Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Everybody saw this coming.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

I was promised a recession.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

This really is a full service blog.

Bark louder, little dog.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

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

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

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

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

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

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Sunday / Monday, Sept. 19-20

COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Sunday / Monday, Sept. 19-20

by | 74 Comments

This post is in: ,

COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Sunday / Monday, Sept. 19-20
(Clay Jones via GoComics.com)


======


Dr. Moeti, a physician and public-health specialist, is the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa:

… Perhaps no group of countries has been hit harder by this vaccine hoarding than the countries of Africa. Shipments ground to a near halt for months, as promised supplies dried up because of global shortages and export bans. Today, just 51 million people — or 3.6 percent — of Africa’s population are fully vaccinated, compared with over 60 percent in the United Kingdom and the European Union and almost 55 percent in the United States.

Shipments are picking up, and we are grateful for the international solidarity and leadership shown by the United States and other partners in sharing millions of doses, including through Covax, which works for the fair distribution of vaccines globally…

Export restrictions, production constraints and delays in regulatory approvals led Covax to slash its delivery forecast for this year by about 25 percent. Other pledges may not be fulfilled before the middle of next year. Africa and other parts of the world need these vaccines. Now.

Governments, of course, have a duty to their own people, but giving boosters to fully vaccinated individuals goes against rich countries’ own interests. Countries with low vaccination rates could act as variant incubators, increasing the risk that more dangerous variants will emerge and enter international travel networks…

Reports of millions of doses being wasted or discarded in rich countries are heartbreaking. Like so many other people I know here in the Republic of Congo and back home in Botswana, I have lost friends and colleagues to Covid-19. Every single one of those wasted doses could have saved a life in Africa…

======

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Reader Interactions

74Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY:

    Monroe County web site has gone back to not updating on weekends.
    NYSDOH says 219 new cases.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    Recently joining the ponderous roster of countries reporting more than 500k cumulative cases:

    Saudi Arabia
    Guatemala
    Belarus
    Ecuador
    Costa Rica
    Sri Lanka
    .

  3. 3.

    lowtechcyclist

    By Mon Tues this week we’ll likely exceed the number of Americans who died in the 1918-21 flu pandemic (675,000)

    But we’ve got a lot more people now than then. So way fewer deaths per capita, right?

    See? No worse than the flu!

    /s

  4. 4.

    Joey Maloney

    I just got out of mandatory isolation after international travel (14 days because the USA is designated orange, cut short after a second negative test). Got my booster and my flu shot at the same time this morning. One-stop shopping at the popup vax clinic. In and out in 15 minutes, cost: ₪0. Yay for socialized medicine.

  6. 6.

    soapdish

    If The Left™ were that clever we would have given ourselves a bigger margin in the Senate.

    Or maybe that’s just what we *want* them to think….

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    Locally,

    Back in October 2020, Chris Wikoff helped co-found the Aloha Freedom Coalition — the group most vocal against vaccination mandates.
    .[snip]
    “We were told the COVID virus was not that deadly. It was nothing more than a little flu. I can tell you it’s more than a little flu,” he said.

    Wikoff, 66, still needs help breathing. He thinks he got infected during a church event in August.

    After he was diagnosed, he was first sent to Queen’s Medical Center West then to Queen’s Medical Center downtown due to the lack of bed space.

    His wife, whose case was not as severe, didn’t need to be hospitalized.

    “I was in a bed. I can’t move, I can’t breathe,” he recalled about the experience. “I was afraid I was going to die.”
    [snip]
    He said he asked the Aloha Freedom Coalition to remove his name as a member on its state business registration.

    Even though he was treated with Remdesivir, he hasn’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 yet. But he is now considering it because his doctor and family members — some of whom are physicians — are recommending it.

    “I no longer want to participate. I want to mind my own business and isolate,” he said.

    Wikoff is now sharing his story to warn others not to take part in rallies and protests his coalition is helping to organize, including those held in front of Lt. Gov. Josh Green’s home.

    “Before I thought [Lt. Governor (and Dr.)] Josh Green was exaggerating the situation and after my experience he sounds very rational to me,” he said.Source

    No vax? No stacks.

