A Covid ICU patient at Baton Rouge General hospital – who’s unable to speak – signaled to her nurses this morning that she wanted to write something. They brought her a pen and paper.
This is what she wrote. pic.twitter.com/UoEa1YO56T— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) August 24, 2021
LIVE @WhiteHouse — more than 6 million #COVID19 #vaccine shots given in last 7 days. Because @US_FDA has approved the @pfizer vax more Americans will be mandated to vax by employers. CBS, Chevron, TxInstruments, NYC, NJS, SUNY, U of Minn — all issuing forms of mandates.
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) August 24, 2021
Dr. Fauci said we could see a ‘degree of normality’ by early 2022 if we follow these steps (hint: it includes getting vaccinated) pic.twitter.com/895feLfFp8
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) August 24, 2021
Formal U.S. approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine by the FDA will make it nearly impossible to successfully challenge mandates by employers, according to legal experts https://t.co/8sKIaiR827 pic.twitter.com/rkcNDtfZC7
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 25, 2021
Nearly three quarters of the largest health plans in each state are no longer waiving enrollees’ cost-sharing requirements for #COVID19 treatment.
That’s a big shift from early in the pandemic.
Our analysis for the KFF-@PetersonCHealth tracker: https://t.co/gMgWo15cuH pic.twitter.com/8XYSCrcUIJ
— KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) (@KFF) August 24, 2021
Does the #DeltaVariant peak in cycles, predictably?
No, but human behavior does — in reaction to rising death tolls, people change to lower risk of spread. (Had they made same changes weeks before, the #COVID19 peak would never have occurred.) pic.twitter.com/h03Ehtqftq— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) August 24, 2021
the tragedy is that responsible people are collateral damage as a minority of dedicated chaos agents rip the social contract to shreds. https://t.co/nf2fq3DEOH
— World Famous Art Thief (@CalmSporting) August 25, 2021
======
When countries do not get Covid vaccines, people are left gasping for oxygen
Graphic: @Stop_Pneumonia cc @JustACTIONS pic.twitter.com/e1kAHYFBhd
— Madhu Pai, MD, PhD (@paimadhu) August 23, 2021
Taiwan reports no new domestic COVID-19 cases, first time since May 9 https://t.co/ZcmpAhhuUe pic.twitter.com/BiwW9kk4J7
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 25, 2021
Japan is set to expand its coronavirus state of emergency for a second week in a row, adding several more prefectures as a surge in infections fueled by the delta variant strains the country’s health care system. https://t.co/16ezeqEgyr
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 25, 2021
U.S. to donate 1 mln Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam – Harris https://t.co/bWhAEgYzPY pic.twitter.com/FT0UaZkaoJ
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 25, 2021
Sydney's COVID-19 cases rose to a new daily record, putting parts of the health system under ‘severe pressure’, officials said, as they urged an increase in vaccinations to help curb the rate of hospitalizations https://t.co/W89kNBNhFY pic.twitter.com/3xTgRvVYiy
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 25, 2021
“Groundhog day has to end”: Australia plots path beyond covid zero and lockdowns https://t.co/1YIy0qzBfP
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 24, 2021
I did not realize until today that Israel's vaccination rate is only 65%. That makes their upswing in cases a whole lot less surprising.
Maybe people are too readily believing Israel's happy talk about how well they're doing? https://t.co/aIQwNbEkxG
— Cheryl Rofer (@CherylRofer) August 24, 2021
Unvaccinated workers, residents and visitors in Greece will be subject to COVID-19 testing requirements and entrance restrictions for six months starting Sept. 13. https://t.co/7mj6rMeNxl
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) August 24, 2021
"Boardmasters surf & music festival held in Newquay, England, 11th and 15th of August, has since resulted in 4,700 people testing positive for #Covid19, although some experts have estimated the true number of people testing positive linked to the event could be much higher. " https://t.co/CDjXWqNNHf
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) August 24, 2021
======
Report: SARSCoV2 lab leak scenario is highly unlikely. The pandemic likely began when an infected animal passed SARS2 to a human at a live animal market in Wuhan. New critical review in the peer-reviewed journal Cell. 21 scientific experts https://t.co/uDZRaKFHSm
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) August 24, 2021
Once again…
… “The discussion over the origins of the pandemic have become politicized and heated, and we felt the time was right to take a critical look at all of the available evidence,” says Stephen Goldstein, Ph.D., an author on the paper and evolutionary virologist at University of Utah Health. Corresponding authors are Edward Holmes, Ph.D., The University of Sydney, Australia, and Andrew Rambaut, University of Edinburgh, UK. “Preventing future pandemics requires the political will to cut off the routes by which these viruses enter the human population. Focusing in the wrong direction will preclude those efforts from occurring.”…
Maps pinpointing geographic locations of the first wave of COVID-19 cases in December 2019, show they initially emerged close to the site of the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, as well as other markets reported to have live animal trading. In the weeks following, cases radiated outward geographically. Those cases were followed by excessive deaths in January 2020, a second marker of how the virus spread through the population. Similarly, those deaths were initially localized to near the animal markets.
