White House to Congress: Now's not the time to cut Covid surveillance/control funding. By @rachelcohrs & @DrewQJoseph. https://t.co/kYKvvrLuIb
— Helen Branswell ?? (@HelenBranswell) March 15, 2022
Senate Republicans held firm in their reluctance to approve roughly $15 billion in new coronavirus aid, even as the White House warned anew that congressional inaction threatened to imperil the country’s ability to deliver tests, therapeutics and vaccines. https://t.co/fgbTEgp1rw
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 15, 2022
Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE on Tuesday filed an application with U.S. regulators seeking emergency use authorization for a second booster shot of their COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 65 and older. https://t.co/HOerkM15IM
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) March 16, 2022
U.S. Senate votes to overturn transit mask mandate; Biden vows veto https://t.co/PSoDGUjNBp pic.twitter.com/lW11jwT8lT
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 16, 2022
57-40, the Senate votes to approve resolution to overturn travel mask mandates.
Dems who voted YES
Bennet (up for re-elect)
Cortez Masto (up for re-elect)
Hassan (up for re-elect)
Kelly (up for re-elect)
Manchin
Rosen
Sinema
TesterRomney voted NO
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 15, 2022
BREAKING: Second gentleman Doug Emhoff has tested positive for COVID-19. Vice President Kamala Harris tested negative, but is curtailing her schedule as a result of her husband’s positive test, according to The White House.https://t.co/D3TtzC98u2
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 15, 2022
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U.S., EU, India, https://t.co/1fV5KEGWRK reach compromise on COVID vaccine IP waiver text https://t.co/vVkwH8JntT pic.twitter.com/ZSURDXQ09e
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 16, 2022
China reported 1,860 new local symptomatic COVID-19 cases on March. 15, posting over a thousand for a fourth consecutive day, with most new infections still concentrated in the northeast, official data showed on Wednesday. https://t.co/KiHMMWFlmr
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) March 16, 2022
China Correspondent BBC:
#China today has city-wide #Covid lockdowns in place in #Shenzhen (12.5 million people), #Dongguan (10.5 million), #Langfang (5.5 million) + a province-wide lockdown in #Jilin (24 million residents). Also quasi-lockdown provisions, in #Shanghai (26 million) & #Xian (13 million).
— Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) March 15, 2022
I should add that there are also smaller towns and counties also on #Covid lock down around #China. They are in addition to the lockdown locations listed above.
— Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) March 15, 2022
Update Wednesday: #Shanghai appears to be locking down housing compounds one at a time for mass #Covid testing: two tests in 48 hours. If negative just monitor heath for 12 days. If positive cases are detected: it’s one week strict lockdown there then one week monitoring. #China
— Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) March 16, 2022
My husband always says:
"The Covid Zero countries gambled and won — but one of them forgot to collect their prize."
(The gamble: that good vaccines would become available fast, and they'd vax their people before a disastrous epidemic ripped through. The prize: The vaccines.)
— Jody Lanard MD (@EIDGeek) March 15, 2022
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Wednesday that there were no plans to further tighten COVID-19 rules in the global financial hubs, with measures in place already the strictest since the pandemic started in 2020. https://t.co/wIuMBZoxM2
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) March 16, 2022
Half of Hong Kong's 7.4M population has already caught Covid & 26,908 new cases were reported Monday along w/ 249 deaths. Cases are being driven by #omicron's subvariant, BA.2, a more infectious sibling than the original, which swept across the US https://t.co/tnMLha8gfq
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) March 15, 2022
Hong Kong sets up 6 more designated Covid-19 clinics for mild cases; new reservation hotline for high-risk patients https://t.co/Ikm7YkJQrs pic.twitter.com/0qMYrXTVfI
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) March 15, 2022
S.Korea reports record 400,741 new daily COVID cases – KDCA https://t.co/kOQS4HMdSp pic.twitter.com/TBfzcnMBUa
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 16, 2022
Relative to Hong Kong, it's death rate is very low. Boosters more than double. Great coverage of age 60+ No Sinovac vaccines.
