Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

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

Republicans don’t trust women.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Let there be snark.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Sunday / Monday, Feb. 20-21

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Sunday / Monday, Feb. 20-21

by | 54 Comments

This post is in: ,



Due credit to the anime fans (including the HVAC versions):

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… A 60-fold spike in daily infections this month prompted the government recently to modify its COVID-eradication policies, but the authorities continue aiming to wipe out the virus. The impact of zero tolerance will remain for some time, epidemiologists say.

Hong Kong’s strict pandemic policies have limited coronavirus infections to around 40,000 with 259 deaths, far fewer than in other major cities. Asian rival Singapore, with 5.7 million people, has reported more than half a million cases and some 900 deaths.

Under zero-COVID, Hong Kong authorities essentially closed the border and hospitalised even asymptomatic coronavirus-positive people and isolated close contacts with infected people. A person showing little or no symptoms could spend weeks in hospital, then move to an isolation facility for several more weeks before being allowed to return to normal life.

In return, most people in the global financial hub could go about their work and social lives with few restrictions…

Tracing, testing, treatment and quarantine resources still target every infection instead of prioritising high-risk groups, such as the elderly, causing widespread frustration.

Zero-COVID messaging, some epidemiologists fear, may encourage complacency and false hopes among the largely unvaccinated elderly that the city may again become virus-free and stay that way. More than 60% of residents over age 80 have not been vaccinated, although some 85% of the entire population has had at least one shot…

But some health experts forecast daily infections rocketing to as much as 30,000 by the end of March from 3,629 on Friday, far outpacing efforts to increase capacity.

Epidemiologists at the University of Hong Kong have warned that only a costly, months-long, full lockdown would eliminate infections. And while that would return the city to where it was in December, Omicron could strike again, causing renewed chaos, they say…

… As Hong Kong builds isolation units and Europe retains social distancing and vaccine rules, Johnson will announce the repeal of any pandemic requirements that impinge on personal freedoms, a day after Queen Elizabeth tested positive for the virus.

Under the plans, which have been in the works for weeks, Britain will become the first major European country to allow people who know they are infected with COVID-19 to freely use shops, public transport and go to work.

Johnson said on Sunday he did not want people to “throw caution to the wind” and there was no case for complacency, but the vaccine rollout meant the government wanted to move from state mandation to encouraging personal responsibility.

Among adults, 81% have been boosted in England…

Britain’s toll of more than 160,000 fatalities within 28 days of infection is the second-highest in Europe after Russia’s, and it reported an average of around 43,000 cases and 144 deaths a day in the last week.

Medical leaders have urged Johnson not to be “gung-ho” with the nation’s health, and government advisers have said dropping restrictions could lead to rapid epidemic growth as people change their behaviour more swiftly than at previous times in the pandemic…

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Reader Interactions

54Comments

  1. 1.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 2/20 Mainland China reported 71 new domestic confirmed (5 previously asymptomatic) & 15 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Guangdong Province reported 6 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.

    • Shenzhen reported 6 new domestic confirmed (5 mild & 1 moderate) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 4 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine & the other 2 are found from screening of residents in areas under movement restrictions. 1 factory has been elevated to Medium Risk. 1 Medium Risk residential building has been re-designated to Low Risk. 1 residential building, 1 factory & a shopping center are currently at Medium Risk.

    At Guangxi “Autonomous” Region 7 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 228 active domestic confirmed cases in the province (227 at Baise & 1 at Nanning). 1 village in Baise is currently at High Risk, & 6 villages, 2 residential compounds, a business & a hotel there are currently at Medium Risk.

    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 32 new domestic confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic). There currently are 175 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.

