Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

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

The words do not have to be perfect.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

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

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday / Thursday, Aug. 11-12

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday / Thursday, Aug. 11-12

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… While Finland remains among the countries least affected by the pandemic, infections began to rise in June and accelerated further in July when soccer fans returned home from Euro 2020 matches abroad.

To date, the nation of 5.5 million people has recorded 109,983 cases and 995 deaths. There are currently 83 people in hospital with COVID-19.

More than 82% of Finns have now received at least one vaccine dose and more than 48% are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

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Reader Interactions

126Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY web site says 168 new cases on 8/11, 4.5% test positivity. The CDC Covid tracker says we had an 88.65% increase in positive cases last week.

    Tiny Broome County, NY where I grew up, is now at High risk of transmission with 193 new cases yesterday and 168.06 % increase in cases over the last week.

    Maybe we need Hochul to start doing daily COVID messages like Cuomo used to do.

  2. 2.

    The Thin Black Duke

    I’m fucking done. I wish these anti-vaxx assholes would hurry up and die already.

  3. 3.

    MikefromArlington

    S’pose the bright spot in this is Delta seems to hit hard fast then starts to go poof quickly as seen by the countries hit early on.

    Masks and hand washing seems to be the best way to keep infection levels manageable.  Too bad common sense precautions have become political.

  4. 4.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 8/11 China reported 61 new domestic confirmed cases & 11 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Yunnan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild, 2 Chinese & a Burmese nationals) all at Ruili in Dehong Prefecture. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. Ruili continues to see a trickle of cases, despite the lock down of the urban areas, in contrast to previous outbreaks there. There currently are 53 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases there. 1 community at Ruili remains at High Risk. 3 site at Ruili & 1 village at Longchuan County remain at Medium Risk.

    Jiangsu Province reported 38 new domestic confirmed cases. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 702 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Nanjing reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (moderate), an ICU nurse who had been sent to Nanjing on 7/29 to help staff local designated COVID-19 hospital, having tested negative 6 times before 8/11. 2 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 203 active domestic confirmed (46 mild & 157 moderate) cases in the city. The Lukou Sub-District remains at High Risk. 14 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Yangzhou reported 37 new domestic confirmed cases (15 mild, 22 moderate). 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. Of the 54 domestic confirmed cases reported on 8/10, 36 are traced close contacts (but only 24 of whom were already under centralized quarantine), & 18 were identified via mass screening or at fever clinic (though most have been staying home since 8/1). There currently are 484 active domestic confirmed (90 mild, 357 moderate, 23 serious & 14 critical) cases in the city, though more than half are actually being treated in Nanjing. 2 High Risk zones have been expanded, & 1 village has been elevated to High Risk. 2 zones & 1 village are currently at High Risk & 84 zones/sites are currently at Medium Risk (some have been expanded).
    • At Huai’an there currently are 12 active confirmed cases in the city, all members of the group that had gone to Zhangjiajie. 10 sites remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Suqian, there currently are 3 active domestic confirmed cases (all moderate) there, 2 of whom are traced to the outbreak in Nanjing. A dormitory remains at Medium Risk.
    • At Wuxi, there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case in the city, a person involved in processing incoming visitors/returnees from overseas & not connected to the Delta Variant outbreak from Nanjing.

     

    Yangzhou is still discovering clusters of cases during mass screening, pointing to continued circulation of the Delta Variant in the communities, & inadequate contact tracing. Only half to two thirds of the new cases are identified from persons already under quarantine, & one quarter to one third of cases do not have sources of infection clearly identified at all. The city may have to consider harder lock downs in the hot spot districts, & perhaps why the authorities have significantly expanded the 2 zones designated as High Risk, incorporating numerous residential compounds & villages formerly at Medium Risk. Probably should have been done days ago. There has been 1 super-spreading event identified at a mass screening site (40+ cases so far), other transmissions during mass screening cannot be ruled out. The Delta Variant will force a rethink of the protocols & logistics of mass screening campaigns, what were adequate for other variants are inadequate for Delta.

    Hunan Province reported 7 new domestic confirmed cases. There are currently are 103 active domestic confirmed (including 3 serious) & 18 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • At Changde there currently are 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all had ridden on the super-spreading boat cruise.
    • At Xiangtan there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all having been on the super-spreading boat cruise at Changde on 7/24. 1 residential compound remains at Medium Risk.
    • At Changsha there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, 2 had ridden on the super-spreading boat cruise at Changde on 7/24 & 3 from transmission chains related to 2 of the domestic confirmed cases reported by Beijing. 3 sites remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Yiyang there currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 5 active domestic asymptomatic case in the city, all traced close contact of domestic confirmed cases reported by Beijing. 1 residential compound remains at Medium Risk.
    • At Zhuzhou there currently are 29 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, 7 had gone on the super spreading cruise & rest are their close contacts. 7 sites remain at Medium Risk.
    • Zhangjiajie reported 7 new domestic confirmed cases, 6 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine since 8/7 & 1 was found via mass screening on 8/9. There currently are 65 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 2 areas & 1 community remain at High Risk. 11 sub-districts remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Xiangxi Prefecture there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, both close contacts of the party from Huai’an. 1 village & 1 residential compound remain at Medium Risk.

