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Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

This blog will pay for itself.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

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

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

Biden: Oh no. We’ve upset Big Pharma again.

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

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday / Friday, Feb. 24-25

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday / Friday, Feb. 24-25

by | 49 Comments

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… The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday will announce a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at COVID-19 case counts to a more holistic view of risk from the coronavirus to a community. Under current guidelines, masks are recommended for people residing in communities of substantial or high transmission — roughly 95% of U.S. counties, according to the latest data.

The new metrics will still consider caseloads, but also take into account hospitalizations and local hospital capacity, which have been markedly improved during the emergence of the omicron variant. That strain is highly transmissible, but indications are that it is less severe than earlier strains, particularly for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted. Under the new guidelines, the vast majority of Americans will no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended, based on current data.

The new policy comes as the Biden administration moves to shift its focus to preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, rather than all instances of infection, as part of a strategy adjustment for a new “phase” in the response as the virus becomes endemic…

The change comes as nearly all U.S. states that had put in place indoor mask-wearing mandates for the winter omicron surge are letting them lapse as cases have precipitously dropped nationwide. Some have eliminated the mandates entirely, while others have kept mask-wearing requirements in place for schools and medical facilities.

It was not immediately clear how the new CDC guidance would affect U.S. federal mandates requiring face coverings on public transportation.

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… The mainland detected a total of 142 imported cases with confirmed symptoms for Thursday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Friday.

That marks the highest imported caseload since the authority began classifying domestically transmitted cases and infected travellers from outside the mainland separately, in March 2020.

More than 100 imported cases came from Hong Kong, with 47 reported in the southern city of Shenzhen and 51 in the eastern municipality of Shanghai, local health authorities’ bulletins showed. The capital Beijing also detected seven symptomatic cases arriving from Hong Kong.

Dozens of truck drivers who travel between Shenzhen and Hong Kong tested positive for the virus this month, data from the Shenzhen authority showed.

Shenzhen, which has suspended or terminated quarantine exemptions for 882 cross-border drivers who violated virus control rules, said it would have patrol and video cameras in place to prevent breaches by drivers…

No new deaths were reported, leaving the death toll at 4,636.

As of Feb. 24, mainland China had reported a total of 108,604 cases with confirmed symptoms, including both local and imported ones.

… The coronavirus outlook for those fleeing the fighting is grim, according to Dr. Eric S. Toner, a senior scholar at the Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University…

Senior Biden administration officials say that between one million and five million people in Ukraine could seek safety in some other part of that country or in neighboring countries. On Thursday, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees said that it was already increasing its operations in Ukraine and neighboring countries.

Dr. Toner said that he expected Ukraine’s neighbors to see a rise in their Covid case numbers and additional stress on their health care systems from refugees, but those problems will be worse inside Ukraine.

“They’re going to be caring for Covid patients, along with war victims,” he said. “They’re going to be understaffed because of the war, and it’s going to harm their chances of keeping patients in isolation or have social distancing. It’s going to be a mess.”

Ukraine is reporting an average of about 26,000 new cases a day, or 63 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford. Only about one-third of Ukraine’s 44 million people are fully inoculated against the coronavirus, though Ukrainian officials said this month that the army had a 99 percent vaccination rate…

The Russian invasion is also likely to hurt Ukraine’s ability to track the virus, Dr. Toner said. If the county’s data becomes unreliable, that would be a particularly important loss for epidemiologists because the country is in the heart of Eastern Europe.

“I would suspect that we’re going to stop getting a lot of data from Ukraine,” Dr. Toner said. “The hospitals and local health departments are not going to have that as a priority. ”

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Reader Interactions

49Comments

  1. 1.

    New Deal democrat

    91-Divoc is still inoperative, so this data comes via the NYT.

    Cases in the US declined to 74,000, only about 3,000 above their post-Delta lows. Deaths declined slightly to 1859, about 30% below their Omicron peak 23 days ago. Deaths so far have declined at a much slower rate than cases did from their peak (but also rose at a much slower rate as well). In the first 9 days after peak, they only declined 200, but have declined by 400 in each of the two weeks since, so the rate is accelerating. So I still expect a very low death count, perhaps as low as 250 one month from now.