    All state facilities including public libraries are required to enforce the vaccine-or-test mandate, but they too are feeling the impacts of enforcement.

    Before entering a state library, people must show their vaccine card or a negative test result, which must be taken within 72 hours. This is different from the city’s Safe Access Oahu Program which requires a negative test taken at least 48 hours prior.

    However, public libraries are finding it a challenge trying to balance enforcing the new requirements and providing services to their guests.
    [snip]
    The state librarian said people can checkout Chromebooks, connect to the library’s Wi-Fi and use them outside.
    [snip]
    “Well, the good news about the Chromebooks, is that if you walk away with it, it turns into a brick — you can’t use it anymore, so it has to stay on our property,” said Aldrich. Source

    Enforcement? You betcha.

    An Oahu lifeguard was terminated Friday for refusing to comply with the city’s vaccine mandate, a spokesperson confirmed.

    The Honolulu Ocean Safety employee “refused to complete the required attestation form and refused the weekly testing,” Honolulu Emergency Services Department spokesperson Shayne Enright said. Source

  8. 8.

    Baud

    Eh, I’ll take the blame for the master plan if it convinces right wingers to foil us by taking the vaccine.

  11. 11.

    Nicole

    I love how that piece on Breitbart automatically assumes that of course Republicans have the emotional maturity of middle schoolers.

  14. 14.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @The Thin Black Duke: She does appear to be irresponsible, but the story at the link suggests she’s doing this to take the heat off of her husband, who may be in some sort of legal trouble. So, she may be an irresponsible evil shit rather than an idiot.

    Are her ‘fans’ stupid enough to base medical decisions on her mewlings? TBD.

  15. 15.

    germy

    So it turns out the incident at Carmine's in NYC didn't go down like it was reported.

    The three TX women who were arrested are Black, they did show proof of their vaccination status, and the altercation started after the hostess called them a racial slur. https://t.co/jAVrMDVLnJ

    — Rebecca Kavanagh (@DrRJKavanagh) September 19, 2021

  18. 18.

    Tony Jay

    If Leftist mockery is the cause of the Right’s vax-rejectionism… what were Leftists mocking the Righties for before they started rejecting vaccines?

    Yeah, I know, it’s a bit like the dog with two arses. “How’s that supposed to work?”

  19. 19.

    germy

    https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-texas-tourists-claim-racial-discrimination-20210918-bzdu2vlx6nf3hpjvrk7u7mqtoy-story.html
    Moore claims the three women — identified as Kaeita Rankin, 44, her niece Tyonnie Keshay Rankin, both of Humble, Texas, and Sally Rechelle Lewis, 49, of Houston — had already shown their cards and had been seated when two other members of their party, both men, said they had left their vaccination cards at their hotel.

    That sparked an argument, and the hostess was rude to the three women, said Moore.

    When the women decided to leave, the N-word was dropped and the hostess “lunged” at Rankin, sparking the fight, the lawyer said.

  20. 20.

    Percysowner

    @The Thin Black Duke: Irresponsible? Undoubtedly. An idiot? No one’s talking about the fact that her husband is a sex offender who “forgot” to register when he moved to California and is facing 10 years in jail. You don’t have to be white to be rich and entitled and use whatever power you have to make yourself and your family look better, even if you kill people. She may be an idiot, or just a tad sociopathic.

  23. 23.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    I cannot believe the number of these idiots who still won’t get vaccinated after having a life-threatening bout of COVID.

    A lot of the stories don’t even mention whether they (or close relatives) get it or not, which seems odd.

  25. 25.

    Suzanne

    @Nicole: Right?! Like, if you genuinely believe that argument, the best way to OWN THE LIBZ would be to get vaccinated. God, they’re so stupid. Like, it’s almost unbelievable.

  26. 26.

    Percysowner

    On a personal level, my 3 year old granddaughter went to play with a friend on Saturday. All the adults are vaccinated, the kids are too young too be, so they all wore masks. They were playing outside when a neighbor kid joined in, unmasked. 7:00 that night, the mother calls, she and her husband, both vaccinated, tested positive for COVID. No warning to anyone. When pressed as to whether the kids would be tested, the response was her daughter, the one playing showed no symptoms and her son, who didn’t play, thank God. hadn’t had symptoms for 5 days. No one knew he HAD symptoms at any time.

