The CDC dramatically eased its COVID-19 guidelines for masks, including in schools. The move means that 72% of the U.S. population reside in communities where there is no longer a recommendation for indoor face coverings https://t.co/dBmmFUuYDX pic.twitter.com/iM3DTJd6JP
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 26, 2022
Here's what you need to know about the CDC’s new coronavirus guidance https://t.co/NgwjUYOiEZ
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 26, 2022
CDC is updating #COVID19 community recommendations.
CDC’s new COVID-19 Community Level tool classifies every county in the US into low, medium, or high, with recommended prevention measures for each level.
Check your area’s level and learn more here: https://t.co/UZxX67a6M3.
— CDC (@CDCgov) February 25, 2022
Catching a flight?
You’ll still need a mask despite the CDC’s new guidance https://t.co/jLvry5MDdr
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 25, 2022
More evidence from the CDC’s own study that ending isolation at 5 days is premature as half of ppl still have positive antigen test (i.e., are contagious) yet CDC is still saying OK to end isolation at 5 days.
This doesn’t make sense & contributes to a lack of trust in the CDC. https://t.co/TcN3D7q2sm
— Oni Blackstock MD MHS (@oni_blackstock) February 25, 2022
CDC: Vaccination curbed—but didn't halt—Omicron transmission in households https://t.co/h0uPkY02jp pic.twitter.com/e4TMnBPjOs
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 25, 2022
It was 2 years ago this week when Covid erupted in Iran & Northern Italy. Till then, some people hoped disaster might be averted.
Former CDC deputy director Anne Schuchat told me modeling suggested 2M might die in the US without mitigation. Nearly 1M have https://t.co/afkbjK8Dmz pic.twitter.com/TcLOLWAtaa— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) February 25, 2022
======
The COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), has delivered 1.22 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to 144 countries, GAVI data shows. https://t.co/eoSxoqOQPe
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) February 25, 2022
China reports 249 new COVID cases, including dozens from Hong Kong https://t.co/1l4BAtPJ7b pic.twitter.com/yvjdSYD0yz
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 26, 2022
Hong Kong to let some COVID-positive children stay home amid separation fears https://t.co/bGefaEqr8V pic.twitter.com/8nQ3NOnB0C
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 26, 2022
… Some Hong Kong families had despaired over strict COVID rules that saw even toddlers in some cases taken away from their parents and isolated, prompting some families to leave the city.
Hong Kong long had an enviable record in suppressing the coronavirus with a “dynamic zero” COVID policy, in line with that on mainland China, but as an Omicron wave now overwhelms the city, the steps that saved lives are making life unbearable for many of its 7.4 million people.
Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority told Reuters late on Friday that not all COVID-positive children would be required to go to hospital…
It said it would seek to allow parents or caregivers who also test positive to enter the same wards, but that this might not always be possible given “seriously overloaded” paediatric isolation facilities in public hospitals.
The clarification comes as the city announced a record 10,000 daily cases on Friday, with some experts predicting 180,000 cases per day in March…
Hong Kong officially does not allow people to self-isolate, although thousands have been doing so as infections rise faster than new rooms become available.
Meanwhile, concerns have grown for a spread of the virus in Hong Kong’s nursing homes for the elderly, with 420 or over half of the city’s such facilities now battling outbreaks. The rate of vaccinations among Hong Kong’s elderly has been relatively low, and many suffer from chronic illnesses…
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: 13,166 New COVID-19 Cases In India https://t.co/WKpVzeTLWr pic.twitter.com/2I9JBhI2nb
— NDTV News feed (@ndtvfeed) February 26, 2022
New Delhi: India on Saturday reported 11,499 new coronavirus infections, 12.6 per cent lower than yesterday.
