Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

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

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Books are my comfort food!

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

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

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

It’s a doggy dog world.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday / Friday, Dec. 23-24

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday / Friday, Dec. 23-24

by | 46 Comments

This post is in: ,


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Britain:

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Deja vu!

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Dr. Smith was one of my first reliable pandemic sources, twenty months ago. I think we can stop pretending that the vaccine-resistant ‘just don’t have access to better information’…

Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reports 3,528 new Covid-19 cases today in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 2,735,241 cases. It also reports 44 deaths as of midnight, for an adjusted cumulative total of 31,265 deaths – 1.14% of the cumulative reported total, 1.16% of resolved cases.

    Based on cases reported yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide Rt is at 0.90.

    261 confirmed cases are in ICU, 117 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 4,489 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 2,657,074 patients recovered – 97.1% of the cumulative reported total.

    Four new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 6,098 clusters. 229 clusters are currently active; 5,869 clusters are now inactive.

    3,425 new cases today are local infections. 103 new cases today are imported.

    The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 176,463 doses of vaccine on 22nd December: 3,504 first doses, 5,275 second doses, and 167,684 booster doses. As of midnight, the cumulative total is 56,576,586 doses administered: 25,971,365 first doses, 25,574,462 second doses, and 5,226,764 booster doses. 79.5% of the population have received their first dose, 78.3% their second dose, and 16.0% their booster dose.

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Anne Laurie, love you for doing these Covid roundups every day, but please tell us you’re going to take the next couple of days off (even though the virus respects no holidays).

  4. 4.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY:

    There were 521 new laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 on 12/23.
    There were 159 new positive home tests reported on 12/23. Ugh.

  5. 5.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 12/23 China reported 52 new domestic confirmed (none previously asymptomatic) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    At Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region 35 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 292 active domestic confirmed cases in the region. 

    • At Hulun Buir 34 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 292 active domestic confirmed cases (285 at Manzhouli & 7 at New Barag Right Banner) remaining. 7 sub-districts are currently at High Risk. 2 townships & 2 sub-districts are currently at Medium Risk.
    • At Tongliao the last domestic confirmed case recovered.

    At Heilongjiang Province 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 15 active domestic confirmed (all at Harbin)& 5 active domestic asymptomatic cases (4 at Qiqihar & 1 at Heihe) remaining.

    Shaanxi Province reported 52 new domestic confirmed cases (43 mild & 3 moderate). There are currently 264 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.

    • Xi’an reported 49 new domestic confirmed cases (42 mild & 7 moderate).  26 are traced close contacts already under home or centralized quarantine, 2 at fever clinic & 21 from mass screening. There currently are 255 active confirmed cases in the city. 1 university dormitory is currently at High Risk. 30 sites have been elevated to Medium Risk. 70 sites are currently Medium Risk.
    • Yan’an reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both moderate), 1 a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine & 1 from mass screening. There currently are 5 active domestic confirmed cases in the city.
    • Xianyang reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (mild), found via screening of persons already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 4 active domestic confirmed case in the city.

    Yuncheng in Shanxi Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, a truck driver who returned from Xi’an in Shaanxi on 12/19 (having tested negative before leaving), found via screening of all persons coming from Xi’an.

    At Shanghai Municipality 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining. 1 residential compound is currently at Medium Risk. 

    At Jiangsu Province there currently are 1 active domestic confirmed (at Nanjing) & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases (both at Wuxi) remaining.

    Zhejiang Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case. There currently are 489 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.

    • At Ningbo there currently are 73 active domestic confirmed cases remaining. 2 residential compounds & an office building remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Hangzhou there currently are 31 active domestic confirmed cases in the city.
    • Shaoxing reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 385 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 4 communities & 1 supermarket are currently at High Risk. 2 sub-districts, 12 villages, 2 residential buildings & 5 corporate campuses remain at Medium Risk.

    Tianjin Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active confirmed case in the city, part of the transmission chain from Shaoxing in Zhenjiang.

