Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

In my day, never was longer.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

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

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

Nothing worth doing is easy.

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

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

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Let me file that under fuck it.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

The words do not have to be perfect.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Not all heroes wear capes.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday / Wednesday, Feb. 15-16

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday / Wednesday, Feb. 15-16

by | 74 Comments

This post is in: ,


======

England:


Seems like!

… As of 9 February, 80% of Canada’s population was fully immunised against Covid-19, along with another 5% that is partially vaccinated, meaning they had received at least one dose of a multi-dose vaccine.

In the US, 64% of people are fully vaccinated and 12% partially vaccinated.

Canada got off to a slow start, but had caught up to the US by mid July – when exactly half of the population in each country was fully vaccinated. Canada’s vaccine take-up then surged ahead.

The data suggests that helped save lives. While a third (34%) of the total US death toll has come in the seven months since, only about a quarter (26%) of Canada’s Covid deaths have…

Unlike the US, however, Canada has a universal, decentralised and publicly funded healthcare system administered by its 13 provinces and territories.

“That means that people, regardless of their socioeconomic status, have access to healthcare,” said Dr Donald Vinh, an infectious disease specialist at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. “What makes that an important factor is that, regardless of where you are in your phase of illness, you will still be able to get healthcare.”

Far more Americans were ending up in intensive care as well. Last month during the Omicron wave, the number peaked at nearly 79 per million when Canada’s was 32 per million.

“That has to be a function of healthcare systems. [Canada] is intervening quicker, and in different ways, than the US,” Dr Cameron said. “That’s where severe cases are ending up when other approaches and interventions have failed.” …

======

… “In one year, half the species vaccinated — wow!” said Eric Topol, the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, referring to the period after which vaccines started to become available. He has been marveling on his well-followed Twitter feed about how lucky the world got with Covid vaccines; he calls them “an extraordinary human achievement.”

Topol was among the skeptics in early March of 2020 when Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a Senate committee that it would take at least 12 to 18 months to develop a Covid vaccine. “I thought it was a fantasy. Total fantasy,” he told STAT in a recent interview.

Eight months after Fauci made that prediction, the United States started vaccinating with Pfizer and BioNTech’s messenger RNA vaccine, and a week later, with Moderna’s mRNA vaccine. At 18 months, the outside edge of Fauci’s estimate, the U.S. had already administered nearly 400 million doses of vaccine. Roughly 56% of the population was fully vaccinated by that point and administration of third doses had already begun…

Consider for a moment what might have happened without these vaccines.

According to modeling conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, 1.1 million additional Americans would have died from Covid — and that estimate was made based on data from before the massive Omicron wave that has swept across the country in past two months.

“We would have been broken,” said Topol. “Right now, we have a death toll of around 2,500 people a day. … Imagine what we would have with no vaccination.”…

Thread –

======

There’s gonna be another meat shortage:


Even if Tyson weren’t doing this, there’s been another worrying outbreak of avian flu — which doesn’t affect humans, but is lethal to poultry.

Reader Interactions

74Comments

  1. 1.

    debbie

    Really surprising that Novak would throw away his career like this, especially since he’s not an “anti-vaxxer.” That’s a lot of sweat and effort to be tossing out the window.

  2. 2.

    germy

    Only 36 NYPD?

    I wonder how many of the “vaccinated” simply presented fake vaccine certificates?

    I remember the arrest a few weeks ago of the woman who was selling them.

  3. 3.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reports 27,831 new Covid-19 cases today in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 3,111,514 cases. It also reports 31 deaths as of midnight, for an adjusted cumulative total of 32,180 deaths – 1.03% of the cumulative reported total, 1.11% of resolved cases.

    Based on cases reported yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide Rt is at 1.33.

    105 confirmed cases are in ICU, 53 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 7,912 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 2,876,450 patients recovered – 92.5% of the cumulative reported total.

    28 new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 6,657 clusters. 467 clusters are currently active; 6,190 clusters are now inactive.

    227,049 new cases today are local infections. 118 new cases today are imported.

    The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 154,776 doses of vaccine on 15th February: 42,374 first doses, 1,657 second doses, and 110,745 booster doses. As of midnight, the cumulative total is 65,356,763 doses administered: 26,340,178 first doses, 25,735,982 second doses, and 13,486,823 booster doses. 80.7% of the population have received their first dose, 78.8% their second dose, and 41.3% their booster dose.

  4. 4.

    John S.