India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,29,05,844, while the active cases further declined to 1,21,881, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
The death toll climbed to 5,13,481 with 255 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
With this, the country recorded its daily COVID-19 cases under one lakh [100,000] for the 20th consecutive day…
Tokyo confirms 11,562 new cases of coronavirus https://t.co/DMd7NXPK0D
— adg38 (@adg38) February 26, 2022
South Korea has seen its deadliest day of the pandemic, reporting 112 fatalities in the latest 24-hour period, as it grapples with a wave of coronavirus infections driven by the fast-moving omicron variant. https://t.co/FZIqaFbwus
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 26, 2022
Russia's interior ministry tells TV viewers to "refrain from unsanctioned protests" & or they'll be "arrested & brought to responsibility."
That's because there are "coronavirus restrictions, including on public events."
Not because of calls to protest the war or anything pic.twitter.com/fuKDsso2eQ— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) February 24, 2022
"None of the global health reforms proposed in response to #COVID19 provide answers for the aftershocks the Russian war against the Ukraine will create for years to come."@D_P_Fidler on how the invasion of #Ukraine darkens the future of #globalhealth: https://t.co/LnbQgiP0va
— Global Health Strategies (@GHS) February 25, 2022
Five things we still need to keep an eye on with Covid https://t.co/WYoznhE5R3
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 26, 2022
UK government has abandoned its own Covid health advice, leak reveals | Coronavirus | The Guardian. Criminal. https://t.co/wSZMI8tFE8
— Col (@TheDimetrodon) February 25, 2022
Public health advice is no longer being followed under Boris Johnson’s “living with Covid” strategy to end mass testing, senior civil servants have acknowledged in a leaked account of a cross-Whitehall briefing.
The briefing by a senior member of the Covid taskforce was delivered to civil service leaders across Whitehall on Thursday afternoon, making clear that following public health advice was no longer the sole priority.
The senior official said public health advice would not be met in NHS or social care settings in relation to the testing of staff, and that was a “decision that the PM, chancellor and indeed the cabinet have agreed to”.
On the call, he said: “It will be the case from 1 April that testing in DH own settings including the NHS and adult social care will not fully match the public health advice because of spending considerations. We will not be testing adult social care staff or NHS staff at the frequency recommended by clinicians because there is not the funding to pay for it.”…
The senior official told them he was sure there would be “plenty of other areas across government where ministers decide on balance the funding does not exist to follow the public health advice in full when it comes to recommended testing protocols.”
He made clear that the government was moving from a world where “public health advice is to be followed at all costs, and whatever the fiscal consequences money will be found to do exactly as clinicians recommend, towards a world where public health advice is one of several considerations to be taken into account and balanced decisions need to be made that consider public health advice but don’t necessarily follow it in all cases”. He added: “I think that is going to require a mindset shift across Whitehall.”…
NHS Scotland's Covid Status app criticised over privacy failings https://t.co/KMyalavFHa
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 25, 2022
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Infection rates w/ #OmicronVariant are plummeting globally. But scientists are still struggling to answer these questions: How did it spread so fast, & what will it do next? Subvariant BA.2 is rising. https://t.co/QD9ibas5si
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 25, 2022
You knew this, but now quantified in a new @CDCMMWR report: the very high household transmission of Omicronhttps://t.co/vjSdvLkbD0 pic.twitter.com/7BzmmJtXEw
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) February 25, 2022
Canada has approved a "plant-based coronavirus vaccine" that may be a palatable alternative for people worried about vaccination. Health Canada says trials show the 2-dose Covifenz vax is 71% effective against infection. Approval covers ages 18 to 64 https://t.co/eVsfeAo2ob
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 26, 2022
The advisory committee to the European Union's drug regulator on Friday said it has recommended reducing the interval between the second dose and booster dose of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine from six months to three months. https://t.co/MWSIiYCrJX
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) February 26, 2022
Valneva expects to start delivering its vaccine in Europe soon after it is recommended for conditional approval by the end of March, the French vaccine maker said on Friday as it received an initial regulatory assessment. https://t.co/1nbE07wSBC
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) February 25, 2022
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. https://t.co/QM9BbusD68
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) February 26, 2022
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This should count as talking to our doctors. https://t.co/SvmzDa9N0N
— Adam Rogers (@jetjocko) February 25, 2022
New Hampshire –
Conspiracy theorists targeted Valley Regional Hospital with calls and emails, demanding it begin treating a covid patient in its care with ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug.