    At a normal time, this would be no big deal. I watch my granddaughter 4 days a week, I’d probably asses the danger, I’m vaccinated, low chance of her getting it and passing it and keep watching her. However, I’m scheduled for a double mastectomy in less than 2 weeks. I can’t afford to be exposed for fear having to push back my surgery. My daughter is LIVID with the irresponsible neighbors and will be calling her pediatrician to see if/when my granddaughter should get tested. So she and her husband are going to have to tag team staying home to take care of my GD until we have clarification, and I’m at home worrying about all of them. Some people! They could have had their daughter wear a mask, knowing they were being tested.

  28. 28.

    Steeplejack

    @Baud:

    It’s a both-sidesy mess. Two guys who came in to meet the women couldn’t produce their vax docs. Then things went south.

  29. 29.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    That Brietbart article is evidence that fear has shut down any rational though among conservatives.

  30. 30.

    germy

    @Steeplejack:

    If I forgot my vaccine proof at a restaurant, I’d turn around and go back to the hotel and retrieve it. These guys argued instead.

    But the hostess decided to be abusive and unprofessional*, so there’s no winners here.

     

    *According to the family’s lawyer.

  31. 31.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Steeplejack: Thing is, the word “nigger” shouldn’t have been said, no matter how contentious things got. It’s throwing a match in dry brown grass.

  33. 33.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reports 14,345 new Covid-19 cases today in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 2,112,175 cases. It also reports 376 new deaths as of midnight, for a cumulative total of 23,443 deaths – 1.12% of the cumulative reported total, 1.22% of resolved cases.

    Based on cases reported yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide Rt is at 0.92.

    906 confirmed active and contagious cases are in ICU, 407 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 16,814 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 1,880,736 patients recovered – 89.0% of the cumulative reported total.

    23 new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 5,305 clusters. 1,335 clusters are currently active; 3,970 clusters are now inactive.

    14,302 new cases today are local infections. Sarawak reports 3,611 cases: 219 in clusters, 2,437 close-contact screenings, and 955 other screenings.

    Johor reports 1,574 local cases: 216 in clusters, 799 close-contact screenings, and 559 other screenings. Selangor reports 1,360 local cases: 23 in clusters, 785 close-contact screenings, and 552 other screenings. Sabah reports 1,255 cases: 86 in clusters, 602 close-contact screenings, and 567 other screenings. Penang reports 1,169 local cases: 23 in clusters, 444 close-contact screenings, and 702 other screenings. Perak reports 1,087 local cases: 135 in clusters, 406 close-contact screenings, and 546 other screenings. Kelantan reports 1,049 local cases: 59 in clusters, 666 close-contact screenings, and 324 other screenings.

    Kedah reports 965 local cases: one in a cluster, 690 close-contact screenings, and xx other screenings.

    Terengganu reports 804 cases: nine in clusters, 654 close-contact screenings, and 141 other screenings.

    Pahang reports 779 cases: 200 in clusters, 482 close-contact screenings, and 97 other screenings.

    Kuala Lumpur reports 302 local cases: 133 close-contact screenings and 169 other screenings.

    Melaka reports 161 local cases: 19 in clusters, 80 close-contact screenings, and 62 other screenings.
    Negeri Sembilan reports 124 local cases: two in clusters, 73 close-contact screenings, and 49 other screenings.

    Perlis reports 51 cases: 13 close-contact screenings and 38 other screenings. Putrajaya reports 11 cases: nine close-contact screenings and two other screenings. Labuan reports no new cases today.

    43 new cases today are imported: 24 in Johor, five in Selangor, five in Kuala Lumpur, three in Perak, two in Kedah, one in Kelantan, one in Penang, one in Melaka, and one in Negeri Sembilan.

    The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 219,081 doses of vaccine on 19th September: 60,773 first doses and 158,308 second doses. As of midnight yesterday, the cumulative total is 40,375,056 doses administered: 22,001,266 first doses and 18,453,322 second doses. 67.4% of the population have received their first dose, while 56.5% are now fully vaccinated.

