Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

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

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

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

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

“woke” is the new caravan.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

The willow is too close to the house.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Saturday / Sunday, Aug. 21-22

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Saturday / Sunday, Aug. 21-22

by | 44 Comments

This post is in: ,


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Good for these kids:

… There have been targeted efforts to promote vaccination for the elderly, for Black people, for the homeless and other populations.

And at a growing number of universities across the country, students are trying to reach their vaccine-skeptical classmates where they are — on their phones — and persuade them to get shots.

Callinan is one of a coalition of people at more than 40 universities across the country sharing information backed by scientific research with classmates in ways they can relate to, hoping to counter misinformation being passed around on social media, bypass the ominous formality of official updates and drive the message home.

“The most important message at my school is covid is not over,” Callinan said. “We want to have our college experience back — have the football games and everything. We’re saying, ‘Go get this, so you can go do that.’ ”

Jordan Tralins, a junior at Cornell University with an interest in medicine and public health, launched the Covid Campus Coalition this year after noticing that the posts she was seeing on social media about vaccines were misleading; people were sharing conspiracy theories and things taken out of context…

A senior at Cornell, Olivia Pawlowski, designed graphics to help spread their message on Instagram. “Millions of individuals have received Covid vaccines, and no long term side effects have been identified (CDC),” one post reads.

They addressed skeptical questions such as, “I am young and healthy, so I’m not worried about Covid. If I get Covid, I will recover — no big deal,” noting that more than 2,400 people younger than 30 have died of the coronavirus, and potential long-term effects of the infection. They cited sources for further reading such as articles in the New England Journal of Medicine…

When the monster turns on Frankenstein…


Video clip here, if you have the stomach for it.

Reader Interactions

44Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Shorter GOP: Won’t protect gays from business discrimination, but will protect plague rats.

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Trump recommends the #COVID19 vaccine to a massive Alabama rally crowd, only to get shouted down with boos from the audience.

    Maybe there is a god after all.

  3. 3.

    New Deal democrat

    The US weekly average death count from COVID just crossed 1000. We will probably exceed the summer 2020 peak of just over 1100 within the week.

    for a sliver of good news, Dr. Eric Topol tweeted that, although they have nearly identical vaccination rates, Michigan unlike Florida has seen only a small increase from Delta. The likely reason? – mass immunity due to the Alpha wave last spring. It’s not straightforward, but it does look like the States that had the biggest outbreaks last fall and winter are faring much better with Delta. This adds to the evidence that the %age of people already infected asymptomatically with COVID is much larger than generally thought.

  6. 6.

    satby

    @New Deal democrat: my one coworker who is out with covid now felt she didn’t need the vaccine because she had it previously. I believe she’s sicker this time too. She will need to be vaccinated before she can come back, which is possible 10 days after major symptoms subside or the positive test result. We’re making her stay home 14 days (without pay this time), so she has plenty of time to get vaccinated. I’m obviously hoping she chooses to quit.

  10. 10.

    satby

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m curios too. Since so much depends on viral load and Delta inflicts a bigger one, it’s something I hope someone studies.

    At the same time, I’m done with this particular butthead. Third time we’ve gone through the fire drill of possible exposure, second time she’s exposed co-workers, and her excuse for not getting vaccinated is bullshit. And if the store is shut down (possible) she negatively affects everyone’s income. Nice enough kid, but box o’rocks dumb.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 19,807 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 1,555,093 cases. He also reports 232 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 14,168 deaths — 0.91% of the cumulative reported total, 1.10% of resolved cases.

    There are currently 262,255 active and contagious cases; 1,026 are in ICU, 496 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 18,200 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 1,278,670 patients recovered – 82.23% of the cumulative reported total.

    24 new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 4,442 clusters. 1,436 clusters are currently active; 3,006 clusters are now inactive.

    19,802 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 5,377 local cases: 100 in clusters, 3,105 close-contact screenings, and 2,172 other screenings.