“It tells us where the epidemic began and where intense transmission began,” Goldstein explains. “This suggests that the epidemic began in markets in this district: the Huanan market and possibly other markets as well.”
The Wuhan Institute of Virology, often cited as the source of a lab leak, is also marked on the map, but is a distance away from the live animal markets. None of the very first documented cases—or excessive deaths within the first week of emerging—were located near the institute. None of the first documented cases were reported as being related to staff at the laboratory. There is no evidence that researchers at the institute worked with SARS-CoV-2 nor a closely related virus…
While a substantial body of scientific evidence supports SARS-CoV-2 originating from wildlife, those animals have not been found. “We can’t rule out the possibility of a lab accident,” Goldstein says. “It can’t be dismissed entirely, but it is highly unlikely. There’s no evidence for it right now.”
Large academic study— systematic review—on mouthwashes & their role in addressing SARSCoV2 infection. Study examines previous research & all kinds of mouthwashes, including peroxide. Premise of research is SARS2 abounds in saliva & the oropharynx https://t.co/QDRbXSYTh1 pic.twitter.com/hXP5ZH9R4R
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) August 24, 2021
#LongCovid question: Why do short-lived lung infections lead to long-lasting lung damage? New research as scientists ponder the following: Some people struggle w/ persistent cough, difficulty breathing and shortness of breath https://t.co/4WDBiluLbJ .
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) August 24, 2021
Parents are facing hard decisions about in-person schooling. HEPA filtration helps reduce #COVID19 spread in the classroom.
Ask your child's school how they've improved air quality and reduced risk. Schools can use #AmericanRescuePlan funds to cover costs https://t.co/SnzrIV9syB pic.twitter.com/N5reEz3fOt
— Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (@JohnsHopkinsSPH) August 24, 2021
The only time twitter benefits humanity it’s when some blowhard is ranting about ‘the research’ and the guy who did the study is like, “yeah we actually had to retract because some of it was made up” pic.twitter.com/upUmpMhKoL
— Danny Gold (@DGisSERIOUS) August 24, 2021
2 "..thus perchance inflict & pollute others & so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God shld wish to take me, he will surely find I have done what he has expected of me & so I am not respons for either my own death or the death of others."https://t.co/nEMwXosMHe
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) August 24, 2021
======
A different kind of surge: New Mexico is seeing strong growth in vaccinations. One hospital system reported administering twice as many doses last week than at the beginning of the month https://t.co/7XVZcxrumS
— Dan McKay (@mckaydan) August 24, 2021
Texas' biggest county saw a six-fold jump in vaccine rates after offering $100 for first doses: https://t.co/NlG7XRTFjO pic.twitter.com/Ud7LFvwLzD
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) August 24, 2021
South Dakota is now #1 among states in COVID case growth in the past 14 days.
North Dakota is #3.
Both, like last year, had very low case rates heading into August. And then things started to take a turn… pic.twitter.com/eneDISKxGY
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) August 24, 2021
“I don’t feel like I can take a break because we already don’t have nurses.” Staff at a hospital in Louisiana thought the COVID-19 pandemic was letting up. Then came the surge caused by the delta variant. Nurses say they are overwhelmed and exhausted. https://t.co/4IOHH2sTbd
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 24, 2021
More than 100 National Guard personnel are being deployed to 20 hospitals across Georgia to help deal with the latest surge of COVID-19 cases. Gov. Brian Kemp says 105 medically trained Guard will help staff at hospitals in Atlanta and other cities. https://t.co/FRTjRQavg6
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 24, 2021
It’s gotten to the point where I am much less annoyed by the “vaccines are evil and implanted with chips” people than with the “it’s everyone’s individual choice” people https://t.co/rAnWzwJEbc
— Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) August 24, 2021
“I can’t possibly take a vaccine they haven’t fully approved yet.”
