U.S. health officials authorized a second booster dose for people aged 50 and older of the two most commonly used COVID vaccines, intended to offer more protection against severe disease https://t.co/zBNYKtCc7d pic.twitter.com/noaSiXKXoh
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 30, 2022
New @ScienceTM
The mRNA vaccines are not interchangeable.
If you got Moderna vaccines, think about getting a Pfizer booster or if you got Pfizers, a Moderna boosterhttps://t.co/gI3ZvL0nf8 pic.twitter.com/9GiuvLLH1O— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 29, 2022
?Biden's budget includes a *171%* increase for the CDC — including parts of a plan to halt the cycle of panic & neglect that follows health crises: A mandatory $81.7 bn for pandemic preparedness.
New from me, @alexwitze @jefftollef @maxdkozlov @FKreier https://t.co/kOE5JwgusN
— Amy Maxmen, PhD (@amymaxmen) March 28, 2022
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Global vaccination must be swifter
Why?
"Deaths from COVID-19 rising fastest in the countries and regions that have the lowest vaccination rates" @TomBollyky @JenniferNuzzo @NoelleHuhn @EmilyPondMPH @samckiernan https://t.co/nbMfL79gSx pic.twitter.com/JOUARB9kaY
— Madhu Pai, MD, PhD (@paimadhu) March 28, 2022
China officially excludes ‘asymptomatic’ cases:
Shanghai cranked up lockdown restrictions for people residing in the eastern half of the city, barring everyone from leaving their homes even to walk their dogs as local daily #Covid19 infections jumped on Tuesday. @allenwan290 reports from the city https://t.co/V86ZIw6FgN pic.twitter.com/6G2MROBqCE
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) March 29, 2022
Hong Kong to extend Covid-19 laws until September and raise fines for violating testing requirements https://t.co/qLedLYgPtA pic.twitter.com/QJhE2ifTxT
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) March 30, 2022
"At no point did I expect me to be the person responsible for the English-language Hong Kong Covid news."
Stay-at-home dad of 2, @tripperhead, has become an unlikely source of news for the city's #Covid19 policies. Here's how he got there https://t.co/tax4gKx9bn pic.twitter.com/dYlYA63aLT
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) March 30, 2022
The turnaround in South Korea begins after its severe Omicron wave? pic.twitter.com/S5pUjk4WSz
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 29, 2022
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Scientists are deeply concerned that COVID-19 could evolve within animal populations – potentially spawning dangerous viral mutants that could jump back to people, spread among us and reignite what seems like a waning pandemic. https://t.co/EDiUnPwxwx
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 30, 2022
Dr. Myron Cohen, FIDSA of @UNC_ID explains “the big unknown” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Cohen and Dr. Archana Chatterjee, FIDSA of @ChicagoMedEdu discuss COVID-19 vaccines & immunocompromised individuals in our latest podcast: https://t.co/9Fj71daduz pic.twitter.com/anB6f67yjB
— IDSA (@IDSAInfo) March 28, 2022
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AP-NORC poll: Many Americans have taken significant steps back from once-routine coronavirus precautions, with less than half now saying they regularly wear masks, avoid crowds and skip nonessential travel. https://t.co/5I6tXV7ux5
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 29, 2022
… Americans are letting down their guard even as experts warn a new wave of COVID-19 cases is coming. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows fewer people taking protective measures than at any point in AP-NORC polls conducted since early 2021.
The poll found 44% say they often or always wear a face mask around people outside of their homes, down from 65% in January when infections of the highly contagious omicron variant were soaring. Just 40% say they’re largely avoiding nonessential travel, compared with 60% in January. And 47% say they regularly stay away from large groups, down from 65% in January.
Most Americans say they at least sometimes still follow those safeguards. But they’re increasingly returning to pre-pandemic norms as coronavirus infections have fallen to their lowest level since July…
Since vaccines became widely available to the American public, AP-NORC polls have consistently shown that vaccinated people are more worried about infections and more likely to take preventive steps than the unvaccinated. The vaccinated are still more likely than the unvaccinated to say they’re always or often avoiding nonessential travel (44% to 29%), staying away from large groups (51% to 32%) and wearing face masks around other people (49% to 26%).
