Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

White supremacy is terrorism.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

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

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

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

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Saturday / Sunday, Jan. 8-9

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Saturday / Sunday, Jan. 8-9

by | 64 Comments

This post is in: ,


=======


The call is coming from within the house country:

India, from the earliest days of the pandemic, has reported far fewer COVID-19 deaths than expected given the toll elsewhere—an apparent death “paradox” that some believed was real and others thought would prove illusory. Now, a prominent epidemiologist who contended the country really had been spared the worst of COVID-19 has led a rigorous new analysis of available mortality data and concluded he “got it wrong.” India has “substantially greater” COVID-19 deaths than official reports suggest, says Prabhat Jha of the University of Toronto— close to 3 million, which is more than six times higher than the government has acknowledged and the largest number of any country.

If true, the finding could prompt scrutiny of other countries with anomalously low death rates and push up the current worldwide pandemic total, estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) at some 5.45 million people. “I think it does call for a recalibration of the global numbers plus saying, ‘What the heck is going on in India?’” says Jha, whose team published the new India analysis today in Science. And India’s suffering could be far from over—the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has begun to surge there.

At the end of 2021, India reported about 480,000 deaths from SARS-CoV-2 infections. That’s 340 COVID-19 deaths per million—about one-seventh the per capita COVID-19 mortality tallied in the United States. Jha’s own early analysis supported the assertion that India had an unusually low mortality rate from COVID-19, but he and his colleagues have now probed more deeply. They tapped data from an independent polling agency that surveyed nearly 140,000 people across the vast country by telephone, asking whether anyone in each household had died from COVID-19. They also analyzed government reports from hospitals and similar facilities and looked at officially registered deaths. The result: a much higher estimate—between 2300 and 2500 deaths per million by September 2021, comparable to the rate in the United States, which has one-third as many people…

======

Caveat, extremely small sample sets, and (hopefully!) self-resolving, as it is in many adult Covid cases:

… The researchers found increases in diabetes in both data sets, though the relative rates were quite different: they found a 2.6-fold increase in new diabetes cases among children in one, and a smaller 30 percent increase in another.

“Even a 30 percent increase is a big increase in risk,” said Sharon Saydah, a researcher at the C.D.C. and lead author of the study. The differences likely result from different ways of classifying children as having Covid, she added.

Dr. Saydah said it was not yet clear whether post-Covid Type 2 diabetes would be a chronic condition in these children, or a transient condition that resolves. (Type 1 diabetes is not reversible.) Most of the children were only followed about four and a half months…

======

Reader Interactions

64Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY:

    The NYSDOH website: 2235 new cases on 1/8/22.

    I remember when I used to think 300 cases a day was horrific.

  2. 2.

    raven

    What is this “calling out sick”????? I have always called “IN” sick now they want to change it!

  4. 4.

    Suzanne

    I am worried that we ere exposed to Covid with all the police in our house, not to mention the naked crackhead. My throat is sore, but Mr. Suzanne and I were screaming last night.

  6. 6.

    NorthLeft12

    When they say “We need to learn to live with/manage COVID differently”, they mostly mean that we should give up on trying to stop transmissions.
    Spoiler alert; unimpeded transmissions will directly lead to much higher hospitalizations, deaths(from many causes), and further economic and social disruptions. Those same people don’t want to admit that.

  7. 7.

    raven

    @raven: I had nearly a year of unused sick leave that was added to my retirement fund, it mattered!!! What I learned working from home was that you call IN sick to keep other people from getting sick!

  8. 8.

    Ken

    Hospital – like so many – requires Covid+ nurses to come to work after five days, even if still positive. Sudden outbreak of Covid among patients who came to hospital without COVID.

    I am not a lawyer, but this sounds like a pretty easy case.

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Suzanne:

    What a nightmare for all of you. Horrified that that happened. Do whatever you need to do in terms of self-care and family pampering. Big hugs.

  13. 13.