“I can’t possibly take a vaccine they’ve now just suddenly approved.” https://t.co/OalY9d2dAo
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 25, 2021
*If* obesity was contagious, rapidly overwhelming our intensive care capabilities, often fatal within days of acquiring, *and* the risks of transmission, hospitalization, and death could be dramatically reduced with a free shot, then yes, we would mandate that too.
But it's not. pic.twitter.com/OIRnSWfcLR
— Max Kennerly (@MaxKennerly) August 23, 2021
Baud
Some would argue it’s less tragic. A good debate topic for ethicists and philosophers.
?BillinGlendaleCA
So, Israel has about the same number of folk as LA County and a similar vax rate.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY: 131 new cases, although the NYS Dept of Health says it’s “only” 106. It has to get down below 100 a day before we can get out of the “High Risk” designation.
OzarkHillbilly
On the “I can’t possibly take a vaccine they haven’t fully approved yet.” front, my stepdaughter and Sil are finally getting their first shots on Saturday.
So, “Yay.”
(I took the backseat in this drive, letting my wife discuss and persuade her daughter. A couple times a week I would email my wife a link I thought might be helpful, all of which I garnered here. Thank You Anne.)
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I was among the surprised to learn it was that low in Israel, given the early reporting of their success.
@OzarkHillbilly: ?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: From what I’ve read the Orthodox have been vaccine, eh, hesitant.
mrmoshpotato
How? Is? This? A? Serious? Question?
(And, no, this isn’t the NY Slapdick Times asking.)
Amir Khalid
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
“Hesitant”, dare I say it, verges on understatement. What is it with religious fundamentalists and the anti-science thing?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: The only answers to how life and the world works is found in their good book.
OzarkHillbilly
From that AP article:
Geminid
@Baud: Israel just got an early start. Prime Minister Netanyahu had made swift acquisition of Covid vaccine a high priority, hoping that might make the difference in the upcoming Knesset elections. Then Israel ran into the same vaccine resistance we did.
Netanyahu ran into Netanyahu resistance and is now ex-Prime Minister.
satby
@mrmoshpotato: Because they infect other people, and endanger health care workers, before they shuffle off to the hell they deserve. So #notallcoviddeathsareequal.
mrmoshpotato
Does Ben Shapiro enjoy publicly punching himself in the dick?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@mrmoshpotato: Yes.
RSA
I like the translation of Martin Luther’s 16th-century German into Twitterspeak English.
mrmoshpotato
@satby: Not enough info. I’m assuming (because of lack of info) that most of these deaths are FREEDUMB slapdicks who think masks are tyranny, and I’m done with those assclowns.
YY_Sima Qian
On 8/24 China reported 4 new domestic confirmed cases (0 previously asymptomatic) & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (moderate), found via mass screening. 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 31 active domestic confirmed cases there. 1 community at Ruili remains at High Risk. 1 Medium Risk village has been re-designated as Low Risk. 1 village at Ruili remains at Medium Risk.
Jiangsu Province reported 1 new domestic positive cases. 28 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There are currently 504 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.
Hunan Province did not reported any new domestic positive cases. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently are 98 active domestic confirmed (including 2 serious) & 13 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Henan Province did not report any new domestic positive case. 7 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 113 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Hubei Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 3 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 82 active domestic confirmed (36 mild, 45 moderate & 1 serious) & 57 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Shanghai Municipality reported 2 new confirmed cases (1 mild & 1 moderate). 1 is a traced close contact of the medical staff at a local hospital (reported on 8/18) & has been under centralized quarantine since 8/18, the other is a traced close contact of the logistics workers cluster at Pudong Airport (reported on 8/20) & has been under centralized quarantine since 8/20. There currently are 8 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, 6 from the airport cluster & 2 from the hospital cluster. 5 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.aza
Imported Cases
On 8/24, China reported 16 new imported confirmed cases (3 previously asymptomatic), 11 imported asymptomatic cases, 1 imported suspect case:
Overall in China, 79 confirmed cases recovered (30 imported), 23 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (18 imported) & 3 were reclassified as confirmed cases (all imported), & 3,690 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,575 active confirmed cases in the country (708 imported), 14 in serious condition (6 imported), 476 active asymptomatic cases (395 imported), 2 suspect cases (both imported). 31,718 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 8/24, 1,975.738M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 13.845M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 8/25, Hong Kong reported 5 new positive cases, all imported (from the Philippines, Pakistan, the UAE & France, 1 double vaccinated w/ BioNTech & 1 double vaccinated w/ SinoPharm).
