Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

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

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Let there be snark.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

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

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

In after Baud. Damn.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Usually wrong but never in doubt

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Friday / Saturday, March 4-5

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Friday / Saturday, March 4-5

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… The United States reported nearly 533,300 cases for the week ending Feb. 24, a 36% decline over the previous week that has cascaded through every state in the nation, according to an analysis by Emily Pond, a research data analyst for the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center and Center for Health Security.

The nation reported 12,194 deaths over the same time period, a 22% decline nationally, according to Pond’s analysis. Yet a dozen states still experienced an increase in fatalities, pushing the cumulative number of U.S. deaths to more than 945,000…

Vaccinations in the United States remain stagnant, said William Moss, the CRC vaccinology lead and executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center. Slightly more than 215 million people in the United States have been fully vaccinated, just below 66% of the total population…

“We know that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not going to disappear, that we are going to continue to encounter it in our lives,” Nuzzo said. “That’s why it’s important to get vaccinated. It’s not yet endemic. We’re still at very high levels of case numbers even though they’re falling.”

The scientific community does not yet know what an endemic level of infections for COVID-19 looks like, she added.

“We don’t know if it will fall on a seasonal pattern, although there is increasing belief that it will,” she said. “But we don’t know what that season will look like and when it will start and when it will end. We’re not there. But we are having a conversation given that this virus is not going away.”


Eschew wishcasting:

… An optimistic scenario is for SARS-CoV-2 to settle into a less disruptive flulike pattern, producing wintertime outbreaks with hospitalization and mortality rates lower than we saw in 2020 and 2021. A more pessimistic scenario is for the virus to continue to generate variants that evade immunity and are capable of infecting large numbers of the population.

While it is difficult to know how endemic coronavirus will manifest, there are two important characteristics worth monitoring in the coming months and years: the frequency and severity of outbreaks. These two factors will delineate the disruption caused by the coronavirus going forward…

A big unknown is whether SARS-CoV-2 can continue to produce variants that skirt around the immune system like Delta and Omicron. If the virus has this capacity, outbreaks could occur several times a year, much like during 2021. This endemic pattern might hold for a few more years or indefinitely. On the other hand, if the capacity to produce highly immune evasive variants is tapped out, future versions of the virus might be less aggressive and produce fewer outbreaks, perhaps once a year during winter, much like the flu…

A popular narrative is that the virus will become progressively milder over time and that perhaps Omicron is the first evidence of this progression. Unfortunately, this is most likely wishful thinking. Though Omicron has been milder, the next impactful variant could easily be more deadly, as Delta was.

While the virus is not driven toward becoming milder, other factors, like protection from prior infections, vaccinations, boosting and drugs, should help reduce disease severity, hospitalization rates, time spent in the hospital and the risk of death from Covid. For instance, mRNA vaccination has already reduced the likelihood of hospitalization and death to roughly one-tenth of that for the unvaccinated. It is important that vaccine effectiveness continues to be monitored and that vaccine formulations are updated as needed so that any loss of protection can be countered through boosting.

Given all this uncertainty, we should not become complacent. The coronavirus is wily and much more transmissible than influenza. We need to keep a watchful eye even though we now appear to be entering a lull in activity, because it is uncertain how long any lull will last. We shouldn’t assume Covid will ultimately become a mild flulike nuisance. Instead, stay prepared: Get vaccinated and boosted, listen to public health advisories, keep some at-home Covid tests on hand and use them if you’re exposed or feeling sick and mask up when needed. And keep an eye on the frequency and severity of future outbreaks.

======

China will cope with local COVID-19 outbreaks in a “science-based, targeted” manner to maintain the normal order of life, according to a government work report released at the open of the country’s annual meeting of parliament on Saturday.

China will stick to preventing inbound COVID infections and the domestic resurgence of the disease while continuing to refine its epidemic measures, according to the report.

The country will also step up research into coronavirus variants and their prevention and accelerate researching and developing vaccines and effective medicines against COVID, the report said.

In a separate document issued on Saturday, China’s state planner the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the country will organise research into COVID vaccination using products based on different technologies and increase the coverage of COVID boosters.

China will further speed up the domestic research, development and approval of COVID-19 medicines in accordance with epidemic control needs, and coordinate efforts on production, storage and quality supervision.

China will also enhance cross-border trade to ensure the unimpeded trade of vaccines and materials needed to produce them, the NDRC said in the document.