The volume of calls grew so large that the hospital shut down its main number. https://t.co/UrleACNJVF
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 25, 2022
A Pennsylvania teen traveled miles from home to get secretly vaccinated — against his parents wishes. Getting a Covid shot was an act of teenage rebellion https://t.co/0qD0YB08bt
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 25, 2022
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
84 new cases on 2/25.
134 new cases on 2/24.
Hospitalizations:
74 cases hospitalized, 69% are unvaxed
No cases in the ICU!
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 30,644 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 3,367,871 cases. It also reported 57 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 32,591 deaths – 0.97% of the cumulative reported total, 1.06% of resolved cases.
Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 1.11.
144 confirmed cases are in ICU, 84 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 22,678 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 3,040,850 patients recovered – 90.3% of the cumulative reported total.
Five new clusters were reported yesterday, for a cumulative total of 6,767 clusters. 498 clusters are currently active; 6,269 clusters are now inactive.
30,387 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 257 new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 132,371 doses of vaccine on 25th February: 44,992 first doses, 948 second doses, and 86,431 booster doses. The cumulative total is 66,865,787 doses administered: 26,871,559 first doses, 25,747,814 second doses, and 14,453,640 booster doses. 82.2% of the population have received their first dose, 78.8% their second dose, and 44.3% their booster dose.
New Deal democrat
Deaths in the US are now down 1/3rd from peak at 1760. The decline in deaths has progressively accelerated in the past two weeks. If deaths continue to decline in the next two weeks as much as they have in the last two, we will be under 600 per day.
Cases declined to 66,000, the lowest level since the end of last July. But they are still above the entirety of March-October 2020 and March-July 2021. At the current rate of decline, it would still take 5 more weeks to be equivalent to last June’s lows.
The per capita average in cases is down to 20 nationwide. The worst State is ME, which finally had its Omicron wave, peaked at 330 five days ago, and is now down to 164. Below that the range of the worst States goes from a high of 82 in ID to 26 in SC. In between are MT, KY, AK, WV, NH, TN, and NC. The best jurisdictions go from NE at 7 to NJ at 14. In between are PR, DC, WA, IN, CT, NY, OH, and MD.
By contrast, at their best levels last June, 30 jurisdictions were below 4 per 100,000.
Only NV and MD are not declining. No State has rising cases.MD bears extra attention, because it has been the leader of the pack recently on the downslope.
I am now very confident that we will have a spring respite, but just how low it gets and how long it lasts are completely unknown.
Lacuna Synecdoche
via Anne Laurie @ Top:
That’s really not how this story should be characerized. It would be more accurate to say:
Getting a Covid shot was a teenage act of self-preservation / self-defense against child abuse.
Not an act of teenage rebellion. To describe it as teenage rebellion trivializes the danger the parents were exposing their child to.
I’m surprised Delthia Ricks wrote it up that way. She usually knows better.
Matt McIrvin
This is political. But what they’re realizing is that, coming down off the Omicron peak, R is less than 1 even in places where people are doing jack squat to control this, so masking is basically a question of personal protection rather than collective protection.
We actually got something like the “just let it rip and get to herd immunity” situation that ghoulish people were dreaming about in spring 2020. Except, of course, that how much danger you were in from that depended heavily on your vaccination status, so the body count from the Omicron wave was maybe a third of what it could have been. And that by “herd immunity”, I don’t mean anything durable, I mean short-term collective protection from infection that will only last into the summer if we’re lucky.
Though, on the other hand, all those people who got just the one shot because they had to and then got Omicron may have robust long-term protection against dying from COVID.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Time helps us regroup. Hopefully we can go several months without another wave.
WaterGirl
@Amir Khalid: Amir, did you see my note to you in yesterday’s (not Covid) post? I also sent you email but I don’t know if the email you have listed in BJ is an actual working account.
Guac
Just a couple days ago, the CDC website rated Beaufort County SC as “red” — the highest risk. Today it’s “green” and the brief notes explain that we have a “high level of community transmission” and the “new community level” is now low.