    Sabah reports 2,638 cases: 158 in clusters, 1,640 close-contact screenings, and840 other screenings.

    Kedah reports 1,948 cases: 90 in clusters, 1,179 close-contact screenings, and 679 other screenings. Sarawak reports 1,771 local cases: 221 in clusters, 1,078 close-contact screenings, and 472 other screenings. Penang reports 1,501 cases: 138 in clusters, 576 close-contact screenings, and 787 other screenings.

    Johor reports 1,391 cases: 345 in clusters, 677 close-contact screenings, and 369 other screenings. Kelantan reports 1,196 cases: 118 in clusters, 829 close-contact screenings, and 249 other screenings.

    Kuala Lumpur reports 997 local cases: 19 in clusters, 519 close-contact screenings, and 459 other screenings.

    Perak reports 703 cases: 136 in clusters, 237 close-contact screenings, and 330 other screenings.

    Pahang reports 598 cases: 68 in clusters, 418 close-contact screenings, and 112 other screenings. Melaka reports 558 cases: 110 in clusters, 185 close-contact screenings, and 263 other screenings. Terengganu reports 534 cases: 24 in clusters, 378 close-contact screenings, and 132 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 508 cases: 59 in clusters, 245 close-contact screenings, and 204 other screenings.

    Perlis reports 54 cases: seven in clusters, 22 close-contact screenings, and 25 other screenings. Putrajaya reports 24 cases: 11 close-contact screenings and 13 other screenings. Labuan reports four cases: one close-contact screening and three other screenings.

    Five new cases today are imported: two in Kuala Lumpur, two in Selangor, and one in Sarawak.
    The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 469,690 doses of vaccine on 21st August: 159,792 first doses and 309,898 second doses. As of midnight yesterday, the cumulative total is 30,840,093 doses administered: 18,121,392 first doses and 12,718,701second doses. 55.5% of the population have received their first dose, while 38.9% are now fully vaccinated.

    Starting tomorrow, 13 vaccination centres in the Klang Valley will accept walk-ins povided they are Malaysians over 18.

  13. 13.

    Cermet

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: The the little I’ve read on that subject, getting covid does not give nearly as much protection – antibody-wise – as getting the vaccine. I do believe there is a number for the antibody level differences but you’ll have to search to find it.

  14. 14.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    They were down with Dump when he recommended bleach injections, but revolt over a vaccine.

     

    This is Dump thinking if he says nice things about the vaccine they’ll let him back on twitter.

  17. 17.

    Betsy

    @New Deal democrat: Cite please, or explain how that is evidence for widespread disease-caused immunity.  It could just as well be from different social behaviors, like greater levels of mask-wearing and more caution in social events (or fewer social events).  It could even be from outdoor socializing, which is at its nadir right now in hot, humid states.

    I just don’t like it when people make things up.  Theorizing is one thing, claims  in the absence of  evidence is another.

  19. 19.

    satby

    @rikyrah: Not so far. Waiting to hear back from the one co-worker most exposed. Masking is only at about 35% around here, and we still get grief from people when we tell them they must wear a mask to see the doctor. The farmers market is worse. It’s going to continue to be a very long pandemic.

  20. 20.

    Betsy

    @New Deal democrat: That’s just another statement claiming that it’s evidence without looking at other explanations.  Prior infection gives immunity that is not very strong at all, and much weaker than vaccination.  But higher rates of masking, distancing, and general compliance with prevention measures would explain the difference in rates very well.  As would greater outdoor socializing. Topol is drawing a conclusion that he wants to draw.

  23. 23.

    satby

    @WereBear: Can’t fire someone for getting sick, and if she attempts to use a religious objection can’t really even ask about it though it would be patently false because religious objection hasn’t been mentioned once in the more than 7 months since we could be vaccinated as health care workers.