Geminid
@?BillinGlendaleCA: The Israeli Ultra orthodox do lag in vaccination rates, and were notoriously noncompliant with social distancing mandates. Senior Rabbis have endorsed vaccination. Vaccines have been denounced by lower level rabbis, though. One complained that the whole Covid pandemic was orchestrated by Bill Gates, the Freemasons, and the Illuminati. He even warned his followers that the vaccine might “make them gay.” Asked to respond to the rabbi’s comments, Israeli LGBTQ organizatio Havrutah said they were “gearing up to welcome our impending new members.”
Baud
@mrmoshpotato:
Probably not as much as I would.
Anne Laurie
Best I can make out, it seems like the Israeli government was boasting about getting almost every adult citizen who wanted it vaccinated within a very short time. Laudable!
But that still left a lot of ‘unqualified’ warm bodies — children, transient workers, Palestinians, semi–permanent tourist / residents. Plus the ultra-Orthodox (Haredim), who are every bit as resistant as our MAGAts (and who have *large* families — 8, 10, a dozen kids per couple). Turns out ‘95% of those eligible’ is only a subset of ‘everyone capable of carrying an infection’.
satby
@mrmoshpotato: well, no; not all of them. Some include vaccinated people with other health problems, some include children far too young to get vaccinated (or old enough to get vaccinated but their parents wouldn’t allow it). Health care workers are exposed to far higher viral loads so they continue to be at risk even if vaccinated, etc. Vaccination can prevent serious illness and death in normal cases, but immune-impaired and constant exposure to high viral loads are able to get more severe illness. And then bets are off.
Though a loud and proud anti-vaxxer/anti-masker going down? NFLTG
Baud
@Geminid:
The vaccine didn’t make me gay, but I’m now a high level Freemason.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Wear a hazmat suit.
trnc
What’s up with Florida’s reported covid deaths? For the last couple of weeks, Florida’s covid daily deaths have been really low compared to it’s record daily positivity rates. Are tons of people getting serious cases of covid and then somehow dying of terminal hangnails or sudden onset fatal allergy to sunlight?
Kay
Has anyone asked if the far Right governors stopping schools from requiring masks are promoting HEPA air cleaners?
We now have two methods the far Right governors could be promoting and actually doing some work to put in place and they’re not helping with either of them.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Illuminati is a type of lighthouse, right?
I’m a free-standing, brick lighthouse!
NotMax
FYI. Hawaiʻi Gov. Ige Urges Travelers to Refrain From Non-Essential Travel to End of October
Baud
@Kay:
Too bad they don’t have stock in the mask businesses.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: Israel has a younger population than the United States and their overall vaccination rates are brought down by the very large number of children. Schools have been a major Delta transmission vector. I think that’s a more important effect than vaccine hesitance.
In related news, I’m kind of starting to hate clickbait headlines like “Ultra-vaxxed Israel’s crisis is a dire warning for America” that imply that the vaccine stopped working, then when you look into it you see that isn’t really what it’s saying. (I do think the recent Israeli data makes boosters for over-60 people a reasonable thing to do.)
Geo Wilcox
When you look at all the strange things people eat and do to combat obesity, if it was curable by a shot the demand would be through the roof and into the fucking sky whether it was approved by the FDA or not.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Click-bait headlines are the devil’s spawn, and not just with respect to vaccines.
Matt McIrvin
@Geo Wilcox: Isn’t that called heroin?
Baud
@Geo Wilcox:
The fear of vaccines as opposed to any other aspect of medical science is completely arbitrary.
Ian R
@Geo Wilcox: Right? If I could get a shot that would make me no longer obese as easily as a covid vaccine, I’d get it in a heartbeat.
Geminid
@Kay: Virginia has directed $500 million of it’s Covid relief money to upgrading HVAC systems in public schools. I expect other states will use funding similarly. Maybe not Florida, though. Republicans there seem committed to their pig headedness (my apologies to pigs everywhere).
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: The vaccine didn’t make me gay, but it did make me happy.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: Well, once they have their stock portfolios properly adjusted, they’ll be getting right on that band wagon.
Geo Wilcox
@Ian R: You and every person I know, even thin people would get it to be thinner.