But the new poll shows that over the past two months the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike have become less likely to regularly take those precautions. Likewise, both Democrats and Republicans are less likely than they were in January to say they frequently take protective measures…
New Deal democrat
Cases in the US remained steady at 30,500, a level within 1500 of which they have been for the last two weeks. Deaths rose to 750.
Yesterday the CDC released its weekly update on variants. Last week’s reported rate of BA.2 was increased to 39%, and this week’s rate was 55%. On the West Coast it is a majority, and in the Northeast it is over 70%. Because internationally cases have typically peaked by the time BA.2 hits 90% of all cases, we’ll probably get a peak in Northeast cases in a week or so, and the rest of the country over the next 2 to 4 weeks.
Internationally, cases in the U.K. are now only 1.5% higher than they were 9 days ago, before its data dump. Cases in France, however, are still rising; as they are in Ireland, Luxembourg, Cyprus, and Malta. Everywhere else in Europe they are flat or declining. Again, the BA.2 waves in Europe have typically peaked after about 3 weeks.
Cases are now rising in every US region except the West. The Northeast, which bottomed 2 weeks ago, is up 33%. The South, which bottomed 10 days ago, is up about 25%. The Midwest, which also bottomed about 10 days ago, is up 10%. The West declined 40% in the past week.
The States to watch right now are the 5 in the NYC and Boston metro areas. So far in those States cases are, if anything, increasing at an increasing rate. That should change quickly once BA.2 has saturated the case count.
Matt McIrvin
Purely by happenstance, the shots I got were Moderna-Moderna-Pfizer, which some of these studies seem to indicate is the most effective combination of all. But, honestly, the differences are not huge.
NotMax
1) When a return to normalcy means death.
2) “Please don’t wake up. Please don’t wake up. Please don’t wake up.”
Matt McIrvin
Have we excluded the possibility that that’s how Omicron happened? I’d heard some speculation.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
352 new cases. Holy crap!
Matt McIrvin
@NotMax: When you go through Singapore immigration, the card you fill out has a notice on it saying “we kill drug dealers here”. It seems to be the #1 thing they want to impress on you.
lowtechcyclist
@NotMax: There are deer in the woods behind my house. They are very good at practicing social distancing from humans.
NeenerNeener
I should have gotten a Pfizer shot as a booster 4 weeks ago instead of another Moderna? Too late now. I assume I’ll need another one in 6 to 9 months, so I’ll get Pfizer then.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 15,215 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 4,167,418 cases. It also reported 64 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 34,906 deaths – 0.84% of the cumulative reported total, 0.89% of resolved cases.
Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 0.89.
130 confirmed cases are in ICU, 80 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 24,154 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 3,920,643 patients recovered – 94.1% of the cumulative reported total.
Two new clusters were reported yesterday, for a cumulative total of 6,931 clusters. 214 clusters are currently active; 6,717 clusters are now inactive.
14,965 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 250 new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 47,608 doses of vaccine on 29th March: 5,296 first doses, 1,594 second doses, and 4018 booster doses. The cumulative total is 68,795,057 doses administered: 27,494,218 first doses, 25,801,561 second doses, and 15,711,005 booster doses. 84.2% of the population have received their first dose, 79.0% their second dose, and 48.1% their booster dose.
NotMax
@Matt McIrvin
Jury is still out about omicron, pending further study. However there’s increasing coalescing around expectation of a wildlife population being the vector for a pi variant.
OzarkHillbilly
Umm yeah, no thanx. While I’ve never been confronted by a bear while caving, I know cavers who have. Not fun.
lowtechcyclist
Hey AL, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this morning aggregation of Covid news. It’s been one of my first reads in the morning for over two years now.
But I was thinking, you could probably use a few days off from this. We’re probably in as much of a lull as we’re going to get right now, so I’d say skip a weekend or three if you get the urge.
