*Sigh*…
NEWS: Effective tomorrow, fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks at the White House, per memo that just went out to staff
— Tyler Pager (@tylerpager) February 28, 2022
Reminder: I’m an aggregator, not a reporter. I can only share what’s available to me, and right now most news sites are pretty busy covering That Other Topic. Let’s hope we can return to our regular early-morning plethora of pandemic news shortly… or, even better, that both war and pandemic will no longer be trending!
140 million Americans have had coronavirus, according to blood tests analyzed by CDC https://t.co/y1pUSoQ61l
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 1, 2022
The Biden administration wants to enact a requirement for minimum staffing levels in nursing homes. Experts say adequate staffing is the most important marker for nursing home quality. https://t.co/kaQyTrD9SZ
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 1, 2022
AP-NORC poll: Just 24% of Americans say they are “extremely” or “very” worried about being infected with the virus, down from 36% in January. Another 34% are somewhat worried.
Vaccinated Americans continue to be more worried than unvaccinated Americans, the poll shows.
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 28, 2022
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Still a hot topic in Hong Kong, unfortunately:
Hong Kong's plan to isolate positive virus cases crumbles as infections soar (and mandatory testing hasn't enough started).https://t.co/ympdIa6kEA
— David Ingles (@DavidInglesTV) February 28, 2022
Hong Kong residents brace for citywide lockdown as leader calls for calm https://t.co/LpKy42EWfK pic.twitter.com/syGsDvk55Z
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 1, 2022
Breaking: a pandemic-record net 71,354 passengers left #HK in February, about 0.96% of the mid-2021 population of 7.395m. Possibly the biggest exodus since 1941 ahead of the Japanese invasion. https://t.co/IJ2YNqOadX pic.twitter.com/8S0ks310Xf
— Webb-site (@webbhk) March 1, 2022
U.S. CDC says unvaccinated travelers should avoid Hong Kong travel https://t.co/So5M3L9fRy pic.twitter.com/plBtTCclWm
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 1, 2022
S. Korea is still battling a major #Omicron surge & over the weekend had its deadliest day of pandemic. More than 86% of the country's population has been fully vaccinated & ~60% have received booster shots. But Omicron is still a deadly menace https://t.co/AGqmEE6iPu
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 28, 2022
EXCLUSIVE: Indonesia has extended the shelf life of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to nine months, as nearly 6 million doses it received in donations were in danger of expiring, a health ministry spokesperson told @Reuters https://t.co/Fl6THI7Bjs pic.twitter.com/NXlpeFDD9p
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 1, 2022
New Zealand reports nearly 20,000 new coronavirus cases, by far the biggest one-day increase on record
— BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) March 1, 2022
Long thread:
Kia ora NZ, Omicron peaking does not mean the pandemic is “ending”.
People are talking about preferring to “catch it early while things aren’t overwhelmed” as if it isn’t deadly & disabling, can only be caught once, and as if the pandemic ends once everyone has had it.
— Kera O’Regan (@keraoregan) February 28, 2022
We are definitely not guaranteed that Long Covid will be mild, and if we do get long Covid we are definitely not guaranteed good care for it, or workplaces that are accessible for us, or health professionals that understand our condition, or treatments for it.
— Kera O’Regan (@keraoregan) February 28, 2022
Canada relaxes entry requirements for vaccinated travellers https://t.co/2vXg7FaZRg
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 28, 2022
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The Post spoke with experts who are researching and treating long covid, and compiled answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about the condition. https://t.co/Ns2JvA7nay
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 28, 2022
As they wait for the next variant to enter the scene, scientists are studying the currently dominant Omicron variant to better predict the future. @Nature presents three key questions scientists would like that research to answer. https://t.co/KhUGcL8gHY
— Nature Portfolio (@NaturePortfolio) February 28, 2022
The European drug regulator extended the shelf life of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine to 11 months from 4.5 months, updated product information showed on Monday. https://t.co/jyZGvfsm2b
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) March 1, 2022
New research from Einstein College of Medicine finds Covid can cause persistent cardiac injury. Doctors say the problem known as acute cardiac injury —ACI— increases risks for serious illness & death during and after hospitalization https://t.co/giHZaOTuOT pic.twitter.com/KRppKoPayf
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) March 1, 2022
Novavax expects to apply for full approval of COVID vaccine in H2 https://t.co/zLUqOeOQ5t pic.twitter.com/vjQncFXKnL
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 1, 2022
Strikingly reduced efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine in 5 to 11 year olds (compared to 12-17 yos) raises questions about whether in trying to choose a dose that was both efficacious & tolerable, the company may have missed the mark. https://t.co/xMgTsw3JId
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) February 28, 2022
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As public schools around the U.S. lift COVID-19 mask mandates, parents are divided over the issue, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation https://t.co/P7ymNp1Lyr pic.twitter.com/SXZvdajfiH
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 1, 2022
Surprise, surprise…
Although there have been fewer cars on the road nationwide during the coronavirus pandemic, a study released Monday found that younger and riskier drivers were increasingly on the roads during a surge in traffic fatalities across the country. https://t.co/BYCeNQQgru
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 1, 2022
How Long Is Long Covid? How Long Would It Keep Him From Music?
