Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

The words do not have to be perfect.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

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

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Let there be snark.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

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

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

He really is that stupid.

We’re not going back!

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday / Friday, Nov. 18-19

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday / Friday, Nov. 18-19

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28Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY:

    The Monroe County website says 471 new cases yesterday; NYSDOH says 553 new cases.
    I wish I knew what percentage of these are serious and requiring hospitalization.

  2. 2.

    Cameron

    Well, I got the message from Gov. DeSantis: “Don’t even think about eating in a restaurant for the rest of your life. Oh yeah – that also applies to theaters, supermarkets, big box stores….is there anything I’ve left out?”

  3. 3.

    Percysowner

    I watch my granddaughter 4 days a week. So, my son-in-law had a mild cold over the weekend and by Wednesday it had traveled to my granddaughter. No biggie, but she can’t go back to preschool until she has a negative COVID test. Fortunately we called the local library and they had them, 1 per family member. My kids decide to wait to give it to her until both are home. They forget to do it Wednesday,, but no big deal, because her preschool is only Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They break out the test and lo and behold, it’s for kids 4 and up. She turns 4 in February. They managed to get a 7:00 am appointment at a facility with a quick turnaround time, so we are hoping that we get the test back in time to just take her to school.

    It is a strange time for kids. When this is all over my GD is probably going to feel naked without a mask.

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reports 6,355 new Covid-19 cases today in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 2,575,888 cases. It also reports 55 deaths as of midnight, for an adjusted cumulative total of 29,892 deaths – 1.16% of the cumulative reported total, 1.19% of resolved cases.

    Based on cases reported yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide Rt is at 1.02.

    436 confirmed cases are in ICU, 173 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 5,031 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 2,477,314 patients recovered – 96.2% of the cumulative reported total.

    10 new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 5,877 clusters. 246 clusters are currently active; 5,631 clusters are now inactive.

    6,324 new cases today are local infections. 31 new cases today are imported.

    The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 123,210 doses of vaccine on 18th November: 7,005 first doses, 20,351 second doses, and 95,854 booster doses. As of midnight, the cumulative total is 51,723,584 doses administered: 25,646,668 first doses, 24,939,160 second doses, and 1,324,216 booster doses. 78.6% of the population have received their first dose, while 76.4% are now fully vaccinated.

  5. 5.

    lowtechcyclist

    Opposition within the GOP to #Covid vaccine mandates is metastasizing to other vaccine requirements for school children

    Just in case anyone was wondering whether the GOP has totally lost its collective mind…

  8. 8.

    Robert Sneddon

    I got a booster (Moderna half-dose) about three weeks ago here in Scotland. My online record of vaccinations which provides a vaccination passport for international travel and the like hasn’t yet been updated with this booster shot. I was wondering why, now its omission seems to have been deliberate according to the Reuters report in the main post. I’ll check again in a few days time to see if it gets updated.

  9. 9.

    debbie

    Heckuva job, parents.

    COVID-19 cases reported by Ohio schools rose for the third straight week on Thursday, following a statewide increasing trend as the Delta variant wave keeps case rates high.

    K-12 schools reported 6,781 new coronavirus cases among students and staff members to the Ohio Department of Health as of Sunday, bringing the school-year total to 86,103.

    ?.  ?.  ?

  10. 10.

    p.a.

    @lowtechcyclist: goes back to the O-era meme: if Obama, Michelle, (any Dem really), says “whatever you do, don’t eat anthrax and tire rims”, that’s what would be on Rethug tables for breakfast the next day.

  11. 11.

    New Deal democrat

    Nationwide average cases jumped to nearly 95,000 today, but most of that jump is probably because Veterans Day went out of the weekly average. Deaths increased slightly as well. All regions showed an increase, but without the Veterans Day issue the West was probably flat. In contrast, one year ago cases had more than doubled in the previous 2 weeks to 170,000.

    Some interesting international numbers. The UK, after a quick 2 week decline of 40% from Delta’s original peak, has had numbers see-sawing generally between that peak and trough for the past 3 months, and is currently averaging 60 cases/100,000. With a few exceptions the EU, by contrast, largely escaped Delta’s summer wave, but in the past 7 weeks has seen it really take hold, jumping from 10 to 45 cases/100,000. *If* present trends continue, the EU could overtake the UK in 10 to 14 days.