Matt McIrvin
@NeenerNeener: My attitude has been that the kind of shot to get is the one you can get. Sometimes you have a no-cost choice, but it’s not worth putting it off just to get a “better” brand of vaccine.
Elizabelle
@Amir Khalid: hello, dear Amir. How goes the guitaring?????
dc
I’ve gotten all three, J&J first, then Pfizer, then Moderna (booster dose). If I get a fourth shot, I’m not sure if I’ll go with Pfizer or with Moderna.
Raven
I get the booster in an hour.
Geo Wilcox
@lowtechcyclist: The deer in my area are very wary of humans due to hunting. My pal in San Antonio, on the other hand, has pet deer in her yard all the time. She feeds them and they are very tame.
lowtechcyclist
I got my booster in early November, so I’m coming up on five months since the booster. I’ve been House Moderna all the way so far, but I can get Pfizer at the local pharmacy, so I think I’ll get booster #2 there.
lowtechcyclist
@Geo Wilcox: There’s no hunting near here – while there’s still a lot of woods in my exurban area, none of it is far enough from housing developments to safely use a rifle. But the deer (and the rabbits, foxes, squirrels, etc.) still keep their distance.
Nelle
@lowtechcyclist: I agree. My daughter asked how I keep ahead of the curve and you, AL, get all the credit. But yes to some time off during our lulls. Rest, if you want, in the knowledge that you have saved people from suffering and lessened it for others.
rikyrah
Just told my sister to wrap her mind around getting that second booster. Will look for her an appointment today.
Steeplejack
@Raven:
Is this your third shot or your fourth?
rikyrah
AL,
I knew that when the news came about the second booster that you would inform us, as you have pretty much daily for 2 years.
Thank you ??
raven
@Steeplejack: 4
YY_Sima Qian
On 3/29 Mainland China reported 1,565 new domestic confirmed (66 previously asymptomatic), 7,090 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 domestic suspect cases.
Guangdong Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 14 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 13 new domestic asymptomatic cases (3 at Fangchenggang, 9 at Baise, & 1 at Chongzuo). 6 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 14 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 42 active domestic confirmed (17 at Fangchenggang, 3 each at Baise & Nanning, 18 at Qinzhou, & 1 at Guilin) & 274 active domestic asymptomatic cases (99 at Fangchenggang, 19 at Baise, 56 at Chongzuo, 82 at Qinzhou, 5 at Liuzhou, 6 at Guilin, 4 at Beihai, 2 at Guigang, & 1 at Nanning) in the province. 1 zone at Fangchenggang are currently at Medium Risk. 5 sites at Qinzhou are currently at Medium Risk.
Hunan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (2 at Changsha & 1 at Loudi, including 1 previously asymptomatic at Changsha) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic (at Changsha) cases. 2 of the new domestic positive cases at Changsha is a traced close contact under centralized quarantine & 1 is a truck driver passing through. & the case at Loudi arrived from Shanghai on 3/27 & has been under centralized quarantine since. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 49 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases 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. 9 sites at Huaihua are currently at Medium Risk, as are 11 sites at Changsha & 1 zone at Shaoyang.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed & 27 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Tianjin Municipality reported 2 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, both mild) & 6 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all of the new domestic positive cases are traced close contacts already under quarantine. 16 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 3 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 316 active domestic confirmed & 214 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 7 sites are currently at High Risk. 7 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shandong Province reported 4 new domestic confirmed & 23 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 41 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 43 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 616 active domestic confirmed cases & 2,315 active asymptomatic cases in the province. As not all of the administrative divisions in the province provide data on recoveries, I cannot track the count of active cases in all of the administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Shanxi Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, all at Xinzhou, a worker recently returning from Jilin. There currently are 4 active domestic confirmed (3 Xinzhou & 1 at Jinzhong) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining.
Hebei Province reported 6 new domestic confirmed & 75 domestic asymptomatic cases. 29 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 341 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 309 active domestic confirmed & 3,073 active asymptomatic case 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.