in March 2020, Joel Fram woke up feeling like a steamroller had rolled over him on its way somewhere else. …
Two years later, he is still recovering.https://t.co/C91BIkb9XX— Ipomea (@Santanumalbum) February 25, 2022
On The Road – Steve from Mendocino – Wrecking Yards 2/2
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
77 new cases on 2/28.
Deaths now at 1784, up 11 from last week.
Vaccinations at 71.3%, up .1 from last week
Hospitalizations:
64 people hospitalized, 64% unvaxed
No cases in the ICU
Baud
To my knowledge, I have never had COVID, but the last few weeks, I feel like I’ve had brain fog.
New Deal democrat
The 7 day average of cases in the US increased sharply to 74,000. About 3,000 of that jump was a data dump in NE. Deaths also increased to over 2,000. This is an artifact of the MLK holiday reporting one week ago. Averaged over the last 6 days cases were 55,600 (about 52,500 excluding NE), and deaths were just under 1900.
Cases increased in AK, CA, DC, ID, MT, NE, NV, OK, VT, and WA. Again, most of these are probably artifacts of last Monday’s holiday (most importantly, CA’s increase seems to be).
If the last 6 days’ average is giving the truer reading, then the rate of new cases is down to 17 per 100,000, somewhat above the average for most of 2020, and below all of 2021 except for a few days in March and the months of May through July. Cases in the NYC metro area and OH and MD are probably below 10 per 100,000.
Spanky
@Baud: February 2022: The Longest Month
OzarkHillbilly
DUH! People who are worried about falling off a cliff tend to avoid cliffs. People who aren’t worried about it drive right up to the edge of it then when the edge collapses bitch and moan all 150′ till they go SPLAT!
JPL
@Spanky: It’s finally over!
Patricia Kayden
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I’d like a poll to see how many BJ’ers are “extremely worried”.
mrmoshpotato
@OzarkHillbilly:
I see you have a very specific cliff in mind.
germy
@Patricia Kayden:
mrmoshpotato
@raven:
Put me down for “extremely worried” about falling off of cliffs.
mrmoshpotato
@Patricia Kayden: Hoarse is getting very close to stepping on DougJ’s toes there.
Spartan green
AL I just sent you an email. I hope I did it right.
Baud
@germy:
Different groups of Americans responding differently to measures that some of them would classify as macho vs. wussie.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 23,100 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 3,442,736 cases. It also reported 75 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 32,749 deaths – 0.95% of the cumulative reported total, 1.04% of resolved cases.
Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 1.03.
133 confirmed cases are in ICU, 76 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 30,624 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 3,116,564 patients recovered – 90.5% of the cumulative reported total.
Three new clusters were reported yesterday, for a cumulative total of 6,782 clusters. 480 clusters are currently active; 6,302 clusters are now inactive.
22,802 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 298 new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 115,202 doses of vaccine on 28th February: 34,200 first doses, 1,259 second doses, and 79,743 booster doses. The cumulative total is 67,208,978 doses administered: 27,004,875 first doses, 25,750,548 second doses, and 14,660,956 booster doses. 82.7% of the population have received their first dose, 78.9% their second dose, and 44.9% their booster dose.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
I blaaame Biiiiiiiidddeeeeeeeennnn!
NorthLeft12
I would not know how to answer a question about how concerned I am about catching COVID.
I am 3X vaxxed, wear a mask inside public places, wash my hands regularly, and practice safe distancing (three metres) outside all the time.
I am still concerned about getting it and what it could do to me. Do I think I will catch it? NO, BECAUSE OF THE PRECAUTIONS I TAKE.
It is totally unsurprising to me that those who are not vaccinated and most probably do not practice any public health precautions are least concerned. It would be the literal definition of insanity if one of those pro-COVID folks said they were still concerned about catching the virus yet refused every potential mitigation.
Fair Economist
I guess we’ll have to make our own reports.
In my neck of the woods, OC CA, ICU cases are down to 41 from 76 last week (down 46%) while hospitalized cases are down to 230 from interpolated 345 last week (down 33%). These numbers are comparable to our post-Delta plateau; somewhat higher for hospitalization and somewhat lower for ICU. Given that it looks like they’ll continue to improve for a while it looks like the post-Omicron situation will be better than the post-Delta situation, at least here.