    Suzanne

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Short recap: someone who lives in the apartment behind my house was either high or having a psychotic episode or both and he was naked (32 degrees, snow everywhere) and ran into my backyard screaming that he was being chased. He broke my back window in the door, jumped into the house (cutting himself bloody in the process), and was running around our house for a couple of minutes before my husband got him to run out the front door. The police came and arrested him and called an ambulance, which came about 20 minutes later. We had to deal with the police in and around the house for a while. Not to mention crazy naked bloody dude.

  14. 14.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Suzanne: I just went back and read about it. Holy crap. In addition to all the practical problems, which are big, that has to be traumatizing. I’ve had my house broken into when I was away, and that was bad enough.

    I hope your insurance company comes through for you today. They’ve undoubtedly dealt with similar situations. They can offer some guidance.

  15. 15.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Suzanne: You really had the night from hell.  Glad you got a little bit of sleep, anyway.  Good luck in dealing with the insurance people.

    It’s not the best time of year for it, but can you air out the house to flush out any residual Covid germs?

  16. 16.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 1/8 China reported 92 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic) & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Shaanxi Province reported 30 new domestic confirmed cases. 83 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 1,747 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.

    • Xi’an reported 30 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), all from persons already under home or centralized quarantine. 81 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 1,725 active confirmed cases in the city. 2 university campuses & 1 sub-district remain at High Risk. 44 sub-districts & 11 communities remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Yan’an 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 11 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 5 communities, 1 residential compound, 1 village & 1 company remain at Medium Risk.
    • In the rest of the province 1 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 11 active domestic confirmed cases in the rest of the province (10 at Xianyang & 1 at Weinan)

    At Yuncheng in Shanxi Province there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case, a person arrived from Xi’an in Shaanxi.

    Guangdong Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (mild), at Shenzhen, a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 21 active domestic confirmed (18 at Dongguan & 3 at Shenzhen) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Foshan) cases in the province. 1 residential compound & 1 residential building at Shenzhen have been elevated to Medium Risk.

    At Guangxi “Autonomous” Region 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 18 active domestic confirmed (all at Dongxing in Fangchenggang) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Chongzuo) cases in the province. 1 village at Fangchenggang remains at High Risk.

    Tianjin Municipality reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases, 2 from separate fever clinics & 1 a traced close contact. They are infected w/ the Omicron Variant, the 1st community outbreak of Omicron in China. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the 2 cases that separately visited fever clinics are from the same transmission chain, but authorities cannot yet trace the outbreak to recent imported Omicron cases to the city. Another 17 domestic cases are preliminarily positive. 3 clusters are centered around a kindergarten, a primary school & a middle school. The city is commencing mass screening of all residents.

    Shanghai Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 16 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 

    At Jiangsu Province there currently are 1 active domestic confirmed (at Nanjing) & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases (all at Wuxi) in the province.

    Zhejiang Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases, both reported by Beilun District in Ningbo, both traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine since 1/1 & 1/3, respectively. 26 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 275 active domestic confirmed cases (spread across Shaoxing, Ningbo, Hangzhou & Jinhua) in the province. A factory & a village at Jinhua are currently at Medium Risk. A factory & a village at Beilun District in Ningbo remain at Medium Risk.

    At Xiamen in Fujian Province there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case remaining, a quarantine hotel worker.

    Henan Province reported 56 new domestic confirmed cases (3 previously asymptomatic). 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 243 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.