    • At Manzhouli in Hulun Buir there currently are 5 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 1 sub-district Is currently at Medium Risk.
    • Bayan Nur reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, at Urad Left Banner, a person recently returned from Hohhot.
    • Baotou reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic). There are currently 8 active domestic confirmed cases (5 at Hondlon District & 3 at Darhan’muminggan United Banner) in the city (all presumed Delta). 5 residential compounds & 2 villages have been elevated to Medium Risk.
    • Hohhot reported 30 new domestic cases, all are traced close contacts, persons deemed at elevated risk to exposure, or residents in areas under lock down. The outbreak is of the Delta Variant, accelerated by 2 weddings. There currently are 161 active domestic confirmed cases in the city (all presumed Delta, 36 at Xinhot District, 38 at Saihan District, 20 at Yuquan District, 17 at Hodong’arad District, 24 at Tumed Left Banner, 23 at Wuchuan County, & 3 at Horinger County). 2 Medium Risk villages have been elevated to High Risk. 3 villages are currently at High Risk. 18 communities, 6 villages, 1 shopping center & 2 residential compounds have been elevated to Medium Risk. 35 communities, 11 villages,1 shopping center, 2 residential compounds & a plantation are currently at Medium Risk.

    At Tianjin Municipality 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases remaining.

    Liaoning Province reported 7 new domestic confirmed cases. There currently are 145 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Huludao reported 7 new domestic confirmed cases, all at Suizhong County, all traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 144 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.
    • At Shenyang here currently are 1 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.

    Shanxi Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed cases, all at Jinzhong, a family that returned from Hohhot in Inner Mongolia on 2/17. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed case remaining in the province (5 at Jinzhong & 1 at Datong).

    At Hebei Province there currently are 7 active domestic confirmed cases (2 at Xiong’an, 4 at Hengshui & 1 at Langfang) remaining in the province, all part of the transmission chain from the cold storage warehouses outbreak in Fengtai District in Beijing.

    Heilongjiang Province reported 2 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases, all at Jidong County in Jixi, 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed (8 at Mudanjiang & 33 at Jixi) & 31 active domestic asymptomatic (13 at Heihe, 15 at Mudanjiang, 3 at Qiqihar, & 2 at Jixi) cases in the province. 3 residential buildings at Heihe remain at Medium Risk.

    Chengmai County in Hainan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case there, a person recently arriving from Jixi in Heilongjiang.

    Shanghai Municipality reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both traced close contacts of the imported asymptomatic case reported on 2/17, & have been under centralized quarantine since then. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 3 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 11 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 6 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently is 93 active domestic confirmed & 35 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    • Suzhou reported 10 new domestic confirmed (5 mild & 5 moderate) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 8 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine & the other 3 are found from screening of persons deemed at elevated risk of exposure. There currently are 91 active domestic confirmed & 24 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 7 residential buildings & a tea house have been elevated to Medium Risk. 11 residential buildings, 1 factory & a business have been elevated to Medium Rusk. 1 residential compound, 47 residential buildings, a dormitory, a factory, 2 businesses & a tea house are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Wuxi reported 1 new domestic confirmed (previously asymptomatic) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all new domestic positive cases are  traced close contact already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 11 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all part of the transmission chain spreading from Suzhou.
    • At Nantong there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, part of the transmission chain spreading from Suzhou.

    Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, a person who traveled from out of province.

    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.

    Sichuan Province reported 4 new domestic confirmed (mild) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all at Chengdu, the index case is found at fever clinic & the others are traced close contacts. There currently are 4 active domestic confirmed (all at Chengdu) & 5 active domestic asymptomatic (3 at Chengdu & 2 at Luzhou) cases in the province. 6 residential compounds in Chengdu have been elevated to Medium Risk.

    At Henan Province 6 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 29 active domestic confirmed cases in the province. 

    Yunnan Province reported 4 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 18 active domestic confirmed & 24 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the province.

    • Honghe Prefecture reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), at Hekou County. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city (all presumed Omicron BA.2), all at Hekou County. plantation at Hekou County has been elevated to Medium Risk. 1 plantation is currently at Medium Risk.
    • Dehong Prefecture report 3 new domestic confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic), all at Ruili, the new domestic positive case is a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed & 4 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the prefecture (all presumed Omicron BA.2), all at Ruili.
    • Wenshan Prefecture reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Malipo County, a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 15 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the prefecture, all at Malipo County. 1 village is currently at Medium Risk.
    • At Sipsongpanna Prefecture there currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 4 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the prefecture.