Liaoning Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 52 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 22 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 36 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 452 active domestic confirmed & 1,457 active domestic asymptomatic cases 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.
Heilongjiang Province reported 16 new domestic confirmed (13 previously asymptomatic, all mild) & 24 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 20 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 25 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 226 active domestic confirmed & 251 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Jilin Province reported 1,150 new domestic confirmed (24 previously asymptomatic, 1,144 mild, 3 moderate & 3 serious) & 1,032 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 892 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 215 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. As the province does not consistently break down recoveries by confirmed & asymptomatic cases or by jurisdictions, I can no longer track the count of active case counts in the different jurisdictions.
Beijing Municipality reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both mild), both traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. 1 village & 1 community are currently at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 326 new domestic confirmed (18 previously asymptomatic) & 5,656 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 5,148 of the new domestic positive cases are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine, & the rest from screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure. 30 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 273 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 659 active domestic confirmed & 23,896 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 15 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shaanxi Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 30 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 145 active domestic confirmed & 5 active asymptomatic cases 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.
Hubei Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, at Huanggang, a person returning from Shanghai on 3/26. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed (both moderate, 1 each at Wuhan & Shiyan) & 3 active domestic asymptomatic (2 each at Huanggang & Xianning & 1 at Ezhou) cases in the province..
Jiangsu Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 32 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 17 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 42 active domestic confirmed & 396 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As not all of the jurisdictions in the province track recoveries, I cannot track the count of active cases in all of the administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Anhui Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (all mild, 2 at Huainan & 1 at Wuhu) & 31 new domestic asymptomatic (24 at Huainan, 3 at Wuhu, 2 at Ma’anshan, & 1 each at Fuyang & Tongling) cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 5 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 16 active confirmed (2 at Ma’anshan, 6 at Wuhu, 2 at Tongling, 4 at Huainan, & 1 each at Hefei & Xuancheng) & 210 active domestic asymptomatic (20 at Ma’anshan, 9 at Haozhou, 37 at Wuhu, 39 at Huainan, 6 at Bengbu, 5 at Hefei, 85 at Tongling, 3 at Suzhou, 2 each at Anqing & Chuzhou, & 1 each at Fuyang & Huaibei) cases in the province. 2 sites at Ma’anshan, 3 at Huainan, 4 at Tongling & 4 at Wuhu are currently at Medium Risk.
Zhejiang Province reported 8 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 7 new domestic asymptomatic case. As the province does not break down recoveries by imported versus domestic cases, I cannot track the count of active domestic cases in the province.
Gansu Province reported 10 new asymptomatic cases. 19 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 11 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 121 active domestic confirmed & 313 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Fujian Province reported 7 new domestic confirmed (5 previously asymptomatic) & 85 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 33 domestic confirmed case recovered & 16 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 995 active domestic confirmed & 1,730 active domestic asymptomatic cases 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.
At Xining in Qinghai Province the domestic confirmed case recovered.
Ürumqi in Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both recent arrivals coming from Shanghai & have been under centralized quarantine.
Wanning in Hainan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both recently flew in from Shanghai.
Guizhou Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, at Guiyang, a person returning from Shanghai on 3/27. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed (1 each at Guiyang & Qiandongnan Prefecture) & 2 active domestic asymptomatic (both at Zunyi) cases in the city.
Jiangxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (mild) & 9 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 6 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 21 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 47 active domestic confirmed & 295 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 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.
Henan Province reported 26 new domestic confirmed (all at Zhoukou) & 10 new domestic asymptomatic cases (4 at Luohe, 2 at Zhengzhou, & 1 each at Anyang, Xinyang, Zhumadian & Zhoukou). 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 92 active domestic confirmed & 70 active domestic asymptomatic cases 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. 2 sites at Zhoukou, as well as 3 at Luohe & 13 at Jiaozuo, are currently at Medium Risk.