(Crore = 10 million)

======

… Because so many deaths were due to respiratory failure, many colleagues I talked with expected to find progressive pneumonia with lung destruction as the cause. However, researchers discovered something entirely different: blood clots in the lungs (also referred to as pulmonary emboli). Furthermore, they found countless additional smaller clots in many other organs as well. (Note that experts distinguish between clot and thrombus and embolus but for simplicity, we’ll call them all clots.)

These findings are particularly topical now, following an important article just published in Nature Medicine. Researchers utilized the vast databases of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to examine more than 150,000 people who had survived Covid-19 infections and compared them with millions of people in the VA database who were similar in age, sex and other features but who did not develop Covid-19.

The results are clear and very significant: Compared with similar people who had not been infected with SARS-CoV-2, those who recovered from infection had many more blood clots, heart problems and strokes. The extent of the differences across the 20 different cardiovascular conditions is among the greatest of any clinical study I have read. It is jaw-dropping.

The study is telling us something we don’t particularly want to hear, but that is a critical piece of information for many reasons. First, it will help those trying to understand long Covid; second, it can help direct prevention and treatment decisions for those with active Covid-19 as well as those who survived the disease; and finally, it likely will contribute to an improved understanding of the very complicated dance of clotting and anti-clotting that goes on within each of our bodies every day…

It is altogether uncertain what comes next, but the fact that almost 80 million Americans have been infected makes a cohesive plan for their health care a necessity. Experts will draw up basic guidelines to help patients know the best path forward. Though, once again similar to the field of AIDS medicine, much will be done by trial and error as some people will be followed too intensely and others not intensely enough. Over time, a crisp and simple “if this, then that” sensible approach will likely emerge.

It would be nice to think that this sort of information would be powerful to convince people still unwilling to receive the Covid-19 vaccine or the booster shot by providing simple and horrifying truths about the aftermath of the disease. Up till now, the core of the hesitancy has not been influenced by facts and figures.

This new welter of facts, though, may be different (hope springs eternal). The suddenness of the pandemic and the suddenness of so many deaths were unspeakably tragic. Yet, for those patients and families who have managed to stay Covid-free over the last two years, the fear of Covid and the urgent desire to protect oneself may have been dulled by time and the relatively mild symptoms that were widely reported with the last variant of concern.

But now, with an elevated risk of heart disease, stroke and blood clots as a possible long-term effect of Covid-19 – conditions that can be chronic and slowly debilitating – perhaps the VA researchers will do something that almost a million American deaths has not: frighten a broad swath of the vaccine-hesitant into rolling up their sleeves and taking the shots.

Laurie Garrett had a bit of a reputation as a Cassandra, back before 2019. Can’t really blame her for taking a victory lap now…

======


If this were a thriller script, it would be rejected as implausible:

… That judge, Steven Douglas Merryday, is a George H.W. Bush nominee who sits on a federal trial court in Florida. He gained notoriety in 2021 after blocking a CDC order that limited cruise ship operations due to the pandemic. So, when the far-right Liberty Counsel sought to halt President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the armed forces, they took their case to Merryday’s court. Predictably, they prevailed: In February, Merryday ruled that the mandate violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, siding with the plaintiffs, Navy Commander John Doe and Lieutenant Colonel Jane Smith. (I’ve applied these pseudonyms to the officers because the court granted them anonymity.)

But Merryday did not merely exempt Doe and Smith from the mandate. Rather, he handed down a sweeping restraining order that prohibited the Navy from taking any “adverse action” against the plaintiffs because of their unvaccinated status. Specifically, he barred the Navy from reassigning them for any reason whatsoever.

This order created immediate problems. An active-duty member of the Marine Corps, Smith is slated to take command of a Combat Logistics Battalion later this year. As Lieutenant General W.M. Jurney attested, this commander must disembark at ally nations all over the world. Many of these countries require all U.S. service members to be vaccinated against COVID before stepping on their shores. Because she is unvaccinated, Smith is not “worldwide deployable,” in Jurney’s words. And yet Merryday has forced the Navy to deploy her.