    The U.S. government said it faces ‘significant harm’ if an appeals court fails to reverse an injunction

    Another “godsend” for Republicans!

  5. 5.

    germy

    insane our parents had to make multiple bad decisions to go bankrupt, we just have to get in an ambulance one time

    — first-mate prance (@bocxtop) February 15, 2022

    when i had a horrible allergic reaction i called an uber to the hospital instead of 911 lol, no way a crab cake is ruining me financially for the rest of my life

    — first-mate prance (@bocxtop) February 15, 2022

  7. 7.

    Baud

    69% approval for indoor mask mandates from all Americans

    The only number that matters is the number of people who will hold the party of anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers responsible.

  9. 9.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 2/15 Mainland China reported 46 new domestic confirmed (none previously asymptomatic) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Guangdong Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases. As the province does not breakdown recoveries between domestic & imported cases, I cannot track the count of active cases in parts of the province.

    • At Zhuhai 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed cases (all presumed Omicron) in the city.
    • Shenzhen reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both mild), both quarantine hotel workers already living in “close loop”, both traced closed contacts already under centralized quarantine. 1 shopping center has been elevated to Medium Risk. 4 residential buildings & a shopping center are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Guangzhou reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, a ground service staff at the airport, found via daily screening. 
    • Dongguan did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case in the city, a person who recently returned from out of province.
    • At Yunfu there currently are 7 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all part of the Omicron transmission chain spreading from Shenzhen.
    • At Huizhou there currently are 6 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, part of the Omicron transmission chain spreading from Shenzhen.
    • In the rest of the province there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed (1 each at Heyuan & Meizhou) cases remaining.

    Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases. There currently are 272 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Baise reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases. There currently are 270 active domestic confirmed cases (all presumed Omicron) in the city, most of whom are residents in the same village, all part of the transmission chain spreading from Shenzhen in Guangdong. 1 village at Debao County is currently at High Risk, & a hotel is currently at Medium Risk. 2 villages at Jingxi are currently at Medium Risk.
    • The rest of the province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed (1 each at Nanning & Chongzuo) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Chongzuo) cases remaining.

    At Shaoyang in Hunan Province there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, part of the transmission chain spreading from Shenzhen in Guangdong.

    Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 7 new domestic confirmed cases.

    • Manzhouli in Hulun Buir reported 5 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), 2 found at fever clinics & 3 are their traced close contacts, all members of a single family.
    • Hohhot reported 2 new domestic cases, both found at fever clinics, both work at the same garbage disposal facility.

    At Tianjin Municipality 3 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 15 active domestic confirmed cases (all presumed Omicron). 1 Medium Rusk residential building has been re-designated to Low Risk. 1 residential building remains at Medium Risk.

    Beijing Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. As Beijing does not separate recoveries between imported & domestic cases, I cannot track the number of active cases on the city. All areas in the city are now at Low Risk.

    Liaoning Province reported 15 new domestic confirmed cases. 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 107 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Huludao reported 15 new domestic confirmed cases, all at Suizhong County, all traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 104 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 1 village at Suizhong County is currently at High Risk, & a residential compound there is currently at Medium Risk.
    • Shenyang did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    At Shandong Province there currently are 1 active domestic confirmed (at Jinan) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Liaocheng) cases in the province, all part of the transmission chain from the cold storage warehouses outbreak at Fengtai District in Beijing.

    At Datong in Shanxi Province there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case remaining in the city.

    At Hebei Province there currently are 10 active domestic confirmed cases (3 at Xiong’an, 4 at Hengshui & 3 at Langfang) in the province, all part of the transmission chain from the cold storage warehouses outbreak in Fengtai District in Beijing. All areas in the province are now at Low Risk.

    At Heilongjiang Province 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 16 active domestic confirmed (all at Mudanjiang) & 38 active domestic asymptomatic (11 at Heihe, 23 at Mudanjiang & 4 at Qiqihar) cases in the province. 5 residential buildings at Heihe are currently at Medium Risk.

    At Shanghai Municipality there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    At Huanggang in Hubei Province there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case in the city, part of the transmission chain from Hangzhou in Zhejiang.

    Jiangsu Province reported 19 new domestic confirmed & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases (all presumed Omicron). There currently is 27 active domestic confirmed & 8 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    • Suzhou reported 18 new domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 26 active domestic confirmed & 6 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all are workers at the Suzhou Industrial Zone or their close contacts. 7 residential buildings & a tea house have been elevated to Medium Risk. 13 residential buildings & a tea house are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Wuxi reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both traced close contacts of domestic positive cases in Suzhou.
    • Nantong reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, a person who returned from Suzhou on 2/8.