It’s hard to interpret case changes with all the changes in testing (less general demand; fewer requirements, more at-home and probably unreported). I’ll try to figure out a way to bracket things using the fact that these changes will drive positivity up and cases down, but I haven’t done that yet. That said, 7-day average cases a week ago (359) are down 40% from 7-day average a week before that (603), not too far from the hospitalization changes, so changes are useful even if comparisons to earlier periods are dubious.
Personal report: my mom’s anti-vax housekeeper, who is the lynchpin of my mother’s complex 24 hour care arrangements, was sick with some upper respiratory disease last week, dead tired, and couldn’t sleep. But she was still working last week because she needed the pay. Ah, America. She’s out this week though because she’s even worse. Yeah, probably COVID. She actually had it once last February, and it killed her husband, but still no vax. Anti-vax = Death.
My mother would normally be really upset (the housekeeper didn’t tell her she was working sick) but she just got over COVID herself; a pretty mild case since she’s boosted and got molnupiravir, so she figures she’s pretty well protected.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I suspect most folks aren’t extremely worried, just worried enough to take precautions.
Ken
Displaced by famine, you mean?
(Nah, famine is the least dramatic of the horsemen and would never take the headlines from war or pestilence. It would have to be something non-traditional, like alien invasion or grey goo.)
SiubhanDuinne
@mrmoshpotato:
Probably some very specific people, too!
NorthLeft12
Something that I have tried to explain to a few pro-COVID folks (and others) about my fear is not specifically about catching the virus, but of SPREADING the virus.
I cannot think of anything worse than being the agent of someone else’s infection through my own carelessness.
Thats why I am very careful, because I give a shit about people, and not only those who I am close to.
mrmoshpotato
@Ken: Never ranked the horsemen myself, but I see you think war and pestilence are quite the thespians.
rikyrah
I am masked up and will remain so
Fair Economist
@Ken:
Well, Ukraine is a major wheat exporter, and the crop this year will probably be “impaired”, so – quite possibly!
Ken
@mrmoshpotato: It’s more that famine isn’t usually showy. It just keeps stolidly plugging along, killing 20 to 30 thousand people every day, and accounting for half of the deaths of children under five.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Greece: Monday evening’s report, via Kathimerini, noted 16,263 new cases in the preceding 24 hours, up from weekend numbers but down from this time last week. 70 dead in the same time period. The number of intubated ICU patients is at 413. (Worldometer doesn’t track that last number, but it’s down by about half from the levels during the peaks of recent waves.)
Outdoor mask mandates remain in effect.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Fair Economist: Adam update he was pointing out food is going to be a problem there. Lack of food is already a problem for the Russian army so the civilians are going to starve in the places they capture.
YY_Sima Qian
On 2/28 Mainland China reported 75 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic), 42 new domestic asymptomatic cases & 1 new domestic suspect case.
Guangdong Province reported 31 new domestic confirmed & 25 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 6 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), all at Fangchenggang, all are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. The outbreak at Fangchenggang is of Omicron BA.2 Variant. 10 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 193 active domestic confirmed cases in the province (152 at Baise, 40 at Fangchenggang & 1 at Nanning). 1 zone at Fangchenggang is 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 14 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic suspect cases. 16 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 350 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic suspect cases in the province.
Tianjin Municipality reported 6 new domestic confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic, all mild), all 4 new domestic positive cases are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 19 active domestic confirmed cases (13 mild & 6 moderate) in the city. 1 massage parlor has been elevated to High Risk.
Liaoning Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 196 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.
Shandong Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Yantai, a person who returned from Shanghai on 2/26, having worked at a quarantine hotel there. The case had tested negative on 2/26, but positive on 2/27. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases (at Qingdao) & 1 active asymptomatic (at Yantai) cases in the province.
Shanxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case. There currently are 16 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the province, 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 4 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 2 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 16 active domestic confirmed& 29 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Hainan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (mild), at Sanya, a person who had arrived from Tianjin on 2/24 w/ negative test. Tested positive on 2/27. There currently are 1 active confirmed (at Sanya) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Chengmai County) cases in the province.
Shanghai Municipality reported 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all staff act international arrival areas of the Pudong Airport, all traced close contacts of the domestic asymptomatic case reported on 2.26, & have been under centralized quarantine since then. There currently are 10 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
Hubei Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both mild) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 2 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine & 1 from area screening. There currently are 28 active domestic confirmed (23 mild & 5 moderate, all at Wuhan) & 8 active domestic asymptomatic (7 at Wuhan & 1 at Huanggang) cases in the province. 4 residential buildings & 1 hotel at Wuhan are currently at Medium Risk.
Jiangsu Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases. 7 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 3 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 100 active domestic confirmed & 34 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Sichuan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 1 new asymptomatic cases. There currently are 32 active domestic confirmed & 14 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
At Xiamen in Fujian Province there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, a person who entered centralized quarantine to care for in under aged child arriving from overseas.