    Cases continue to decline in every State and in DC and PR, with the exception of ME (whose much-delayed Omicron peak was almost certainly 4 days ago).

    On a per capita basis, the US had about 22 new cases per 100,000 population daily in the past week. The worst States had roughly 60-70. The best had about 10-15. I will try to do a more exact breakdown over the weekend.

    While BA.2 may make for a longer tail, there is no evidence so far that it will cause a renewed wave. Since 0 jurisdictions out of 52 have stopped declining, it appears we have a ways to go with the decline in cases. It is increasingly likely that we will have a spring respite much like last year’s. I know of no reason why Omicron deaths shouldn’t follow, but they have not declined at the same rate so far.

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Some jobs for traveling nurses paid more than $10,000 a week. Question: will the boom last?

    No.

    SATSQ.

  6. 6.

    Ohio Mom

    I see fewer and fewer masks, I think we are already halfway into the grand experiment of lifting mask mandates. I don’t think it will end well, in the mean time, I will be masking and avoiding big crowds.

    The thing that will help the most is vaccinating the little ones and that appears to have hit a snag.

  7. 7.

    satby

    @rikyrah:  The mask rules will go to individual voluntary use only in most places and I expect that unless trends suddenly reverse it will be soon. People will wear them based on their own calculation of personal risk. But most people are ready to drop them as soon as mandates say they can. Compliance around my area was never great, but it’s down to about 30%.

  8. 8.

    Matt McIrvin

    I think the Omicron peak is actually qualitatively different from the ones we’ve seen before, in that it’s the first one to infect so many people that the reproduction rate is going down, not from our non-medical interventions (which are generally inadequate at this point), but from the acquired immunity of infected people.

    In that sense the situation is more like last spring, when we managed to drive wild-type/Alpha infections almost to nil just through mass vaccination. Those were less contagious viruses so just the level of immunity we got from vaccination, with kind of spotty coverage, was enough to suppress the pandemic. Now, it’s not. But that plus immunity from Omicron infection is doing it.

    It’s always hard to talk about because whenever you mention the positive benefits of acquired immunity from infection, the immediate takeaway is “natural immunity is better!” which is a code phrase for “it’s OK not to get vaccinated.” But that’s madness. Get your “natural immunity” while unvaccinated and you’re playing Russian roulette.

    Loosening mask guidelines is not necessarily madness under these circumstances. But, I would say, not quite yet. Give it another month or two. And always, always be prepared to walk it back later when the next wave comes. That’s the part that people don’t get.

  9. 9.

    Scamp Dog

    Mask use has plummeted here in the north Denver suburbs. Or at least in the H&R Block office where I work, and the grocery stores I go to—they’re the only places I go, to be fair.

    I’m not looking forward to the results.

  10. 10.

    Fair Economist

    @New Deal democrat: Cases are no longer comparable to pre-Omicron rates since people and institutions are testing less and a lot is home testing and unreported. To compare, we have to look at wastewater and hospitalizations, although those have other problems.

  11. 11.

    The Thin Black Duke

    I’m gonna keep doing what I’ve been doing: wear my mask indoors, avoid crowds, stay away from concerts, restaurants and movie theaters. My Beloved works from home and I’m retired, so we’re luckier than most. Stupid people can do whatever they want and when the next nasty-ass variant hits, we’ll be ready. But the stupid people won’t be.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 32,070 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 3,337,227 cases. It also reported 46 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 32,534 deaths – 0.97% of the cumulative reported total, 1.07% of resolved cases.

    Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 1.13.

    135 confirmed cases are in ICU, 74 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 23,332 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 3,018,172 patients recovered – 90.4% of the cumulative reported total.

    16 new clusters were reported yesterday, for a cumulative total of 6,762clusters. 510 clusters are currently active; 6,252 clusters are now inactive.

    31,861 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 209 new cases were imported.

    The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 137,197 doses of vaccine on 24th February: 47,994 first doses, 956 second doses, and 88,247 booster doses. The cumulative total is 66,729,880 doses administered: 26,825,248 first doses, 25,746,620 second doses, and 14,365,114 booster doses. 82.1% of the population have received their first dose, 78.8% their second dose, and 44.0% their booster dose.