    At Tongren in Guizhou Province there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, part of the transmission chain spreading from Huludao in Liaoning.

    At Henan Province 24 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 85 active domestic confirmed cases in the province. 

    Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Malipo County in Wenshan Prefecture, a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed (1 at Kunming, 5 at Sipsongpanna Prefecture & 3 at Wenshan Prefecture) & 16 active domestic asymptomatic (5 at Sipsongpanna Prefecture & 11 at Wenshan Prefecture) cases remaining.

    Imported Cases

    On 2/15, Mainland China reported 56 new imported confirmed cases (10 previously asymptomatic), 23 imported asymptomatic cases, 0 imported suspect cases:

    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 8 confirmed cases, all Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 7 confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic), 2 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Malaysia & 1 each from Rwanda (via Istanbul), Russia & the US; 7 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals each returning from Ethiopia & Malaysia & 1 each from Kuwait, Mozambique (via Nairobi) & Vietnam
    • Dongguan in Guangdong Province – 4 confirmed (all previously asymptomatic) & 3 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Hong Kong
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 4 confirmed cases (all previously asymptomatic), all coming from Hong Kong
    • Zhuhai in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from Hong Kong
    • Shanghai Municipality – 13 confirmed cases, 3 Chinese nationals returning from Japan & 1 each from Canada, the US, Thailand & the UAE, 3 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong, an Indian national coming from Singapore, a Taiwanese resident coming from Taiwan, & a Japanese national coming from Japan
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 5 confirmed cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Serbia (via Amsterdam Schiphol)
    • Sanming in Fujian Province – 1 confirmed case, no information released
    • Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 each coming from Indonesia & Japan
    • Qingdao in Shandong Province – 3 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Russia & 1 from South Korea
    • Yunnan Province (location not specified) – 3 confirmed & 1 asymptomatic cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Myanmar, via land border crossings
    • Chongzuo in Guangxi “Autonomous” Region  – 2 confirmed & 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Cenzhou in Hunan Province – 2 confirmed cases, both Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong; both had smuggled themselves into Zhuhai in Guangdong on 2/14 & then drove back to Cenzhou, testing positive on the same day, both are now under arrest
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from Singapore; 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national returning from Russia, & 2 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong
    • Tianjin Municipality – 1 confirmed case, a Ukrainian crew member off a cargo ship
    • Shenyang in Liaoning Province – 1 confirmed & 1 asymptomatic case, no information released 
    • Harbin in Heilongjiang Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both coming from Japan
    • Beijing Municipality – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released

    Overall in Mainland China, 81 confirmed cases recovered (49 imported), 50 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (47 imported) & 4 were reclassified as confirmed cases (3 imported), & 3,623 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,419 active confirmed cases in the country (701 imported), 7 in serious condition (1 imported), 791 active asymptomatic cases (721 imported), 1 suspect case (imported). 29,391 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 2/15, 3,056.997M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 4.562M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 2/16, Hong Kong reported 4,284 new positive cases, 21 imported & 4,264 domestic. There are another ~ 7,000 cases who are preliminarily positive, awaiting confirmation. 

    On 2/16, Taiwan reported 67 new positive cases, 53 imported & 14 domestic (half have been under home quarantine).

  10. 10.

    New Deal democrat

    Cases in the US continue their sharp decline, now down to 136,000, only 16,000 higher then before the Omicron wave. This is below both the Delta peak and last winter’s peak, but more than double either the spring or summer 2020 peaks. Deaths declined to 2260, about a 10% decline from peak.

    All Census regions are down at least 75% (the South), while the Northeast is down 92% – but still 16* its summer 2021 low. All 50 States plus DC and PR are declining, with the ironic exception of ME, which never had an Omicron wave at all. AK is doing the worst, at 116 cases per 100,000. MD is doing the best at 13 per 100,000, followed by PR at 17. The States encompassing the Northeast corridor, plus DC, are between 22 and 33 cases per 100,000, except for RI, which is at 45. By next week these States should be back to their range from last May through July.

    Deaths should decline to about 500 per day 4 weeks from now. This will put them at their lowest levels since the onset of the pandemic, except for last June and July.