     

    Henan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases. There are currently 137 active domestic confirmed & 12 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Zhengzhou reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases, all traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. The currently are 125 active domestic confirmed & 10 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, the vast majority of whom are staff, patients & caretakers at the #6 Hospital, & their close contacts. 1 sub-district remains at High Risk. 28 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
    • At Shangqiu, there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, both connected to the nosocomial outbreak at Zhengzhou. 2 residential compounds, 1 community & a shopping mall remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Zhumadian there currently are 3 active domestic confirmed cases, 2 connected to the nosocomial outbreak at Zhengzhou & 1 w/ there outbreak in Wuhan. 5 villages remain at High Risk. 6 sites remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Kaifeng there currently are 6 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases, all connected to the nosocomial outbreak at Zhengzhou. 7 villages remain at High Risk. 1 township remains at Medium Risk.
    • At Anyang there is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case, a person who had visited #6 Hospital in Zhengzhou on 7/28.
    • At Xuchang there is 1 active domestic confirmed case, who was discharged from the #6 Hospital in Zhengzhou on 7/22.

     

    Hubei Province reported 10 new domestic confirmed & 10 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 79 active domestic confirmed & 70 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • At Huanggang there currently are 5 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases, 4 connected to the group from Huai’an in Jiangsu Province on company outing & 4 to the secondary outbreak at construction site in Wuhan. 2 township are currently at Medium Risk.
    • At Jingzhou, there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, both connected to the group on company outing from Huai’an in Jiangsu Province. 1 zone remains at Medium Risk.
    • Jingmen reported 6 new domestic confirmed & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There are currently 31 active domestic confirmed & 15 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 township has been elevated to Medium Risk. 1 sub-district & 1 township are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Wuhan reported 4 new domestic confirmed & 8 new asymptomatic cases. 7 of the new domestic positive cases are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine, & 5 were found via mass screening. The epicenter of the outbreak in the city appears to have shifted to Jiangxia District, which is adjacent to where we live. There currently are 40 active domestic confirmed & 48 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 sub-district & 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Ezhou there currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases, all connected to the construction site outbreak at Wuhan.
    • At Xianning there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case, connected to the construction site outbreak at Wuhan, already under centralized quarantine since 8/3.

     

    At Beijing Municipality there currently are 9 active domestic confirmed cases, all connected to the outbreak at Zhangjiajie in late Jul. 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.

    At Hulun Buir in Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case (at Hailar), who had stayed at the same floor in same hotel at the same time as the confirmed case reported by Yinchuan. 1 residential compound has been elevated to Medium Risk.

    At Haikou in Hainan Province there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases, a person who had crossed paths w/ the party from Huai’an in Jiangsu Province on company outing at Jingzhou high speed rail station & a worker at the airport. The two are unlikely to be connected. 2 sites are currently at Medium Risk.

    Ningbo in Zhejiang Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, a dock worker at the port there. The case had tested positive on 8/10, last tested negative on 8/8, & has been unloading international cargo ships between 8/6 – 8/10. This is unlikely to be related to the other Delta Variant outbreaks in China. The case had taken the 2nd shot of the Sinovac vaccine in late Mar..

    Imported Cases

    On 8/11, China reported 20 new imported confirmed cases, 27 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:

    • Yunnan Province (locations not specified) – 5 confirmed cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Laos; all via land border crossings
    • Shanghai Municipality – 5 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Japan, Nigeria (via Frankfurt), Columbia (via Frankfurt) & the US, & a Russian national coming from Russia; 2 suspect cases, no information released
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 4 confirmed cases, 3 Chinese nationals returning from Malaysia & 1 from Kenya; 8 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals each returning from Bangladesh, Egypt & Kenya & 1 each from Malaysia & Myanmar
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from the South Sudan (via Nairobi)
    • Guangxi Province (location not specified) – 3 confirmed cases, no information released
    • Guilin in Guangxi Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Thailand; the case had been fully vaccinated in Thailand, arrived at Chengdu in Sichuan Province on 7/7 & tested positive on 7/8, after testing negative on 7/23-25 the case was released from isolation & entered 14 days of centralized quarantine & continued to test negative, upon release from quarantine on 8/9 the case flew back to Guilin on 8/10, tested positive from follow up testing on the same day
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from Nigeria (via Frankfurt); 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Thailand
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 1 confirmed case, a Mainland Chinese resident returning from Taiwan
    • Beijing Municipality – 11 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Wuhan in Hubei Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Pakistan
    • Tianjin Municipality – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released, yet

     

    Overall in China, 34 confirmed cases recovered, 24 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 1 was reclassified as confirmed case, and 4,428 individuals were released  from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,836 active confirmed cases in the country (718 imported), 60 in serious condition (13 imported), 511 active asymptomatic cases (395 imported), 3 suspect cases (all imported). 49,264 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 8/11, 1,820.238M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 12.145M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 8/12, Hong Kong reported 5 new positive case, all imported (2 each from Switzerland & 1 each from Thailand, South Korea & Singapore).