    • Zhengzhou reported 11 new domestic confirmed cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 81 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 3 residential compounds aware currently at Medium Risk.
    • Zhoukou did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed cases in the city.
    • Luoyang reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both previously asymptomatic). There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, all at Xin’an County. 1 community & 1 village are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Xuchang reported 39 new domestic confirmed cases. There currently are 139 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, all at Yuzhou. 1 township, 1 sub-district, 4 villages, 3 residential compounds, 1 community, 1 residential building & a school are currently at High Risk. 2 townships & 3 sub-districts have been elevated to Medium Risk.
    • Anyang reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), 1 each at Wenfeng District, Hua County & Anyang County. The case at Hua County returned from Zhengzhou in Henan on 12/24 & 1st developed possible symptoms on 1/5, has permanent residence at Tangyin County. The case at Wenfeng District is an upper middle school class, the only connection to the case at Hua County is that both were at Tangyin County on 1/2, but no direct contact has been established. The case at Anyang District is a traced close contact of the case at Wenfeng District. As of noon on 1/9, 11 new domestic confirmed cases were identified at Tangyin County, which appears to be the epicenter of this outbreak, & will be included in tomorrow’s data dump. Unknown if it is connected to the other outbreaks at Zhengzhou & Xuchang. 1 residential compound at Wenfeng District & 1 residential building unit at Hua County have been elevated to Medium Risk, but more to certainly follow at Tangyin District.
    • Xinyang did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, both at Gushi County, both returned from Zhengzhou in Henan on 1/3.
    • Shangqiu reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic). There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, part of the transmission chain from Zhengzhou.

    At Yunnan Province there currently are 13 active domestic confirmed (8 at Dehong Prefecture & 5 at Kunming) & 7 active domestic asymptomatic (5 at Dehong Prefecture & 2 at Sipsongpanna Prefecture) cases in the province.

    At Tongren in Guizhou Province there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, a person who returned from Jinghong, Sipsongpanna Prefecture in Yunnan.

    Imported Cases

    On 1/8, China reported 73 new imported confirmed cases (12 previously asymptomatic), 46 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 30 confirmed cases, 13 Chinese nationals returning from the US, 4 from the UK (2 via Zürich & 1 each via Copenhagen & Helsinki), 3 from Argentina (via Frankfurt), 2 from Canada & 1 each from Nigeria (via Frankfurt ), Tanzania (via Amsterdam Schiphol), Germany, Papua New Guinea (via Australia) & the UAE, & an Australian, a Taiwanese & a US nationals coming from the US; 2 suspect cases, no information released
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 9 confirmed cases, 6 Chinese nationals returning from the Philippines, 2 from Serbia (via Amsterdam Schiphol) & a Hong Kong resident coming from Australia
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 6 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese national returning from France & 1 each from Australia, India (via Muscat), Chile (via Amsterdam Schiphol) & the US; 10 asymptomatic cases, 4 Chinese nationals returning from France, 2 from Qatar (1 via Muscat) & 1 each from Australia, Malaysia & the US, & a foreign national coming from Turkey
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed & 1 asymptomatic cases, a Chinese & a US nationals returning from the US
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case (1 previously asymptomatic), coming from Malaysia, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 8 confirmed case (2 previously asymptomatic), 6 Chinese nationals returning from Canada & 1 each returning from Algeria & Thailand; 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Canada & South Korea
    • Yibin in Sichuan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Russia; the case had arrived at Hohhot in Inner Mongolia on 12/18, passed through the 14 days of centralized quarantine & tested negative multiple times, upon release from quarantine on 1/2 the case flew to Chongqing & was transferred to Yibin & re-entered centralized quarantine, testing positive on 1/7
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 7 confirmed cases (5 previously asymptomatic), the 2 new cases coming from Chad; 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Australia
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 3 confirmed (all previously asymptomatic) & 1 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Guangxi “Autonomous” Region (location not specified) – 3 confirmed & 9 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Beijing Municipality – 1 confirmed case, an Italian national coming from Italy; 5 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Tianjin Municipality – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from the US; 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from France & Italy
    • Yunnan Province (location not specified) – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Myanmar; 8 asymptomatic cases, 5 Chinese nationals returning from Laos & 3 from Myanmar; all via land border crossings
    • Shenyang in Liaoning Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), no information released
    • Dalian in Liaoning Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Qingdao in Shandong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from South Korea
    • Changsha in Hunan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
    • Jiangsu Province (location not specified) – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released

    Overall in China, 140 confirmed cases recovered (29 imported), 17 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (all imported) & 15 were reclassified as confirmed cases (12 imported), & 2,214 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 3,392 active confirmed cases in the country (1,048 imported), 26 in serious condition (3 imported), 675 active asymptomatic cases (645 imported), 1 suspect case (imported). 41,016 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 1/8, 2,894.178M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 14.185M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 1/9, Hong Kong reported 33 new positive cases, 27 imported & 6 domestic (5 traced close contacts & a passenger cabin cleaner at the airport).