    But the accommodation will not include putting her back in the same job, because without a vaccine she will no longer be allowed to work directly with patients. So, she’ll get 8 hours per week working isolated in an office doing medical billing. And that’s all. Which won’t be enough work hours to help pay for the house she and her partner just bought. Oh well, freedumb isn’t free.

  24. 24.

    Platonicspoof

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

     I was wondering how breakthrough cases with “natural” immunity compare to those in people who’ve had the vaccine. Are they equally frequent? Are they more or less serious?

     

    This CDC summary said:

     

    The study of hundreds of Kentucky residents with previous infections through June 2021 found that those who were unvaccinated had 2.34 times the odds of reinfection compared with those who were fully vaccinated.

    Both groups had been previously infected in 2020.

    Important to read more about the study here because it lists at least five limitations that affect the ratio.

    This study didn’t compare severity.

  25. 25.

    Suzanne

    @New Deal democrat:

    This adds to the evidence that the %age of people already infected asymptomatically with COVID is much larger than generally thought. 

    I have suspected for a while that this is the case. I know in the pre-delta universe, it was thought that a small viral load would result in an asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic case. I don’t think we have any good idea about this number. Everything I have seen is in the WAG category.

    Howev… I know there’s questions about how long the antibodies last.

    Mr. Suzanne has developed allergic asthma, and now has treatment for it. He really noticed it starting in…. March 2020. He thought it was Covid, so he got an antibody test in June 2020 and it was negative. He still maintains that he contracted it and that it induced the asthma. I have no reason to believe this…. But I also think that we don’t know a lot. And we’ll be revealing the truth for years, maybe decades.

  28. 28.

    New Deal democrat

    @Betsy:

    Source re death count is 91-divoc.

    Source re Michigan, as noted above, is Dr. Eric Topol, who included graphs, I.e., a visual representatgion of data. Data is evidence. Whether it is spurious correlation or causation is certainly not clear, but it is evidence. You are welcome to go on Topol’s twitter feed and take up your complaint with him.

    Source re more widespread infections: Red Cross spokesman, who in this article:
    https://qz.com/2048991/covid-skeptics-request-blood-transfusions-from-unvaccinated-people/
    Said that 90% of all donated blood, of which 30% to 40% comes from unvaccinated donors, carries COVID antibodies (I.e., 2/3 to 3/4 of the unvaccinated show antibodies). Beyond that, yesterday at 91-Divoc  I compared all the worst States for last autumn and winter’s outbreaks with their Delta increases per capita. All but 1 were in the lower half of Recent infections per capita. I haven’t crunched the numbers further. Hence, “looks like” as opposed to a stronger claim.

  29. 29.

    lowtechcyclist

    Trump recommends the #COVID19 vaccine to a massive Alabama rally crowd, only to get shouted down with boos from the audience.

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​

    Maybe there is a god after all.

    If only. What this really means is that Trumpism as a movement has swept on beyond Trump himself, doesn’t really need him anymore, and is all too capable of being even worse than he is.

    @Baud: ​

    Shorter GOP: Won’t protect gays from business discrimination, but will protect plague rats.

    Can’t improve on that summary of where today’s GQP is at.​​

  30. 30.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — 3,190 new cases of COVID-19 reported with zero new reported deaths of someone who had tested positive (noting that Register Offices are now generally closed at weekends). Test positivity rate is 10.9%. Hospitalisations and ICU bed occupancy numbers remain about the same — 34 ICU beds, 338 people in hospital with confirmed cases of COVID-19. For comparison with US states, Scotland’s population is about 5.5 million people. There are no specific reports of pediatric hospitalisation numbers.

    Over 19,000 vaccinations were administered in Scotland yesterday (Saturday) over 20% of those vaccinations being first doses. 79.9% of the 18+ adult population are now fully vaccinated with another 11.0% having received their initial dose of vaccine.

    16 and 17 year olds are now at 38.3% first dose and 8.2% second dose vaccination. My eyeball guess, given the size of this group in the general population is that these young people are receiving about half of the first-dose vaccinations being carried out in Scotland at the moment.