    I am really encouraged by this data. If cases in the US were on the verge of flattening out, we would see it in a small but growing number of States. That 51 of 52 jurisdictions are still declining indicates we still have a ways to go. There is no new variant identified on the horizon to upend the trend. The evidence is that BA2 aids in transmission, and may help create a long tail, but not a reversal of trend. Also, Dr. Eric Topol showed a study of seroprevalence from the U.K. yesterday indicating that prior infection, as well as vaccination, has progressively brought down the lethality of successive waves of infection. This is what a basic analysis of raw infection and deaths data in the US has shown as well. Since probably about 85% or more of the US population now has at least some resistance, when the next waves happen, they should be progressively less deadly.

  12. 12.

    germy

    News from upstate NY:

    The Greenville Central School District is turning to remote learning, after a protest over masks in schools.

    It’s for students in grades 6 through 12.

    The district sent a letter to parents explaining the decision.

    Dozens of students refused to wear their masks while in the school building.

  13. 13.

    germy

    ALBANY — More than a year after COVID vaccines first became available to the general public, Black communities continue to have lower vaccination rates than the population as a whole.

    The disparity was the subject Tuesday of a forum sponsored by United University Professions, the union representing many SUNY professionals.

    Two Black physicians — one a SUNY professor, the other a professor emeritus at SUNY — discussed factors that leave Black New Yorkers with a COVID vaccination rate below other demographic groups and with a disproportionately high share of New York’s COVID fatalities.

  14. 14.

    Scout211

    Today is the first day of “freedom” in California, as the indoor mask mandate has expired. So, for my rural area of NorCal, today will be just like yesterday and so many weeks before that. Sigh.

    At least the school mask mandate is still in place but they have announced that are considering  the end of that as well. Sigh.

  18. 18.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY:

    There were 82 new laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 on 2/15/22.
    There were 107 new positive home tests reported on 2/15/22.

    Still no test kits in the mail at my house.

  23. 23.

    Kay

    @germy:

    Thanks- I wouldn’t expect you to check. The class designation would be “priority” (faster) or “retail ground” (slower).

  25. 25.

    sab

    My dad’s caretaker sent my other sister a photo of my dad in the nursing home drinking a glasss of ginger ale while celebrating valentine’s day. My sister, who is a complete moran despite her ph.d, decided the ginger ale was wine and decided to send an outraged text to our caretaker, who is now beyond outraged, and deeply hurt besides. Thanks, Sis. If caretaker ever quits then Dad is on the next plane to La Jolla to land in your lap.

    Jeezus phuck. How do some people even function in the world. I pity her students.

  27. 27.

    mrmoshpotato

    The U.S. government said it faces ‘significant harm’ if an appeals court fails to reverse an injunction barring enforcement of Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for government workers, and testing unvaccinated employees could cost up to $22 million a month

    Risking dying to stick it to ” the Man.”

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: They have a tracking number, so no, not 1st class. Some kind of priority mail.

    eta and germy comes up with something that says I am full of shit before I can even post it.  :-(

  29. 29.

    Soprano2

    @New Deal democrat: Our county is at 137 cases per 100,000, with 171 people still in the hospital. When I look at how high the case counts got this time (over 1,000 per 100,000), and yet the number in the hospital was never as high as the delta peak and got as high as January 2021, I again marvel at how effective the Covid vaccines are. If we hadn’t had any vaccines yet, I shudder to think what would have happened to hospitals and what the death toll would have been. Even at that, we have had 62 Covid deaths since the beginning of December. We only had 7 Covid deaths in October.

  31. 31.

    Ken

    @debbie: If that’s the report I heard, she’s a nurse.

    I may be remembering a different case, but wasn’t that part of the scam? It wasn’t just a fake vaccine card, which anyone with a printer can make. She was actually making fake entries in the state’s vaccination reporting system.

  33. 33.

    Soprano2

    @Ken: Here’s a story about it, and yes, they were accused of entering fake information into the vaccine database. I hope that was all checked and then purged from the system.

  34. 34.

    mrmoshpotato

    Unlike the US, however, Canada has a universal, decentralised and publicly funded healthcare system administered by its 13 provinces and territories.

    “That means that people, regardless of their socioeconomic status, have access to healthcare,” said Dr Donald Vinh, an infectious disease specialist at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. “What makes that an important factor is that, regardless of where you are in your phase of illness, you will still be able to get healthcare.”

    Hmmm… ?

    What a concept.

  35. 35.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @sab: I just had never seen first class mail with a tracking number. Didn’t even know they were set up to do it.

  36. 36.