  34. 34.

    lowtechcyclist

    @NotMax: 

    “We were told the COVID virus was not that deadly. It was nothing more than a little flu. I can tell you it’s more than a little flu,” he said.

    Would be nice if he’d avoided the passive voice. “We were told”?? By whom?? Name names. He needs to let people who might listen to him know who the liars are that they shouldn’t trust.

  44. 44.

    Steeplejack

    @Percysowner:

    Sorry to hear this. I think you’re wise to err on the safe side. My brother and his husband (both vaxed) caught a breakthrough case a couple of weeks ago. The BIL’s case was relatively minor, but my brother (age 61) was very sick for a week. And just when he was finally getting better he lost his sense of smell. I hope that doesn’t last.

    Good luck with your operation. ?

  47. 47.

    sab

    @Percysowner: Yikes. I have decided it’s time to shun the unmasked, even small children. Just send them home and tell them why. Of course, then you wouldn’t have had the courtesy of that pjone call.

  48. 48.

    Soprano2

    That Breitbart story *rolleyes*. I figured they’d get there eventually. Instead of being adults and getting vaccinated, they blame their intransigence on Biden and Dr. Fauci encouraging people to get vaccinated! So, I guess the author is admitting that they don’t really believe all that bullshit about the vaccine being not tested enough, or Covid not being bad enough to get vaccinated for; instead, not getting vaxxed is all to own the libs! I suppose we should all start saying that we don’t want them to get vaccinated so they’ll all die, because they’ve told us that’s how we can get them to do it.  What huge toddler they are…

  49. 49.

    Cermet

    The death rate for the U.S. is often not mentioned of late. That it is 1.6% and certainly not around 1% – and that difference is striking.  This is significantly higher than ‘about’ 1 percent and rounding down is just making a much greater death rate look falsely ‘better’; no wonder the wrong (aka right) wing repeats that lower number. The actual death rate from covid is closer to 2% (by proper rounding) and that is a hell of a lot scarier number. Not that any sane (so, of course wrong wingers aren’t included) person would tolerate a 1% chance of death from any illness as being perfectly OK.

  50. 50.

    Nicole

    @Percysowner: I’m so sorry; that just sucks.  Thankfully, the risk is quite low, as they were outdoors.

    For what it’s worth, my son’s school’s policy (and they are being very conservative in risk with Covid) is that unvaccinated individuals who have close contact with a positive case should quarantine and test in 3-5 days and if negative, may return to school (they are masked in school).  There’s some data to support that the contagious period occurs within that first week and is over pretty quick.

    And a high five to you as a future fellow member of the double mastectomy club.  We’re tough, we are. Or rather, I will high five you once you are  comfortably lifting your arms above your head again.  We’re tough, but there’s no need to do anything to slow down the healing process.

  51. 51.

    Soprano2

    @lowtechcyclist: But we’ve got a lot more people now than then. So way fewer deaths per capita, right?

    It really is a lot fewer deaths per capita. You can’t underestimate the lethality of the 1918 flu. We don’t need to lie with numbers to make Covid seem worse than it is. Of course, you also have to factor in that there never was a vaccine for the 1918 flu; that makes our death rate for Covid look even worse, because now the vast majority of these deaths are preventable. By my calculations, in 1920 the population of the U.S. was 106.5 million; that calculates to a .63% death rate. Now the population of the U.S. is 333.4 million; that calculates to a 0.02% death rate. Unless my math is completely wrong. If you assume that the real Covid death toll in the U.S. is 1 million, it’s 0.03%

    ETA – my typing was wrong, I’ve corrected it. Can you tell math was my worst subject, and Excel only helps a little bit.

  52. 52.

    Nicole

    @Soprano2: Yeah, I’m glad you mentioned this.  It makes me nuts every time I see the comparison because the important number is per capita to give an idea of the severity.  Much like, as more of the population gets vaccinated, the percentage of cases that are in vaccinated people will rise.  It’s not a failure of the vaccine; it’s a success of a vaccination program.  It’s the denominator, stupid.  (Not you stupid, obviously)

    And the right wing media understands this when they want to, so they’ll use it as “proof” that Covid isn’t all that bad- “The librul media isn’t telling you there were a lot less* people back then!”