    Imported Cases

    On 2/20, Mainland China reported 73 new imported confirmed cases (7 previously asymptomatic), 23 imported asymptomatic cases, 3 imported suspect cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 27 confirmed cases, 3 Chinese nationals returning from Canada & 1 from Singapore, 22 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong, & an Indian national coming from Singapore; 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national returning from Singapore & 2 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong; 3 suspect cases, no information released
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 8 confirmed & 2 asymptomatic cases, all Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 3 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Ethiopia & Thailand, & a foreign national coming from Russia; 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Ethiopia & Russia
    • Dongguan in Guangdong Province – 3 confirmed (previously asymptomatic) & 4 asymptomatic cases, coming from Hong Kong
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 3 confirmed cases, all coming from Hong Kong
    • Zhuhai in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed & 2 asymptomatic cases, all Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong
    • Jiangmen in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), coming from Hong Kong
    • Zhongshan in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), coming from Hong Kong
    • Beijing Municipality – 9 confirmed cases, 3 Mainland Chinese & 6 Hong Kong residents coming from Hong Kong
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 5 confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic), 4 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong & a South Korean national coming from South Korea 
    • Chongzuo in Guangxi “Autonomous” Region – 4 confirmed & 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Fangchenggang in Guangxi “Autonomous” Region – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), no information released
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 3 confirmed cases, 3 Hong Kong residents coming from Hong Kong
    • Tianjin Municipality – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Czechia
    • Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a crew member off a cargo ship w/ last port of call in Russia
    • Chongqing Municipality – 1 confirmed case, coming from Hong Kong; 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Singapore
    • Lanzhou in Gansu Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese nationals returning from Russia
    • Wuhan in Hubei Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both coming from Pakistan
    • Harbin in Heilongjiang Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from South Korea
    • Jinan in Shandong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from South Korea
    • Hefei in Anhui Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
    • Yunnan Province (location not specified) – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Laos, via land border crossing

    Overall in Mainland China, 42 confirmed cases recovered (19 imported), 27 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (26 imported) & 12 were reclassified as confirmed cases (7 imported), & 1,039 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,724 active confirmed cases in the country (883 imported), 10 in serious condition (1 imported), 686 active asymptomatic cases (572 imported), 3 suspect cases (all imported). 36,791 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 2/20, 3,084.712M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 3.924M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 2/21, Hong Kong reported 7,533 new positive cases, 12 imported & 6,055 domestic. There are another 6,892 whoa re preliminarily positive awaiting confirmation.

    On 2/21, Taiwan reported 49 new positive cases, 4 imported & 45 domestic (all already under quarantine).

  2. 2.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY:

    NYSDOH:
    There were 89 new cases of COVID-19 reported on 2/20.
    These probably don’t include home test results.

  5. 5.

    Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan

    I heard from my lawn guy on Friday. He got Covid, “recovered” but with scarring on his lungs, he is shutting down his business. Docs told him that IF the treatment plan is successful, he may get close normal function back in eighteen MONTHS.

    He’s the first person in my circle to have gotten sick with long-term effects (that I am aware of), and it’s scary as all hell.

  7. 7.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 26,832 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 3,221,680 cases. It also reports 37 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 32,347 deaths – 1.00% of the cumulative reported total, 1.09% of resolved cases.

    Malaysia’s nationwide Rt standss at 1.21.

    98 confirmed cases are in ICU, 61 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 18,459 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 2,937,655 patients recovered – 91.2% of the cumulative reported total.

    15 new clusters were reported yesterday, for a cumulative total of 6,719 clusters. 500 clusters are currently active; 6,219 clusters are now inactive.

    26,764 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 68 new cases were imported.