But Doe poses the bigger threat. He is currently the commanding officer of a warship that may soon set sail. If he falls seriously ill at sea—which is more likely because he refuses the vaccine—he may thwart the entire mission. The issue, however, goes deeper than that. In declarations, Vice Admiral D.W. Dwyer and Captain Frank Brandon explained that Doe’s anti-vax beliefs are part of a broader pattern of insubordination. Brandon testified that last November, he spoke with Doe on Doe’s ship one day before its scheduled departure. Doe was experiencing multiple symptoms of COVID, and appeared to have a relatively severe case; he could, Brandon recalled, “barely speak.” Yet Doe refused to get tested—a clear violation of protocol—and attended a briefing in a cramped room with about 60 other people. Brandon ordered Doe to get a test, which revealed that he did, indeed, have COVID, and exposed dozens of others to the virus.

Doe engaged in other deceptive behavior. For instance, when requesting leave, he concealed the fact that he was flying to another state, which would have triggered a mandatory risk assessment. After Brandon discovered this subterfuge, he learned that Doe had traveled to a high-risk area, requiring five days’ quarantine upon return. Doe did not inform his Executive Officer of this extended absence, creating a “significant and very rare” disruption “across the waterfront” during a crucial phase of ship preparation. Brandon concluded that Doe “intentionally deceived me,” “put his crew at risk,” “failed to comply with the Navy’s COVID-19 policies,” and engaged in “negligent behavior” in “performance of his duties.”…

In light of these fears, the Department of Justice pleaded with Merryday to pause his decision. On Wednesday, he declined. Merryday scorned the notion that Doe might get sick, writing that he is “triumphantly fit and slim and strong.”…

(If this were a thriller, Floriduh Judge would *literally* embrace Officer Doe, catch some triumphantly fit and slim and strong ‘rona, and die horribly in time to let the destroyer sail off to defend our allies.)

Reader Interactions

35Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY:

    58 new cases on 3/4.

    Hospitalizations:

    63 cases in hospitals, 63% are unvaxed
    No cases in the ICU. We’ve had no cases in the ICU all week.

  2. 2.

    germy

    For 40 years conservatives warned that women and gay and trans people and strict anti-harassment protections and diversity training and destigmatizing mental health services would destroy fleet readiness.

    Turns out: https://t.co/XbvFfPrcsU

    — Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) March 5, 2022

    An insubordinate anti-vaxxer is currently the commanding officer of a guided-missile destroyer. Navy leaders won't deploy the warship while he's in charge—they don't trust him.

    But a judge won't let them reassign him, citing his "religious freedom." https://t.co/uy6cur1O2c

    — Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) March 4, 2022

  3. 3.

    New Deal democrat

    Nationwide cases declined to 52,700, the lowest since last July 25, and lower than 15 of the last 24 months. Deaths appear to have finally started a sharper decline, as they have now declined to just below 1500, over 40% below their recent peak, and roughly average for the last 24 months. Deaths declined by 500, or about 25%, this past week after removing President’s Day distortions, and 750 in the last two weeks. If deaths continue to decline at the rate they have in the last 2 weeks, then in two more weeks they should be about 750. I still think in a month they could be as low as under 200.

    Only NE, IA, and  MT have risen in the last week, and the first two are probably due to data dump distortions; so there is every reason to think that the national trend will continue to decline from here. The worst States are NE (at 170 cases per 100,000 after its data dump), followed by ID (at 70), MT, ME, AK, KY, IA, WV, FL, and VT (at 25). The best jurisdictions are LA (at 6 per 100,000), followed by PR, IN, SD, MD, NY, DC, OH, PA, and CT (at 10).

    A reminder that, for comparison, the US was below 13 cases per 100,000 for most of 2020, and below 4 per 100,000 at its best point last June. The current decline is decelerating, down only 20% in the last week. At that rate it would still take several more months to equal its low from last June.

  5. 5.

    NotMax

    FYI.

    Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall’s resolution blocking a Biden administration order requiring healthcare workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 passed the U.S. Senate on Wednesday after Democrats didn’t have enough senators present to vote it down.

    Called a “resolution of disapproval,” the legislation would block a rule implemented by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that requires every employee, volunteer and contractor working at a healthcare facility that accepts Medicaid and Medicare to get the COVID-19 vaccine unless they have a medical or religious exemption.
    [snip]
    The resolution passed 49-44. In order to take effect and block the administration’s rule, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in January, the resolution would also have to be approved by the House of Representatives and signed by President Joe Biden. Both actions are unlikely. Source

    More on something from above (emphasis added).