Sloane Ranger
As the man generally credited with kicking off the protestant Reformation, I think that quote from Martin Luther should be printed on billboards throughout areas with high populations of people saying they are putting their trust in God to protect them. It may cause some of them to change their minds about wearing face masks and getting vaccinated or lead to Pastors facing some very difficult questions from parishioners. At the very least it might make some heads explode. On the other hand, they might confuse this Martin Luther guy with Martin Luther King and thus a dangerous liberal.
As for the Boardmasters’ surf and music festival, it was full of young people, as you might expect and due to the way vaccines have been rolled out in the UK, a lot will have been unvaccinated or, at best, only partially vaccinated. Also, there are reports that print outs of negative COVID tests weren’t properly checked and passed around multiple attendees.
Now, on to your regularly scheduled update from the UK where we 30,838 new cases, which is an increase of 13.5% in the rolling 7-day average. New cases by nation,
England – 23,474 (down 684)
Northern Ireland – 1648 (up 328)
Scotland – 4323 (up 1134)
Wales – 1393 (down 1854).
Deaths – There were 174 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is an increase of 8.8% in the rolling 7-day average. 152 deaths were in England, 12 in Northern Ireland and 10 in Scotland. No deaths reported in Wales.
Testing – 741,817 tests were conducted on Monday, 23 August. This is a decrease of 1.3% in the rolling 7-day average. The PCR testing capacity reported by labs on that date was 768,838.
Hospitalisations – On Monday, 23 August there were 6934 people in hospital and 942 on ventilators. As of 20 August, the rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions was up by 9.1%.
Vaccinations – As of Monday, 23 August, 47,737,142 people had received 1 shot of a vaccine and 41,942,036 had received both. This means that, as of that date, 87.8% of everyone aged 16+ had had 1 shot of a vaccine and 77.2% were fully vaccinated.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 22,642 new Covid-19 cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 1,616,244 cases. He also reports 265 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 14,818 deaths — 0.92% of the cumulative reported total, 1.10% of resolved cases.
There are currently 264,292 active and contagious cases; 1,003 are in ICU, 490 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 20,798 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 1,337,134 patients recovered – 82.73% of the cumulative reported total.
42 new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 4,548 clusters. 1,458 clusters are currently active; 3,090 clusters are now inactive.
22,637 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 6,321 local cases: 350 in clusters, 3,070 close-contact screenings, and 2,901 other screenings.
Sabah reports 3,223 local cases: 75 in clusters, 2,098 close-contact screenings, and 1,050 other screenings.
Kedah reports 2,279 cases: 183 in clusters, 1,422 close-contact screenings, and 674 other screenings.
Johor reports 1,832 cases: 262 in clusters, 979 close-contact screenings, and 591 other screenings. Sarawak reports 1,667 cases: 226 in clusters, 966 close-contact screenings, and 475 other screenings.
Penang reports 1,427 cases: 146 in clusters, 479 close-contact screenings, and 802 other screenings. Kelantan reports 1,424 cases: 133 in clusters, 897 close-contact screenings, and 394 other screenings. Perak reports 1,390 cases: 322 in clusters, 536 close-contact screenings, and 532 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 1,128 cases: 122 in clusters, 523 close-contact screenings, and 483 other screenings.
Terengganu reports 744 cases: 74 in clusters, 555 close-contact screenings, and 115 other screenings.
Pahang reports 522 cases: 85 in clusters, 326 close-contact screenings, and 111 other screenings.
Melaka reports 342 cases: 51 in clusters, 128 close-contact screenings, and 163 other screenings.
Negeri Sembilan reports 269 cases: 37 in clusters, 121 close-contact screenings, and 111 other screenings.
Perlis reports 44 cases: 10 in clusters, 15 close-contact screenings, and 19 other screenings. Putrajaya reports 21 cases: nine close-contact screenings and 12 other screenings. Labuan reports four cases: two close-contact screenings and two other screenings.
Five new cases today are imported: four in Selangor and one in Sabah.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 420,164 doses of vaccine on 24th August: 155,004 first doses and 265,160 second doses. As of midnight yesterday, the cumulative total is 32,212,527 doses administered: 18,631,593 first doses and 13,580,934 second doses. 57.1% of the population have received their first dose, while 41.6% are now fully vaccinated.
Kay
People who are ingesting compounds intended to treat livestock OR people who insist contracting covid is somehow “safer” than a vaccine will not be persuaded by FDA approval, because their own plans for covid are both dangerous and dumb. They’re not risk averse people. They’re eagerly and belligerently and extremely loudly taking more risk than they have to, right now. They’re demanding YOU take more risk! They boast about it. They feel superior and will tell you that you’re “afraid” and they are not.
debbie
@Kay:
Someone was bragging on FB about having ingested that stuff for more than a year and feeling fine. Had to be a Russian.