    The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 128,153 doses of vaccine on 20th February: 61,230 first doses, 464 second doses, and 66,459 booster doses. The cumulative total is 66,148,498 doses administered: 26,619,990 first doses, 25,742,964 second doses, and 13,992,391 booster doses. 81.5% of the population have received their first dose, 78.8% their second dose, and 42.8% their booster dose.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    @satby:

    The one thing I’ll say is that the stat seems kind of meaningless, since Omicron overtook Delta.  It’s not as if we could test the lethality of each variant independently.

  9. 9.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Correction on the Hong Kong data. The breakdown of imported versus domestic cases are from yesterday’s summary, the city’s authorities did not provide a breakdown for today’s summary, but it is safe to assume the vast majority is domestic.

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    the government wanted to move from state mandation to encouraging personal responsibility.

    Conservatives think “personal responsibility” is what others must exercise.

  11. 11.

    Cermet

    @Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan: Lung scarring from Covid might be extremely common even in teens; that said, in most such cases it has no noticeable impact upon the person. This study was done in the first year of the original Covid wave. Maybe its less or maybe more with Omicron but MD’s don’t really look for it/care as along as no one is making issues out of it. Unfortunately for your Lawn care guy, his case was atypical. Getting Covid, even for healthy people, can be a roll of the dice.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    That changes this April, when the French Quarter Festival returns.

    Good thing I’m going in March.

  16. 16.

    satby

    @Baud: ahh, you’re too fixated on variants when it’s all still covid-19, with all the potential risks of that disease regardless of variant. I think that’s why we’re seeing this differently. But whatevs. Fini.

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    Oh crap. Fixy.

    FYI.

    A Wisconsin youngster has died of the rare and poorly understood COVID-19-related Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, becoming the state’s first such fatality and only the 60th in the nation.

    State health officials said the child, who was under 10 years old, came from southeastern Wisconsin but declined to provide the age, gender or date of the child’s death.

    The child, one of 183 to come down with the disease in Wisconsin, died sometime within the last month, said Tom Haupt, a respiratory disease epidemiologist for the state Department of Health Services.
    [snip]
    Although the syndrome has not been linked to the virus’ dominant omicron variant, there has been a sudden increase in the dangerous condition; 33 of the 183 cases in the state have been reported since Jan. 1.

    The syndrome, which appears two to six weeks after a child has been exposed to COVID-19, can afflict children who have shown no COVID symptoms. Source

    Two’s company, three’s an infraction.

    Stringent anti-virus controls that ban public gatherings in Hong Kong of more than two people might be tightened to stop a surge in infections, the territory’s top health official said Sunday, as 14 deaths and more than 6,000 new cases were reported.

    Health Secretary Sophia Chan, speaking on a radio program, gave no details of possible new restrictions and called on the public to stay at home. Source

  19. 19.

    rikyrah

    We are going to have to have a Come to Jesus moment over the damage that long-term COVID has done to MILLIONS and what that means to us as a country.

  20. 20.

    New Deal democrat

    No update this morning from 91-Divoc, so no US State information (and most don’t report over the weekend anyway). Our World in Data shows US cases down to 103,000, a decline of 40% from one week ago. If this continues for one more week, we will finally be back down to our 2020 range.  Deaths are down about 15% from peak at 2160. With cases down over 87% down from their peak, if deaths do wind up following cases’ pattern, that would put deaths at maybe 350 one month from now.

    Neverthess deaths in the US have shown a more extended peaking process in the US compared with cases. There is evidence of the same pattern in other countries. Deaths in the UK had a similar long peak compared with cases, before falling in lockstep, now down about 50%.  Portugal is also showing a similar long peak in deaths, but since cases only peaked 3 weeks ago, more cannot be said. Same with Israel Ireland’s data is too noisy to tell. In Canada deaths looked slightly, elongated, but are now down over 50%, following the pattern in cases.