Chongqing Municipality 1 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure. 8 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 2 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently is 13 active domestic confirmed & 5 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 3 dormitory buildings are currently at Medium Risk.
Chengdu in Sichuan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases.
Yunnan Province reported 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 2 domestic confirmed case recovered & 22 new domestic asymptomatic were released from isolation. There currently are 50 active domestic confirmed & 270 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 3/29, Mainland China reported 64 new imported confirmed cases (26 previously asymptomatic, 3 in Guangdong), 106 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 1,325 confirmed cases recovered (111 imported), 1,108 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (122 imported) & 92 were reclassified as confirmed cases (26 imported), & 26,128 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 28,163 active confirmed cases in the country (791 imported), 62 in serious condition (all domestic), 49,421 active asymptomatic cases (1,267 imported), 17 suspect cases (all imported). 367,094 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 3/29, 3,263.129M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 4.087M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 3/30, Hong Kong reported 6,981 new positive cases, 5 imported & 6,976 domestic (2,989 via RT-PCR & 3,987 from rapid antigen tests), 117 deaths + 18 backlogged deaths.
On 3/30, Taiwan reported 163 new positive cases, 107 imported & 56 domestic.
L85NJGT
Old central HVAC units can have trouble pushing air through high MERV media, and filters vary widely by brand. The basic idea is to keep the supply and return pressure balanced.
Maybe some incentive to replace older, less efficient systems would be helpful here.
Newer “smart” thermostats have a circulate function, which drives the fan without heat/air for a certain amount of time. These can be installed on existing systems.
Ken
I’m not sure this qualified as “news”. I remember seeing it in early 2021, maybe even late 2020 when animal cases were being reported. And of course we have the example of flu.
I also don’t like the subtext that the pandemic would disappear if it weren’t for these animal reservoirs.
raven
@L85NJGT: My Hvac guy says it’s better to run the fan all the time, it’s the on and off that kills the motor?
Sloane Ranger
Tuesday in the UK we had 80,830 new cases. The rolling 7-day average is down 3.1%. New cases by nation,
England – 64,935
Northern Ireland – 1731
Scotland – 9311
Wales – 4853.
Deaths – There were 303 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is up 25.7%. 251 deaths were in England, 9 in Northern Ireland, 39 in Scotland and 4 in Wales.
Testing – 722,535 tests took place on 28 March. The rolling 7-day average is down 3.2%.
Hospitalisations – There were 19,118 people in hospital and 363 on ventilators on Monday, 28 March. The 7-day average for hospital admissions was up by 14.3% as of 25 March.
Vaccinations – As of 28 March, 91.8% of all Uk residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot; 85.9% had had2, and 67.4% had had a 3rd shot/booster. These percentages haven’t changed in 4 days.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Greece: according to the latest report from Kathimerini, Tuesday’s numbers showed 28,933 new cases, showing a major increase from this time last week (23,102). Deaths were lower, however, at 49, down from 73 on Monday, but intubated ICU cases rose to 351 from 342 on Monday.
Aside: I discovered yesterday that not only are test kits widely available, but there’s enough supply that my local pharmacy offered a discount for buying five at a time, and a deeper discount for buying ten at a time. A batch of ten test kits set me back 35 euro. Total, not apiece. (On the flip side and totally off topic, there’s a local gas station selling 95-octane unleaded for 2.169, and diesel for 1.894. Before you get excited, those are prices in euro per liter, so multiply by four and a bit to get the price per gallon.)
jonas
Cases definitely heading back up in central NY. We’re about 70% fully vaxxed in this area, but with just over half of that population also boosted. That’s a lot of people who could potentially get sick in another wave, particularly if they didn’t catch Omicron 1.0. We’ll see how hospitalizations look in another week or two. Kids returning from spring break to places like Cornell and Syracuse U and testing positive have accounted for quite a number of cases locally, but are also unlikely to drive up hospitalizations.
jonas
On animal transmission, I can see how there’s a risk with wild animals in so-called wet markets, like the one in Wuhan, where live animals are kept for sale and/or slaughter right there. But how likely is it that a person comes in contact with a whitetail deer in such a way as to transmit an airborne virus? Most of the time when someone gets close to one of those animals, it’s because they’ve shot it and it’s, well, not really breathing anymore. And I can’t see how field dressing an animal spreads Covid. Maybe I’m missing something?