We still have 25 cases per 100K people here, and the positivity rate has been stuck at 13-14% for a week. Our ICU is 73% full, but that metric hasn’t been updated in 9 days. Just 65% of our county has bothered to get double-vaxxed; just 24% are boosted. How is all of this “low”?
Thanks CDC but I’ll stick with my mask.
satby
@New Deal democrat: IN out and out lies about its covid case figures.Has for almost the entire pandemic. Just like FL, only without the obnoxious governor performances.
WaterGirl
@Baud: At this point, decisions are no being made in order to keep individuals safe. At this point, they are just trying to keep hospitals and the medical system from being overwhelmed.
The government has accepted that people are going to get Covid, and along with that the risk of long Covid. And it’s not just long Covid, it’s the long-term heart issues and other issues that they are seeing in people who don’t have symptoms to tell them there is something wrong after they recover from Covid.
Millions of people who don’t pay close attention are hearing that they are perfectly safe without masks and other safety precautions.
“They said it’s okay!” = it’s safe. It’s so sad that we have gotten to this point.
Lacuna Synecdoche
@WaterGirl:
And now we’ll have even more anti-maskers who think they’ve just been given permission to judge, peer pressure, and harass the people who, rightly, continue masking.
It makes me wanna holler.
New Deal democrat
@Lacuna Synecdoche: That happened to me yesterday. Entered my favorite watering hole,* asked for a table outside. Two guys at the end of the bar gave me sneering looks. First time that has ever happened in my usually compliant town.
*ETA: wearing a mask
raven
@New Deal democrat: I’ve worn my mask on fishing boats, in auto parts stores, antique joints and every where else a no on has ever said diddly to me.
WaterGirl
@raven: Maybe that’s because you exude “don’t fuck with me”?
raven
@WaterGirl: I dunno, I just get the sense that people don’t really care what other people do. Maybe you are right though.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
I don’t think there was enough discussion of how really sick people who aren’t vaccinated get with covid. They don’t go the hospital (although many of them should) but they are sick for weeks. It’s just hard to imagine that isn’t going to take a longer term toll on their health. Just the period of time where they have lower levels of oxygen- they’re told by their own health care providers not to go to the hospital until they’re gasping for air.
It’s the dumb “this is like THIS” thing we do where we only use one method to explain anything- comparison. It’s not like the flu. It’s not “like” anything. It’s covid, a new thing.
Baud
@Kay:
If it’s not explained to me in terms of the number of football fields, it’s above my head.
Amir Khalid
@WaterGirl:
Which post from yesterday? I’ll go look for it.
Ohio Mom
@New Deal democrat: Two guys at the end of a bar? Perhaps a bit uninhibited from all the alcohol in their system? “Obnoxious drunk” is a phrase for a reason.
I can’t tell your gender from your nym but if you are female, that would be another piece of the puzzle of why you were hassled.
Robert Sneddon
@Lacuna Synecdoche: Britain has a legal test called Gillick Competency. It allows courts to decide that a child under the age of consent (usually 16) is competent to make decisions about their healthcare etc. and go against the wishes of their guardians in certain cases. This would allow them to choose to be vaccinated if the court was clear they understood what they were wanting and it was not harmful or illegal.
Why is it called “Gillick” Competency, you may ask? Well, it’s a polite “fuck you” from the British judiciary system. Back in the 1980s Victoria Gillick was an uber-Catholic activist who brought a legal challenge against the NHS recommending that under-16s could have access to contraception without their parents or guardians knowing about it. Her thinking was that this encouraged minors to have sex which she didn’t like the idea of.
Her challenge went to the House of Lords, at that time the highest legal authority in the country and they said that a minor’s medical history and records should be considered a private matter between them and their medical advisors if the minor was deemed to understand the issues involved. The “Fuck you” of assigning the appelant’s name to the competency test was a chef’s kiss.
Kay
@Baud:
It’s weird because the whole measure of quality in medicine is as to the individual. What’s your family history, age, risk factors, what’s the specific ailment? That’s why you go. It’s never “this is SORT of like this other thing, for…. many people, so don’t sweat it”.