  14. 14.

    lowtechcyclist

    The problem with temporarily abandoning the mandates is that people won’t start masking up again until after the next wave is well underway, and it’ll be too late to keep it from killing tens of thousands of people. Or more.

    Would be nice to keep the masks on long enough to keep the next wave from getting any traction.

    While I’m at it, I’d also like a pet unicorn.

  15. 15.

    New Deal democrat

    @Fair Economist:

    “Cases are no longer comparable to pre-Omicron rates since people and institutions are testing less and a lot is home testing and unreported.”

    That’s not really the situation compared with the first wave of spring 2020, since testing was virtually non-existent then.

    And even if it is true of Omicron, that would mean that there have been even *more* cases, both on the way up and the way down. In other words, confirmed cases should still show the *trend* just as well. The same is true of deaths vs. cases; namely, because the trend in cases should be equally accurate on the way up and down, that should lead to similar trends in deaths. And of course, deaths themselves are rather – objective.

    If you have a nationwide collated cumulative source for wastewater results going back at least a year, that’s awesome. But I have heard of no such thing, and I do not have the slightest desire to chase that down on a municipality by municipality basis.

  16. 16.

    satby

    @The Thin Black Duke: TBF, lack of a mask is no longer a signifier of covid denialism, as many of the people now not wearing them are fully vaccinated and boosted. So not stupid, necessarily, just not calculating risk the same as you or I are. Which probably factors in so many individual variables it’s pointless to assume motives.

  17. 17.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    Greece: yesterday’s report, per Kathimerini, had new cases dropping to 15,829 and deaths at 65 for the latest 24-hour reporting period. 454 ICU patients remain intubated.

    Also, Greece is not lifting mask mandates. There were reports speculating they would, but outdoor mask mandates are still in effect. Indoors, I believe the rules still require double masks or FFP-2 grade filter masks. (Fortunately, both are widely available, at least in Athens.)

  18. 18.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby: Our governor suddenly dropped the mask mandate last week (she’s been great up ’til now, but this was a cynical reelection move IMO). So far the masking remains upwards of 75% in most stores in Santa Fe. We’ll see how long that lasts

    ETA: We had excellent mask compliance in Santa Fe County before this policy change. Close to 100%, with only a few chin diapers and under-the-nose bandannas to be seen (probably Texans, LOL). Like many others on this blog, I continue to wear a mask in stores etc. Among other things, I haven’t had so much as a sniffle since the pandemic reached these shores and I kind of like staying healthy.

  19. 19.

    JMG

    The supermarket I frequent is in a town that has lifted its indoor mask requiring, lightening it to a “recommendation.” I was there yesterday, and I’d say masking was well over 90 percent of the customers as well as 100 percent of store employees who’re required to by their market’s chain. This is in one of the most vaccinated regions of highly vaccinated Massachusetts, where over 40 percent of the entire population has been boosted and over 75 percent fully vaccinated. Just from reading posts on Anne’s invaluable threads I would guess that covid-avoidance practices are more commonplace than we might think.

  20. 20.

    Mousebumples

    I’ll continue to mask for the foreseeable future, mostly because I don’t trust the public and I have a 2 year old (who is obviously unvaccinated at this point).

    Hoping good news about Pfizer or Moderna in this are group is on the horizon, but…?

  21. 21.

    Baud

    If the covidiots don’t trust the government, shouldn’t they start masking up now that mandates are being dropped?

  22. 22.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 2/24 Mainland China reported 82 new domestic confirmed (4 previously asymptomatic) & 22 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Guangdong Province reported 8 new domestic confirmed & 5 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 8 new domestic confirmed (all mild) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 9 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine & 4 are found from mass screening in areas under movement restrictions. 1 residential building, 1 office building, 1 factory & a shopping center are currently at Medium Risk.

    Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 4 new domestic confirmed cases, all at Fangchenggang, all traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. 15 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 203 active domestic confirmed cases in the province (195 at Baise, 7 at Fangchenggang & 1 at Nanning). 1 zone at Fangchenggang has been elevated to Medium Risk. 2 villages, 1 residential compound & 1 business at Baise remain 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 30 new domestic confirmed cases. 9 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 303 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 did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed (both at Urad Left Banner) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (1 each at Urad Left Banner & Linhe District) cases in the city.
    • Baotou reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both mild), both at Hondlon District, both traced close contact already under centralized quarantine. There are currently 21 active domestic confirmed cases (13 mild & 8 moderate; 16 at Hondlon District, 4 at Darhan’muminggan United Banner & 1 New High Tech Zone) in the city (all presumed Delta). 5 residential compounds & 2 villages are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Hohhot reported 28 new domestic cases. 9 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 274 active domestic confirmed cases in the city (all presumed Delta, 176 mild, 91 moderate, 7 serious & 2 critical). 3 villages are currently at High Risk. 47 communities, 13 villages,1 shopping center, 1 residential compound & a plantation are currently at Medium Risk.

    Tianjin Municipality reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (mild), a custodian at the airports found via regular screening. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city.

    Liaoning Province reported 18 new domestic confirmed cases. 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 186 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Huludao reported 18 new domestic confirmed cases (13 mild & 5 moderate), most are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine, but there appears to be a new nosocomial cluster at a hospital. There currently are 185 active domestic confirmed cases in the city (all presumed Delta). 1 village at Suizhong County is currently at High Risk, & a residential compound there is currently at Medium Risk.
    • At Shenyang 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    Shandong Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (mild), a person who had traveled to Wuhan in Hubei for business meeting/training between 2/17 – 2/20, returning to Qingdao on 2/21 & has been under centralized quarantine since 2/22. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed cases in the province (2 at Qingdao & 1 at Jinan).

    Shanxi Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases, 2 at Jinzhong (both traced close contact already under centralized quarantine) & 1 at Taiyuan (traced close contact of domestic positive case reported by Xizhou, already under centralized quarantine). There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed case remaining in the province (8 at Jinzhong & 1 each at Taiyuan & Xizhou), all part of the transmission chain spreading from Hohhot in Inner Mongolia.

    Hebei Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently is 1 active asymptomatic case (at Shijiazhuang) remaining in the province.

    Heilongjiang Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (previously asymptomatic, at Jixi) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases (all at Heihe, all from regular screening of persons in high risk occupations). 6 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed (6 at Mudanjiang & 4 at Jixi) & 27 active domestic asymptomatic (10 at Heihe, 9 at Mudanjiang, 3 at Qiqihar & 5 at Jixi) cases in the province. 2 residential compounds & a hospital at Jixi are currently at Medium Risk. 2 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 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, a traced close contact of a domestic positive cases reported elsewhere, who returned to Shanghai 2/21 & was placed under centralized quarantine. There currently are 4 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    Hubei Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both mild), both at Wuhan, both already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 21 active domestic confirmed (16 mild & 5 moderate, all at Wuhan) & 7 active domestic asymptomatic (6 at Wuhan & 1 at Huanggang) cases in the province. 3 residential buildings have been elevated to Medium Risk (1 is ~ 500 m from where I live). 4 residential buildings & 1 hotel at Wuhan are currently at Medium Risk.

    Beijing Municipality reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both mild), both traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine.

    Jiangsu Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases. 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently is 108 active domestic confirmed & 39 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    • Suzhou reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (1 mild & 1 moderate), both traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 104 active domestic confirmed & 30 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 2 residential compound, 49 residential buildings, a dormitory, a factory, 2 businesses & a tea house are currently at Medium Risk.
    • At Wuxi 2 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 9 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all part of the transmission chain spreading from Suzhou.
    • At Nantong the domestic confirmed case in the city, part of the transmission chain spreading from Suzhou.

    Sichuan Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases There currently are 26 active domestic confirmed & 11 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Chengdu reported 5 new domestic confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic), all 3 new the domestic positive cases are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 26 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city (all presumed Omicron). 4 residential compounds have been elevated to Medium Risk. 14 residential compounds are currently Medium Risk.
    • Deyang reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both traced close contacts of domestic positive cases reported elsewhere, already under centralized quarantine.
    • Mianyang reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both traced close contacts of domestic positive cases reported elsewhere, already under centralized quarantine.
    • Luzhou did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 4 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

    At Henan Province there currently are 17 active domestic confirmed cases in the province. 

    Yunnan Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 9 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 33 active domestic confirmed & 38 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the province.