  5. 5.

    YY_Sima Qian

    I just got swabbed this afternoon as part of the 2nd round of mass screening in Wuhan (not sure if it is city wide). Not surprising given the community transmission in the adjacent district. This time the swabbing stations were set up between 2 residential compounds, & residents from both compounds were going to the same site, which cause quite a bit of grumbling in the WeChat group chat for residents of my compound. At least the property management alerted people to go by building #, which helped alleviate congestion. There was heavy rain, social distancing was well maintained, since everyone had umbrellas open. There were numerous volunteers to help maintain order, maintain spacing in the waiting line & check for masking. Although the line seemed long, the wait was only 15 min.

    As is usually the case w/ mass screening campaigns in China, the samples will be tested in batches of 10. If you do not hear from community workers or the local pandemic response command within 8 – 12 hours, your batch has tested negative.

  6. 6.

    Mary G

    Orange County had 612 cases reported today and again no deaths. I get optimistic, then I remember they lag, and I worry. So happy I am going to be able to get the third shot. Delta has me really freaked out. Those all-White people in Franklin, Tenn., shouting threats at doctors, are despicable.

  8. 8.

    mrmoshpotato

    All five major cities in Texas are now instituting mask mandates in schools, in open defiance of Governor Abbott.

    What’s with these mayors not wanting their cities to be plague factories?  What about the FREEDUMB?

  10. 10.

    mrmoshpotato

    The parking lot after a school board meeting last night in Franklin, the wealthiest place in Tennessee. Parents harassed medical professionals who had spoken in favor of masks in schools. “We know who you are. You can leave freely, but we will find you.”

    I see soon-to-be-dead, stupid, selfish idiots.

  12. 12.

    debbie

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Seconded. I’m very surprised that insurers haven’t stepped in and announced they won’t cover hospital bills for unvaccinated COVID sufferers. Hit ’em in the purse.

  14. 14.

    beth

    Our office just reinstated a mask mandate for all employees and the few non-vaccinated assholes (who have had to wear masks all along) were positively gleeful saying things like “welcome back to our world – we told you the shot was useless” and “thank goodness, you guys were the dangerous ones since you could get sick and give it to us without knowing”.  Fuck them all – I’m not sure I can ever again have even a cordial relationship with these assholes.  It’s infuriating.

  15. 15.

    Spanky

    I can, happily if not proudly, state that I’m a drop out of University of Iowa grad school. Just a weird place compared to my undergrad days, and at that age I couldn’t adjust. At this age I’d know to avoid that state like, well, the plague.

  16. 16.

    sab

    @debbie: ACA won’t allow that. Having spent ten years in uninsurable limbo before Obamacare, I am fine with that, because I wouldn’t want to risk going back.

    Otherwise, I do share your frustration and anger.

  17. 17.

    beth

    That guy in the parking lot screaming about children sucking in bad air and bacteria from the masks – doesn’t he realize we’ve had a year of people wearing masks and if it was truly a danger we’d be seeing cases of whatever it is they think you get from breathing in this so called bad air?  What a bunch of maroons.  I am officially at the end of my patience with this stupidity.

  20. 20.

    MomSense

    @debbie:

    You know that the lucky sociopaths who survive and end up with long COVID are going to want to collect disability.  After all these decades of their whining about the safety net I say fuckem.

  21. 21.

    Low Key Swagger

    Vanderbilt became the first Nashville area hospital to announce mandatory vaccination of all staff.  Period.  They started a month ago mandating it for managers and upper level staff.  Even those who work from home are required to be vaccinated now.  They have two weeks to comply or risk being let go.  This is risky, as they are already hemorrhaging staff, but seen as necessary.  HUGE employer in this area.

  22. 22.

    sab

    @beth: My husband’s best friend has what is apparently a Covid breakthrough case. Two weeks of slight fever ( hovering around 100, 101 degrees.) Very tired. Harsh dry cough. Not getting better, but not getting worse.

    His feeling is it sure beats being hospitalized on a ventilator.

  23. 23.

    Spanky

    @beth:

    doesn’t he realize

    Moot question, I’m sure. But in fact, he’s absolutely certain of the exact opposite.

  24. 24.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports a record 21,668 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 1,342,215 cases. He also reports 318 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 11,691 deaths — 0.87% of the cumulative reported total, 1.06% of resolved cases.

    As of yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide R0/Rt was at 1.06.

    There are currently 237,021 active and contagious cases; 1,059 are in ICU, 543 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 17,687 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 1,093,503 patients recovered – 81.47% of the cumulative reported total.

    45 new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 4,079 clusters. 1,281 clusters are currently active; 2,798 clusters are now inactive.

    21,610 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 6,276 local cases: 335 in clusters, 3,321 close-contact screenings, and 2,620 other screenings.