    *I am confident right-wing media would not want to risk confusing their readers with a “fewer.”

  53. 53.

    Soprano2

    @Nicole: And the right wing media understands this when they want to, so they’ll use it as “proof” that Covid isn’t all that bad- “The librul media isn’t telling you there were a lot less* people back then!”

    That’s why I want it reported correctly, so they can’t accuse us of lying to make Covid seem worse than it is. The 1918 flu was really, really bad.  A comparable death toll from Covid would be 2.1 million. Covid is bad, but it’s not as bad as that (partly because we’ve had vaccines since December, widely available in the U.S. since May), although we should check back in another year to see. I used 1920 because from what I’ve read the 1918 flu kept coming back until the end of 1920.

  54. 54.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Soprano2: Paul Campos argues that COVID is actually far worse in that it has had a larger effect on average longevity than the 1918 flu did. But I think that’s largely because the background of people dying of other things in 1918 was higher across the board–endemic, deadly infectious diseases were a common part of life, everything was generally more dangerous and World War I was in progress. When it came to old people and children, particularly, to some extent the flu was displacing other things that would have killed them anyway.

    My biological great-grandmother died of flu in 1921, so the extent to which there was a late tail to the pandemic has always interested me. But I think historians would count that as part of the virus’s endemic phase.

  55. 55.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Soprano2: The story only makes sense if you really believe that the vaccine works! It’s pure “look what you made me do”. But people have a choice not to behave foolishly.

  56. 56.

    White & Gold Purgatorian

    @Percysowner:  What jerks those neighbors are! You are absolutely right to be extra careful so as not to delay your surgery. Try not to stress over this episode if you can help it since you are already under a lot of stress. I had the same surgery a couple of years ago and have never regretted that decision. Take care of yourself and give yourself some special treats over the next few weeks.

  57. 57.

    Ken

    The Breitbart “plan”, if it is such a thing, won’t work. Even TFG was booed when he said people should get vaccines.

  58. 58.

    Sloane Ranger

    Sunday in the UK we had 29,612 new cases. This is a decrease of 17.7% in the rolling 7-day average, but this number is likely an undercount due to admin offices here being closed over weekends. New cases by nation,

    England – 22173 (down 783)

    Northern Ireland – 889 (down 183)

    Scotland – 3833 (down 2283)

    Wales – 2717 (includes Saturday’s case numbers).

    Deaths – There were 56 deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported yesterday. This is an increase of 3.3% in the rolling 7-day average. 34 deaths occurred in England, 5 in Northern Ireland, 2 in Scotland and 15 in Wales.

    Testing – Not updated at weekends.

    Hospitalisations – Not updated at weekends.

    Vaccinations – As of Saturday, 18 September, 48,573,881 people had received 1 shot of a vaccine and 44,428,209 had had both. This means that, as of that date, 89.4% of all UK residents aged 16+ had had 1 shot of a vaccine and 81.7% were fully vaccinated.

  59. 59.

    sdhays

    The whole ethical debate over booster shots could have been avoided if, once again, people would have just gotten their damn shots as soon as they were available.

  60. 60.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 9/19 China reported 28 new domestic confirmed cases & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Fujian Province reporter 28 new domestic confirmed cases. There currently are 363 active domestic confirmed cases & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases.