  17. 17.

    Suzanne

    @lowtechcyclist: Well, with the broken window, we’re getting more air than we want. My husband makeshifted a cover for it and we cleaned up some of the glass. But it is cold downstairs.

  23. 23.

    Suzanne

    @satby: I feel like we have been soooooo careful for over a year and all of that care and caution was just shattered. We got Spawn the Youngest away from him and my mom barricaded herself in her room upstairs with the kids, but this man ran close to her and that freaks me out more than anything.

  25. 25.

    Another Scott

    I’m sorry Suzanne. What a scary, horrible situation. I hope that it is resolved quickly.

    :-(

    On topic – Carl Bergstrom has a long thread about the 5 days recommendation. The science backs it up:

    32. In summary, the CDC recently switched to a 5-day isolation period with no de-isolation test provided that symptoms are resolving.

    Communication problems aside, our models suggest that this is a more sound scientific recommendation than many people thought.

    — Carl T. Bergstrom (@CT_Bergstrom) January 8, 2022

    The “symptoms resolving” bit is likely crucial…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  27. 27.

    Suzanne

    @raven: Dude was white, all but one of the officers was black. The officers responded quickly and behaved with the utmost professionalism.

  28. 28.

    Betty

    @Suzanne: It will take time for your whole family to feel safe. Be kind to each other in the meantime. Wishing you all steady progress in recovering your sense of security.

  29. 29.

    Jean

    @Suzanne: I am so sorry to hear about that horrible experience!  I hope your insurance pays for clean-up and all repairs a.s.a.p.  And I hope you can get some rest today.

  33. 33.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    You know, I had a sobering thought.

    I saw someone say something about how FREEDUMB emigrated to Europe, in part because it had such loud supporters in the US. Now, I don’t know how much horror it’s causing in other places, but I did want to make one statement.

    Putin must be laughing his ass off at Trump, for being such an easily playable dupe, who proved so valuable in disrupting western interests.

    (The sobering part of it is, for good or ill, *I* am part of a country that probably caused huge amounts of excess suffering and death. And people were willing to run a coup for the man responsible.)

    This:

    Children who have recovered from Covid-19 appear to be at significantly increased risk of developing Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, CDC researchers reported on Friday. https://t.co/tFTcb80MeR

    Is it me, or is Covid-19 doing everything it  can to make Republicans look stupid?

    They kept *swearing* Covid-19 was harmless to children, and, to nobody’s surprise, we find evidence that it *can* cause harm, and possibly long term harm. This is why everyone who wasn’t a fucking monster never advocating for letting it infect children.

    Yes, *EVERYONE* who advocated for child infections is a fucking monster. If (generic, as are all that follow)you don’t know what you’re talking about, and you flap your yap about something serious and dangerous, going directly against widely available expert advice, you *are* a fucking monster. A person must be more enamored of their own self image than the lives of others to do something like that.

    This rant of facts doesn’t change if the diabetes issue turns out to be a statistical blip. The fact is, WE DON’T KNOW what variants will do. WE DON’T KNOW if a lot of children have already been negatively affected, YES, by ORIGINAL Covid-19!!! It might be they have, but no one’s put the puzzle pieces together yet (I imagine this is especially difficult when the patients are children). And face it, no one says “let’s let millions of other people’s children be put to unknown risk” without being… well, you know.

  35. 35.

    bluegirlfromwyo

    @Suzanne: How horrible. You and family take the time you need to recover. Another hope for a speedy insurance resolution.