    Kuala Lumpur reports 2,381 local cases: 171 in clusters, 1,071 close-contact screenings, and 1,139 other screenings. Kedah reports 2,143 cases: 67 in clusters, 1,186 close-contact screenings, and 890 other screenings. Sabah reports 2,052 cases: 91 in clusters, 1,154 close-contact screenings, and 807 other screenings.

    Johor reports 1,706 cases: 205 in clusters, 1,083 close-contact screenings, and 418 other screenings. Penang reports 1,229 cases: 181 in clusters, 418 close-contact screenings, and 630 other screenings. Sarawak reports 1,216 cases: 215 in clusters, 789 close-contact screenings, and 212 other screenings.

    Kelantan reports 972 cases: 129 in clusters, 613 close-contact screenings, and 230 other screenings. Perak reports 930 cases: 99 in clusters, 448 close-contact screenings, and 383 other screenings.

    Negeri Sembilan reports 898 local cases: 43 in clusters, 508 close-contact screenings, and 347 other screenings.

    Pahang reports 629 cases: 117 in clusters, 307 close-contact screenings, and 205 other screenings.

    Terengganu reports 594 cases: 120 in clusters, 344 close-contact screenings, and 130 other screenings.

    Melaka reports 494 cases: 107 in clusters, 263 close-contact screenings, and 124 other screenings.

    Putrajaya reports 56 cases: 40 close-contact screenings and 16 other screenings. Perlis reports 23 cases: 17 close-contact screenings and six other screenings. Labuan reports 11 cases: one in a cluster, nine close-contact screenings, and one other screening.

    58 new cases today are imported: 55 in Kuala Lumpur, two in Selangor, and one in Negeri Sembilan.

    The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 497,352 doses of vaccine on 11th August: 227,506 first doses and 269,846 second doses. As of midnight yesterday, the cumulative total is 25,863,563 doses administered: 16,347,422 first doses and 9,516,141 second doses. 50.1% of the population have received their first dose, while 29.1% are now fully vaccinated.

  25. 25.

    Peale

    @beth: there’s been millions of mask related deaths, it’s just that you don’t here about them on the news because the mask industry is so powerful.

  26. 26.

    anon

    @Mary G: I grew up there, in Franklin TN, but was more amused to read that it is now the wealthiest place in TN. I thought that was Brentwood

  30. 30.

    beth

    @sab: A vaccinated coworker was out for two weeks when his kids got Covid at a birthday party and brought it home to him and his wife.  Like your friend, he said it was like the worst case of the flu he’s ever had but glad no one wound up in the hospital.

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    To the Reverend from yesterday’s thread, if you set up an information session for the reluctant, be sure to try and have a vaccination site that same day. Don’t give them the chance to think about it some more and change their mind.

  32. 32.

    sab

    @debbie: Camel’s nose under the tent. I don’t want to politicize coverage for anything because the nut jobs on the right will warp it.

    My mom smoked like a chimney (but only in the kitchen, because of dad’s rules). Drove us all crazy. My dad was a pathologist who taught pulmonary pathology at the local med school. He quit the year after his sister died of lung cancer because he couldn’t bear looking at those cancer slides. Mom never quit smoking and died of somethimg else (hereditary defect.)

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    @beth:

    No to being cordial.

    I can’t wait for my employer to mandate vaccination.

    We have never stopped wearing masks, but I will feel better knowing that all those around me in the office are also vaccinated.

  35. 35.

    germy

    https://clarissasblog.com/2021/08/12/the-seatbelt-argument/

    Should the government – or anybody – be able to force us to take statins to improve our health? Antibiotics? Painkillers? Should we be fired or denied entrance into restaurants if we refuse a statin prescription? My doctor gave me one. I threw it in the trash and improved my cholesterol naturally. Should I have been coerced to take it? Since most of us will die of cardiovascular disease and not of respiratory viruses, how does it make sense not to aggressively enforce heart health? Where’s the logic?

    This is their latest argument.

  38. 38.

    MomSense

    @sab:

    My mom had two friends visiting from Akron this week.  Last night we went out to dinner (outside and masked except at our table) and it was so fun hearing them talk.  My mom met Beth because they had the same boyfriend at different times and decided they like each other more than they liked him.  The whole evening was a hoot.

  39. 39.

    sab

    @Peale: Mask industry. Yep. Amish housewives in central Ohio sewing for the Cleveland Clinic until we could get the industrialists motivated to produce.

  44. 44.

    Amir Khalid

    How many strikes for disseminating Covid-19 misinformation does Rand Paul have to get for YouTube to take down his channel and ban him?

  48. 48.

    MomSense

    @Amir Khalid:

    Can these people be sued?  The social media companies and the people spreading disinformation should face some kind of legal consequences.

  51. 51.

    marklar

    RE: University of Iowa allowing professors to only provide information about vaccination and masking if pertinent to the course.

    If my College did something similar (which they won’t…the President has a strong background in Public Health), I’d simply say “Since your ability to develop mastery of this material is linked to your lungs properly functioning, and attendance– even remote– is made more difficult when intubated, once way to help yourself succeed in this class would be to be fully vaccinated, and to follow the CDC guidelines regarding masking and distancing.”