    • Putian reported 7 new domestic confirmed cases, 2 are medical workers (an ambulance driver & a nurse at the designated COVID-19 hospital), 1 is a relative of one of the medical workers, & the remaining 4 are traced close contacts. There currently are 190 active domestic confirmed cases (86 mild, 102 moderate, 1 serious & 1 critical; 186 at the epicenter Xianyou County, 3 at Xiuyu District & 1 at Licheng District) & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases (all at Xianyou County) in the city. 4,453 F1 & 5,084 F2 close contacts have been traced & placed under centralized quarantine. Fengting Township at Xianyou County is currently at High Risk. 2 zones have been elevated to Medium Risk. 4 zones, 1 residential building, 1 school, 1 community & 7 villages aren currently at Medium Risk, all at Xianyou County.
    • Quanzhou reported 5 domestic confirmed cases, of 2 clusters seeded by people who had traveled to Xiamen or Putian. There currently are 23 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 3 villages are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Xiamen reported 16 new domestic confirmed cases (7 are traced close contacts & 9 from mass screening). There currently are 147 active domestic confirmed cases in the city (129 in the epicenter Tong’an District, 9 at Si’ming District, 6 at Haicang & 3 at Huli District). 4,473 F1 & 11,205 F2 close contacts have been traced & placed under centralized quarantine. 2 communities are currently at High Risk. 3 villages, 1 zone & 1 residential compound are currently at Medium Risk. Authorities believe a single person from Putian was responsible for the outbreak there (based on phylogenetic analysis), & that there has been 2 – 3 generations of transmission before the outbreak was identified. 
    • Zhangzhou did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 1 community is currently at Medium Risk

    Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, found via screening of residents under lock down. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases there.

    At Hunan Province 6 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 16 active domestic confirmed cases remaining in the province, all at Zhangjiajie

    At Henan Province there currently are 10 active domestic confirmed cases.

    • At Zhengzhou there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases.
    • At Shangqiu there currently are 8 active domestic confirmed cases.

    At Hubei Province 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed (both mild) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • At Jingzhou the last domestic confirmed case recovered.
    • At Jingmen 2 domestic confirmed case recovered. There are currently 2 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the city.

    At Shanghai Municipality 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases remaining in the city.

    Imported Cases

    On 9/19, China reported 21 new imported confirmed cases (3 previously asymptomatic), 12 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:

    • Yunnan Province (locations not specified) – 9 confirmed cases, 8 Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar & 1 from Laos; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Myanmar; all via land border crossings
    • Shanghai Municipality – 4 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Japan, Mali (via Paris CdG), Namibia (via Frankfurt) & Tajikistan (via Dubai); 2 suspect cases, no information released
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 2 confirmed cases (both previously asymptomatic), 1 each coming from Spain & Mexico; 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 each coming from Japan & Senegal
    • Guangxi Province (location not specified) – 2 confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic), no information released
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Egypt & Thailand; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Kazakhstan
    • Jinan in Shandong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Pakistan
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Tajikistan (via Dubai) & the UAE
    • Dongguan in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Kenya & the DRC (via Nairobi), off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from France, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Tanzania (via Nairobi) 
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from Romania (via Amsterdam Schiphol)
    • Lanzhou in Gansu Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Russia

    Overall in China, 34 confirmed cases recovered (23 imported), 21 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (20 imported) & 3 were reclassified as confirmed cases (all imported), & 626 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 942 active confirmed cases in the country (541 imported), 10 in serious condition (5 imported), 354 active asymptomatic cases (345 imported), 3 suspect case (all imported). 15,730 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 9/19, 2,177.638M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 3.595M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 9/20, Hong Kong reported 5 new positive cases (2 asymptomatic), all imported (from the Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya & the US, 4 had been fully vaccinated – 2 w/ BioNTech, 1 w/ Sinovac & 1 w/ Sinopharm).

  61. 61.

    YY_Sima Qian

    As of 9/18, 1,022.207M individuals in China have been fully vaccinated, or 72.4% of China total population, ~ 78% of eligible population (vaccination of under 12 y.o. has yet to start, despite the Sinovac vaccine receiving EMU of 3 y.o. & over months ago). Henan & Zhejiang Provincial Health Commissions have both published their plans for booster shots in their respective provinces – vaccinate all those who had completed their 2nd shots before 3/1 by end of Sept., before 4/1 by end of Oct., before 5/1 by end of Nov. This works out to be between 6 – 7 mo. after the 2nd shot. I am sure other provinces will follow quickly. China’s vaccination drive really kicked off from the 2nd half of May, not sure all provinces will be able to provide booster shots to all those who had completed their 2nd shots before 6/1 by end of Dec.