  36. 36.

    satby

    On another note, I always assumed the official numbers out of India were bullshit. Most of my friends there lost at least one family member, and they live in cities where the numbers were probably accurate. But in poor rural areas, and with a population the size of India? No way could the death toll be less than here in the U.S. And ours is undercounted too.

  37. 37.

    sab

    @Suzanne: My vaxxed amd boostered SIL caught covid about three weeks ago. She doesn’t know how because she and her husband have been very careful. Probably from her daughter’s family, who have also been very careful.

    The good news is that although she is in her seventies the symptoms were very mild. Fever, sore throat, runny nose. Like a bad cold. Lasted only a couple of days.

    You are all vaxxed except for the little one, aren’t you?

  38. 38.

    Ohio Mom

    @satby: Ironically, if ventilation is key for prevention, Suzanne’s household certainly had plenty of air flow.

    @Suzanne: I am just catching up with your story, I am so sorry. What an absolute horror and terror. Sounds like you, Mr. Suzanne and Mom Suzanne kept your wits and did exactly what needed to be done in those completely shocking and chaotic moments. Take a moment to appreciate that. You three did good.

    I hope the insurance company is kind to you and you and your family get all the help you need. When the dust settles a bit, maybe consider a few sessions of family therapy? I suspect this will reverberate for a time.

  40. 40.

    Suzanne

    @sab: Yes, all vaxxed, and the adults are boosted. Younger has had two shots, not yet eligible for booster. Youngest is unvaxxed.

  41. 41.

    Suzanne

    @Ohio Mom: Dude is very lucky that we are not a gun-owning household. Mr. Suzanne and I grabbed our exercise weights to fight him with if it came to that. Others would have shot him. As it stands, his injuries are entirely self-inflicted.

  42. 42.

    Cermet

    @Suzanne: Just wow; so very glad the man was not violent! So sorry for that and the possible exposures, too.

    As for the silver spoon up his ass carlson, how is that not falsely yelling fire in a crowded building? Lying in a manner that absolutely will result in increased deaths and is the very definition of illegal speech! The FCC should shut that worthless, lying and the very definition of a son of a bitch asshole, down.  He should be banned from any media platform till his trial for creating a public hazard with intention to cause death.

  44. 44.

    Kay

    Cathy Young
    @CathyYoung63
    ·1h
    Yeah, I realize that badgering, stigma and condescension are not a good response to vax resistance.

    Nonsense. Public health runs on badgering. They nag, because nagging works. Smoking, seat belts, drunk driving- years of nagging followed by laws and stiff sanctions for the holdouts- in the case of smoking it was also huge punishing taxes. We even have a phrase for it- “sin taxes”.
    Child safety seats? Shamed parents into it. Just blatantly, with no apologies.
    Coddling is a brand new approach. Entirely unproven and looks so far like it’s a big flop.

  45. 45.

    Nicole

    @Suzanne: I’m so sorry for what you went through.  As others have said, what with the broken door and all, the risk of Covid is probably pretty negligible (ventilation does a lot), but the terror of having your home broken into is something else. I would chalk today’s sore throat up to last night’s screaming. What a nightmare.

  47. 47.

    trnc

    India has “substantially greater” COVID-19 deaths than official reports suggest, says Prabhat Jha of the University of Toronto— close to 3 million, which is more than six times higher than the government has acknowledged and the largest number of any country.

    If true, the finding could prompt scrutiny of other countries with anomalously low death rates and push up the current worldwide pandemic total, estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) at some 5.45 million people.

    Now do Florida.

  49. 49.

    Another Scott

    @Cermet: I hear Popehat screaming into the void….

    Holmes’ famous quote is the go-to argument by appeal to authority for anyone who wants to suggest that some particular utterance is not protected by the First Amendment. Its relentless overuse is annoying and unpersuasive to most people concerned with the actual history and progress of free speech jurisprudence. People tend to cite the “fire in a crowded theater” quote for two reasons, both bolstered by Holmes’ fame. First, they trot out the Holmes quote for the proposition that not all speech is protected by the First Amendment. But this is not in dispute. Saying it is not an apt or persuasive argument for the proposition that some particular speech is unprotected, any more than saying “well, some speech is protected by the First Amendment” is a persuasive argument to the contrary. Second, people tend to cite Holmes to imply that there is some undisclosed legal authority showing that the speech they are criticizing is not protected by the First Amendment. This is dishonest at worst and unconvincing at best. If you have a pertinent case showing that particular speech falls outside the First Amendment, you don’t have to rely on a 90-year-old rhetorical flourish to support your argument.