BTW Hong Kong's booster 30% rate now exceeds the US (29%) pic.twitter.com/6yWCRc4rvB— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 16, 2022
Japan set to remove most COVID restrictions as new infections ebb https://t.co/nxDnOwnmUK pic.twitter.com/mO98iTSZX1
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 16, 2022
Pandemic sends 4.7 mln more people into extreme poverty in SE Asia – ADB https://t.co/jEORfmKbwK pic.twitter.com/RdPRBEomGF
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 16, 2022
New Zealand PM Ardern announces border reopening earlier than previously signalled https://t.co/R8PjwONzsg pic.twitter.com/RIxf0t2p0i
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 15, 2022
Hospital workers in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, find themselves on two frontlines: battling COVID-19 in intensive care units as war rages outside. https://t.co/LU40LUfYEH
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 16, 2022
Germany reported a record high seven-day incidence of the coronavirus on Tuesday, just days before the planned easing of restrictions. https://t.co/Zj6Zx5aXW0
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) March 15, 2022
The Netherlands is dropping its remaining COVID-19 restrictions on March 23 despite a recent rise in infections as the nation learns to live with the coronavirus. https://t.co/ru1mWbN91V
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) March 15, 2022
Masks, PCR tests no longer needed in Namibia as COVID cases fall https://t.co/F9L10Q15Mh pic.twitter.com/rjpvBjezmx
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 15, 2022
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Omicron sub-variant makes up 23.1% of COVID variants in U.S. – CDC https://t.co/B11kKLYSXL pic.twitter.com/PHU87NS9op
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 15, 2022
? @CDCMMWR
Hospitalizations during the Omicron wave for children less than age 5 were 5-fold higher than with Delta or any other time in the US pandemichttps://t.co/AZcOZgRPXO pic.twitter.com/I9SILUk1cu— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 15, 2022
Small airways disease in the lungs persists in #LongCovid patients. The abnormalities in distal airways have been found months after infection, and even in those who had mild cases. Problem captured in chest CT scans https://t.co/bpiFzH7nHD pic.twitter.com/5Ubjb480mD
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) March 16, 2022
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The federal government has provided more than $2 billion to help cover funeral costs for more than 300,000 families of people who died from COVID-19. More than 965,000 people have died in the U.S. from the virus. https://t.co/BNXncTjZ7C
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 15, 2022
Wastewater doesn't lie: U.S. sewer data reveal a new bump in #coronavirus prevalence after a lull. Data from wastewater can spot a rise in infections before they show up through positive tests. Poop tells the truth https://t.co/ARtXT7XCKd pic.twitter.com/213XDLC7sX
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) March 15, 2022
I was gonna use the ????? emoji but tbh I know how this will go. pic.twitter.com/ePEAnJH4gg
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) March 15, 2022
everyone saying this tweet is annoying is so, so right. how could I forget the fundamental lesson I learned in eighth grade: it is deeply uncool to care for the welfare of others
— ely kreimendahl (@ElyKreimendahl) March 15, 2022
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
128 new cases on 3/15. We’re headed in the wrong direction again.
Baud
FTA
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 26,534 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 3,872,135 cases. It also reported 95 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 33,994 deaths – 0.88% of the cumulative reported total, 0.95% of resolved cases.
Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 0.95.
152 confirmed cases are in ICU, 90 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 31,234 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 3,533,994 patients recovered – 91.3% of the cumulative reported total.
Four new clusters were reported yesterday, for a cumulative total of 6,887 clusters. 366 clusters are currently active; 6,521 clusters are now inactive.
25,843 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 691 new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 56,585 doses of vaccine on 15th March: 17,939 first doses, 1,728 second doses, and 36,918 booster doses. The cumulative total is 68,275,177 doses administered: 27,350,442 first doses, 25,776,961 second doses, and 15,357,069 booster doses. 83.7% of the population have received their first dose, 78.9% their second dose, and 47.0% their booster dose.