Winston
@trnc: Florida department of Health only reports weekly since 6/21. It does not include county reports. Here in Polk County the local news reports ICU beds at Lakeland Regional Health are totally full. What I can glean from Covidactnow is that new cases are over 1000 per day which way exceeds any prior rate. Depending on age group this should translate to 12 to 15 deaths per day, which way exceeds any prior rate. But who knows? DeathSatan is hiding the evidence.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kay:
What did you think of our governor attending that football game instead of the redistricting commission meeting, Kay?
Kay
IMO the absolute worst covid opinion is the one that refuses to acknowlege that risks of infection in schools should be mitigated because they’re infecting people who can’t even help themselves with the vaccine.
They have a two easy methods that combined reduce transmission in schools by 90% and they are not helping with either of them. In fact, they’re getting in the way of people who want to work and stopping them from doing anything. Their stupid, stubborn intransigience and ego won’t allow them to back down. They’re monsters.
Just shut the fuck up and do it. 90% of these school infections are preventable.
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: They go from the observation that children very rarely die from COVID to concluding the risks are negligible. This isn’t just a right-wing thing; I’ve gotten into arguments with Erik Loomis about this.
Even if we decide the risks to the children themselves are negligible, children transmit the virus to other people.
Winston
@Winston: But the DeathSatan did open a regeneron clinic in Lakeland and he can tell you what their stock price is doing daily.
New Deal democrat
On the Laurie Garrett tweet re Delta not “peaking in cycles, predictably,” to quote another commenter here, “citation please.” Garrett is a journalist and cites no evidence in support of her contention that it is solely changes in behavior, vs. burning through the dry tinder, that drives the – well, predictable – peaks. The truth at this point is, we just don’t know how much of a role either plays.
And as for predictable peaks, I’ve been writing for about a month that, if the US outbreak followed the cycle of India and the UK, it would peak about Labor Day. As of this morning’s data, 17 States + DC show plateauing or declining week over week infection numbers. For the US as a whole, cases over the last 7 days increased by about 10%. One week prior, on August 17, it was about 20%. On August 10 it was 30%. On August 3 it was 50%. On July 27% it was almost 70%. So it looks like the Delta wave is about 1 week from peaking.
debbie
@Winston:
Not as accurately as Ron Paul’s wife.
Matt McIrvin
@New Deal democrat: I find it hard to believe that most school districts opening won’t put cases on the rise again. If that were not about to happen, I’d believe you.
Kay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I’m afraid they’re going to go around the redistricting commission, which makes me sad because it’s a 70% issue and so many earnest people are working on it. I have a kind of dread about it. I think they’re making more and more noise about subverting it.
I think it is naive to believe that Republicans have a default position where they obey the law. They may or they may not. People can’t and shouldn’t rely on that anymore. I know it’s upsetting to people but that’s what I think.
I’ve been suprised at how corrupt DeWine is. He has real ethical problems and they’re stacking up. I think it’s time to acknowlege that what he is doesn’t align very well with his public persona. Combine that with the absolute blatant corruption in the R majority in the legislature and I come up with “probably will subvert the process”.
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
I think it’s stunningly arrogant. Again- two simple mitigations reduce risk of infection by 90%. Why are we still talking about this?
They don’t want to help? They’d rather discuss this for another 18 months and show how super-smart they are? Then get out of the way and let normal people reduce risk by 90% in schools. Take your stupid fucking opiniating and put it on your substack. The rest of us want them in school and want to reduce risk by 90%. Just let us do the work. They can work on their snappy rebuttals on Twitter.
Winston
@debbie: Funny thing is the RP center parking lot is empty and vaxes at CVS et al are boomiing.
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
The same people who were screaming that they want children back in school last year are refusing to put in the two simple mechanical mitigations that make that safer.
Because they’re so, so SMART.
Since when is the safety measure in schools whether children DIE or not? That’s never been the measure. They pulled it out of their ass because they want to make their point that covid is less dangerous for children. If we give them that will they shut the fuck up and put the masks and HEPA filters in? If we honor their superior intellect will they stop talking about this? They’re not helping. They have never helped. They’re useless.