NotMax
@Kay
Calls to mind Liz Taylor in Butterfield 8.
;)
YY_Sima Qian
On 2/25 Mainland China reported 93 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 30 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Guangdong Province reported 30 new domestic confirmed & 9 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.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 9 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), all at Fangchenggang, 8 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine & 1 from mass screening of all residents in areas under movement restrictions. 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 207 active domestic confirmed cases in the province (190 at Baise, 16 at Fangchenggang & 1 at Nanning). 1 zone at Fangchenggang has been elevated to Medium Risk. 1 Medium Risk villages 1 residential compound & a business at Baise have been re-designated to Low Risk. 1 villages at Baise remains 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. 8 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 327 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.
Tianjin Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, a custodian at the airport.
Liaoning Province reported 10 new domestic confirmed cases. 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 192 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
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 did not report any new domestic positive cases. 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.
At Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province there currently is 1 active asymptomatic case remaining.
Heilongjiang Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Jixi) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic (at Heihe) cases, both traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 5 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed (5 at Mudanjiang & 5 at Jixi) & 23 active domestic asymptomatic (9 at Heihe, 6 at Mudanjiang, 3 at Qiqihar & 5 at Jixi) cases in the province. 2 residential compounds & a hospital at Jixi are currently at Medium Risk. All areas in Heihe are now at Low 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 an imported asymptomatic case, already under quarantine since 2/21. There currently are 5 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
Hubei Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 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 1 new domestic confirmed case (mild), a person who had traveled to Wuhan in Hubei for business meeting/training between 2/17 – 2/20. The person returned to Beijing on 2/21 & has been under centralized quarantine since then.
Jiangsu Province reported 4 new domestic confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic). 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 110 active domestic confirmed & 38 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Sichuan Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases There currently are 28 active domestic confirmed & 13 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Xiamen in Fujian Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, a person who entered centralized quarantine on 2/22 to care for in under aged child coming from overseas.
At Henan Province 10 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.
Yunnan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed & 17 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 36 active domestic confirmed & 54 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the province.
Imported Cases
On 2/25, Mainland China reported 156 new imported confirmed cases (30 previously asymptomatic, 22 in Guangdong), 88 imported asymptomatic cases, imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 72 confirmed cases recovered (37 imported), 23 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (17 imported) & 31 were reclassified as confirmed cases (30 imported), & 2,608 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 2,431 active confirmed cases in the country (1,318 imported), 18 in serious condition (1 imported), 880 active asymptomatic cases (709 imported), 4 suspect cases (all imported). 61,070 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 2/25, 3,114.622M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 6.336M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 2/26, Hong Kong reported 17,063 new positive cases (6 imported & 17,057 domestic), 66 deaths (4 fully vaccinated), plus another 22 from previous 5 that were not recorded.
On 2/26, Taiwan reported 69 new positive cases, 63 imported & 6 domestic.
YY_Sima Qian
Even w/ additional testing capacity brought in from the Mainland (both medical personnels to take swabs & mobile lab capacity), & plans to mass screening the city’s population multiple times, I do not see Hong Kong being able to contain the outbreak. Due to low trust in the authorities, the city will be lucky to achieve 80% participation rate w/ mandated screening (compared to > 90% participation rate during mass screenings in Mainland China cities, w/o mandate). The outbreak is so far along that it would take a Wuhan style lock down to suppress it, which the city will be unwilling & unable to manage.
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the deaths are among the poorly vaccinated elderly (~ 50% fully vaccinated, mostly w/ the Sinovac vaccines, much lower percentage boosted). Equally unsurprisingly, the break down of vaccinated/unvaccinated among the deaths show the vast majority of the deaths are those who are unvaccinated/incompletely vaccinated, which suggests 2 shots of the Sinovac vaccines is still protective against death by Omicron BA.2 even without boosting. If Hong Kong had managed to achieve > 95% vaccination rate & high boosting rate for its elderly population, even just w/ the Sinovac vaccine (better if boosted by BioNTech), it would be in a better place right now. That is a failure at all levels, from the region’s government to civil society to families to individuals. A stark warning for Mainland China.