  31. 31.

    mrmoshpotato

    Australian police clash with anti-lockdown protesters

    Good thing they have universal healthcare down under! ??‍♂️

  32. 32.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 8/21 China reported 4 new domestic confirmed cases (0 previously asymptomatic) & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Yunnan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 42 active domestic confirmed cases there. 1 community at Ruili remains at High Risk. 2 villages at Ruili remain at Medium Risk. 

    Jiangsu Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case. 30 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 635 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Nanjing did not reported any new domestic positive cases. 5 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 139 active domestic confirmed (27 mild & 112 moderate) cases in the city.
    • Yangzhou reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (moderate), already under quarantine. 25 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 455 active domestic confirmed (78 mild, 370 moderate, 5 serious & 2 critical) cases in the city, though more than half are actually being treated in Nanjing. 4 zones/areas are currently at High Risk. 21 zones/sites are currently at Medium Risk.
    • At Huai’an, there currently are 9 active confirmed cases in the city.
    • At Wuxi, there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case in the city.

    Hunan Province did not reported any new domestic positive cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There are currently are 100 active domestic confirmed (including 3 serious) & 13 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • At Changde there currently are 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
    • At Xiangtan there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
    • At Changsha There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the city.
    • At Yiyang there currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 5 active domestic asymptomatic case in the city.
    • At Zhuzhou 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 27 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
    • Zhangjiajie did not reported any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 65 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 2 High Risk zones have been re-designated as Low Risk. 6 sub-districts remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Xiangxi Prefecture there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case.

    Henan Province did not reported any new domestic positive cases. 16 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 125 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Zhengzhou did not report any new domestic positive cases. 16 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 98 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. The High Risk sub-district has been re-designated as Medium Risk & 13 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Shangqiu did not reported any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 15 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 2 sites remain at High risk & 3 sites at Medium Risk.
    • At Zhumadian, there currently are 4 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 5 villages remain at High Risk, 3 areas remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Kaifeng there currently are 7 active domestic confirmed cases. 6 High Risk villages have been re-designated to Medium Risk. 1 village remains at High Risk & 6 villages are currently at Medium Risk.
    • At Xuchang there is 1 active domestic confirmed case. 1 residential building remains at Medium Risk.

    Hubei Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 84 active domestic confirmed (36 mild, 47 moderate & 1 serious) & 60 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • At Huanggang 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. there currently are 4 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 township remains at Medium Risk.
    • At Jingzhou, there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the city.
    • At Jingmen 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There are currently 41 active domestic confirmed & 13 active domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 township remains at Medium Risk. 1 sub-district & 1 township remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Wuhan 4 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 36 active domestic confirmed & 40 active domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 sub-district & 2 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Ezhou there currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases.
    • At Xianning there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case.

    On 8/21 Shanghai Municipality reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), all close contacts of the 2 cases reported on 8/20, & all are cargo handlers at the airport. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, 5 airport workers & a medical staff at a hospital. 2 residential compounds have been elevated to Medium Risk. 5 residential compounds are currently at Medium Risk.

    Alashankou border crossing in Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    Imported Cases