    The BioNTech vaccine is still not yet officially approved, although apparently it has already been approved by China’s experts panel & is now going through the administrative procedures. Fosun Pharma at Shanghai was an early investor into BioNTech’s mRNA vaccinate development (before Pfizer), has distribution rights for Greater China (Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong & Macau), has a standing order for 100M doses w/ priority access from BioNTech’s German production facility, & has established a joint venture w/ BioNTech to establish manufacturing of its mRNA vaccine w/ 1B doses annual capacity. It would be nice to have a BioNTech as a booster, although apparently a 3rd dose of inactivated whole varion vaccine will boost antibody titre by 7 – 10X.

    As of mid-Sept., China has exported 1.2B doses of vaccines, including > 30M doses donated. China plans to export 2B doses by of the year, including another 100M doses donated to developing nations.

  62. 62.

    Steeplejack

    @Soprano2:

    Your math is wrong. E.g., 1 million deaths out of a population of 333.4 million is 0.3%, not 0.03%. Three million would be about 1%, and 1 million is about a third of that.

  63. 63.

    Percysowner

    @sab: ​
    We have decided that my granddaughter may no longer play with unmasked kids. It’s going to be hard to explain it to her, but there is no other choice.

    @Nicole: ​ Thanks, I’ll gladly High Five you when I can. I’m taking things day by day. I’ve decided to think it’s not that big a deal i.e. I won’t die if I fix it now, until a doctor tells me something else.

  64. 64.

    Soprano2

    @Steeplejack: I’m not surprised, math was my worst subject. It’s still true, though, that Covid is not as lethal as the 1918 flu. I want people to report on it honestly.

  65. 65.

    Fair Economist

    @Soprano2: The main reason the 1918 pandemic was much more deadly is not vaccine availability, but the fact that the medical resources were so much more limited. Essentially no oxygen supplementation; no antibiotics; no steroids; no dialysis; no ventilators, etc. We would have had several times the current mortality had we only had 1918-era medical technology.

    COVID is far more dangerous than any previous respiratory virus epidemic because it kills *directly* by destroying the lungs and other tissues. Even the 1918 flu rarely did that – most patients still died of secondary bacterial infections, just like other flus.

  66. 66.

    scav

    1918 was also unusual in that it had three peaks of danger, the old, the very young and then another at 20 to 40 year olds.  High mortality even when healthy, so less room to play the “Well they had co-morbidities” card.

  69. 69.

    Ruckus

    @Nicole:

    That seems to be a bit of a high rating…

    I was under the impression that many republicans (or in this case – all of them) have the maturity of an unwashed t-shirt.

  71. 71.

    Uncle Cosmo

    By Mon Tues this week we’ll likely exceed the number of Americans who died in the 1918-21 flu pandemic (675,000) –

    In a population over 3 times as large (331M vs 106M). (You could look it up.) Hotez is one of the good guys, but boyhowdy do I loathe innumerate comparisons that seem to get published primarily for shock value.

  72. 72.

    dopey-o

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Thing is, the word “nigger” shouldn’t have been said, no matter how contentious things got. It’s throwing a match in dry brown grass.

    my daughter was sent to the ER after an inter-racial road rage incident. The woman who beat her told the court that my daughter had used the n-word.

    My daughter grew up in a progressive New Deal Catholic family and attended integrated schools, and regularly brought black friends to our house.

    But “he said / she said.” Video, or it didn’t happen.

  73. 73.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    Tom Nichols via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    Breitbart is running a piece that says – I am not kidding – that the left is mocking the unvaxed so they’ll dig in and never get vaxed and die and shift political power to the left.

    DAMMIT, THEY’RE ON TO US!

    We need a new cunning plan!

  74. 74.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Soprano2: Way late response, but what the hell.

    Well, I was riffing off the wingnut “it’s no worse than the flu” by making a sarcastic bullshit argument for that.

    Of course, since what they’ve argued is that Covid is no worse that the flu is now, rather than back in 1918-21, my ‘argument’ obviously doesn’t support that claim at all, and if someone made it in seriousness, it would be fun to tear that bullshit apart.

    Anyhow, not that it matters, but your math is wrong: 675K/333.4M = .002, IOW 675K is 0.2% of 333.4M.  Still way less than the influenza epidemic, but not orders of magnitude less.

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