  52. 52.

    Ken

    In yesterday’s roundup, Fair Economist noted that the Russian numbers were “transparently manufactured” because for nearly two weeks they’d been between 785 and 799. Lo and behold, today they report 808. Don’t say that Balloon Juice isn’t a force for good.

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    Not COVID per se, but another sign of the rush to the retrograde. Saw a car with an obviously new (as in not tropical sun-bleached) garishly colored bumper sticker parked in the lot at Costco the other day: “Fluoridation is poison.”

  56. 56.

    sab

    @MomSense: I do shun all of the Trumpers in my neighborhood except for the evangelicals across the street who are very sweet and kind and friendly across the political divide, and also have half their kids in special ed. For them I make allowances. We exchange flower plantings from the yard. Others, I am not going to do it any more.

    Neighbor directly behind us has taken to walking her dog down our street every day where she had never walked before. After thirty years of friendship, my husband gave her the finger a year ago when he saw the Trump sign in her yard. We don’t go down that street any more, and we turn away when we see her.

  57. 57.

    rikyrah

    @Bluegirlfromwyo:

    Willful ignorance?

    No

    Deliberate trying to muddy the waters.

    It’s bullshyt.

    They have no moral standing.

    They are phucking fiends and people are seeing it and calling it out. That is why they are upset, because people are calling them out on their behavior and nobody has held them accountable for anything

  58. 58.

    sab

    @NotMax: Damn I wish they had had flouride when I was young. All my molars are crowns. My husband’s are implants. My baby sister has a full set of her own teeth, without fillings. She’s mid-fifties.

  60. 60.

    rikyrah

    The Governor of Mississippi has phucking left his state in the middle of this crisis. I swear, he just looks like he should be the shift manager at a 7-11

  62. 62.

    Chief Oshkosh

    Fucking NYT article highlights the “potential benefits” of getting a breakthrough infection. It would be absolutely fantastic for the fucking fuck of an author to get a breakthrough infection that turns into a long haul nightmare for her. And her fucking editors and publishers, too, as long as I’m fantasizing.

    And Delthia Ricks should read the entirety of articles before she recommends them. She blew it on that rec.

  63. 63.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @germy:

    “My doctor gave me one. I threw it in the trash and improved my cholesterol naturally.”

    Woo believer wrote that.

  64. 64.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax:

    Not COVID per se, but another sign of the rush to the retrograde. Saw a car with an obviously new (as in not tropical sun-bleached) garishly colored bumper sticker parked in the lot at Costco the other day: “Fluoridation is poison.” 

    I drop dead every time I brush my teeth. ?

  65. 65.

    Spanky

    @Amir Khalid: Speaking of Rand Paul:

    Washington CNN —  
    Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky revealed Wednesday that his wife in February 2020 purchased up to $15,000 in stock in Gilead Sciences, the maker of the antiviral drug remdesivir.

    A wee bit late with that info, eh Randy? I assume he only mentioned it now because someone else was going to spill the beans.

  67. 67.

    Peale

    @germy: they really don’t get why it’s a crisis to have thousands of people in the hospital all at once. Yes, actually, we would mandate statin use if suddenly there was an uptick in heart disease that overwhelmed the the hospital system month after month. With heart disease, though, we’ve actually built and staffed hospitals to deal with the issue. It turns out that it’s really hard to scale up a system fast enough for COVID.

  70. 70.

    YY_Sima Qian

    I have a colleague in the US who recently recovered from a breakthrough infection. Apparently he had hosted house guests who lied about their vaccine status. His wife got COVID, too, despite being fully vaccinated. They then unknowingly passed it on to their niece. The house guests claim he gave COVID to them. At least my colleague & his wife had mild cases, though still unpleasant. The house guests had to be hospitalized at one point.

    Selfish as*holes!

  71. 71.

    Cermet

    @sab: A neighbor (who lives a few miles away but in the rural country side, that is still someone you call by such) that I’ve know for twenty years passed away two weeks ago. I was shocked because 1) I’d talked to them not three months ago, 2) their cancer was ‘discovered’ just two and a half months ago.

    Yes they smoked heavily and it killed them but they were such a wonderful person and I was so caught off guard when her husband told me. Another good friend lost far too young (she was in her early fifties.)

  73. 73.

    Kay

    Any school district, public university, or local government official that decides to defy the order will be taken to court.
    “Under Executive Order GA-38, no governmental entity can require or mandate the wearing of masks,” said Governor Abbott. “The path forward relies on personal responsibility—not government mandates. The State of Texas will continue to vigorously fight the temporary restraining order to protect the rights and freedoms of all Texans.”
    “This isn’t the first time we have dealt with activist characters. It’s deja vu all over again,” Attorney General Paxton said. “Attention-grabbing judges and mayors have defied executive orders before, when the pandemic first started, and the courts ruled on our side – the law. I’m confident the outcomes to any suits will side with liberty and individual choice, not mandates and government overreach.”