    • Honghe Prefecture reported 4 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all at Hekou County, all via mass screening. There currently are 14 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city (all presumed Omicron BA.2), all at Hekou County. 1 residential compound & 1 plantation are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Zhenkang County in Lincang reported 1 new domestic confirmed (previously asymptomatic) & 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all new domestic positive cases are found via mass screening.  There currently are 3 new domestic confirmed & 13 new domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 zone has been elevated to Medium Risk.
    • Ruili in Dehong Prefecture reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, found via regular screening of border villagers. There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed & 5 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the prefecture (all presumed Omicron BA.2), all at Ruili.
    • At Wenshan Prefecture 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 & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the prefecture.

    The Beijing Para-Olympic “Closed Loop” did not reported any new positive cases.

    Imported Cases

    On 2/24, Mainland China reported 142 new imported confirmed cases (31 previously asymptomatic), 87 imported asymptomatic cases, 7 imported suspect cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 59 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Canada, Ghana (via Amsterdam Schiphol), Papua New Guinea (via Sydney), Singapore, Thailand & Timor Leste (via Seoul), 51 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong, a Chinese crew member off a cargo ship w/ last port of call in Taiwan, & a Singaporean national coming Singapore; 22 symptomatic cases, 21 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong & a Chinese national coming from Canada; 7 suspect cases, no information released
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 16 confirmed case, 1 Chinese national returning from Japan & 15 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong; 8 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning Japan & Romania, & 6 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong
    • Dongguan in Guangdong Province – 15 confirmed & 12 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Hong Kong
    • Zhuhai in Guangdong Province – 6 confirmed & 4 asymptomatic cases, 6 Mainland Chinese & 4 Hong Kong residents returning from Hong Kong
    • Huizhou in Guangdong Province – 6 confirmed & 6 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Hong Kong
    • Jiangmen in Guangdong Province – 4 confirmed & 4 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Hong Kong
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 3 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national returning from Vietnam & 2 foreign national coming from Japan; 3 asymptomatic cases, a Chinese national returning from Kenya,  a Mainland Chinese resident returning from Hong Kong, & a foreign national coming from Turkey
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 2 confirmed case, 1 each from Myanmar & Hong Kong
    • Beijing Municipality – 8 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national returning from Thailand, & 5 Mainland Chinese & 2 Hong Kong residents returning from Hong Kong; 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 6 confirmed cases (all previously asymptomatic), all Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong; 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Cambodia & Egypt
    • Liangshan Prefecture in Sichuan Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Laos; the case had arrived via land border crossing in Yunnan on 12/6, returned to Liangshan on 1/26, testing positive on 2/24; very skeptical this case’s infection took place outside of China
    • Chongzuo in Guangxi “Autonomous” Region – 4 confirmed & 10 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Xiamen in Fujian Province – 4 confirmed cases, a Chinese national returning from Australia, an Indian national coming from India, & 2 Taiwanese residents coming from Taiwan
    • Putian in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
    • Changchun in Jilin Province – 2 confirmed cases, both coming from South Korea
    • Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from Russia, off a flight that landed at Shanghai
    • Wuxi in Jiangsu Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from Hong Kong, off a flight that landed at Shanghai
    • Jiangsu Province (location not specified) – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released 
    • Wuhan in Hubei Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from Pakistan; 4 asymptomatic cases, 3 coming from Pakistan & 1 from South Korea
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from Hong Kong; 4 asymptomatic cases, 1 each coming from Chad, Italy, the Philippines & South Korea
    • Qingdao in Shandong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Japanese national returning from Japan
    • Jinan in Shandong Province – 3 asymptomatic case, all Chinese nationals returning from Germany
    • Harbin in Heilongjiang Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from South Korea
    • Yunnan Province (location not specified) – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Laos, via land border crossing
    • Tianjin Municipality – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the Philippines

    Overall in Mainland China, 68 confirmed cases recovered (29 imported), 32 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (21 imported) & 35 were reclassified as confirmed cases (31 imported), & 1,499 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 2,254 active confirmed cases in the country (1,199 imported), 18 in serious condition (1 imported), 816 active asymptomatic cases (668 imported), 7 suspect cases. 56,114 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 2/24, 3,108.286M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 6.526M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 2/25, Hong Kong reported 10,010 new positive cases (4 imported & 10,006 domestic), 47 deaths (5 fully vaccinated). There are significant outbreaks in the penitentiary system, w/ 202 confirmed cases among prisoners & 135 preliminarily positive.