    Holmes’ quote is the most famous and pervasive lazy cheat in American dialogue about free speech. This post is not about fisking Sarah Chayes; her column deserves it, but I will leave it to another time. This post is about putting the Holmes quote in context, and explaining why it adds nothing to a First Amendment debate.

    […]

    It’s a good read.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  50. 50.

    Sloane Ranger

    @Suzanne: OMG, I got burgled once when I was away and that was bad enough, but this, I can’t even imagine…

    Hopefully, your sore throat is just the result of yelling and your insurance company steps up to the plate quickly. In the meantime, sending you and your family all good vibes. Someone above, suggested you get counselling, it’s not for everyone, but I recommend you consider it.

  51. 51.

    Soprano2

    @Suzanne: I read about your incident in the overnight thread. I’m so sorry such a terrifying thing happened to you, and I’m glad you’re all physically unhurt. Your insurance will hire a professional cleaning service, but in the meantime it sure does suck to have your house in such a mess. You’re probably ok re: Covid, because you’re all protected except the youngest one and it sounds like your house is well-ventilated right now, sadly. Besides, if you were exposed yesterday I don’t think you’d already be having symptoms. I second those who say you should all get some counseling – you may be affected by this in ways you don’t expect.

  52. 52.

    Sloane Ranger

    So Saturday, in the UK where we had 146,390 new cases. This is an increase of 10.6% in the rolling 7-day average but case numbers have been dropping off over the past 4 days. Finger crossed that we’ve crested the wave. New cases by home nation,

    England – 130,330 (down @19,000)

    Northern Ireland – 3458 (down @3000)

    Scotland – 12,602 (down @2000)

    Wales – Wales does not report on Saturdays.

    Deaths – There were 313 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This figure is likely an undercount due to weekend office closures. The rolling 7-day average is up by 38.3%. 282 deaths were in England, 5 in Northern Ireland, 26 in Scotland and Wales did not report.

    Testing – 1,820,674 tests took place on Thursday, 6th January. The rolling 7-day average for tests conducted was up by 18.5%. The PCR testing capacity reported by labs on that date was 848,951.

    Hospitalisations – There were 18,454 people in hospital and 868 on ventilators as of Thursday, 6th January. The 7-day average figure for hospital admissions was up by 57.7% on 3rd January.

    Vaccinations – As of Friday, 7th January, 51,919,815 people had had 1 shot of a vaccine, 47,632,483 had had 2 and 35,273,945 had had a 3rd shot/booster. In percentages this means that 90.3% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot, 82.8% had had 2 and 61.3% had had a 3rd shot/booster.

  53. 53.

    frosty

    @Suzanne: If it helps, PGH police got the vaccine very early, as soon as it came out and before it became political. Good chance they were vaxxed, although that doesn’t mean as much now thanks to Omicron.

    What a scary and horrible night!

  54. 54.

    Ohio Mom

    @WaterGirl: In NYC, we stand ON line. The explanation I’ve heard (may be apocryphal) is that NYC elementary schools had a series of parallel lines painted on the school yard grounds, with each line just long enough for the 36 students of each classroom to form a line ON (36 being the legal limit for class size, at least in the lower grades).

    I don’t know if I remember standing on a painted line (I think I do, but maybe that image has been put in my head by the explanation) but I do clearly remember lining up in the same spot every morning and after lunch, and the rule that the line must be in size place order. I was always first in line. 

  55. 55.

    Tenar Arha

    @Suzanne: I’m sorry that happened to you guys. Wishing you and your family a smooth cleanup, a calm aftermath, and healing thoughts.