    An estimated 140 million people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus, according to data shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Researchers evaluated nearly 72,000 blood samples to estimate the number of infections. The data, which goes through late January, reflects the increase in infections that occurred as the omicron variant began to spread throughout the country.

    According to the data, the CDC estimates that a majority of the country’s children have had the virus at some point – nearly 60% of people 17 and under have been infected so far, in comparison with about 43% of the country as a whole.
    [snip]
    The estimated number of 140 million infections nationwide is “well over double” previous estimates from the government, according to The Washington Post. Source

  14. 14.

    Scout211

    @Baud: There is another suit in Texas in the same issue.

    Yes.  That one is a group of Navy sailors and was just upheld by the Fifth Circuit.

    A federal appeals court blocked the Navy from disciplining a group of special warfare personnel who cited religious reasons in refusing to get vaccinated, dealing the latest blow to the Pentagon’s coronavirus vaccine mandate for service members.

    In an opinion released late Monday, the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling from a Texas federal judge, who ordered the Navy to not take “any adverse action” against the 35 sailors, finding that the vaccine mandate violated their religious freedom.

  15. 15.

    Gvg

    Is a court marshal reassignment? The military has it’s own justice system. Lying to officers about obeying orders and fitness for duty seems to me to be worth cashiering. I really didn’t think the regular courts had authority over military deployments.

  16. 16.

    Amir Khalid

    Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 33,209 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 3,561,766 cases. It also reported 78 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 33,106 deaths – 0.93% of the cumulative reported total, 1.02% of resolved cases.

    Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 1.02.

    138 confirmed cases are in ICU, 80 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 26,352 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 3,223,650 patients recovered – 90.5% of the cumulative reported total.

    17 new clusters were reported yesterday, for a cumulative total of 6,826 clusters. 476 clusters are currently active; 6,350 clusters are now inactive.

    32,768 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 441 new cases were imported.

    The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 81,724 doses of vaccine on 4th March: 23,129 first doses, 1,516 second doses, and 57,079 booster doses. The cumulative total is 67,600,736 doses administered: 27,107,816 first doses, 25,756,858 second doses, and 14,944,712 booster doses. 83.0% of the population have received their first dose, 78.9% their second dose, and 45.8% their booster dose.

  17. 17.

    Sloane Ranger

    Friday in the UK we had 44,740 new cases. The 7-day moving average is down by 1.9%. New cases by nation,

    England – 31,776

    Northern Ireland – 2236

    Scotland – 9551

    Wales – 1177.

    Deaths – There were 110 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. The moving 7-day average is down 16%. 80 deaths were in England, 3 in Northern Ireland, 24 in Scotland and 3 in Wales.

    Testing – 664,480 tests took place on 3rd March. The rolling 7-day average is down by 12.6%.

    Hospitalisations – There were 10,510 people in hospital and 264 on ventilators on 3rd March. The 7-day average for hospital admissions is down by 3.1%.

    Vaccinations – As of 3rd March, 91.6% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot, 85.3% had had 2 and 66.6% had had a 3rd shot/booster.

    This will be my last update until Tuesday as the UK no longer publishes data during weekends and will not update on Monday until after 4pm local time.

  18. 18.

    Sloane Ranger

    @Scout211: Is this just for the COVID vaccine or does it cover all vaccinations? If the latter, it has the potential to have a really serious effect on US military combat readiness if people are deployed to areas where diseases like typhoid or dengue fever exist. And what about vaccinating against Anthrax as that can be weaponised?

    I know your Supreme Court is full of wingnuts, but haven’t they been fairly sensible as far as mandating vaccines is concerned?

    Also, have these religious freedom military types accepted vaccination against other diseases? Doesn’t that undermine their so called “religious objections” to this particular vaccine?

  19. 19.

    Baud

    @Sloane Ranger:

    Not just vaccines.  It’s based on religious beliefs generally.  Anytime some servicemember claims a religious objection to anything, it’ll be a federal case.

    ETA: the big problem with these two cases is the restrictions on deployment decisions.  That’s a major intrusion.

  20. 20.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: The idea that religious free exercise invalidates anti-discrimination laws is a principle conservatives keep trying to apply over and over. Basically, say anything that’s illegal is part of Christianity (it has to be Christianity) and you get a free pass.

  21. 21.

    Scout211

    @Sloane Ranger:

    Here  is the ruling.