    On 2/25, Taiwan reported 68 new positive cases, 65 imported & 3 domestic (2 w/o sources of infection identified).

  23. 23.

    Dan B

    This rush to drop masks seems insane.  What harm is there to waiting another month?  We risk an increase in the strain on hospital personnel.  We risk a new variant.  This is like getting out of your car in traffic because traffic is only ten miles an hour and you can see your destination.  Fortunately in Seattle I’m seeing 100% mask compliance indoors.  I’m known to shout at people to wear their masks prroperly and plan to leave stores if there is someone without a mask and let the staff know why.

    There are 5 million Covid orphans.  Are we willing to accept a 10% increase?  Are we ready to find out we must go back to lockdown because we jumped the gun?  Are we asking the immune compromised if they feel safe? How will we feel if a deadly new variant arises?

    We desperately need a mass media campaign to spell out the risks and weave a narrative no matter the howls from the foolish.

  24. 24.

    Betty Cracker

    If the CDC drops mask mandates, will anti-vax/mask/science demagogues like Ron DeSantis STFU? Haha, no! They’ll just keep lying.

  25. 25.

    satby

    @lowtechcyclist: problem with temporarily abandoning the mandates is that people won’t start masking up again

    Maybe it’s because I live in a weird mishmash area of progressive surrounded by troglodyte, but I’ve witnessed people who relaxed wearing masks before the Omicron wave resume them during the peak of it. So some will, even absent any mandate to do so. There’s been no requirement to mask up in IN since mid-last year, just a “suggestion”.

    People still smoke, even though the health risks are well known. It’s frustrating when people don’t follow what we consider obviously good health advice. Masks are going to end up like that.

  28. 28.

    Dan B

    @satby: There are plenty of breakthrough cases.  These are contagious for a shorter period than un-vaxed but contagious is contagious to a child or the immunocompromised.  And there are the unlucky who get seriously ill and/or die.  The unmasked are selfishly calculating their individual risk, as you say.  They are being much less careful about protecting their overall community.

  29. 29.

    sab

    @satby: I noticed mask use going back up in my blue Ohio suburb this winter. Not so much in the red suburbs.

    The local hospital chains all ran full page newspaper ads begging us to mask up because they were swamped. Six different hospital chains joining together to run the ads in every local paper.

    So we in the NE corner are now no longer overwhelmed, and our nurses are travelling to the SW corner of the state to help out.

  30. 30.

    delk

    My doctor has sent in the paperwork for me to receive the Evusheld monoclonal antibody injections. Waiting to hear from the hospital to schedule an appointment.

  31. 31.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @sab: Too bad they never did that to make up for a shortage of carpenters.

    Seriously, good for her. Rake as much in as she can while the raking lasts, because all good things must end.

  33. 33.

    Soprano2

    @satby: This has been my experience too. I saw more people wearing masks in January than I had seen since the city rescinded their mandate in May. My employer re-imposed their mask mandate for people in the office at the beginning of January because of Omicron. They lifted it as of last Monday for everyone; before, only vaccinated people could go without masking. They’re acknowledging the reality of what people in this area will tolerate.  The worst thing is how low the fully vaccinated population is here – 53% and climbing by about 0.02% a day. We haven’t had any kind of mask mandate in this city except for public schools since last May. Those people who are upset everything doesn’t look “normal” should come here, because most everything is back to the way it was before Covid. The only difference is that you still see people wearing masks. I think what these people are really saying is that they want to quit having to see any reminders that Covid is still a problem – no face masks, no reports on the news, no one talking about hospitalizations or deaths from it on the news, nothing. That’s what they really mean when they cry about things not being open.

  34. 34.

    Dan B

    @delk: Are you immunocompromised?  We saw a documentary by a young guy with progressive MS who was essentially trapped in his apartment except for a daily trip to a nearby park.  This is reality for millions of Americans.