    Meanwhile Canada, immediately adjacent to some of the currently worst hit US States, has only had a slight increase from 6 to 7 cases/100,000 in the past 2 weeks. This is particularly noteworthy since 76% of Canadians are fully vaccinated, only a little above New England’s 70%+, and less than 10% higher than Germany, currently having a huge outbreak. Also, needless to say Canada’s weather is not particularly balmy compared with the northern tier of US States.

    Among the US States in the lower Mississippi valley and Deep South where Delta first hit, MO and AR have increasing trends, while FL, LA, MS, and AL look flat except for the Veterans Day comparison. And Fl is one of, if not the lowest, US States for current infections. The States most hard hit last November – ND, SD, and NE – also still look flat, in contrast to the sharp increases in cases in the States around them.

    All of which raises the issues (again) of seroprevalence and the effects of large previous outbreaks (e.g., last year in the Dakotas), particularly of Delta.

    Most notably, not every expert thinks the US’s winter wave is going to be like the current wave that has engulfed the EU. Here is Dr. Robert Gottlieb on CNBC yesterday:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/SquawkCNBC/status/1461330005410131971

    Like everyone else, he acknowledges that a winter wave has begun. But he does not think it will be as bad as last winter’s wave. He thinks it may even look more like a broad plateau than a spike. After that he thinks there will be a big decline in prevalence similar to that which we have already seen for the Deep South, with a major increase in resistance induced by the infections, after the next several months.

    That again is really the big question: clearly vaccines work, but how much resistance is there in the general population due to infections?

  12. 12.

    mrmoshpotato

    Tell me you’ve lived more than half your life within a pandemic without telling me…

    The mustard!  That kiddo wants to make a real mess!

  15. 15.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Cameron: It’s a strategy aimed at driving everyone other than right-wingers out of public life by making every public place literally diseased,  convincing their own followers not to worry about it, and behaving in as obnoxious and frightening a manner a possible to everyone else. Among other things It’s an effective discouragement to “corporeal politics” since only wingnuts will be willing to do it (and anyone else can also be denounced as a COVID hypocrite, like the George Floyd protestors). Actually quite clever and I don’t see any way to fight it that doesn’t involve just being willing to catch the virus.

  17. 17.

    Ken

    That map of COVID outbreaks in animals has every appearance of “where have we tested for this”, a la this XKCD.  If that’s the case, it’s likely world-wide.

    Though it would be a kicker if it’s confined to the Boreoeutheria, and the Xenarthra and Afrotheria are immune.

  19. 19.

    Nelle

    I’m curious as to the demographics of the deaths and long covid in the United States.  Has anyone seen any information on this?  And also the effects of the deaths of so many of the elderly on the Social Security and Medicare budgets.  Remember the politician who asked the elderly to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the economy?  Did he get what he wanted?

    I expect that the majority of the deaths are among the elderly, but do we know how many under-18 children have lost a parent?  Or both parents?  (That would impact the Social Security Survivor’s benefits.)

  20. 20.

    sab

    @Cameron: That is how I am feeling in Ohio these days. We ventured out a bit this year, but masking has pretty much stopped, and hospital admissions for Covid are up 23%. If the kids want to kill themselves and each other, fine, but I am going to hunker down at home with my retirement savings.

  21. 21.

    Nicole

    Me, to my husband, after reading the linked article above: Hey, honey, so anti-vaxxers are now wanting to call themselves “Purebloods.”

    Husband: Weren’t Purebloods also the Death Eaters?

    Me: They were!

    Husband: Math checks out.

  22. 22.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    Greece: Anne Laurie already got most of what I would have mentioned, in that NYT article. The daily numbers are still grim reading. New cases are still high, if off the peak, deaths are still high, if off the peak, and hospitalizations are still high, with 556 people intubated in ICUs.

    The worrying news to me was a report I saw in today’s Kathimerini (source) is that something like forty percent of the new infections in Greece are breakthrough cases, reported in people who’d completed their vaccination course. That’s kind of scary.

    Makes me glad I got my booster shot, though now I’m starting to worry about how effective the J&J shot will be as a booster to the Pfizer.