    Suzhou in Anhui Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, part of the transmission chain from Zhejiang. 1 village is currently at Medium Risk.

    Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, at Fangcheng. Apparently the cluster there is connected to smugglers operating across the border w/ Vietnam. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed case (all at Fangcheng) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic case (at Chongzuo) in the province. 2 villages at Fangcheng are currently at Medium Risk.

    Guangdong Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case. There currently are 28 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Dongguan reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, a student at an elementary boarding school under lock down traced close contact already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 25 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 4 residential compounds, 1 residential building unit & 5 residential buildings are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Guangzhou did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    At Chengdu in Sichuan Province there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, a quarantine hotel worker.

    Xiamen in Fujian Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case remaining.

    At Dalian in Liaoning Province 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed cases remaining.

    At Rizhao in Shandong Province there currently are 4 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining.

    At Chongqing Municipality there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining.

    Henan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 28 active domestic confirmed (26 at Zhengzhou & 2 at Zhoukou) & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases (both at Zhoukou).

    Dehong Prefecture in Yunnan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 35 active domestic confirmed & 17 active domestic asymptomatic cases at the prefecture.

    Imported Cases

    On 12/23, China reported 32 new imported confirmed cases (3 previously asymptomatic), 25 imported asymptomatic cases, 6 imported suspect cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 8 confirmed cases, 4 Chinese nationals returning from the US & 1 each from Russia, the UK (via Zürich) & Tanzania (via Amsterdam Schiphol), & a Mainland Chinese resident returning from Hong Kong; 6 suspect cases, no information released
    • Changsha in Hunan Province – 5 confirmed & 5 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 3 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Serbia (via Tehran), & a foreign national coming from Ethiopia; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Kazakhstan (via Istanbul)
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from the US; 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 each coming from Romania & the US; all off flights that landed at Guangzhou 
    • Qingyuan in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 each coming from Mali & Turkey; both off flights that landed at Guangzhou 
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Malaysian national coming from Malaysia
    • Guangxi “Autonomous” Region (location not specified) – 3 confirmed & 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Yunnan Province (location not specified) – 3 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Laos & 1 from Vietnam; 3 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning fro Myanmar & 1 from Laos; all via land border crossings
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 3 confirmed cases (all previously asymptomatic), all Chinese nationals returning from Cambodia; 3 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Cambodia & 1 from Egypt
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 2 confirmed cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Serbia (via Brussels), off a flight diverted from Beijing
    • Lanzhou in Gansu Province – 2 confirmed cases, both Chinese nationals returning from Russia
    • Hohhot in Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region – 1 confirmed case, off a flight diverted from Beijing
    • Shenyang in Liaoning Province – 1 confirmed & 2 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Tianjin Municipality – 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from the Philippines, the South Sudan (via Dubai) & the US

    Overall in China, 59 confirmed cases recovered (15 imported), 22 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (19 imported) & 3 were reclassified as confirmed cases (all imported), & 3,069 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,851 active confirmed cases in the country (668 imported), 9 in serious condition (3 imported), 497 active asymptomatic cases (461 imported), 8 suspect cases (all imported). 56,557 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 12/23, 2,732.749M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 13.29M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 12/24, Hong Kong reported 5 new positive cases, 4 imported (1 each from Ireland, Ghana, Nigeria & Australia) & 1 domestic case who is a custodian at the airport, working in a holding area for visitors who have tested positive.

  7. 7.

    debbie

    New cases in Ohio totaled 15,989 yesterday.

    I haven’t found anything specific, but has there been any indication that breakthrough cases would be less than dire for people with compromised health issues?

  8. 8.

    Zzyzx

    I just got my boost and flu shot today. It was scheduled in the more innocent time of 3 weeks ago when I figured that I could go to Madison Square Garden to see Phish and it would be kind of dumb but everyone would be vaccinated.

    Now the shows have been moved to April and I’m going to a much smaller local event but also expecting that to be axed in the next day or two too.