    This ruling applies to the COVID-19 vaccination only and this group of Navy Seals and their request for religious exemptions that the Navy had denied. The Fifth Circuit ruling denies a temporary stay requested by the US military. Will it be used in the future (if eventually they win at the Supreme Court level?) IANAL, but time will tell.

    A snippet:

    More specifically, multiple Plaintiffs successfully deployed overseas before and after the vaccine became available, and one even received a Joint Service Commendation Medal for “safely navigating restricted movement and distancing requirements” while deployed in South Korea between January and June 2020.21 Plaintiffs also trained other SEALs preparing for deployments at various points during the pandemic while remaining unvaccinated.
    The Navy’s alleged compelling interest is further undermined by other salient facts. It has granted temporary medical exemptions to 17 Special Warfare members, yet no reason is given for differentiating those service members from Plaintiffs. That renders the vaccine requirements “underinclusive.” Navy Seals 1–26, 2022 WL 34443, at *10. And “underinclusiveness . . . is often regarded as a telltale sign that the government’s interest in enacting a liberty-restraining pronouncement is not in fact ‘compelling.’

     

     

  22. 22.

    Baud

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Yes, they want the Republican 6 to make religious folks sovereign citizens. (Roberts is bad, but I think it’ll be the other 5 that push the envelope).

  23. 23.

    Baud

    @Scout211:

    The first argument is weak.  “We got lucky” is not a reason to refuse to take precautions.

    The second argument is a tad stronger, but medical exemptions ≠ religious exemptions except perhaps for the ideological right.

  24. 24.

    Fair Economist

    Flu Report for 2/21/22-2/27/22
    Positivity down slightly from 4.2% to 4.1%. Lab cases up from 1,324 to 1,807, with 773 added to previous weeks. H3N2 continues its unprecedented dominance, 98.8% of all types flus and 100% of subtyped Type A flus, although that’s less extreme than the last few weeks. Hospital admissions up slightly from 1,420 to 1,504.

    Mortality due to pneumonia, influenza and COVID down to 16.7% from last week’s 20.4%, but still higher than any pre-COVID levels with available data. 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”.

    Looks like flu season is peaking (it’s that time of year) and anti-COVID public health measures in Dec and Jan averted what would have been a bad flu season.

  25. 25.

    mrmoshpotato

    An insubordinate anti-vaxxer is currently the commanding officer of a guided-missile destroyer. Navy leaders won’t deploy the warship while he’s in charge—they don’t trust him.

    But a judge won’t let them reassign him, citing his “religious freedom.”

    Punch them both in the dick, and throw them overboard.

  26. 26.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Clearly, the entirety of the military should be controlled by the whims of solitary federal judges located in random parts of the country as opposed to having a well-organized separate system of military justice and a separate Court of Military Appeals.

    I can see some Texas wingnut prohibiting investigation and discipline for war crimes.

  28. 28.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Clearly, the entirety of the military should be controlled by the whims of solitary federal judges located in random parts of the country as opposed to having a well-organized separate system of military justice and a separate Court of Military Appeals. 

    That’s just science!

  32. 32.

    Miss Bianca

    @germy: I’m just wondering why they can’t court-martial his ass and then, after finding him guilty of insubordination, cashier him.

    Maybe some cove more learned than I in matters legal and military can explain it to me.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    @Miss Bianca:

    If he’s legally right, you can’t court martial him.

    The Commander in Chief can fire any officer though.  But I assume they don’t want to do that unless the Supremes usurp the Navy.

  34. 34.

    Miss Bianca

    @Baud: There’s the whole “refusing lawful orders” thing…but I guess that’s what the rush to a civilian judgement about legality was all about, innit?

  35. 35.

    YY_Sima Qian

    On 3/4 Mainland China reported 102 new domestic confirmed (9 previously asymptomatic), 73 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Guangdong Province reported 46 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic) & 18 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.

    • Dongguan reported 24 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 18 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 42 at the epicenter Dalang Township & 1 at Humen Township, all are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine or from mass screening in residential areas under lock down. The outbreak is of the Omicron BA.2 Variant. 1 factory compound at Dalang Township is currently at High Risk. 1 zone, 1 residential compound & 1 factory compound at Dalang Township are currently at Medium Risk, as is 1 zone at Humen Township.
    • Shenzhen reported 21 new domestic confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic), 10 of the 19 new domestic positive cases are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine, & the rest are found from mass screening in areas under movement restrictions. The community transmission is occurring in “urban villages” w/ very crowded low rises divided into small tenements. The currently outbreak in the city is of the Omicron BA.2 Variant. 1 Medium Risk factory & 1 shopping center have been re-designated to Low Risk. 3 residential buildings & 1 office building remain at Medium Risk.
    • Huizhou reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, a person whose work requires regular travel to & from Shenzhen, found via regular screening (last tested negative on 3/2).

    Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 3 new domestic confirmed (all previously asymptomatic, all mild) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 3 at Fangchenggang & 1 at Baise, the 3 new domestic positive cases at Fangchenggang are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. The outbreak at Fangchenggang is of Omicron BA.2 Variant. 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 150 active domestic confirmed (99 at Baise, 50 at Fangchenggang & 1 at Nanning) & 16 active domestic asymptomatic cases (15 at Fangchenggang) in the province. 1 zone at Fangchenggang has been elevated to Medium Risk. 2 zones at Fangchenggang are currently at Medium Risk.

    Hunan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (mild), at Huaihua, a passenger on a train to Guangzhou in Guangdong. The case had been tested elsewhere as part of mass screening campaign, when the case’s batch of 10 tested positive the case was traced to the train & was taken off at the nearest stop (which is Huaihua) for testing. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the province (1 each at Huaihua & Shaoyang).

    Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 8 new domestic confirmed cases. 33 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 284 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.

    • At Baotou there are currently 20 active domestic confirmed cases in the city (all presumed Delta). 1 zone, 5 residential compounds & 2 villages are currently at Medium Risk.
    • Hohhot reported 5 new domestic confirmed cases, all are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. 31 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 254 active domestic confirmed cases (all presumed Delta) in the city. 1 zone, 3 communities & 4 villages are currently at High Risk. 15 Medium Risk communities & 8 villages have been re-designated to Low Risk. 55 communities, 12 villages, 1 residential compound, 1 shopping center & a plantation remain at Medium Risk.
    • The rest of the province reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases, all at Manzhouli in Hulun Buir, 2 found at fever clinic & 1 is a traced close contact. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed (8 at Manzhouli in Hulun Buir & 2 at Bayan Nur) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Bayan Nur) cases remaining. 

    Tianjin Municipality reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), all traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 24 active domestic confirmed cases (18 mild & 7 moderate) in the city. 1 massage parlor is currently at High Risk.

    Shandong Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), all at Qingdao, 2 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine & 3 found at fever clinics (all students at a middle school). There currently are 11 active domestic confirmed cases (all at Qingdao) & 1 active asymptomatic (at Yantai) cases in the province. 1 middle school at Qingdao has been elevated to High Risk. 1 residential compound at Qingdao is currently Medium Risk.

    Shanxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic). There currently are 19 active domestic confirmed cases in the province, all part of the transmission chain spreading from Hohhot in Inner Mongolia.

    • Jinzhong reported 1 new domestic positive case (previously asymptomatic). There currently are 14 active domestic confirmed cases in the city.
    • In the rest of the province there there currently are 5 active domestic confirmed cases (4 at Taiyuan & 1 at Xizhou) remaining.

    Hebei Province reported 6 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases. (all mild), 4 at Xingtai & 1 at Shijiazhuang.  There currently are 12 active domestic confirmed (4 at Xingtai & 1 each at Shijiazhuang & Handan, all part from the same transmission chain spread from Xingtai) & 2 active asymptomatic case (at Shijiazhuang) in the province.

    • Xingtai reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases (2 mild & 1 moderate), all traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed cases in the city. 1 village has been elevated to Medium Risk.
    • Shijiazhuang reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both mild) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
    • Baoding reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, a person returning by private car from Jilin City in Jilin, arriving on 3/3, testing positive on 3/4.
    • Handan did not reported any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, part of the transmission chain spreading from Xingtai.

    At Huludao in Liaoning Province 16 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 174 active domestic confirmed cases in the city (all presumed Delta). 1 village at Suizhong County is currently at High Risk.