    A couple of other items of interest. This looks important from Dr. Eric Topol, based on 6 separate reports all showing the same thing:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1495545191444336641

    The totality of evidence now supports: “Fully vaccinated” = 3-shots or Natural Immunity + 1-shot“

    Second, on whether BA.2 is more lethal than original Omicron.

    https://mobile.twitter.com/alexbolze/status/1492667766037381128

    Eric Bolze says that “BA.2 is dominant in: India, Denmark, Sweden, Singapore, Austria, South Africa & Philippines” as of about a week ago, relying on the following excellent site showing variant prevalence by countries graphically:

    https://covariants.org/per-country

    A respondent noted that Guam also shows BA.2 as the dominant strain.

    As you probably know, an animal study out of Japan last week indicated BA.2 may be more lethal.

    Deaths in South Africa have been skyrocketing in the past 10 days, so that is consistent with more lethality. In Denmark deaths have also been rising, but since cases just finishished a very extended peaking process -also possibly due to BA.2, the evidence is equivocal. There does not seem to be any evidence of more lethality in any of the other countries.

    Also, Guam looks very similar to Hawaii. It was hit later, and had a later peak. The peak was much more gradual, over a three week period. While the data is very noisy, perhaps due to Guam’s small population of about 160,000, deaths appear to be rolling over slowly as well.

    In any event, with the possible exception of South Africa, there doesn’t appear to be any empirical evidence yet supporting more lethality.

  21. 21.

    Ken

    4 health experts on the covid travel precautions we should keep

    I kind of like the one where passengers who don’t obey the flight attendants are duct-taped to their seats and put on a lifetime no-fly list.

  22. 22.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @YY_Sima Qian: I’m rarely awake early enough for these threads but today I happen to be & I have to ask, how are shopping centers, factories & tea houses at “medium risk”? That means lockdown except for food runs & medical testing, right? So why wouldn’t anything other than residential housing (village, hotel, etc) just be closed & every one sent to quarantine at home?

  23. 23.

    Brit in Chicago

    @rikyrah: If you mean that the anti-vaxxers and Covid-deniers are going to realize they were wrong all along…. Well wouldn’t it be pretty to think so? But not plausible.

    What we need is a come-to-science-and-common-sense moment, but we’re not going to get that either.

  24. 24.

    Marmot

    Hi and good morning!

    Just curious, but how come the coronavirus update always includes so much about China and the zero Covid policy? It always seems a little strange to me to have the high death rates of other regions getting less space, but I assume there’s a reason.

    Thanks for doing these every every morning for (nearly) years, AL! I read it every day.

  25. 25.

    debbie

    @Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan:

    I’ve applied for an extension to keep working from home. My doctor sent me a copy of the form she’d completed. The diagnosis included the word “death.”  Yikes. It’s not like that’s news, but seeing it on the printed page is something very different. I feel for and like your lawn guy and am glad he’s taking steps to get past it.

  26. 26.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    I read satby’s remark as a counterpoint to everyone around her (and us) how so many people were dismissing the risk of Omicron. “Live with it, libtards.”

  27. 27.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    As I understand it, Omicron is milder than Delta in the same way that taking a bullet in the gut is milder than getting shot through the skull.

  28. 28.

    Kalakal

    Mrs kalakal has now been off the prednisone for 3 days so she should now have her immune system back. I have been terrified of getting covid at work ( Florida, unmasked public everywhere at work) and infecting her for the last 10 days. OT, I can heavily recommend knee replacements, it’s only been a month and still painfull/awkward but the improvement for her so far is wonderful

  29. 29.

    Anne Laurie

    @Marmot: Just curious, but how come the coronavirus update always includes so much about China and the zero Covid policy? It always seems a little strange to me to have the high death rates of other regions getting less space, but I assume there’s a reason.

    I share what I can find in a daily three-hour twitter search, within the limits of what one WP post can bear (about 35 ‘items’).  Right now, there’s a lot of stories coming out of Hong Kong, plus the Olympics in China. Other weeks, there will be more about here in the US… or in Britain / Europe… or science/tech stories.