Skepticat
HinTN
@raven: Lately I’ve been the only person in stores that is masked. Not Kroger, which requires all associates ro mask, where about 40% of customers are masked, but most others. I get no pushback but then I’m 6′ tall, 220#, and clearly vigorous though old.
ETA:
@WaterGirl
Maybe that’s it!
rikyrah
@New Deal democrat:
???
Phuck all them muthaphuckas?
Fair Economist
Flu Report for 2/14/22-2/20/22
Positivity up from 3.0% to 4.2%. Lab cases up from 1,324 to 1,807, with 426 added to previous weeks. H3N2 continues its unprecedented dominance, 99.7% of all types flus and 100% of subtyped Type A flus. Hospital admissions up from 1,073 to 1,420.
Mortality due to pneumonia, influenza and COVID down to 20.4% from last week’s 22.6%, but still astromically high compared to pre-COVID levels. This reflects falling deaths due to COVID as there are very few flu deaths at present. The CDC classes the current situation as “sporadic, but increasing”. Although cases are increasing, it looks unlikely we will see a bad flu season at the point; case numbers are only about 1/10 of what we see in bad years and it’s almost March.
Assuming this holds up, it shows that we can stop flu seasons with mild public health measures – basically frequent masking in public and moderate reduction in social contacts, because that’s all we got in the Omicron wave and while it wasn’t nearly enough to stop Omicron, it was enough to reduce flu from what looked like a really bad flu season to a mild season.
Fair Economist
@YY_Sima Qian: What’s the mainland’s vax rate for the elderly?
I don’t really understand the really low rate for HK among the very elderly. Why were they particularly resistant? Here in the US even the wingnuts have a decent vax rate for over 80.
O. Felix Culpa
@YY_Sima Qian:
Heh. I wonder why. (Former HK resident.)
WaterGirl
@Amir Khalid: It was the really long thread, comment #465 on the “news dump” thread yesterday afternoon.
YY_Sima Qian
@Fair Economist: As of last week, only 50% or those over 80 in Mainland China have been fully vaccinated, but 80% of those over 60 (including those over 80) are fully vaccinated. No idea on the boosting rate. To date, a lot of people have been more afraid of the side effects of vaccines on their frail elders than risk of infection, even though the side effects of the inactivated whole virion vaccines are generally quite mild. That a applies to young children (< 6), too. I hope Hong Kong’s example, as well as the sporadic clusters popping up across the Mainland, jolt people out of their complacency.
Percysowner
@Fair Economist:Thanks, I’ve been wondering about what was going on with flu this year.
Right before the plague hit, I got flu, they tested and it WAS flu. Even though I was vaxed, I felt worse than I had in years. Even when certain politicians were saying “it’s just like the flu” all I could think was “why would anyone want to feel as bad as I did during that week”
I know COVID mitigation tactics took flu cases down to really small numbers. That’s why, even when this is really over, I will keep a mask supply and mask up at least during cold and flu season.
YY_Sima Qian
@O. Felix Culpa: Which is why trust in the authorities (regardless of the form of government), as well as in each other, are the key attributes that have correlated well so far w/ effectiveness of pandemic response. Mind you, Hong Kong has done well for the entire pandemic, despite the damage to trust in authorities & in each other that the turmoils in 2019 brought. Omicron BA.2 has proven to be a bridge too far.
Someone asked the question a few days ago in one of the daily COVID-19 threads. I had posted a long reply, but I think the thread was already dead then.
I am now keep a close eye on the developments on Mainland China & Taiwan. Taiwan still seems to be holding the line against Omicron. However, if a sizable outbreak developed in the community before the authorities took notice, I am not sure Taiwan will be able to suppress it. At least nowhere in Taiwan is as densely populated as Hong Kong. Not even Taipei.
YY_Sima Qian
@Fair Economist: Complacency. People had more fear that vaccination will give their frail elders a fever, than a COVID-19 infection. Until Omicron BA.2 came along and overwhelmed the cities pandemic responses. Surely Hong Kong’s government & civil society did not prioritize vaccination enough.