    Heilongjiang Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 24 active domestic confirmed& 46 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Suifenhe in Mudanjiang did not report any new positive cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed & 15 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 2 residential compounds, 9 residential buildings & 1 business are currently Medium Risk.
    • Harbin reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (moderate), at Daowai District, a traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed & 10 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all part of the transmission chain spreading from Suifenhe.
    • Heihe did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 14 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city (all presumed Omicron BA.2). 1 residential building is currently at Medium Risk.
    • In the rest of the province there currently are 6 active domestic confirmed (all at Jidong County in Jixi) & 7 active domestic asymptomatic (4 at Jixi, 2 at Qiqihar, & 1 at Jiamusi) cases in the city. 2 residential compounds & a hospital at Jixi are currently at Medium Risk.

    Jilin Province reported 19 new domestic confirmed (all mild) & 24 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 31 active domestic confirmed & 46 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Yanbian Prefecture Harbin reported 6 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), 5 at Hunchun & 1 at Yanji, the 5 at Hunchun are found via mass screening & the 1 at Yanji is found from voluntary screening. There currently are 17 active domestic confirmed (all mild) & 14 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 business has been elevated to Medium Risk.
    • Jilin City reported 8 new domestic confirmed (all mild) & 24 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 23 traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine & 9 from mass screening of persons at risk of exposure. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed & 31 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, including 17 students. 1 village & 1 building unit have been elevated to Medium Risk.
    • Changchun reported 5 new domestic confirmed cases (all mild), 1 person who had traveled to Jilin City several times in the past 2 weeks, & 4 traced close contacts.
    • Liaoyuan did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case in the city part of the transmission chain spreading from Jilin City.

    Hainan Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both mild), both at Sanya, both guests at the hotel w/ previously reported domestic confirmed case, which is already in lock down. There currently are 3 active confirmed (all at Sanya) & 2 active domestic asymptomatic (1 each at Sanya & Chengmai County) cases in the province.

    Shanghai Municipality reported 3 new domestic confirmed (both mild) & 16 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 18 are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine & 1 via regular screening of person in high risk occupations. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed & 45 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 residential building has been elevated to Medium Risk. An activity center, a residential building & a supermarket are currently at Medium Risk.

    Hubei Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (moderate) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both at Wuhan, both traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 37 active domestic confirmed (28 mild & 9 moderate, all at Wuhan) & 9 active domestic asymptomatic (8 at Wuhan & 1 at Huanggang) cases in the province. 4 residential buildings & 1 hotel at Wuhan are currently at Medium Risk.

    Jiangsu Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case. 6 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 57 active domestic confirmed & 24 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Nantong reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, a person returning from Shanghai on 3/1, initially tested positive on 3/3.
    • Xuzhou did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, at Suining County, part of the transmission chain spreading from Shanghai.
    • Suzhou did not report any new domestic positive cases. 6 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 56 active domestic confirmed & 19 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 10 Medium Risk residential buildings, 2 residential compounds & a dormitory have been re-designated to Low Risk. 8 residential buildings, a factory & a business remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Wuxi 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 4 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city, all part of the transmission chain spreading from Suzhou.

    Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, both at Cangnan County.

    Sichuan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic). There currently are 37 active domestic confirmed & 12 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.

    • Chengdu reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic). There currently are 36 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city (all presumed Omicron). 14 residential compounds are currently at Medium Risk.
    • In the test of the province did not report any new domestic positive cases. there currently are 1 active domestic confirmed (at Meizhou) & 4 active domestic asymptomatic (4 each at Mianyang & Luzhou, & 2 at Deyang) cases remaining, part of the transmission chain spreading from Chengdu.

    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 the last 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. 

    Yunnan Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 8 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 52 active domestic confirmed & 127 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the province.

    • Honghe Prefecture did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 17 active domestic confirmed & 15 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.
    • Lincang did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed & 58 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 zone is currently at Medium Risk.
    • Tengchong in Baoshan did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 4 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
    • Dehong Prefecture reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 8 new asymptomatic cases, 9 at Ruili & 1 at Longchuan County, 9 from area mass screening & 1 from regular screening of persons in high risk occupations. There currently are 20 active domestic confirmed & 37 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city (all presumed Omicron BA.2). 2 communities are currently at Medium Risk.
    • In the rest of the province 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 4 active domestic confirmed (3 at Malipo County in Wenshan Prefecture & 1 in Sipsongpanna Prefecture) & 13 active domestic asymptomatic (all at Malipo County in Wenshan Prefecture) cases remaining.