    Schools are really different, legally. There are all kinds of rules and mandates public schools can impose that a mayor couldn’t impose on an adult population or community.
    A public school district is a governmental entity that can impose a dress code based upon a vague notion of “maintaining order” sort of loosely tied to “safety”- they can drug test, search students, require each and every student take a standardized test, and on and on and on. The list of mandates a public school can’t impose is much shorter than what they can impose- basically as long as they don’t run into the big civil rights categories (including disability) they’re good.
    I think this comes back to bite them. It’s like they rolled right from the engineered CRT panic into the mask panic and no one thought about it much.

  75. 75.

    Matt McIrvin

    Friend of mine just posted a chart showing that 99% of COVID deaths have been of unvaccinated people, and his friend the antivaxxer immediately chimed in with “but what about obesity? Maybe the vaccine isn’t the whole story”. Dude is adamant that he doesn’t need the vaccine because he’s not fat. His keto diet will protect him.

    If data that stark won’t sway you, I don’t know what to say any more.

  80. 80.

    MomSense

    @rikyrah:

    The thing is they CAN reverse course but they CHOOSE not to.  They have agency and power and they choose to use it for evil.

  81. 81.

    sab

    @Spanky: Grifting is one thing. Grifting while knowingly risking peoples lives is another thing entirely. Would you let this guy anywhere near your eyes?

  82. 82.

    The Thin Black Duke

    This country has tolerated asshole behavior for years. It’s been elevated to a moral virtue. Unfortunately for them, this is the first time in their lives where these loud and proud assholes have had to pay a price for their behavior. Covid doesn’t give a fuck if the asshole is a loser in a trailer park or a US senator. Sooner or later, there will be a tube shoved down their throat, and I don’t care. Assholes always expect the rest of us to forgive and forget and move on. Not anymore.

  84. 84.

    Kay

    The schools will have such a good rebuttal too- they’ll say they want to stay open. The vast majority of people want them open so Republicans somehow managed to get on the wrong side of that.

  85. 85.

    Ken

    @Kay:  It’s like they rolled right from the engineered CRT panic into the mask panic and no one thought about it much.

    Interesting; as many have noted, the confident GQP predictions that COVID would go away after the election were based to some extent on their earlier drumming up of the ebola scare. Have they really gotten so far into their own propaganda that they can no longer distinguish real threats

    EDIT: It would be absolutely fascinating, as a sociological experiment, to see the reactions if a case of ebola was reported in the US.

  86. 86.

    sab

    @Matt McIrvin: Fat shaming is everywhere. Lots of obese people live long happy lives. I have a heavy niece who is also an ICU nurse. Every medical issue she has the trim doctors put her on a diet and don’t ever address the actual medical issue at all. Exasperating, especially for her as a medical professional.

    I used to be very slender. I fainted a lot. Nobody ever said you are are too thin. That’s why you faint. Forty years later I learned I fainted a lot because I had a congenital heart condition that no one ever noticed. Nothing whatever to do with being underweight.

  87. 87.

    Matt McIrvin

    @The Thin Black Duke: There’s still some separation of actions from consequences, because many COVID cases are, by chance, still mild and some people are more vulnerable than others. The unvaxxed skew young, but milder cases also skew young, and as a fully vaccinated 53-year-old I’m in more personal danger than a completely unvaccinated and unmasked 25-year-old. That 25-year-old is endangering me, but he may not give a shit.

  88. 88.

    Ken

    @sab: Would you let this guy anywhere near your eyes?

    But he’s a board-certified ophthalmologist.  The board is part of his back porch, but it’s definitely a board.

  89. 89.

    marklar

    @rikyrah: There is…Cognitive Dissonance.  It was first used when Leon Festinger investigated a Doomsday Cult that, when after doomsday didn’t occur, doubled down by changing the dates, and ultimately claimed credit for their preparations putting off the end of the world.

    After Delta peaks (as it eventually will), watch the GOP governors claim credit for their policies being responsible for the decreased case counts.

  91. 91.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Butter Emails: I think he thinks only fat people get the vaccine because they’re too undisciplined to get their immunity through a magical keto diet. So trusting in the medicine is a kind of moral failing.

  92. 92.

    Matt McIrvin

    @marklar: Also, in modern American politics there’s a distinct penalty for ever changing your mind or admitting you were wrong–it’s “flip-flopping”, a sign that you are weak or unprincipled.

  94. 94.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Matt McIrvin: As long as that twenty-five year old punk keeps playing Russian Roulette with Covid, I think my odds are better than his, and I’m a sixty-seven year old cancer survivor. I’m fully vaccinated, I’m still wearing a mask, and I’m staying the fuck away from crowds. Yeah, I like my odds.

  95. 95.

    Kay

    @Ken:

    They’ve muddled it all up. This is the American Enterprise Institute hack :

    First, the question should not be whether we reopen schools, but rather how we do so. The vast majority of research suggests that we can safely reopen schools with well-established mitigation measures.

    No mention of the Right wing governors  proclamations banning mitigation efforts in schools.

    They’re all fucked up. They don’t know where they’re going with this. I don’t think they can blame teachers unions for the red state governors bans on mitigation efforts. It’s like they’re no longer capable of observing what is actually happening.