    On 8/21, China reported 28 new imported confirmed cases (0 previously asymptomatic), 19 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 9 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Spain & 1 each from the Maldives (via Colombo) & Thailand, a Jordanian & a Filipino crew members off a cargo ship w/ last port of call in Singapore, a Japanese national coming from Japan & a German national coming from Germany
    • Yunnan Province (locations not specified) – 5 confirmed cases, 4 Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar & 1 from Laos; 4 asymptomatic cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Laos; all via land border crossings
    • Kunming in Yunnan Province – 2 confirmed cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Indonesia
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 5 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar & 1 each from Bangladesh, the Philippines & Saudi Arabia; 4 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Bangladesh & 1 each from Laos & the UAE
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Indonesia
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 each coming from Egypt & the Philippines, off flights that landed at Guangzhou
    • Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Zambia, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Wuhan in Hubei Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Germany & Pakistan; 1 of the cases had gone through 14 days of centralized quarantine at port of entry, testing positive after returning to Wuhan while under home quarantine; 2 residential buildings in my compound have traced F2 close contacts, both of whom have been sent to centralized quarantine, the buildings are under lock down pending testing of all residents, fortunately I happen to be at Enshi for the weekend
    • Beijing Municipality – 1 confirmed cases, a Chinese national returning from Sweden
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 confirmed case, no information released 
    • Tianjin Municipality – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from the DRC (via Paris CdG); 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Guinea (via Paris CdG)
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Bolivia (via Frankfurt); 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Nigeria (via Frankfurt)
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 5 asymptomatic cases, 3 coming from Ethiopia & 1 each from Guyana & Spain
    • Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Japan

    Overall in China, 70 confirmed cases recovered (20 imported), 19 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (12 imported) & 3 were reclassified as confirmed cases (all imported), & 1,706 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,748 active confirmed cases in the country (746 imported), 30 in serious condition (11 imported), 508 active asymptomatic cases (421 imported), 0 suspect cases. 37,918 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 8/20, 1,935.869M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 11.479M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 8/21, Hong Kong reported 5 new positive cases, all imported.

  33. 33.

    mrmoshpotato

    Vaccination and mask requirements typically allow religious or medical exemptions.

    Ah yes, totally forgot about the Church of Fuck You, I’m Not Wearing A Mask During A Pandemic

  34. 34.

    Soapdish

    Would not be surprised at all if a previous infection provides some immunity even if it’s less than a vaccine and of course it’s also likely to be a combo of vaccination/previous infection/masking/distancing/etc.. I’ll take it; every bit helps.

  35. 35.

    Sloane Ranger

    Saturday in the UK we had 32,058 new cases. While this is significantly lower than Friday’s figure, the rolling 7-day average is still up by 10.4% and many admin offices are closed over the weekend so this is probably an undercount. New cases by nation,

    England – 26,982 (down 2594)

    Northern Ireland – 1612 (down 785)

    Scotland – 3464 (down 149, but see Robert Sneddon’s more recent update above)

    Wales – Does not report on Saturdays.

    Deaths – There were 104 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is an increase in the rolling 7-day average of 14% and, in all probability, not all deaths have been reported due to closure of Registry Offices. 97 deaths were in England, 4 in Northern Ireland and 3 in Scotland (see Robert Sneddon’s more recent update). Wales is shown as 0 deaths but I don’t think they report deaths on a Saturday either.

    Testing – Not updated on Saturdays.

    Hospitalisations – Not updated at weekends.

    Vaccinations – As of Friday, 20 August, 47,573,794 people had received 1 shot of a vaccine and 41,496,576 had received both. This means that 87.5% of all people in the UK aged 16+ have received 1 jab and 76.3% were fully vaccinated as of that date.

  36. 36.

    Fair Economist

    @Suzanne: My husband developed an allergy to our rabbit right after he had COVID. Post hoc propter hoc and all that, but COVID is known to cause immune system trouble so we are very suspicious. It’s mild, fortunately, but he can’t cuddle with the bunny anymore and he misses that.

  37. 37.

    Cermet

    @Suzanne: Covid has absolutely been shown to cause lung damage even for people that had no symptoms (even for twenty year old’s.) Since I’m certainly no expert (or even up on the latest results, for that matter) and have zero knowledge of what could cause allergic asthma, I will simply add that little is known about what Covid does and does not cause long term.

  38. 38.

    VOR

    @lowtechcyclist:  What this really means is that Trumpism as a movement has swept on beyond Trump himself, doesn’t really need him anymore, and is all too capable of being even worse than he is.

    That’s the fear, the next person won’t be a lazy idiot with Narcissistic Personality Disorder and no understanding of how the government works. Instead it will be someone who doesn’t spend their days watching Fox News but instead wrecking our government.