Sloane Ranger
Just to let people know that w.e.f this weekend, the UK will no longer publish updates over the weekend. Cases, deaths etc. that occur on Saturday and Sunday will be added to Monday’s figures. This is probably to be expected, both Wales and Scotland had already stopped providing updates over this period anyway.
Anyway, yesterday in the UK we had 31,933 new cases. The rolling 7-day average is down by 20.7%. New cases by nation,
England – 23,526 (down 4667)
Northern Ireland – 2068 (down down 418)
Scotland – 5484 (down 1711)
Wales – 855 (down 204).
Deaths – There were 120 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is down by 17.8%. 97 were in England, 2 in Northern Ireland, 11 in Scotland and 10 in Wales.
Testing – 685,308 tests took place on 24 February. The rolling 7-day average is down by 18%.
Hospitalisations – As of Thursday, 24th, there were 10,767 people in hospital and 289 on ventilators. The 7-day average for hospital admissions was down 9.4% as of 21 February.
Vaccinations – As of Thursday, 24th, 91.5% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot, 85.1% had had 2 and 66.3% had had a 3rd shot/booster.
Soprano2
@New Deal democrat: I hope you sneered right back. It’s none of their business that you’re wearing a mask. The amount of people who think other people’s personal choices are their business still shocks me. You wearing a mask has no effect on them, why do they care?
Miss Bianca
@Fair Economist: I didn’t even bother to get a flu shot this season, which is unusual for me. I was going to get it at the same time as I got my Moderna booster, but I weened out because I always get a feverish reaction from it and I didn’t want to add that to whatever effects I was going to be feeling from the booster.
Well, surprise, surprise…I felt almost zero effects from the booster other than a day of feeling tired. So I could have got my flu shot after all. But I never did get around to it and between masking, social distancing, and doing my best to avoid crowds (except for last Saturday at the play), I haven’t even gotten a cold yet.
Uncle Cosmo
I don’t remember where I saw this conjecture, but FWIW –
The thought was that most of what folks in normal (pre-COVID) flu seasons have ascribed to “the flu” was in fact a mild to moderate cold, something that most people would just treat at home without going to the doctor’s office, and that actual honest-to-doG cases of HxNy influenza were a good deal worse.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
@raven:
There likely is an element of “Don’t Fuck With Me” involved. People look at me masked up and I look back, to make sure they understand I’m not intimidated. I walk a couple of miles a day and here in SoCal that means you see a lot of people. Many of them are still masked outdoors, seemingly way more than half, in stores I now see, very occasionally, someone without a mask. LA county is still on the CDC high risk area, which means you are supposed to wear a mask.
And in any event I will wear one for some time to come, there is a hell of a lot less interference in my life with a mask than there is from fucking covid.
Ruckus
@Soprano2:
Because you wearing one makes them look stupid when they don’t wear one. And they know it. They don’t want to be the lone rebel, they need to be one of thousands of (rebels) weak ass adults, so they know they are right, even when they are wrong.
Citizen Alan
@Soprano2: I sometimes think that the biggest reason these assholes are opposed to masks is that we can’t see them sneer at us when they’re wearing one.
J R in WV
I have plenty of std N95 masks, and also industrial respirators that are intended for toxic industrial use, and which allow no particulates through and damned little toxic fumes, like blue smoke vehicle exhaust is undetectable via smell. I plan to wear masks when out and about — no colds, no flu for the past 2 years, hope to continue. Seeking a 4th Covid vaccination, no luck so far. Will try pharmacies, health departments are too prone to follow the rules strictly. I’m not sure why CDC/FDA wants to prevent 4th doses, we already know the vaccines are safe to take.
I’ve actually lost most of my respect for CDC/FDA over the past two years. They seem to pay more attention to angry RWNJs and their politicians than to actual research. I suspect more alert management could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
I think people spreading disinformation about disease during a plague like this should be arrested — they are committing manslaughter at least, if not actual deliberate homicide via biological warfare. I’m sick of it, they’re killing people who are too stupid to grasp that people are selling the Big Lie to them.
evodevo
@WaterGirl: Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head LOL –