New Deal democrat
Nationwide cases continued to decline slowly, to 31,100, over 20% down from one week ago, and lower than all but 2 months last year and 3.5 months in 2020. Deaths also declined to 1023. If deaths decline as much as cases – down over 96% from their Omicron peak – then in about a month or so deaths will be down to about only 100 per day.
Cases increased in AK, AR, AZ, DE, IL, and TX. Cases were unchanged for the week in WA. This is a significant increase in the number of States which are not in decline.
The worst State, once again, was AK, at 52 cases per 100,000, followed by ID at 39, then VT, WV, AR, RI, WA, and CO, declining from 20 to 15. The best jurisdictions were HI, at 2.2 cases per 100,000, followed by NE, LA, IN, KS, SD, MD, IA, UT, and OH, all under 5.
The share of BA.2 variant cases in the US is up to 29%. Its share is increasing by 10% a week and increasing. In a month or so, it should be over 80%. I suspect cases will increase at some point during this period, as BA.2 picks up some infections among the vulnerable that BA.1 missed, but I am anticipating only a wavelet and not a wave, as countries that have completely gone over to BA.2 have maintained declines.
Mousebumples
With a 2 year old, I’ve been waiting anxiously for news on an under 5 vaccine for covid. Sounds like Moderna data may be available this week, or at least by the end of the month.
It sounds like Pfizer data is likely in early April. But the Moderna dose seems higher (25 mcg versus 3 mcg) in this population. Provided there aren’t super bad side effects, I’d happily have my daughter join Mr. Mouse and I on #TeamModerna.
Elizabelle
@Mousebumples: The big sister to be, on Team Moderna.
Good luck with tiny jackal en route, due by this weekend.
YY_Sima Qian
On 3/15 Mainland China reported 1,860 new domestic confirmed (53 previously asymptomatic), 1,338 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Guangdong Province reported 59 new domestic confirmed & 54 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 5 new domestic confirmed (4 at Qinzhou & 1 at Nanning, all mild) & 20 new domestic asymptomatic cases (6 at Qinzhou, 2 at Beihai, 1 each at Baise & Fangchenggang & 10 at Chongzuo). There currently are 77 active domestic confirmed (48 at Fangchenggang, 15 at Baise, 11 at Qinzhou, 2 at Nanning, & 1 at Chongzuo) & 113 active domestic asymptomatic cases (45 at Fangchenggang, 13 at Baise, 38 at Chongzuo, 11 at Qinzhou, 4 at Liuzhou, & 2 at Beihai) in the province. 1 zone at Fangchenggang are currently at Medium Risk.
Hunan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, at Changsha, a person arriving from elsewhere on 3/13, a traced close contact of the domestic positive case reported on 3/14 & already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 4 active domestic confirmed cases in the province (2 at Changsha, & 1 each at Xiangtan & Huaihua).
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case. 11 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 34 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Tianjin Municipality reported 51 new domestic confirmed (4 previously asymptomatic, all mild) & 17 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 65 are traced close contacts already under quarantine, 2 from screening of residents in areas under movement restrictions & 1 from screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure. 2 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 271 active domestic confirmed & 35 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 3 sites are currently at High Risk. 9 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shandong Province reported 75 new domestic confirmed (21 previously asymptomatic, 64 mild & 2 moderate) & 105 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 1,029 active domestic confirmed cases & 1,389 active asymptomatic cases in the province.
At Shanxi Province there currently are 23 active domestic confirmed cases in the province (12 at Jinzhong, 5 each at Yuncheng & Taiyuan & 1 at Jincheng).
Hebei Province reported 38 new domestic confirmed & 239 domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 233 active domestic confirmed & 671 active asymptomatic case in the province.
Liaoning Province reported 32 new domestic confirmed & 12 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 155 active domestic confirmed & 32 active domestic cases in the province.