  56. 56.

    Kalakal

    @Suzanne: Good grief,what a horrible experience. Glad to hear you’re all ok. I’ve been burgled which was bad enough but I’ve never been there when the deed was done. I hope it all goes smoothly with the repairs/clean up,/ insurance etc. Hopefully you’re risk of Covid exposure is low, what with the broken door  My sympathies.

  57. 57.

    debbie

    @Suzanne:

    OMG, how horrifying. I got home invaded my last apartment, and I’m impressed you were able to get past the shock to think about grabbing weights to fight back with. I hope your family recovers quickly and with zero risk of COVID.

  59. 59.

    Emma from Miami

    @Suzanne: ​Let’s fire the scriptwriter for this particular episode of your life! Here’s to a quiet average rest of the year.

  60. 60.

    Scout211

    It really is good to live in California. Contrast Newsom’s response to the COVID surge in California with DeSantis’  response in Florida.  Source.

     

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration previewed a portion of its budget proposal Saturday that includes the state issue $1.4 billion in emergency funds to combat the spread of COVID-19.

    The news conference comes the day after Newsom announced he ordered about 200 California National Guard members are being deployed to testing sites to boost capacity due to the rise of Omicron.

    The proposed $2.7 billion “COVID-19 Emergency Response Package” includes both the request for immediate funds and $1.3 billion set aside in the 2022-23 budget for increase in testing, batting misinformation and additional items.

    “From day one, California has taken swift and direct action to battle COVID-19 with policies that have saved tens of thousands of lives, but there’s more work to be done,” Newsom said in a news release. “Our proposed COVID-19 Emergency Response Package will support our testing capacity, accelerate vaccination and booster efforts, support frontline workers and health care systems and battle misinformation, with a focus on the hardest-hit communities.”

  61. 61.

    Bill Arnold

    @NorthLeft12:

    Spoiler alert; unimpeded transmissions will directly lead to much higher hospitalizations, deaths(from many causes), and further economic and social disruptions.

    Lower dose of innoculum(/infectious particles) is generally correlated with milder cases, for many respiratory viruses including SARS-CoV-2. Masks, particularly universal masks in indoor public spaces, work both for prevention and , it should be assumed even without a major (and Nazi-level-unethical) controlled trial, case-severity reduction. (Natural experiments will have to mostly suffice.) Vaccination with booster also appears to prevent at least some Omicron infections.
    So people who advocate for no public health NPIs are Evil AND full of shit. And when they say “science tells us X”, usually “X” is the exact opposite of what current science tells us.

  62. 62.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Bill Arnold: I’m taking a (permanent?) break from Twitter for the sake of my mental health but when I was on it, I followed Chise/@sailorrooscout, a vaccine researcher who fights an endless battle with both antivaxxers and the more out-there doomers. One of the more disturbing things about following her, though, is that whenever she states anything positive about the effectiveness of vaccines, it gets jumped on by these “get your vaccine and let it rip” people who want to use it as a pretext to eliminate all non-pharmaceutical interventions.

    There’s been a lot of poorly-supported wishcasting about Omicron being the providential end of the pandemic if we just let it wash over us. I saw one tweeter who was celebrating it because he thought it would reveal to our political leaders that all NPIs are useless and should be scrapped in favor of a vaccination-only approach. It seems to me like the opposite of that so far.

    (I do agree with Cheryl Rofer that this phenomenon of anti-NPI pro-vaxxers is vastly overrepresented on Twitter compared to the rest of life. There’s an opposite extreme there of doomer types who want to go super-hard on NPIs and end up effectively talking down vaccination, whether they intended that or not.)

  63. 63.

    Miss Bianca

    @Suzanne: Holy shit, I just read about that incident this morning. Hope you are all doing ok besides the fright and the mess. Good God, what a nightmare.

  64. 64.

    West of the Rockies

    I bet Russia (Putin) is lying (hugely) about its true Covid numbers.   Kind of what they do.

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