Kay
These school superintendents are begging to be permitted to put these mitigations in and somehow there’s a whole group of (allegedly) “smart” people who give opinions for a living who have decided they’re smarter and should be running schools and THEY’ll measure the risk to other people’s children.
Do they not see the absolute insufferable arrogance in this? 90% mitigation. We’d like to do that.
If we stipulate that they are correct when they cite the children’s death numbers will they surrender and get out of the way? We’ll give them an A+ on reading children’s death numbers. They get the prize.
NotMax
@debbie
Mr. Ed?
Ohio Mom
Goku:
I appreciate the idea of open meetings but sometimes wonder what they actually accomplish. We Buckeyes have already voted loud and clear for redrawing the districts.
Duke Energy decided they needed an enormous gas line through the northeastern Cincinnati suburbs. The state board in charge of these things had open meetings, the grassroots group against the pipeline had speaker after speaker explaining that these sorts of pipelines are known to explode and the routes proposed by Duke went through densely populated areas, etc.
I can’t tell you how blank the faces of the state board members were. They were not listening, didn’t care.
The auditorium was packed and we were not a quiet audience. We hooted and clapped after every speaker — no one was there to support the pipe.
It wasn’t a completely futile effort, Duke agreed to slightly decrease the diameter of the pipe. And I expect a similar result here. A few districts will be improved.
I’ll be surprised if Cincinnati isn’t put back into one Congressional district, instead of splitting in two as it is now. I expect slightly more progress on the Congressional districts than the state ones, they are much higher profile. No one knows what state districts they live in, or who is representing them in Columbus. Those districts will remain pretty gerrymandered.
Ken
Google’s a little fuzzy on numbers, but there are 69,000 RNs in Georgia, and over 165,000 licensed nurses (some retired) total, so I’m thinking an extra 105 people will not be as big a help as the governor seems to think.
I also can’t help wondering how many of the 105 have medical training because their non-Guard jobs are in medicine, and they’re already working at hospitals.
rikyrah
???
Nick Sawyer, MD, MBA, FACEP (@NickSawyerMD) tweeted at 9:27 PM on Tue, Aug 24, 2021:
This is how I know COVID is going to get worse.
There are adults – and parents of children – who not only refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine but also REFUSE TO GET TESTED IN ER or let THEIR CHILDREN GET TESTED IN THE ER.
They don’t care if they have it or are spreading it.
(https://twitter.com/NickSawyerMD/status/1430356169814528000?s=03)
Nelle
@Matt McIrvin: How does it go? Low probability, but consequences are high cost, versus high probability but the consequences are low cost, cost being in lives lost or impaired as well as financial. The arguments about how few children die are negligible because my grandchildren aren’t replaceable. The risk may be low but the cost is incredibly high.
Fair Economist
@trnc:Florida is hiding its COVID deaths. Florida only reports deaths that *occurred* in the past week. But it takes on average 1-2 weeks for a death to wend its way through the reporting system, so the reports aren’t ready until the next week. And Florida just doesn’t report those; they’re “revisions”.
The total number is still provided and honest reporters (obviously nobody reporting to DeathSantis) can calculate how many deaths were reported in the past week from that. The Miami Herald, among others, keeps up with that.
WereBear
After considerable study, I have concluded that fundamentalists share a desperate fear of uncertainty. They cling to binary, black and white, thinking.
Science, of course, is the opposite. So the CDC saying, “Our best data says THIS,” and then following up with “No, we were wrong, new data says THIS,” and then, “Here’s something new that upholds this but not that,” freaks them completely out.
Then they go running to the nearest religious authority and do whatever they say, regardless of their own personal experience. Because doubting the religious authority creates more gray areas!
Yea, until death itself.
WereBear
@Baud: So it DOES affect one’s fashion sense? Cool.
Still waiting for mine to kick in. My outfit today reflects one of two dress modes I currently have: princess or dragged-from-bed.
Cermet
@Amir Khalid: Simple – if one allows any scientific fact as, well, fact, then one opens the obvious issue that all of religion is based on faith and most of its claims are foolish; that is, conflict with known scientific fact. Hence, can’t allow people to think and then learn science is based all on fact.
Matt McIrvin
@WereBear: Just about everyone wants simple rules: do this, don’t do that, and you’ll be safe. Beyond that it’s “I was told there would be no math”. Total confusion and a tendency to believe that scientists are just making shit up. The vaccine is no good because it has “no guarantees”, as Cawthorn said. We want our guarantees!