Heilongjiang Province reported 15 new domestic confirmed & 11 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 4 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 54 active domestic confirmed & 77 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Jilin Province reported 1,456 new domestic confirmed (21 previously asymptomatic, 1,441 mild, 13 moderate & 2 serious) & 397 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 7,480 active domestic confirmed & 2,967 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. There are another 1,427 cases that are preliminarily positive, awaiting confirmation.
Beijing Municipality reported 9 new domestic confirmed (8 mild & 1 moderate) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 7 are traced close contacts already under home or centralized quarantine, & 3 from fever clinics. 5 of the cases are students at multiple schools, 3 of whom had already developed symptoms (as early as 3/10). Given how fast Omicron BA.2 spreads in a school environment, there is likely cryptic community transmission in the eastern part of the city. 1 village has been elevated to Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 5 new domestic confirmed & 197 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 139 of the new domestic positive cases are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine & 63 from screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure. 3 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 95 active domestic confirmed & 961 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 11 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shaanxi Province reported 28 new domestic confirmed cases (26 mild & 2 moderate). There currently are 273 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.
Hubei Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, at Shiyan. 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 24 active domestic confirmed (18 mild & 6 moderate, 23 at Wuhan & 1 at Shiyan) & 4 active domestic asymptomatic (3 at Wuhan & 1 at Xianning) cases in the province..
Jiangsu Province reported 13 new domestic (1 previously asymptomatic) & 60 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 170 active domestic confirmed & 173 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Anhui Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both mild, 1 each at Tongling & Ma’anshan) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic (3 at Ma’anshan & 1 each at Tongling & Suzhou) cases, 4 traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine, 3 at fever clinics & 1 recently arriving from elsewhere. There currently are 3 active confirmed (2 at Ma’anshan & 1 at Tongling) & 20 active domestic asymptomatic (12 at Ma’anshan, 3 at Suzhou, 2 at Tongling & 1 each at Anqing, Chuzhou & Haozhou) cases in the province.
Zhejiang Province reported 23 new domestic confirmed & 6 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 127 active domestic confirmed & 14 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Gansu Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 16 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 145 active domestic confirmed & 138 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Fujian Province reported 23 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 15 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 67 active domestic confirmed & 44 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
At Xining in Qinghai Province there currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the city.
Henan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed (5 at Puyang & 1 each at Shangqiu & Zhengzhou) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Puyang) cases in the province. 7 sites at Puyang are currently Medium Risk.
Chongqing Municipality reported 11 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic, all mild) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently is 35 active domestic confirmed & 6 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 3 dormitory buildings are currently at Medium Risk.
Yibin in Sichuan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
Yunnan Province reported 6 new domestic confirmed & 32 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 4 new domestic asymptomatic were released from isolation. There currently are 70 active domestic confirmed & 329 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Imported Cases
On 3/15, Mainland China reported 92 new imported confirmed cases (20 previously asymptomatic, 4 in Guangdong), 144 imported asymptomatic cases, 1 imported suspect case:
Overall in Mainland China, 156 confirmed cases recovered (113 imported), 51 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (39 imported) & 73 were reclassified as confirmed cases (20 imported), & 8,101 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 13,870 active confirmed cases in the country (2,591 imported), 11 in serious condition (2 imported), 9,864 active asymptomatic cases (1,695 imported), 6 suspect cases (all imported). 214,982 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 3/15, 3,203.688M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 5.416M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 3/16, Hong Kong reported 29,272 new positive cases, 11 imported & 29,261 domestic (14,443 via RT-PCR & 14,818 from rapid antigen tests), 217 deaths (29 fully vaccinated, including 2 boosted) + 61 backlogged deaths.
On 3/16, Taiwan reported 90 new positive cases, 87 imported & 3 domestic.