At Henan Province there currently are 4 active domestic confirmed cases remaining.
Yunnan Province reported 6 new domestic confirmed & 6 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 2 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 45 active domestic confirmed & 91 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the province.
Imported Cases
On 2/28, Mainland China reported 125 new imported confirmed cases (10 previously asymptomatic, 4 in Guangdong), 102 imported asymptomatic cases, 9 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 81 confirmed cases recovered (40 imported), 40 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (32 imported) & 13 were reclassified as confirmed cases (10 imported), & 4,762 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 2,873 active confirmed cases in the country (1,610 imported), 19 in serious condition (1 imported), 1,097 active asymptomatic cases (825 imported), 11 suspect cases (10 imported). 78,842 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 2/28, 3,129.845M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 5.727M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 2/29, Hong Kong reported 32,597 new positive cases, 117 deaths..
On 2/29, Taiwan reported 44 new positive cases, 40 imported & 4 domestic.
Soprano2
@Baud: That’s the problem with Covid, people could have had it and not known it. At this point I don’t think anyone can definitively state that they have never had Covid, and if you’ve been vaccinated you’ll never be able to know if you had it or not.
Anne Laurie
@Spartan green: Yes, I got it — just sent you a reply.
Zzyzx
King County, WA just reduced the level from high spread to substantial. It’s a start!
lowtechcyclist
@OzarkHillbilly:
@Baud:
Funny because it’s true!
Sloane Ranger
Monday in the UK there were 82,451 reported new cases. The 7-day average is down 24.3%. These figures include cases from the weekend, making this three (3) days worth of numbers. New cases by nation,
England – 60,595
Northern Ireland – 5168
Scotland – 16,349
Wales – 339.
Deaths – There were 138 deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported yesterday. Numbers include deaths over the weekend. The 7-day average is down by 25.2%. 106 deaths were in England, 12 in Northern Ireland, 16 in Scotland and 4 in Wales.
Testing – 534,807 tests took place on 27 February. The 7-day average is down by 17.8%.
Hospitalisations – There were 10,656 people in hospital and 271 on ventilators as of 25 February. The 7-day average for hospital admissions was down by 10.3% as of 22 February.
Vaccinations – As of 27 February, 91.5% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot, 85.2% had had 2 and 66.4% had had a 3rd shot/booster.
Cliosfanboy
My university just lifted its indoor mask requirement effective immediately. I’ll probably still keep mine on most of the time.
Urza
@Zzyzx: And now everyone can take our masks off and jam into overcrowded open offices.
Yutsano
@Zzyzx: Looks as if our mask mandate ends on the 12th. I think I will still mask in stores for the time being.
Calouste
@Ken: War an pestilence can affect the chattering classes personally, but famine never will. If you’re rich enough, there’s always food.
RobertDSC-iPhone 8
I will remain masked up for the foreseeable future. I have no desire to be unmasked in public.
My job requires that I deal with the public, so I get people off the street all the time, drivers who go everywhere, so I will remain covered up. There is no way to social distance, but double masking is my best line of defense.
LongHairedWeirdo
This is the fault of Republicans, for whom the next election was more important than saving lives.
No, not that Joel Fram caught Covid-19 – that we didn’t watch, warily, for precisely this kind of stuff, that made preventing the spread of Covid-19 even more imperative than “merely” the tens and hundreds of thousands of deaths. We should have been the world leaders in studying possible causes and treatments for long Covid.
LongHairedWeirdo
@Calouste: Yeah. The *makers* of Soylent Green had steak and the best produce from the finest microfarms.
Stacy
As far as vaccine effectiveness in kids, I’ve got an anecdote. My 7 year old daughter got her 2nd dose the day after Thanksgiving. The first week of January she had cold-like symptoms which turned out to be Covid. She had sneezing and a runny nose for 2 days. It was the mildest illness I can remember her ever having. She caught it from her swimming teacher. They were within a few feet of each other, outside, for 30 minutes. He was wearing a wet mask which I assume was completely ineffective. He was vaccinated but not boosted.
For comparison, two of her friends had Covid earlier last year before the vaccines were available. Both were quite sick for a week, although neither needed hospitalization. Was the difference the vaccine? I don’t know, but I do know my vaccinated daughter had a case of Covid that was extremely mild.
J R in WV
Wife is vulnerable, her immune system was damaged some 11 or 12 years ago in a bout with necrotic pneumonia which caused septic shock. I’m still pretty healthy as far as my immune system goes, we have both had three doses of vaccine.
I plan to wear a mask when out in public for quite a while for the sake of Wife’s health. Plus I haven’t had a cold nor flu in quite a while… have had a flu shot every year for many, many years now. Also my other “childhood” vaccinations, whooping cough, tetanus, etc have been boosted recently.