    JCJ

    The numbers per million in the ICU comparing Canada and the US – I doubt the difference is having access to health care but rather the willingness to access health care.  If your first move is to seek advice from Aaron Rodgers and his bros and refuse vaccination and get ivermectin when sick you might be more likely to get quite ill.

  37. 37.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    Greece: new cases seem to be holding steady in the range of 20,000, and daily deaths are hovering at about 100 per day, but one bit of news that might be considered good is that the total number of intubated patients in ICUs is dropping, now below 500 where it was approaching 700 last month.

    I just got boosted last night (my fourth shot, but only the second recognized by the Greek government, for long and complicated bureaucratic reasons). Arm aches as one would expect, there’s some fatigue, but it didn’t seem to hit me hard today. Might be due to receiving a half-strength Moderna, whereas the full-strength J&J shot I got in November left me feverish the next morning.

  40. 40.

    Ken

    @mrmoshpotato: I’m not sure “administered by its provinces and territories” would work well in the US.  Scratch that, given the history of Medicaid there would be states that would grossly mismanage the program.

  41. 41.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @germy: Hunting wild animals & farm raising “wild” animals have been banned in China. Raising “wild” animals such as civets & raccoon dogs used to be big business in the rural mountainous regions of western Hubei, established as part of the poverty alleviation effort in these regions. Now the animals farms have all closed. As are as wet markets, they continue to function in China & across E/SE Asia. Most older Asian folks absolutely despise frozen foot, & want their aquatic foodstuff live, & their meats recently slaughtered. However, I have noticed that the wet markets (in Wuhan, at least) have all been renovated & often taken over by larger chain stores over the past year+. The renovated spaces are far less crowded, much cleaner, & no live animals of any kind (aside from aquatic creatures) to be found. Live animals are also missing from even the rural markets out in the far suburbs of Wuhan. All slaughtering now happen off site. (Per regulation before the pandemic, but not appears to be strictly enforced.) Not sure how well regulated are the factoring farms raising chicken & pigs, but that is problematic the world over.

  42. 42.

    Kalakal

    @germy:

    when i had a horrible allergic reaction i called an uber to the hospital instead of 911

    If I’d done that when I got stung by a wasp 2 years ago I’d have died on the way to hospital. That ambulance saved my life because they were medically trained, recognised cardio-vascular collapse due to anaphyllaxis when they saw it, and had epinephrine. Not typical of Uber drivers I think. I’d didn’t feel that bad when I called the ambulance, 20 minutes later I was close to flatlining.

    I am so angry with this idiot, it’s not just stupid advice  it could kill people

  43. 43.

    Anne Laurie

    @NeenerNeener: Still no test kits in the mail at my house.

    I ordered ours the first day they were available, and they arrived yesterday.  In a plastic/Tyvek bag, labeled ‘Expedited Post Office.’

    Got an email notification that they’d be arriving Friday, and a second message updating it to yesterday, so at least track is being kept.

  44. 44.

    NorthLeft12

    The blockades/protests across Canada are rapidly breaking up. The border protests are pretty much all dismantled, and the city protests are being closed down/ending as well……except Ottawa.

    The good news from Ottawa is that the police chief who turned a problem into a catastrophe, has resigned under pressure and the new leadership is moving to remove those protestors. The city has a lot more resources from the province and feds to get the job done…..finally.

    The federal government activated some emergency powers to help deal with the protests. There is a fair bit of disagreement (including me) that this step was necessary. Trudeau expects that these powers will be ended before the end of the month.

    The protests were a national embarrassment IMO, and I am sorry for the impact it has had on our American neighbours. Hoping they throw the book at these selfish idiots.

  45. 45.

    Another Scott

    @debbie: He’s been infected twice and apparently has extreme ideas about diet.  I’m not surprised that he’s an antivaxxer on this.

    He’s made over $150M in his career + all the endorsements.  He can afford to sit things out.

    Amazing talent, bad anger issues, stupid and dangerous about public health.  People are complicated.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  46. 46.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @Kalakal: But that’s the goddamned point. The system forces people to make a bankruptcy-or-death choice that shouldn’t even be a factor under consideration. Poor people in the US have to make horrible choices like that all the goddamned time.

  47. 47.

    Anyway

    @Kay:

    Doesn’t say either Priority or Ground. “USPS Connect” – don’t know what that means. Received mine last week.

    It has a Tracking # so that’d be First Class mail I guess.

  48. 48.