  37. 37.

    bluefoot

    @rikyrah: ​  I hate the whole “Everyone wants to get back to normal!” motivation for removing mask mandates. How about keeping elderly, young children and immune compromised people safe? How about caring for and about our fellow human beings?
    A *lot* of people take immunomodulators and have less defense against infection. For instance, anyone who takes Enbrel. I have a good friend with MS and she knows she didn’t get immunity from COVID vaccination. She’s on one of the common MS drugs. (Her doctor had her tested for spike antibody 4-6 weeks after her 2nd shot and booster.) Grrrrrr…​

  38. 38.

    Ken

    @Baud: If the covidiots don’t trust the government, shouldn’t they start masking up now that mandates are being dropped?

    If we’re lucky, they’ll start chanting “but if I mask then I’m following government advice but if I don’t mask then I’m following government advice but if I mask — Norman coordinate — error — error”.  And then smoke comes out of their collars and they fall over.

  39. 39.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I do get why MLG lifted the rules, just not happy with it TBH. But yes, she has to be realistic and we are techinically out of the woods as far as hospital capacity, so even though she’s a strong public health advocate the politician in her took advantage of this situation for election purposes. I like that so many businesses are still requiring or allowing masking by employees, too.

    I’m working as a primary care provider in healthcare so we’ll still be masking at work, thankfully. Every day we have at least one or two patient scome in to the clinic for non-COVID problems who tests positive, literally getting sick over night and exposing our staff to same.

    And because of the above I’ll be wearing masks in all indoor spaces and in crowded outdoor spaces for a long, long time.

    I prefer being healthy to spending 7-10 days with a massive headache, severe sore throat, nausea, vominting and diarrhea followed by secondary sinus infections and pneumonia.

  40. 40.

    Matt McIrvin

    @lowtechcyclist: Yes, but there will always be a next wave, for the rest of our lives. So at that point you’re talking about masking forever, and simply eliminating places like restaurants and bars where masking isn’t possible.

    I’ve contemplated that, certainly. But people will never do it.

    Personally I’m going to keep watching the numbers as long as I can and behaving accordingly–wearing an N95 in indoor public spaces and crowds, and avoiding situations where that isn’t possible, during periods of significant transmission. I don’t see much point in continuing to stay home during the times when there actually is almost no virus in the wild, and I do think we’re coming up on another one of those periods at least locally. It’s not here yet.

  41. 41.

    Robert Sneddon

    Scotland — 5,484 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 new reported deaths of people who have tested positive reported. 1,093 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19 with 11 people in intensive care. No real change with most indicators staying about the same as they were at the start of the year.

    Vaccinations in Scotland have stalled out, pretty much with all adults who wanted it have been vaccinated and no sign the hold-outs are ever going to step forward now or later. The only new first vaccinations are mostly happening in the school-age group (12-17). Booster vaccinations are running at over 75% for those adults aged 18-plus. There’s still no news about future booster shots or any sort of a possible schedule, annually or otherwise.

    COVID-19 reporting in Scotland is going dark for the weekend with no published updates. Monday’s numbers will include data from Saturday and Sunday.

  43. 43.

    smith

    @Matt McIrvin: Personally I’m going to keep watching the numbers as long as I can and behaving accordingly

    The key is paying attention to local infection rates and setting your own criteria as to when you feel safe eliminating any of your protective measures. This has always been the case, but somehow a lot of people look on protective measures as some kind of all or none prescription to be adhered to, or not, regardless of the facts on the local ground. My own criteria, as a 70-something not immunocompromised but with some specific vulnerabilities, has been to venture out to stores when the local rate drops below 10 per 100k — a threshold we just crossed in Chicago — and to take off the mask when it’s below 2 per 100k. The rate of decline from this surge has been so rapid that we will probably reach 2 per 100k in about a week.

  44. 44.

    Miss Bianca

    @O. Felix Culpa: I’ve had sniffles – a slightly stuffy feeling in my nose for about two or three weeks – but no other cold symptoms, and even the stuffiness appears to be on the wane.

    Pre-pandemic, I used to think it was weird when I saw the occasional person masked up during cold/flu season. Now I see it as a practical common sense precaution to take regardless of COVID.

  45. 45.

    Matt McIrvin

    @smith:

    The rate of decline from this surge has been so rapid that we will probably reach 2 per 100k in about a week.