But people who are in the fundamentalist subculture have particularly had all-or-nothing thinking drilled into them from birth.
Lyrebird
@Baud: So sadly true.
And fwiw so glad to see your comments! I am not even close to your league in the commenter comedy department, so I don’t usually have a reply, but I read that you took a break… hope you had a good break and are enjoying being back cracking wise all the time!
dmsilev
An important finding, maybe for tomorrow’s summary:
The LA Department of Public Health studied the effectiveness of the vaccine at reducing infections and hospitalization.
Link to CDC technical paper
Capsule summary: Looking at the few months (i.e. within the Delta surge), fully vaccinated people are a factor of three less likely to be infected with the virus and much less likely to have a case serious enough to need a hospital stay, ICU, or go on a ventilator:
(emphasis added)
The study period ran through the end of July, by which point the vast majority of cases were Delta, so definitely applicable to now.
Cermet
@dmsilev: And they don’t mention that half of all breakthrough cases are immune compromised. So for the vast majority of people vaccinated, the chances of being in a hospital for covid are half their value – more like 1.5%. Chance of dying under 0.15%
Robert Sneddon
Scotland — 5,021 new cases of COVID-19 reported, another significant increase over the past few days, with five new reported deaths of someone who had tested positive. Test positivity rate is 11.0%. Hospitalisations and ICU bed occupancy numbers are only slightly up — 44 ICU beds occupied and 391 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.
The BBC is reporting that the Scottish government believes the current uptick in case numbers is being driven by the new school term which started in Scotland a couple of weeks ago. Apparently about a third of the cases recently reported are in the under-19 age group. The specific details about COVID-19 cases in schools is released every Friday and the first report of this term should be coming out in a few days time.
Masking in schools is mandatory for all at the moment although the authorities are keen to relax this requirement to provide some level of normality to the school experience. They’re not going to remove this requirement though if it’s going to result in schools being closed due to large numbers of pupils testing positive for the virus and isolating at home.
About 19,500 vaccinations were administered in Scotland yesterday (Monday) with just over 15% of those vaccinations being first doses. 81.0% of the 18+ adult population are now fully vaccinated with another 9.9% having received their initial dose of vaccine. 16 and 17 year olds are now at 41.8% first dose and 8.3% second dose. This group of young people only became eligible to receive the vaccine on a regular basis a few weeks ago and those who have received their first vaccination recently will not yet be eligible for a second dose. There should be a serious uptick in second doses being administered to 16 and 17-year olds in a few weeks time.
Searcher
Remember the outrage when NYC tried to ban large, sugar-filled drinks, because of obesity?
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@Baud: +33.333333
edited: the long string of 3s broke the margins for people on phones.
emmyelle
I just have to share that I’m here on my office today at the university where I work, and we now have in place a vaccine mandate, a mask mandate, and weekly testing mandate for everyone, and I can almost feel the normalcy creeping back in and it feels beautiful.
Yes, we are masked all the time. Yes, we still have a high degree of remote work and remote class attendance. And yes, everyone is told explicitly to say home if they have even a sniffle. And no, we don’t have indoor gatherings with food and yes, lunch is still wolf down your food in 15 minutes and leave, and yes doing everything hybrid is way harder than doing ether fully remote or fully in person, but damn. It is just so good to be with people, to talk, to coordinate and collaborate, to laugh occasionally, and to do some variation of the stuff we used to do.
My wish for everyone is to have this, right now.
smith
@trnc: Depends on what you mean by “low.” According to 91-DIVOC, Florida’s current per capita death rate is fourth highest in the nation, and at .988/100k, almost 3 times the US national average of .332/100k. The death count hasn’t shot up so much as the case count because it takes time to die of covid. The surge in cases in FL started on about 6-24 (or at least with the data reported that day), and the surge in deaths on about 7-15.
Bostondreams
Orange County Public Schools here in Florida has joined other large districts in disregarding the governor’s ban on mask mandates. Heads continue to explode in Tally.
Jim Appleton
Oregon red counties get worse.
JaneE
On origins. We still don’t know where the original SARS came from. Almost certainly bats, but which bats and where?
On mandates. Most obese people would love to take a couple of shots and not be obese anymore. The thing that might actually work has a list of possible side effects that is scary enough even in the dosage approved for treatment of diabetics. Dosage for anti-obesity is several times higher.
It really is a damn shame that people have to be forced to do things that might save other lives, or their own.
rikyrah
@emmyelle:
Sounds good ?