updates from Scotland. In the meantime, wish me luck!

  26. 26.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Sloane Ranger:

    I have to wear a mask when outside my room except when sitting down in the restaurant, sit outside if I can and I’ll have to fend for myself as the room won’t be cleaned during my stay.

    Does the hotel charge less for the reduced level of service?

  27. 27.

    Sloane Ranger

    @YY_Sima Qian:  You jest, surely :-)

    Actually, they are doing some pretty good deals at the moment to tempt people back into hotels. The growth recently has been in self catering holidays.

  28. 28.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Barbara: ​

    @Amir Khalid: So glad to know that you will soon join the sore arm brigade.

    Maybe we should call it the Sorearmity.

    Herzliche Glückwünsche, boychik! You just gotta hunker down till then…

  30. 30.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @Other MJS: watch out for the gypsy children in electric dresses — they’re insane… i hear they live in crematoria & smoke the remains.

  31. 31.

    J R in WV

    @Amir Khalid: 

    Congratulations on your nearing appointment, hope it goes well, no screwups, 2nd dose scheduled right away. Our second dose, they called us a few days before the 4 week interval, and the actual appointment was one day shy of the 28 day interval.

    First appointment was during after the ice storm from TX into WV and PA, the power had been off for a week, the county seat was powerless the day of our shot, the clinic was fully operational with two giant diesel generators roaring away out in the grass between the buildings and the paved parking. It was frigid out still.

    The second shot was on a beautiful spring day, done in a drive thru with our arms out the window of our car.

    Keep us posted!!

  32. 32.

    J R in WV

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    Sounds as if you were as safe and carfeul as you could possibly have been, but of course the actual infectious virus is completely invisible. Hope you are comfortable whatever happens. Thanks for sharing all the info you have provided us over the past few months!

    Best of luck ~!!~

  34. 34.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @J R in WV: Still no call, yet! In hindsight, I should have just followed my normal routine of staying at the CBD area in Futian District. The subway route from the Shenzhen North train station to CBD skirts from both Bao’an & Nanshan Districts. In that case, the policy is that I would only need to home quarantine for 14 days.  The reason I chose not to stay at the CBD area is because of the cases connected to the Nanshan District, which is adjacent to the Futian District, & there are hundreds of thousands of daily commuters (at least) traveling between the two. Well, the best laid plans…

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