    In Massachusetts it seems like the drop has been modestly decelerating when plotted on a log scale, so I’m not sure we’ll actually get that low. It may be that the more transmissible sub-variant (or the general relaxation of mitigations when people feel comfortable) is contributing to that, not sure. But we’re going to be below 10 in my area shortly.

    A big thing for me is that N95 masks, unlike the ones we had to make do with early in the pandemic, are actually pretty good at protecting the wearer. So that plus vaccination, to my mind, enables me to do pretty much anything where I can keep the mask on even when transmission is relatively high. But then there are the activities where you can’t keep the mask on, and that’s trickier.

  47. 47.

    Mel

    @lowtechcyclist: This.

    Masking is such a simple thing, and saves lives. The fact that dropping mask mandates prematurely puts vulnerable people at enormous risk doesn’t seem to bother the CDC in the least. It has been pretty clear that the elderly, the ill, and those with chronic or genetic risk factors have been seen as lower priorities so far.

    What baffles me is why the CDC and some other entities seem to have little concern about the impact of long covid on previously healthy populations. Long Covid can occur even in vaccinated people who have mild infections (although vaccination and boosting does, thankfully appear to lower the risks of developing long Covid).

    Long Covid can be transient, or it can last months or more. There is increasing evidence that even after the symptoms of Long Covid subside,  long term multi-organ system damage can remain (damage / inflammatory changes in the brain’s microglia, damage to the pancreas and kidneys, increased risk of heart and vascular disease and lingering autonomic dysfunction, immune function impairment, and mental health / behavioral issues (depression, impulsivity, personality changes, etc.)

    Is the risk of a highly likely increase of long and short term disability across the board, on top of the increased risk of severe illness or death in vulnerable populations really worth caving to the wingnuts on mask mandates?

    I say no, but apparently the CDC thinks yes.

    Apologies for not linking to the journal articles. I can’t get the links to insert properly. The articles my doctors pointed out are from The Lancet and JAMA and other peer-reviewed journals. Cedars Sinai, Johns Hopkins, and several other major  hospitals also have researchers looking at the long term  implications of Post-Covid syndromes, for those interested.

  48. 48.

    Mel

    @Dan B: It has been my reality for two years now, and as you point out, the reality for so many other people around the world.

    It’s hard to describe the impact that such isolation has on someone’s quality of life. I’m a former educator and counselor who is disabled due to a severe chronic autoimmune illness.

    Becoming ill changed my life irrevocably, as it does for so many people. Careers are put on hold or list entirely, finances become precarious, relationships are impacted – it’s a lot for people to deal with on top of the illness or disability itself. But you adapt. You find a kind of acceptance in most cases, and you try to make your happiness where you can.

    Then the pandemic.

    I love children, but can’t have any because of the physical and lifestyle impacts of my illness. Since the pandemic, I have not been able to see my nieces and nephews, who are the light of my life, in person. No hugs, no bedtime stories, no birthdays, no watching them play and grow. My former students can’t visit. I can’t go to the library, or even visit with my friend who lives across the street.

    This past late spring, I was looking forward to the possibility of being able to see my only sibling in person again, or hold my new niece. Simple things.

    Then mandates  got relaxed, vaccination levels stayed low, and the Delta wave boomed. Then the Omicron variant emerged from the huge wave of Delta infections. Hope out the window.

    The only people who have touched me or who i have seen in person for two years besides my hubby are medical professionals performing tests or doing surgery and post-surgical care.

    As Omicron has slowly started to subside, I started hoping and planning again. Vaccinated and boosted, and with mask mandates in place, and the hope that Evusheld and Paxlovid might actually become accessible sometime in the not-too-distant future,  it seemed like there was a chance that people like me could start to have at least some contact, some normalcy in their lives.

    But with no masking mandates, it is now not going to be possible for a lot of us: not now, and not for an indefinite period in the future.

    Well-enforced mask mandates lower transmission rates. Lower transmission rates lessen the chance of widespread and new waves of infection. Masking buys time for better treatments to be produced (and manufactured and distributed so that people can actually access them – looking at you, Evusheld and Paxlovid), and buys time for the populace to get more widely vaxxed and boosted.

    I’m not sure there are words for what I’m feeling as I’m staring down another year of isolation, and thinking about all the other people experiencing the same. It’s hard to express the depth of the hopelessness.

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