    Anne Laurie

    @YY_Sima Qian: All slaughtering now happen off site. (Per regulation before the pandemic, but not appears to be strictly enforced.) Not sure how well regulated are the factoring farms raising chicken & pigs, but that is problematic the world over.

    You speak truth — {glares in the direction of Tyson / Smithfield / et al}.

    I remember, 50 years ago, some of the nice neighbor ladies in the Bronx taking the bus to the ‘good’ butcher shop that slaughtered the Friday-night chickens right where they could see it happen (otherwise, how could they be sure it was fresh?)

    “Americans” have generally converted to the parts-from-an-invisible-factory form of meat procurement, but there are still neighborhoods where fresh / kosher / halal / local sourcing is important enough to get on the news radar.

    And it’s not just Muslim immigrants or Jewish haredim — there is a steady trickle of stories about ‘pure food’ libertarians and/or far-left crystal bunnies who get busted for unpasteurized milk, incompetently butchered animals, and the occasional local salmonella outbreak.

    We’ve been lucky, so far.  But luck is not a plan!

  49. 49.

    sdhays

    @JCJ: Having simple, affordable access to healthcare affects people’s willingness to access it, even the way they subconsciously think about it. I think the fucked-up-ness of the US healthcare system is part of what drives the crazy.

    Of course, the crazy all feeds on itself, in typically destructive ways.

  50. 50.

    Matt

    @debbie:

    That’s a lot of sweat and effort to be tossing out the window.

    Who needs sweat & effort when there’s sweet sweet wingnut welfare to be had?

    As a tennis player, he’s got a finite and not particularly long shelf life; as a professional victim, the sky’s the limit!

  51. 51.

    dmsilev

    @Anne Laurie: Mine came yesterday as well. Pretty much the same timing as you; ordered as soon as I heard that the website was live, got a shipping notice late last week.

    Looks like commercial availability of similar kits has improved quite a bit. I was also able to source some on my own a week or so ago without any real hassle. That was certainly not the case a month ago.

  52. 52.

    Soprano2

    @Kalakal: Another person on that thread says she refused an ambulance when she was in a car accident at 16 because she watched her grandparents lose their house over an ambulance bill. It’s an issue for a lot of people, but yeah not the greatest advice. My mother once drove herself to the hospital while her throat was closing up due to anaphylaxis from a new blood pressure med. I gave her hell over that! She had great insurance, she didn’t have any reason to worry about the expense of an ambulance; it was more about “not wanting to bother anyone if I could drive myself”. After she turned 80 we had the “you’re not that young anymore, when you need them please call an ambulance not me” conversation, and after that no more problem with her calling me to come get her or driving herself.

  53. 53.

    Kalakal

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: Yeah, I know. That was the day that really brought it home to me, when the crew asked “which hospital do you want to go to?” . I’m from the UK, it never even occurred to me not to call an ambulance. Then I got the bill. The implications of the system shocked me to the core. People die because of this

  54. 54.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — 7,449 new cases of COVID-19 16 and new deaths of people who have tested positive reported. 912 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19, with 13 people in intensive care.

    From this week’s Public Health Scotland report (published every Wednesday),

    …in the week ending 13 February 2022, there have been 40,873 COVID-19 cases, identified by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) or LFD (lateral flow device), a decrease of 8.1% from the previous week.

    In the week ending 01 February 2022, there were 607 admissions to hospital with a positive COVID-19 test (PCR or LFD). This was a decrease of 5% from the previous week. The highest number of new admissions are now in those aged 80 and over.

    In the week ending 13 February 2022, there were 21 new admissions to Intensive Care Units (ICUs) with a laboratory confirmed test of COVID-19. This is a decrease of 16.0% from the week ending 06 February 2022.

    Generally COVID-19 infections and serious cases are on a slow downward trend here in Scotland but case numbers are still high enough to be worrying, especially if another Omicron-level Variant Of Concern comes out the blue.

  55. 55.