  97. 97.

    Matt McIrvin

    @sab: It’d probably be better for me in a number of ways if I dropped 15 or 20 pounds. But I also don’t see how that would prevent me from ALSO getting vaccinated. I mean, getting a shot is so easy, why wouldn’t you do it?

    I think that for some alt-med types who are seriously into diet/exercise, the fact that taking conventional medicine is easy makes them suspicious. It’s not difficult enough to be any good for them.

  98. 98.

    sab

    @germy: I am so done with Jeopardy. Big hole in my life, but I am sure I can fill it.

    ETA Shades of Dick Cheney on Bush VP search. I alone can do it, as old guy with serious heart issues.

    Only guy who can take over is the producer/ sexual predator, and the woman who won’t be a threat. All those other great candidates passed over.

    There will be fireworks (and lost remotes) in my house if I am forced to watch this. I may never cook dinner again.

  99. 99.

    Kay

    @Ken:

    Where did they think they were going with this? Two weeks ago these same people were screaming that teachers unions wouldn’t immediately endorse  vaccination mandates, because that was the nearest handy cudgel to beat teachers unions with. Now they’re banning mitigation efforts in public schools and a vaccination mandate as a condition of employment is a constitutional violation?

    They’re going to have to do some actual thinking and come up with some kind of belief or approach. They’re careening around the room knocking over the furniture at this point.

  100. 100.

    sab

    @Kay: I have always thought the most election in my life and area is the school board. Those folks can shape our kids’ lives for years.

  103. 103.

    VOR

    @Spanky:  Iowa’s Governor is a MAGA enthusiast who has downplayed public health measures against COVID. From Wikipedia:

    In 2020, Reynolds had the lowest approval rating of any governor in the nation for handling of the COVID-19, with an approval rating of 28% in July 2020,[72] and 26% in September 2020.[73] COVID-19 in Iowa peaked in November 2020, but remained high into the next year, in late January 2021, the state had the nation’s third-highest positivity rate,[69] and third-lowest per capita vaccination rate.

    I’m guessing the University of Iowa administration is simply falling in line with the Governor.

  104. 104.

    Peale

    @germy: Jesus. They really had their fingers on the pulse of the population today. Next up…let’s bring in a Parkland Truther to replace Vanna White.

  105. 105.

    Ksmiami

    @rikyrah: my slogans for 2022 and beyond. “Vote Democratic because the other guys will kill you…”

    or “2022. vote Blue because your life depends on it.”

  106. 106.

    Ken

    @VOR: I’m guessing the University of Iowa administration is simply falling in line with the Governor.

    Ah, yes, the old “over 70% of the people we serve think what we’re doing is wrong and stupid, but he controls our budget” calculation.  Never saw a public university get that one wrong, unfortunately.

  107. 107.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Mary G:

    Those all-White people in Franklin, Tenn., shouting threats at doctors, are despicable.

    Isn’t it illegal to threaten people?  If so, these people – and all the others who’ve yelled or emailed threats at health officials and professionals for just doing their freakin’ jobs – should be charged, and be hit with whatever the maximum penalty is.

    Because this shit has to stop. And it won’t until there’s a nontrivial cost to it.

  108. 108.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Ken:

    Have they really gotten so far into their own propaganda that they can no longer distinguish real threats 

    Yes.  Also, the tax cuts will pay for themselves.

    The assholes…

  110. 110.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — 1,525 new cases of COVID-19 reported with eight new reported deaths of someone who had tested positive. Test positivity rate is 5.2%. Hospitalisations and ICU bed occupancy numbers remain steady.

    Over 23,000 vaccinations were administered in Scotland yesterday (Wednesday) with about 20% of those vaccinations being first doses. 76.2% of the adult population are now fully vaccinated with another 13.9% having received their initial dose of vaccine. There’s still no breakout of the number of 16 and 17-year olds who are now eligible to receive their first dose of vaccine but the sudden bump in the number of first doses being delivered is probably due to many of them coming forward to get vaccinated over the past few days.

  111. 111.

    PurpleBabied

    @germy: She’s aggressively stupid and works at it. You have to be to miss the point that just like there’s a compelling government interest in not scraping people and metal off the sidewalks and the road there’s also a compelling interest in not overwhelming the entire health care system with covid patients.

  112. 112.

    Fair Economist

    @Matt McIrvin: Those statistics on relative risks for 25 and 53 year olds are for death only. Younger people have a *higher* risk of Long Covid given the same severity of infection. IMO the situation is that COVID can seriously and permanently injure a lot of people. Old people die from those injuries. Young people survive, but with disabilities.

  113. 113.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @NotMax: ​Maybe we should start selling quick-on bumper stickers to apply to cars like that:

    THIS CAR IS DRIVEN BY AN IMBECILE

    You wait until they go into the mall and then…

  114. 114.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @sab: Damn I wish they had had fluoride when I was young. All my molars are crowns. (FTFY)

    Hell, I wish my folks hadn’t been such brand-name loyalists – by the time Colgate started putting fluoride into their toothpaste, I had enough metal in my mouth to pick up Radio Free Neptune when the ionosphere was quiet…

  115. 115.