    I’m glad they made the call to move them because I would have gone but it would have been a bad idea but I’m getting sick of these variants already. I don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving that much and I’m Jewish so I don’t do the Christmas thing, but New Year’s Eve is my one big gather with friends holiday and now it’s two straight years that Corona has made it impossible.

  9. 9.

    Nelle

    Nothing like first hand experience to up the rage-meter. Last week, I was comfortably walking10 to 13,000 steps a day but was noticing some sciatica beginnings. Walking slowly helps. Yesterday, when I got out of bed, I couldn’t put weight on my right leg…just scream worthy pain. Turns out arthritis is so bad that it is bone on bone and the knee likely needs replacement. Spent the afternoon getting crash and ultrasound to rule out blood clots and cysts.

    So, while I have pain from bum to foot, and I’m using a walker to gingerly move around the house, this will be an elective surgery. Hospitals are full; staff is exhausted. My older sister has been waiting for a knee replacement since July. Just clear the unvaccinated out to a field tent somewhere far from me.

    On a better note, we’ve had four neighbors bring Christmas treats. One said it was, in part, a thank you for getting out the votes. Meanwhile, I have two tubs of cookie dough as my granddaughter and I were going to bake them yesterday. Instead, this 2 year old gently kissed my knee, brought me pillows and tried to cover me with a soft blanket.

  15. 15.

    HinTN

    This was a sobering read.

    • I’ve been going with surgical masks but maybe using them too long. Moving to the 95 asap.
    • We briefly considered going to NYC after the New Year but MrsH nixed that two weeks ago when Omicron really started to be in the news. She’s smarter than me.
    • Really want to go see an old friend in February but probably won’t, now.

    I remember lockdown and survived it ok. May be headed that way again.

    Good advice to do even one thing to reduce your risk.

    Merry Christmas, jackals. Be safe!!!

  17. 17.

    HinTN

    @Nelle:

    Just clear the unvaccinated out to a field tent somewhere far from me.

    It really is time. They’re making personal choices against the public good. There need to be personal consequences for their choices.

  18. 18.

    Rachel Bakes

    Thank you AL for the 2 plus years of nearly daily collations of real data. Sadly, I feel my day is “off” without my morning dose. But you deserve some time without.

    On a related note-boosted yesterday and it smarts this morning!

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    @Nelle:  Not a very merry Christmas for you.  So sorry on several different levels.

    Having to wait months and months because of selfish people is no doubt rage-inducing.  Sweet grandchild no doubt helps.

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    tell americans the planes are getting sick. none of us know how planes work, you can say whatever

    LOL

  22. 22.

    Brachiator

    Florida governor DeSantis continues to play with the lives of the people in his state. Is the press there doing anything to hold him to account?

    The official Florida government web site prominently mentions one pandemic therapy that has been approved for a narrow category of the population.

    Today, Governor Ron DeSantis was joined by Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo to announce a new long-acting COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapy from AstraZeneca will be available for moderately to severely immunocompromised individuals, such as cancer patients and transplant recipients, at numerous health care provider locations in Florida, upon allocation from the federal government.

    This recommendation is based on this:

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized the use of AstraZeneca’s antibody cocktail to prevent COVID-19 infections in individuals with weak immune systems or a history of severe side effects from coronavirus vaccines

    But the more pandemic general advice is insane. Exercise and vitamins.

    From staying active to learning new recipes and boosting your nutritional intake, the Florida Department of Health works through Healthier You to educate the public on ways to improve habits and overall health. This is a resource that encourages Floridians of all ages to get active, go outside, improve nutrition, including vitamin D intake, or learn about COVID-19.

    Florida residents can follow a link to a page that does mention the value of vaccines, but which omits anything related to masks or social distancing.

  23. 23.

    pajaro

    Anne,
    Thank you so much for your work. For the last few months, I’ve started each day here. The information I’ve gotten here has really helped give me at least some idea of the relative risks in my interactions with the rest of the world. It’s easy for me to feel helpless in the face of the virus, but knowledge really is power, and this is the place I power up in the morning.

  24. 24.