    Audrey

    @NorthLeft12:  Are you sure the disagreement isn’t that the measures aren’t harsh enough?  People seems to want some heads cracked, teargassing etc.  I don’t have any problem with bringing in the emergency measures.  The cities and provinces were given plenty of time (too much time maybe) to do their bloody jobs and in several places just did not.  Doug Ford didn’t even do anything he could have after eventually declaring the state of emergency after his snowmobiling downtime.  Unless you count ending several of the mitigation efforts earlier than originally intended.  Nice note to terrorists there, Conservatives cave, I’m sure that won’t come back to bite anyone ever. Couple that with all of the shadowy money, missing weapons and former (maybe even current) polince and military participants, and this needed a bigger response than was happening at any level previous.  I don’t know how you “bring the hammer down” without some bigger (metaphorical) guns being brought it.  As a purely personal note, it brought my temperature down.  Targeting the money seems like a much less lethal method of ending things than I was picturing.  It is disturbing to discover the level of vengeance one can personally hope for against a**holes.  In short, I’m pissed and want these people to pay for all of the damage they caused to all the regular folks just trying to go about their business and live their lives.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    Remember that kids under 5 are still not vaccinated so the risk of lifting restrictions now falls on them and their parents. It will be increasingly difficult for parents to protect them without the “cover” of state mitigation efforts, especially parents who don’t have any workplace contracts/rules on time off.

    I really do worry about the slippery slope of this. If you objected to quarantine rules at daycare do you also object to the non-covid quarantine rules at daycare for other infectious disease? What’s the difference?

  58. 58.

    Kay

    Leana Wen, M.D.@DrLeanaWen · 1h
    Children <5 will be at greater risk now that restrictions are being lifted & they still can’t vaccinated. Parents who want to avoid #covid19 need to keep taking precautions. This is unfair—but it’s part of our necessary transition from government mandate to individual decisions

    What “precautions” does she suggest they take? Quit their jobs? Stop using daycares?
    It’s ludicrous. Just tell them the truth- lifting restrictions puts kids under 5 at higher risk and we’ve decided that’s a trade off we’re willing to make.

  59. 59.

    The Moar You Know

    testing unvaccinated employees could cost up to $22 million a month

    and like magic, wasting taxpayer dollars becomes A-OK with the Republican party.

  60. 60.

    The Moar You Know

    Do kids not get expelled anymore?

    @Baud: Dunno about New York state, but here in CA it is exceptionally difficult; so much so that it’s usually both cheaper and easier for the district to just pay for a full-time private tutor for the kid until they’ve finished high school.

  61. 61.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NorthLeft12:

    The protests were a national embarrassment IMO, and I am sorry for the impact it has had on our American neighbours. Hoping they throw the book at these selfish idiots. 

    Several books.

  62. 62.

    Jay

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/coutts-protest-charges-laid-court-appearance-bail-1.6352482uj

    Seven of the protesters arrested in connection with a blockade at the Coutts, Alta., border crossing have been granted bail but those accused of conspiring to murder RCMP officers remain behind bars.

    The first 11 protesters to be arrested ahead of two others who were taken into custody later on Monday made their first court appearance Tuesday afternoon on charges that include conspiracy to murder, mischief and possession of a weapon.

    The on-and-off blockade of the normally busy border crossing by people opposed to COVID-19 health restrictions has lasted more than two weeks.

  63. 63.

    Audrey

    @Jay: “The on-and-off blockade of the normally busy border crossing by people opposed to COVID-19 health restrictions” I really object to this framing that keeps popping up.  None of these people were coy about their anti-government/anti-democracy/ goals, not to mention all of the white grievance whinging.  So much of the msm though just dutifully parrots one another that this was all about ‘freedom.’ Probably part of why I’m so angry.

    ETA: I mean seriously. Conspiracy to murder “over Covid19 restrictions.”  Uh huh.  Yeah sure.

  65. 65.

    Sloane Ranger

    @sdhays: Yeah, I’ve watched a few videos made by American expats on YouTube and they are all gobsmacked that being ill doesn’t cost them a penny here in the UK and Europe. This included a student who was in serious pain but refused to go to A & E because he was worried about the bill. Eventually one of his flatmates called an ambulance. The American student said he didn’t believe he could have an ambulance ride, see several doctors and nurses, have multiple scans and walk out afterwards without a bill until it actually happened.

  66. 66.

    Sloane Ranger

    Just in – All UK home nations will offer COVID vaccines to children aged 5+. Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland had announced this over the last few days and the Health Minister had announced that England will join them in the last few minutes.

    So today in the UK we had 54,218 new cases. The 7-day rolling average is down by 26.8%. New cases by nation,

    England – 42,756 (up 6285)

    Northern Ireland – 2889 (down 98)

    Scotland – 7449 (up 1644)

    Wales – 1124 (up 201).

    Deaths – There were 199 deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported today. The rolling 7-day average is down 28.8%.  170 deaths were in England, 5 in Northern Ireland, 16 in Scotland and 8 in Wales.