  39. 39.

    Another Scott

    Occam’s/Okham’s Razor:

    is the problem-solving principle that “entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity”

    The GQP wants Americans to get COVID-19.

    Why? Because they are convinced that it is the path to maintaining and increasing their political power.

    All the rest is details.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  40. 40.

    r€nato

    “She spent her whole life against vaccines, and then before she was intubated, she asked doctors for the vaccine, but it was too late.”

    https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/health/2021/08/20/mothers-dying-wish-kids-get-covid-vaccine/8191942002/

    A few days after Phil Valentine announced he had tested positive for Covid-19 on July 11th, the conservative talk-radio host wrote on Facebook that he was “doing my patriotic duty for natural herd immunity.” Valentine, whose nationally syndicated Phil Valentine Show aired on 100 stations from 2007 to 2019, had questioned the vaccines on his current show on Nashville’s SuperTalk 99.7 WTN and online, mocking the U.S.’s inoculation campaign in the song “Vaxman,” a parody of the Beatles’ “Taxman.” “I certainly am not getting the vax now,” he replied to a commenter on Facebook on July 14th. “I have full immunity.”

    Valentine died Saturday from complications related to Covid-19, according to a tweet from his station. He was 61.

    https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/phil-valentine-radio-covid-vaccine-dead-obituary-1206303/

    It is tremendously sad when an anti-vaxxer dies of Covid, because they’re not around to hear you say “we told you so, you dumb motherfucker”.

  41. 41.

    smith

    @New Deal democrat:  The numbers really don’t bear out the hypothesis that greater Alpha infection in MI last spring can account for those differences. MI only briefly had a higher cumulative per capita case count than FL, until about June 25, 2020, and  the difference at that time was quite small. Since then FL’s cumulative per capita cases have been significantly higher than MI’s for the entire duration of  the pandemic. I think it’s fair to assume that asymptomatic case numbers correlate with confirmed case numbers, so any hidden effect should follow the same pattern.

  43. 43.

    Kent

    @smith: @New Deal democrat: The numbers really don’t bear out the hypothesis that greater Alpha infection in MI last spring can account for those differences. MI only briefly had a higher cumulative per capita case count than FL, until about June 25, 2020, and the difference at that time was quite small. Since then FL’s cumulative per capita cases have been significantly higher than MI’s for the entire duration of the pandemic. I think it’s fair to assume that asymptomatic case numbers correlate with confirmed case numbers, so any hidden effect should follow the same pattern.

    The delta wave is slowly cresting northwards. You can see the deep red on the map creeping north all along the eastern half of the country. It just hasn’t gotten to MI yet in force, but it will.

  44. 44.

    Bill Arnold

    @New Deal democrat:
    A reply in that twitter thread calls out Eric Topol’s weak “data are consistent with my hypothesis” that people read as being stronger than it was.

    Please compare cases last year summer. It's nothing to do with natural infection immunity. During summer, Florida's indoor climate is more virus favorable than Michigan's. While vaccine helps in reducing deaths, it also helped case spreading. pic.twitter.com/WzdPwNqfj7— Mahmudur Rahman (@mahmudme01) August 21, 2021

    We need metrics that (reasonably) accurately measure respiratory-virus-spread-related behavior on a regional basis.
    E.g. video analysis of store video surveillance at store/public venue entrances (and maybe indoors too) with AI classification of people into masked and unmasked. Sampling from public health reports to determine private gathering compliance. Measurement of known non-compliers like churches.
    Vaccination levels we have reasonably well covered excepting for fraudulent proof of vaccination, and more analyses by subpopulations should be done.

    E.g. Republicans are by far most of the unvaccinated, e.g. (from early July, so may have changed):

    Unvaccinated Americans Whiter, More Republican Than Vaccinated     (Steve Baragona, July 03, 2021)

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