    Anne Laurie

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’m superstitious — after Thanksgiving’s Omicron news, I don’t dare announce  another break!

    If it’s any consolation, there should be much less actual breaking news… I’m hoping to maybe catch up on some of the longer, less volatile stories I’ve got stockpiled.

  25. 25.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Anne Laurie:

    I’m superstitious — after Thanksgiving’s Omicron news, I don’t dare announce another break! 

    Hehe, Merry Christmas, and thanks again for compiling these daily news roundups for us!

  26. 26.

    Cermet

    It is possible that after Omicron, the plague will rapidly decrease and unless a new variant comes along, drop to low levels like the flu – maybe.

    Hope Merck’s pill is outlawed (France did the right thing) – it is just asking to create a new variant that is worse. Its method of defeating the virus is exactly how the virus mutates into worse illnesses! Counting on random (and hence, mostly bad) mutations will defeat the infection is fine till one hits an extremely good (for the virus) mutation. Then it gets worse for all of us!

    Again, the Defense act needs to be used for the Pfizer pill which is utterly safe relative to mutations.

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    In Cape Girardeau County, the coroner hasn’t pronounced a single person dead of COVID-19 in 2021.

    Wavis Jordan, a Republican who was elected last year to serve as coroner of the 80,000-person county, says his office “doesn’t do COVID deaths.” https://t.co/bepdIjnmQq

    — maryb2004 (@maryb2004) December 23, 2021

    Every election matters.

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  29. 29.

    tom

    Do be careful out there. I am vaxxed and boosted, but still I have a breakthrough infection. I’m pretty sure it’s from when I went out with a group of vaxxed/boosted friends to a local restaurant. Bad move – probably caught it from some other restaurant patron.

    But vaccines work. My symptoms are mild, and it’s more of a damn nuisance than serious.

  30. 30.

    phdesmond

    i was moved to write a short poem because of my daily reading of Anne Laurie’s Covid column.  submitted it to a news-of-the-week poetry contest.  will post here if it wins or places.

    peter

  32. 32.

    La Nonna

    1. We are sick and tired of the unvaccinated assholes (they know who they are) preventing return to any kind of public life.  I’m in Sicily, with bated breath hoping my triple vaxxed US family can finally come to visit Nonna.  I am over 70, did my part (and lockdowns were fucking serious here), took all  precautions, 3 jabs, etc, etc.  Should they arrive, I am pushing immigration and reinvention in the EU.
  33. 33.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Cermet:

    Hope Merck’s pill is outlawed (France did the right thing) – it is just asking to create a new variant that is worse. Its method of defeating the virus is exactly how the virus mutates into worse illnesses!

    It’s gotten emergency authorization for the small population of high-risk people for whom other treatments such as Paxlovid are contraindicated. I think it’s unlikely that doctors will just let these people die over the risk of breeding new variants.

  34. 34.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — yet another increase in new COVID-19 case numbers reported, 7,076 with a caveat that the data flow from testing centres is still a bit hit-and-miss due to the numbers of tests. This number of cases is similar to the peak reached during September this year due mostly to the Delta variant but it’s still on an uptick.

    There were ten deaths reported, the hospitalisation and ICU bed occupancy numbers remain stable and the test positivity rate remains high at 14%.

    The booster program is continuing right up into the break for the holidays, with about two-thirds of all Scots aged 18+ now triple-vaccinated. The takeup of new first and second vaccinations remains low and if I read the bar graph data correctly most of those getting vaccinated are older children in the 16-17 age range who are now eligible for a second dose. The Young Immortals aged 18 through 39 seem to have stopped getting vaccinated at this point in time (ca 75% and holding).

  35. 35.

    Cameron

    @Brachiator: Healthy lifestyles – yeah, that’s the ticket! I think that’s a big deal with the new Surgeon General.  I’m surprised he’s not pimping Christian Science, too.

  36. 36.