    Testing – 887,061 tests took place yesterday. The rolling 7- day average is down by 16.5%. Low number is probably attributable to half term in many parts of England.

    Hospitalisations – There were 12,092 people in hospital and 354 on ventilators yesterday. The weekly average for hospital admissions was down by 13.2% as of 12 February.

    Vaccinations – As of yesterday, 91.3% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot, 84.9% had had 2 and 65.9% had had a 3rd shot/booster.

    General – There are strong indications that the English “government’s” plans to remove the remaining COVID restrictions include ending free home lateral flow tests and removing the domestic COVID pass from the app. The devolved governments have asked that they be allowed to continue these if they decide to do so. We await the magisterial announcement from our Clown Minister.

  67. 67.

    Felanius Kootea

    South Africa’s Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines has reverse engineered Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine and is on track to test in humans. They’re part of a WHO effort to make mRNA vaccines available to developing countries. So far doesn’t look like Moderna is planning to sue.

  68. 68.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @sab: Even if it were wine, so what, is he not allowed a glass of wine?   My mother used to yell at my dad for eating things he liked sometimes because “it’s bad for your heart/high blood pressure”  he was 86 at the time and while not in great health, in his right mind.  When i get to that age I plan on eating what ever the hell I want.

  69. 69.

    Ruckus

    @debbie:

    What little I’ve read about it says to me that something is not right with him. Reading too many of his press releases, blinded by glory, never opened a dictionary, because if he’s anti Covid vaccines then he’s an anti vaxer. Trying to walk that invisible line between against Covid vaccines and all the rest of vaccines is BS. There is no fine line here. He’s full of shit. And that’s obvious because he’s ended his career, unless he thinks that entire organizations and countries are going to placate him and his childish BS because of his “greatness.”

    As I’ve said here before I worked in professional sports and my job boiled down was rule enforcement. Some embraced the rules, a few always, always fought to bend or they just broke the rules. Those few don’t care because they don’t think that the rules apply to them. We called them cheaters.

  70. 70.

    Ruckus

    @sdhays:

    I can second this. I have pretty decent healthcare with the VA. The doctor orders, say an MRI, I get an MRI. I don’t have to clear it with an insurance company – that knows medicine about as well as I know what it’s like to give birth, it is scheduled and happens. The only problem is location. The closest VA facility that does more than general stuff or has an MRI is 45 miles away. So in an emergency they send me to a local hospital. All of which are owned by a “healthcare profit company.” Which means it is the most useless fucking healthcare in the country. I know because I got an ambulance ride there and spent about 4 hrs and $1500 of the VA’s money there. With ZERO healthcare being administered. I got driven to the VA and checked into the ER.  And provided actual healthcare. Including an MRI. After which they informed me that my brain is like a dime store version. Like I didn’t know.

  71. 71.

    Ruckus

    @Felanius Kootea:

    Would Moderna’s patent hold any water in South Africa? Patents are not world wide unless there are agreements between the countries. I’d imagine that the Moderna patent has zero standing in SA. Now in the long run that might not be a good thing for SA, but it’s a pandemic, saving lives now might take precedent.

  73. 73.

    Ruckus

    @debbie:

    Just because he’s extremely good at tennis does not mean he’s particularly smart in the ways of science/medicine. Or really anything but tennis. But maybe it’s worth it to him for some ridiculous or even not so ridiculous reason.

  74. 74.

    J R in WV

    I just spent most of a week in one of the better WV teaching hospitals with my wife, who did NOT have covid. She did get to stay in an ER room after being “admitted” because the hospital doesn’t have enough staff for the beds available. I will say the hospital staff are fucking heroes for doing their jobs in an on-going unimaginable catastrophe!

    We had our well pump fail the day after she came home. Well service expert coming tomorrow to pull the old pump and install a new one. Also a HVAC tech coming tomorrow to work on the furnace, which has been OK recently but failed a couple of times before Wife went to the hospital Saturday a week ago. If I turned it off for a few minutes, then turned it back on, it appeared to work OK. Carrier, installed around 1994, new fans a couple of times. Tempted to tell them to just do a new one.

    So tomorrow will be a very busy day! Like all of them haven’t been the past couple of weeks !!!

     

    ETA!  They can have my mask when they scrape it of my cold DEAD face!

    And if anyone gives me a hard time for wearing a mask out in public, I’ll be torn between telling them my wife just got out of the hospital and physically attacking them with my hands!

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