YY_Sima Qian
The China National Health Commission just updated its guidances on treatment of COVID-19 cases:
The above changes make sense & are probably long over due. Hospitalizing every positive case was never necessary, & is no longer sustainable when Omicron BA.2 can quickly cause an outbreak of thousands of cases in a location. Reducing the CT threshold for negative RT-PCR result will greatly shorten hospital (including temporary hospitals for asymptomatic/mild cases) stays of positive cases, from 3 – 6 weeks down to 1 – 2 weeks. The older policies often resulted in positive cases being stuck in hospitals & centralized quarantine for 2 or more months. People put up w/ it when the risk of infection has been extremely low, but w/ the risk of infection now higher (especially in places w/ active outbreaks), the onerous requirements will simply encourage non-compliance by segments of the population, which is the greatest threat to any NPI measure. These changes will also reduce the load on hospitals, as well as avoiding taking productive members of the population out of circulation for unnecessarily long periods of time.
NorthLeft12
Ely’s tweet (the last one in the thread) really hit home with me and the Mrs. Especially the part about not giving a shit about others.
A lot of people have shown exactly who they are and what they value over the last two years.
Kay
@Mousebumples:
My grandaughter participated in a Moderna trial. She’s two. It ended about a month ago- they had their last follow up appointment. She had no side effects of all but of course she may not have gotten the real vaccine.
Mousebumples
@Elizabelle: thanks! Even if the big sister gets vaccinated, I’m still going to be pretty cautious with a baby in the house. My mom was asking about Easter plans, and I really don’t know at this point. We’ll see, I guess, what risk levels are like in a month…
Mousebumples
@Kay: I think you mentioned that in an earlier thread, a few weeks/months ago. ? Here’s hoping she got the real thing, and that her contributions to science will help other little kiddos soon!
Kay
@Mousebumples:
The vaccination rate is so low for kids. It’s only 30%. Maybe it will pick up when people are more comfortable with it but I fear it’s been put in this special “controversial” category by political actors so it will always have a kind of stigma.
Mousebumples
@Kay: yeah, agreed. I can only vaccinate my kids and try to convince friends and family to follow suit. The right wing politics here is nonsense.
sdhays
@Mousebumples: I have a three year old and have been waiting to hear the status of the Moderna trials too. Thanks for the link! That’s fantastic news!
Good luck this weekend!
Another Scott
“Language was invented to hide man’s thoughts.”
I understand that it’s headlines and Twitter, but I get annoyed (and concerned) by reporters using “lockdown” and “restrictions” as if those words have fixed meaning independent of context. They don’t.
The BBC is particularly bad about that. For them, rules about indoor group sizes are apparently the same as welding apartment doors shut… And it feeds the monsters who want to stop doing anything to end the pandemic.
Thanks as always for the roundup, AL.
Cheers,
Scott.
sab
My city’s public school system has decided that now is a good time to drop the mask mandate. I wish they could have held out until the end of the school year.
Suzanne
@Mousebumples: We’re eagerly awaiting a vaccine for Spawn the Youngest, too! Most everyone in the family is now mixed, vaccine-wise. I heard that was better, to get the booster other than the one you got for the main shot sequence.
Good luck with the mini! Keep us updated, we’re all thinking about you!
smith
The new CDC genomic surveillance data shows that nearly 40% of infections in the Northeast are now BA.2. There’s not yet any sign of widespread increases in cases there, though.
Barney
The Scottish government shows a welcome willingness to change plans as infection rates change:
Sloane Ranger
Tuesday in the UK we had 109,802 new cases. The rolling 7-day average is up 52.4%. New cases by nation,
England – 64,313
Northern Ireland – 2605
Scotland – 38770 (covers 4 days worth of data)
Wales – 4114.
Deaths – There were 200 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is down 2.1%. 168 deaths were in England, 5 in Northern Ireland, 25 in Scotland (covers 4 days) and 2 in Wales.
Testing – 811,934 tests took place on 14th March. The rolling 7-day average is up by 9.3%.
Hospitalisations – As of Monday, 14th there were 13,548 people in hospital and 280 on ventilators but figures for England have not been updated due to a processing issue. As of 10th March the weekly average for hospital admissions was up by 18.4%.
Vaccinations – As of 14th March, 91.7% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot, 85.6% had had 2, and 67% had had a 3rd shot/booster.