    I count on (and am VERY grateful for!) commentors to update the rest of us on their local conditions.

    And, believe me, I look forward to the day when I can cut back to doing this post every few days, or even once a week!

  30. 30.

    Wvng

    @rikyrah:

    Covid’s long term disability issues (severe cognitive decline, diabetes, cardiac complications, respiratory) are actually a far greater societal problem than mass death, affecting far more people. That’s what made the following tweet feel like getting hit In the head with a hammer. And it’s not just the West, Russia and really every nation in the old Soviet sphere has handled this terribly.

    “While the West wrecks its countries long term with mass death and long term disability, Asia protects its citizens and will reap the rewards.”

  31. 31.

    Fair Economist

    @New Deal democrat: With increasingly widespread home testing and probably just ignoring symptoms US cases are not down as much as the headline numbers, so don’t expect similar decline in deaths. I expect our results will be similar to the UK, with the decline initially much slower. After a while the fraction of reported cases will stabilize at a lower number and matching will resume but at a higher CFR.

    The other issue is what is going to be the new steady state. The UK and some better managed states like CA had cases post Delta level off at distinctly non-trivial levels. Presumably Omicron will have higher steady state levels from being more contagious, although we will have to see. South Africa has nearly leveled off, at rates several times their post Delta levels.

  32. 32.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: The Omicron “variant” is substantially different in physical structure to Delta or previous SARS-nCoV-2 viruses. Some epidemiologists consider Omicron to be a Gen 2 version of the disease, not simply a slightly evolved version of the original Wuhan virus or its first-generation progeny like Alpha and Delta. One commentator went so far as to call it “COVID-21”.

    I’m still waiting to see any news about any Omicron-specific vaccines reaching the point of being distributed — my hope is that such a vaccine would work better than existing authorised COVID-19 vaccines and especially on any new Omicron-based variant that might appear in the near future.

  33. 33.

    Ohio Mom

    @Anne Laurie: I for one appreciate the international focus. I check my local stats every morning and sometimes look at the NYT’s U.S. map but I depend on you (and the other commentators) to inform me about the rest of the world.

    There certainly isn’t such wide coverage in any of my local news sources. That said, I also look forward to the day you feel comfortable in reducing the number of Covid posts you feel necessary — won’t that great!

  34. 34.

    jonas

    Tweets like Delthia Ricks’, and related headlines, are really annoying. Nobody I’m aware of has dismissed the scale or seriousness of the omicron wave. Saying omicron, on average, has caused less acute illness in most cases, however, particularly among the vaccinated, is not controversial. The death toll was higher because so many more people contracted it compared to previous waves. If omicron were anywhere near as deadly as delta, we’d be looking at hundreds of thousands more deaths.

  35. 35.

    Guac

    South Carolina will apparently stop reporting covid case numbers in March. They’ll just report hospitalizations and deaths, once a week. Will also be closing state-run testing sites in early March.  I know some other states are planning this reporting scale-back too…

    Is CDC on board with this?? Obviously cases were never a perfectly accurate measure, but they gave us some sense of trend lines. I worry that when our next spike starts up, SC simply won’t know about it for weeks?

  36. 36.

    Sloane Ranger

    Johnson’s plan to end all restrictions early is driven solely by his need to shore up his support among Tory backbenchers. There is no support for it among public health experts. Not only is he intending to end the isolation mandate, but the height of insanity is that, according to the reports, he plans to end the distribution of free COVID testing kits, so, even if you have symptoms and are socially responsible enough to want to test to see if it’s a cold, allergies or COVID, you won’t be able to.

    Apparently the Cabinet meeting to brief Ministers on the plans details has been delayed due to some issues around this, such as the devolved administrations wanting to retain the availability of free testing for another few months, plus some debate in Health and Social Services about retaining it for vulnerable groups (and if so, which ones).

    Now, the stats.

    There were 25,696 new cases reported in the UK on Sunday. The rolling 7-day average is down by 25.5%. These figures will not be accurate due to weekend office closures, Wales and Scotland not reporting at all. New cases by nation,

    England – 23,831

    Northern Ireland -1865

    Scotland – Did not report

    Wales – Did not report.