  23. 23.

    VOR

    @lowtechcyclist: If you want to know where the Republicans are going, check out the Texas Republican Party Platform. From the 2020 edition:

    58. Mask Mandates: Government should not be able to force businesses to require face coverings.

    Just getting warmed up. Now they come out against responding to public health emergencies. Note this is NOT specific to COVID.

    89. Lockdowns Never Again: The Republican Party of Texas calls upon our elected officials to never again implement mass lockdowns on the people, our businesses, and churches in the name of communicable disease response; nor should Texas officials ever again presume they know better how to treat or prioritize the medical treatment of Texans and to make command and control edicts that dictate to healthcare providers how to do their job. We oppose funding or implementation of any form of contact tracing.

    Clause 250 includes:

    g. We reject any government-mandated treatment, vaccination, or use of controlled substances of any kind.
    h. We call for an addition to the Texas Bill of Rights that explicitly recognizes the natural right to refuse vaccination or medical treatment and the right for such choices to not be a condition of provision of government services.

    And more:

    262. Contact Tracing: We strongly oppose contact tracing, tracking, or surveillance, and we also strongly oppose any action similar to the federal TRACE Act. Contact tracing, tracking, or surveillance are not core functions of public health. No government entity, nor private entity, nor combination thereof, nor the Texas National Guard, shall ever be employed to violate the natural rights of Texans.
    263. Right to Try: We urge the Texas State Legislature and Governor to enact laws that allow patients and their doctors to have access to experimental medications and procedures that can potentially be lifesaving or improve quality of life.

    And more:

    284. Pandemic Response: We call upon Texas elected officials to never again implement mass lockdowns on the people of Texas in the name of communicable disease response. Texas officials shall never again dare to presume that they know best how to medically treat Texans or prioritize the medical treatment of Texans. Elected officials must never make command and control edicts that dictate to healthcare providers how to do their job.

  24. 24.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 11/18 China reported 8 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Dalian in Liaoning Province reported 7 new domestic confirmed cases (3 mild & 4 moderate), 2 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine & 5 from mass screening (a family cluster). There currently are 287 active domestic confirmed & 38 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 2 communities are currently at High Risk. 12 residential compounds, 17 residential buildings & 16 villages are currently at Medium Risk.

    At Ejina Banner in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region there currently are 5 active domestic confirmed cases remaining.

    At Xi’an in Shaanxi Province 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 5 active domestic confirmed cases remaining.

    At Yinchuan in Ningxia “Autonomous” Region 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 15 active domestic confirmed cases remaining.

    At Gansu Province 10 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 48 active domestic confirmed (27 at Lanzhou, 18 at Tianshui, 2 at Zhangye & 1 at Jiayuguan) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic  (at Lanzhou) cases remaining in the province.

    At Hebei Province 12 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 82 active confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • At Shijiazhuang 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 35 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining. The High Risk village & Medium Risk village have been re-designated to Low Risk.
    • At Xinji 8 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 47 active domestic confirmed cases remaining. 1 zone remains at High Risk.

    At Changsha in Hunan Province there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case remaining.

    At Zunyi in Guizhou Province there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases (both moderate) remaining in the city.

    Beijing Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 residential compound remains at Medium Risk.

    At Rizhao in Shandong Province there currently are 11 active domestic confirmed & 6 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    At Sichuan Province there currently are 27 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.

    • At Chengdu there currently are 26 active domestic confirmed remaining. 1 residential compound is currently at High Risk. 1 Medium Risk residential compound has been re-designated to Low Risk. 7 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Zigong there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case remaining.

    Chongqing Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed & 5 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining. All areas in the city are currently at Low Risk.

    At Changzhou in Jiangsu Province there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases remaining. 

    At Xining in Qinghai Province there currently are 10 active domestic confirmed case remaining.

    Heilongjiang Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 188 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.

    • Heihe did not report any new domestic positive cases. 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 184 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, all at Aihui District. 2 residential compounds & 1 village remain at High Risk. 2 residential compounds & 1 residential building remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Harbin there currently are 4 active domestic confirmed cases remaining in the city. The  Medium Risk residential compound has been we-designated to Low Risk.