    Sab

    @Nelle: Yep. We were talking to a friend on Monday who is waiting for a cardiac ablation for his irregular heartbeat. Was supposed to be Tuesday but was postponed as elective surgery. If his heart de ides to go whacko he’ll end up in the overrun ER.

  37. 37.

    Sab

    @WaterGirl: I thought the reason we were not supposed to want Obamacare was because with socialized medicine we wait months and months for elective surgeries.

    So it is Obama’s fault not the unvaxed. s//

  38. 38.

    Bill Arnold

    @Brachiator:

    Florida governor DeSantis continues to play with the lives of the people in his state.

    He continues to commit mass homicide*. He and his henchpeople are mostly killing Republicans of voting age, but … human mass sacrifices must be made.

    * “stochastic mass homicide” – is there a proper legal term for this?

  39. 39.

    Bill Arnold

    @HinTN:

    I’ve been going with surgical masks but maybe using them too long. Moving to the 95 asap.

    Yes (FFP2 in Europe(?)).
    Another thing worth doing is attempting to kill the term “mask mandate”, switching to something like “mask discipline”, similar to “gun discipline”. One should be disciplined about wearing a mask around others indoors during a respiratory virus pandemic – one should not spew possibly-deadly plumes at other people unless one wants to kill them. (Homicidal intent can then be determined by observing faces :)

    If there were 100 percent mask discipline indoors with N95 (or equivalent) or better masks, community spread in a jurisdiction would be knocked out in several weeks.

    See figure 6 in this recent study (pdf). A bit busy but worth it. Their model of aerosol dynamics is more detailed/complicated than usual.
    An upper bound on one-to-one exposure to infectioushuman respiratory particles (Nov 1, 2021)

  40. 40.

    Robert Sneddon

    UK national figures — 122,000 new cases of COVID-19 reported, just a little up from yesterday’s record total of just under 120,000. The week-on-week case number is up by 48%. Hospitalisation numbers are creeping up as are deaths but there’s no sudden spike. As yet the health services are not at risk of overload, however elective surgeries and treatments are being postponed in preparation for a possible upsurge in bed use for Omicron variant COVID-19 patients during and after the holiday period.

    The map showing number of cases in areas around the UK on the government website has had another “colour”, dark blue, added to represent 1600+ cases a week per 100,000 population. Previously the colour chart topped out at a dark maroon colour representing 800+ cases per week per 100,000 population. London is solidly coloured in dark blue now thanks to Omicron.

  41. 41.

    Fair Economist

    @Cermet: Merck’s pill is scary enough but in combination with monoclonal it’s terrifying. We might be getting a new Omicron every week, but without any guarantee it will be less dangerous than Delta.

  42. 42.

    Fair Economist

    @Bill Arnold: There’s not a legal term for DeSantis’ mass murder because nobody had to deal with this before. New boundaries in evil. “Stochastic mass murder” seems good – it is intentional; so not just manslaughter.

  44. 44.

    lowtechcyclist

    Just flew down yesterday to central Florida.

    I’m going to plague-land, plague-land, central Florida,
    I’m going to plague-land
    And my traveling companions are the unvaxxed and unmasked,
    I’m talking about plague rats
    But I’ve reason to believe we all will be received
    in plague-land

    Anyhow, there were 40 empty seats on Southwest’s BWI-Tampa flight yesterday mid-morning, which is usually full at any time of year. Last time I was on a plane with that many empty seats was in November 2001, when people were scared to fly in the wake of 9/11.

    I’m assuming that Omicron got a lot of people to cancel their Christmas plans.

  45. 45.

    Soprano2

    @Another Scott: Missouri counts will become less reliable since the state government is actively trying to get counties, cities and schools to stop any Covid measures. It wouldn’t surprise me if other counties quit counting Covid deaths too.

  46. 46.

    PaulB

    Late to this but wanted to say again just how much these daily updates are appreciated and how much valuable information I’ve gained by reading them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you’ve done.

    On a personal note, I had a bit of a scare last week with Covid-like symptoms last Friday. The good news? It’s not Covid. The bad news? It’s a hernia. Lucky me.

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