    Deaths – There were 74 deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is down by 19.3%. These figures will also not be accurate for the same reasons as for case numbers. 69 deaths were in England and 5 in Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales did not report.

    Testing – Not updated at weekends.

    Hospitalisations – Not updated at weekends.

    Vaccinations – As of 19th February, 91.4% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot, 85% had had 2, and 66.1% had had a 3rd shot/booster. The vaccination programme is almost stalled with numbers going up by 0.1% a week on average.

  37. 37.

    Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan

    @debbie: If I had the option, I’d still be working from home too. Most of my job can be done remotely, but the bosses wanted us back. I will say that if we feel ill in any way, we go home, no questions asked. But it shouldn’t come to that.

  38. 38.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby: I hear ya. It was foolhardy and misleading to the general populace to call omicron “mild,” which, like it or not, led to more casual behavior and a lot more deaths.

  39. 39.

    germy

    I just stopped into a pharmacy to see if they had any n95 masks.

    I figured they’d tell me they were out, or that they’d sell me one or two and then give me forms to fill out for my insurance co.

    Instead they pointed to a big bin behind me, full of n95s.  The sign said “Limit 3 per customer” but they told me I could take as many as I wanted, as long as I didn’t try to fill a bag or anything.

    Apparently a guy had been in earlier, trying to fill up a bag full.  Maybe his goal was to sell them online or something.

    Anyway, now I have about fifteen good masks.

  40. 40.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @germy: Which pharmacy was that? A big chain like CVS or Walgreens? I could use some new masks and am going into town today, so would love to be able to pick up a few.

  42. 42.

    germy

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    The weird thing is, I remember reading somewhere what a hassle it was trying to get the free masks.  We were supposed to mail the bar code to our insurance companies or something.

    Now I wonder if the person writing that was simply trying to discourage people or make Biden’s plans look bad.

  43. 43.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Chacal Charles Calthrop: It means anyone who has frequented these establishment from a certain date will have a yellow health code & need to be tested ASAP, & possibly placed under home or centralized quarantine

    Workers in many/most Chinese factories also live in dormitories, often on site. If a factory compound is at Medium Risk, then the dormitories are under lock down.

  46. 46.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @satby: that might be counting deaths because patients had something else, but couldn’t get into ICU  or had to forgo treatment because the hospitals were overwhelmed.

  48. 48.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Wvng: Heck, even with normal Covid it takes like a month and half to get over the effects.  It’s not “a little cold” like that Brazilian idiot things.

  50. 50.

    Brachiator

    I wonder if anti-vaxx idiots will whine that they are second class citizens because they cannot go to Australia.

  51. 51.

    Peale

    @Guac: That’s the goal.  They believe that reporting the case counts makes people realize that maybe they should stay home. So next time, we won’t have the information necessary to determine whether community spread is too high and we should voluntarily stay in.  Nope. Next up, anyone who is found not drinking in a bar on Saturday and sitting in a pew on Sunday will be fined.

  52. 52.

    J R in WV

    @O. Felix Culpa: ​
     

    Which pharmacy was that? A big chain like CVS or Walgreens?

    The last time I was at the Kroger’s Pharmacy they had a display full of N95 masks, the sign said they were provided by the Federal Government, so many per person, 6 IIRC.

    I took that many for me and for Wife.

    Her home health PT just left after working her through a gentle set of exercises intended to improve her mobility. A nice guy. So far all of the home health folks have been really nice, thankfully.

    I have a bunch of N95 masks I bought at Home Depot. There and Lowe’s is a good place for that level of protection, intended for use while sanding, spraying paint, woodwork, cleaning in a dusty environment, etc.

  54. 54.

    Marmot

    @Anne Laurie:

    And, believe me, I look forward to the day when I can cut back to doing this post every few days, or even once a week!

    That’s the rest of us too!

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