Peale
@jonas: I’m wondering what the Japanese plan to do about the deer at Nara. Yeah, they are a tourist draw. But they are also sacred deer who you’re supposed to feed to make merit. It’s not like everyone who goes to the temple is a non believer.
Jay
@raven:
Depends what you have for a fan motor,
12V brushless fan, nope.
120V brushed fan, yes.
Funny thing here, is furnaces were rated only for fuel efficiency, not electrical consumption. Turns out that a 12V brushless equipped furnace uses less electricity than a 20w incandescent bulb, while a 115V brushed, uses as much electricity as a gas powered dryer.
So in the winter, if you have switched to LED lighting, the big electricity hog on your electric bill is usually the furnace.
Matt McIrvin
Just scheduled my fourth shot for today, no troubles. With FDA/CDC approval, cases rising and upcoming travel scheduled, I figure it’s the least I can do.
Matt McIrvin
@jonas: There are some petting-zoo-type attractions that have them.
dnfree
@L85NJGT: Our furnace repair shop recommends the cheapest filters available, because our 12-year-old furnace will wear out sooner with the higher-efficiency filters. The recommendation is just to change them monthly.
WaterGirl
@raven: That’s what they told me, too, when I got my new HVAC system 7 years ago. My fan runs all the time.
JaneE
I am one of those who is dropping masks most of the time. Our county cases have gone to zero. The other county I regularly visit has a testing rate of about 1.5 %, with cases dropping there also. I do still check the numbers every day. I still do my shopping quickly and when the list is done that’s it, unless I see something on the way to the check stand. It looks like we will be getting a second booster fairly soon.
I rarely see deer or elk, unlike 20 years ago. And most of them socially distance themselves from humans quickly enough. I have heard from the hunters I know that tags and deer are both harder to get than they were 20 years ago, but some are still taken, and what danger that may present to them and the rest of us is unknown. There used to be a small group (barely large enough to qualify as a herd) that would come down to graze the stubble in the alfalfa fields, but most of the time they seemed to avoid the cattle doing the same. I don’t know if there was enough proximity to domestic livestock to be a danger if they were infected. I have to think they still have some contact where there is grazing, given the drought has reduced that area quite a bit.
Matt McIrvin
@Ken:
It’d still be difficult to eradicate. But the animal reservoirs make it basically impossible. It’s not as if we could just wipe out one species of animal, either–COVID seems to happily infect many species of mammal, maybe most or all of them.
raven
@Jay: We have a new Bosch hybrid, heat pump and gas furnace.
Dave
Please note the (not so subtle) bias involved when news reports of Chinese Covid infections always include the admonition of “testing the limits ” of current zero Covid policy. If the obviously more lethal Western public health protocols were the Chinese government choice who in the population would like to volunteer to be among the deceased
Chris T.
@Jay: Also, if you have the fancy variable-speed-DC systems you can have the fans run at low speeds to gently move air around. We’re putting in a new heat pump (to gain air conditioning, apparently now needed even in the Pacific Northwet) and we’ll have the fancy new stuff instead of the old squirrel cage blower.
StringOnAStick
@Chris T.: There’s so much to choose from now. I know we’ll need to replace the original Y2K furnace in this house within the next few years, judging from prior experience with builder’s grade stuff, and I am unsure what would be the best option. Bend is Zone 6, so not as cold as where we last lived (and put in a high efficiency gas furnace to replace the low efficiency one). I see what looks like heat pump devices sitting outside some houses but when I do online research, it sounds like it is too cold here for that to be a good choice and mini splits would be a pretty expensive solution. I guess we’ll do the roof and landscape replacement (to natives with low water requirements) first, and then see what is on the market when it’s time to do the furnace.