    Imported Cases

    On 3/4, Mainland China reported 179 new imported confirmed cases (16 previously asymptomatic, 5 in Guangdong), 93 imported asymptomatic cases, 5 imported suspect cases:

    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 64 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from South Korea, & 62 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong; 7 asymptomatic cases, all Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong
    • Zhuhai in Guangdong Province – 5 confirmed & 1 asymptomatic cases, 8 Mainland Chinese & 5 Hong Kong residents coming from Hong Kong
    • Jiangmen in Guangdong Province – 5 confirmed & 6 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Hong Kong
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 3 confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic), 1 Chinese national each returning from the DRC (via Nairobi), Nigeria & the Philippines; 12 asymptomatic cases, 7 Chinese nationals returning from Nigeria, 2 each from Bangladesh & the DRC (both via Nairobi), & 1 from Vietnam
    • Dongguan in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed & 9 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Hong Kong
    • Zhongshan in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from Hong Kong
    • Huizhou in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Hong Kong
    • Foshan in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Hong Kong
    • Heyuan in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Qatar, off a flight that landed at Guangzhou
    • Shanghai Municipality – 24 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Canada & Japan, 15 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong, 4 Taiwanese residents coming from Taiwan, 2 Japanese nationals coming from Japan, & a South Korean national coming from South Korea; 10 symptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Switzerland (via Helsinki), Israel & the US, & 7 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong; 5 suspect cases, no information released
    • Ningde Port in Fujian Province – 16 crew members off a cargo ship w/ last port of call in Indonesia
    • Chongzuo in Guangxi “Autonomous” Region – 12 confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 5 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Tianjin Municipality – 11 confirmed cases, 4 Chinese nationals returning from Poland, 2 from Hungary (via Warsaw) & 1 from Czechia (via Warsaw), no information released yet for the other 4; 4 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Hungary (via Warsaw) & 1 from Poland, no information released yet for the last 1
    • Beijing Municipality – 9 confirmed cases, a Chinese national returning from Russia, & 5 Mainland Chinese & 3 Hong Kong residents returning from Hong Kong; 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Qingdao in Shandong Province – 4 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese & 1 South Korean nationals returning from South Korea, & a Russian crew member off a cargo ship w/ last port of call in Russia
    • Yantai in Shandong Province – 4 confirmed & 1 asymptomatic cases, all coming from South Korea 
    • Weihai in Shandong Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from South Korea
    • Rizhao in Shandong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from South Korea
    • Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 8 confirmed cases (5 previously asymptomatic), 1 Chinese national each returning from Cambodia & Singapore, & 6 Mainland Chinese returning from Hong Kong; 7 asymptomatic cases, a Chinese national returning from Algeria, 5 Mainland Chinese residents returning from Hong Kong, & a South Korean national coming from South Korea
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 3 confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 2 confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic), the new case coming from Indonesia; 6 asymptomatic cases, 2 coming from Egypt & 1 each from Brunei, Japan, South Korea & Lebanon
    • Shenyang in Liaoning Province – 1 confirmed (previously asymptomatic) & 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Dalian in Liaoning Province – 1 confirmed & 2 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Chongqing Municipality – 1 confirmed & 3 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Singapore
    • Changchun in Jilin Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from South Korea
    • Suzhou in Jiangsu Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from Singapore, off a flight that landed at Shanghai
    • Lanzhou in Gansu Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Russia
    • Yunnan Province (location not specified) – 3 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Laos & 1 from Myanmar, via land border crossings
    • Harbin in Heilongjiang Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from South Korea

    Overall in Mainland China, 120 confirmed cases recovered (50 imported), 28 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (25 imported) & 25 were reclassified as confirmed cases (16 imported), & 5,835 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 3,465 active confirmed cases in the country (2,166 imported), 14 in serious condition (2 imported), 1,500 active asymptomatic cases (1,049 imported), 7 suspect cases (all imported). 92,578 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    As of 3/4, 3,152.419M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 5.412M doses in the past 24 hrs.

    On 3/5, Hong Kong reported 37,529 new positive cases (6 imported & 37,523 domestic), 150 deaths (only 21 fully vaccinated, including 1 boosted w/ BioNTech). CFR of fully vaccinated (all ages) is 0.04%, unvaccinated (all ages) is 1.25%. CFR of fully vaccinated >= 80 y.o. is 1.57%, unvaccinated >= 80 y.o. is 8.61%.

    On 3/5, Taiwan reported 80 new positive cases, 72 imported & 8 domestic.

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