    Miss Bianca

    @Peale: Y’know, it’s kind of funny…I am struggling right now with the fact that my triglyceride levels are elevated, my NP put me on a non-statin medication that apparently didn’t work, because my levels were *higher* afterwards than they were the last time, and my NP finally prescribed me a statin med after over a year of my resistance and denial, like, “oh sure, I’ll exercise more and switch my diet” (Narrator Voice: Reader, she did not). And I’m sitting here stewing and fuming about it and thinking, “those tests had to be wrong – SOMEONE fucked up, and it wasn’t ME! Couldn’t be ME!”

    And then I wonder: Is this what goes through an anti-vaxxer’s head? This kind of fury and denial?

    So now, I’m looking at myself in the mirror saying, “Start taking the damn statins and SHUT UP ABOUT IT ALREADY.”

  116. 116.

    Ohio Mom

    @germy:

    It should be possible to negotiate with one’s doctor — if not, find a new one.

    That is, Clarissa could have started a conversation with, “I’d like to see if I can control my cholesterol with changes to my diet.”

    Then the doctor could reply, “Yes, that is possible for some patients. The ones who are successful, blah, blah blah. Let’s give it  a trial of X months, then we will rerun your bloodwork and take it from there. Do you want a referral to a dietician to advise you?”

    That she felt it necessary to lie to her doctor, treating her medical partner with such disrespect, and then boast about it — that tells you everything you need to know about her as a person.

    ETA: I think growing up in the toleration USSR gave Clarissa a problem with authority.

  118. 118.

    Matt McIrvin

    @germy: So inculcated into toxic hyper-individualism that they can’t understand what a contagious disease is.

    This is like saying “I have the right to let loose with an AK-47 at the shopping mall. You can stay home or arrive in full body armor if you’re so concerned! That’s YOUR responsibility!”

  119. 119.

    topclimber

    @beth: Maroons were slaves and native peoples who achieved a fair degree of freedom in British Jamaica during the 1700s. They were freedom fighters.

    I suggest you go with MErons. Combines both their stupid and selfish traits.

  120. 120.

    Miss Bianca

    @topclimber: “Maroons” in this context, as I understand it, comes from Bugs Bunny – at least, “what a maroon!” in Bugs’s voice is what I hear in my head when I see it.

    Of course, the very fact that I feel compelled to explain that means that I am An Old, and that perhaps your point is just as well taken as not.

  121. 121.

    VeniceRiley

    @lowtechcyclist: It has a whiff of paid operatives to it. Am I the only one who thinks this about these “protestors?” An alarming number of them looked like classic Proud Boys types.

  122. 122.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: It would be a slippery slope.  Next thing you know they don’t cover if you smoked, or if you ate too many desserts, or whatever.

    You have a motorcycle accident?  You knew the risks, and you rode anyway.

    Like I said, slippery slope.  It can’t happen.

  123. 123.

    Mousebumples

    Late to the thread but Moderna is expanding their under age 12 trial. UW – Madison is one of the sites. Now debating if it’s worth the 2 ish hour drive for a 75% chance at a non placebo shot for my (almost) 2 y/o daughter….

  124. 124.

    Chris Johnson

    @Kay: 
    A bunch of them do know where they’re going, I think. Some of us call it going to hell: morally, at least.
    They are, either covertly or unknowingly, trying to set up a situation where lots of their own people literally die of COVID so they can turn around and claim it was immigrants who did it, and therefore they can kill brown (and asian) immigrants in the name of vengeance (since they’ve not been societally allowed to do it just as a regular thing).
    It’s fairly obvious that’s what they’re driving at, and it’s a functional reason to not address the real problem. They’re gaining something from it, that being an excuse to do something else they really want to be allowed to do.

  125. 125.

    J R in WV

    @mrmoshpotato:

    The parking lot after a school board meeting last night in Franklin, the wealthiest place in Tennessee. Parents harassed medical professionals who had spoken in favor of masks in schools. “We know who you are. You can leave freely, but we will find you.”

    I see soon-to-be-dead, stupid, selfish idiots.

    I don’t see ANY parents shouting at the medical experts~!~

    I see a bunch of ignorant trouble makers who have committed crimes — it IS still illegal to make death threats, isn’t it? Or did that change just the other day?

    Everyone participating in the abuse needs to be investigated, charged, tried, and put away to protect the teachers and experts involved. Sickening to see!

  126. 126.

    J R in WV

    @Miss Bianca: ​

    So now, I’m looking at myself in the mirror saying, “Start taking the damn statins and SHUT UP ABOUT IT ALREADY.”

    I’ve been taking the minimum dose of my statin for years now. Able to eat butter, bacon, etc, all the fat numbers are good. My friend the retired ER doc won’t do statins, but his parents both died after dementia set in, so probably not a big deal for him.

    Ummm. Half-runner beans with bacon, ummmm. And fresh corn on the cob with real butter!!! Summer time dinners.

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