    At Shangrao in Jiangxi Province 2 domestic confirmed case recovered & 3 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed & 25 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 Medium Risk residential compound has been re-designated to Low Risk. 1 township & 1 residential compound remain at Medium Risk.

    At Zhejiang Province 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case (at Hangzhou) remaining.

    Henan Province 1 new domestic confirmed cases (previously asymptomatic). There currently are 72 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.

    • Zhengzhou reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic). There currently are 54 active domestic confirmed cases (53 from the current outbreak & 1 from the previous outbreak in Aug. who were transferred from Shangqiu) remaining in the city. 3 communities, 1 residential compound & 3 villages are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Zhoukou did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 18 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 1 community is currently at Medium Risk.

    Dehong Prefecture in Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case (at Ruili, via screening of persons under centralized quarantine). 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 1 some asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 28 active domestic confirmed & 30 active domestic asymptomatic cases at the prefecture. 1 zone & 2 villages at Ruili, plus a village at Yingjiang County are currently at Medium Risk.

    Imported Cases

    On 11/18, China reported 16 new imported confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic), 25 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 7 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Congo-Brazzaville (via Paris CdG), Spain, Georgia (via Amsterdam Schiphol), Romania (via Amsterdam Schiphol), the Chile (via Paris CdG) & the US, & a Japanese national coming from Japan
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from the Sudan (via Istanbul); 5 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Iraq (1 via Tehran) & 1 each from Côte d’Ivoire (via Istanbul), Laos & Turkey
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from the US
    • Dongguan in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national coming from Singapore, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Weihai in Shandong Province – 1 confirmed & 1 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from South Korea
    • Qingdao in Shandong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Ukrainian crew member off a cargo ship w/ last port of call in Singapore
    • Shenyang in Liaoning Province – 1 confirmed & 5 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Guangxi “Autonomous” Region (location not specified) – 1 confirmed & 1 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Yunnan Province (location not specified) – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Myanmar; 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Laos; all via land border crossings
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from Egypt; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Singapore
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 each coming from Morocco & Romani
    • Tianjin Municipality – 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese national each returning from the Philippines 
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Côte d’Ivoire (via Brussels)
    • Changsha in Hunan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
    • Taizhou in Jiangsu Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Mexico (via Amsterdam Schiphol); the case had arrived at Guangzhou in Guangdong on 10/30, passed through the 14 days of centralized quarantine & tested negative multiple times, upon release from quarantine on 11/14 the case flew back to Taizhou &m re-entered centralized quarantine, testing positive on 11/17

    Overall in China, 51 confirmed cases recovered (20 imported), 18 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (17 imported) & 3 were reclassified as confirmed cases (2 domestic), & 1,824 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,206 active confirmed cases in the country (386 imported), 14 in serious condition (2 imported), 499 active asymptomatic cases (353 imported), 2 suspect cases (both imported). 38,069 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 11/18, 2,416.179M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 6.395M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 11/19, Hong Kong reported 7 new positive cases, all imported.

  27. 27.

    Bill Arnold

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Actually quite clever and I don’t see any way to fight it that doesn’t involve just being willing to catch the virus.

    It’s not clever for a few reasons, notably that in actual fact, it will damage local businesses, particularly with an organized boycott evil businesses movement among those actually not interesting in plague-spreading.
    And it can be fought by loudly calling it what it is, which is deliberately spreading disease, and morbidity and death. Deliberate homicide, to drive people concerned about public health out of public life.
    And also, whenever such people starts expressing concern about orders of magnitude lower risk concerns, they should be told to fuck off, and that they are loathsome human-killers.
    Because they are.

  28. 28.

    J R in WV

    @VOR:

    Well, I hated TX already, so this is just icing on that cake.

    The Rs are against public health measures in use for hundreds of years. Wait until Ebola shows up, or any Marburg-style virus. I bet they change their minds really fast then! If I recall correctly Ebola has a nearly 50% fatality rate involving bleeding from every oriface, your eyes, etc.

    Won’t ever be in TX again.

    I was once shackled in chains at a Border Patrol outpost east of El Paso. They conceded I wasn’t guilty of anything, but rules are rules, right? Last time I was across TX ever!!

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