Key Senate lawmakers said they had agreed on a framework to continue funding coronavirus vaccines, antiviral treatments and other supplies for Americans, but that would drastically cut plans to help vaccinate millions of people around the world. https://t.co/k2RRQww4ae
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 31, 2022
‘Key lawmakers’ — Republicans, Manchin, Democrats. Once again, the GOP Death Cult will be responsible for death on a global scale, but ‘Congress’, aka Democrats, will bear the blame. And we’ll take the deal, because the alternative is worse!
… “We’ve reached an agreement in principle on all the spending and all of the offsets,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who has led negotiations for Republicans after they balked at the need for $15 billion in new funds, and House Democrats raised concerns about a planned compromise.
If passed in its current form, the $10 billion deal would represent a significant disappointment for the White House, which had publicly campaigned for at least $22 billion in new funds and would probably be forced to scale back elements of its planned response. But lawmakers are facing a rapidly approaching deadline, with Congress soon taking a two-week break, and administration officials warning that they are effectively out of cash for urgent coronavirus needs. The federal government has already begun to wind down a program to cover the costs of health-care providers that give coronavirus tests, treatments and vaccinations to uninsured Americans, an initiative that officials said has cost about $2 billion per month.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told The Washington Post he was “optimistic” a final deal would be reached, a stance echoed by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) in remarks on the Senate floor…
About half of the money would go for covid therapeutics, while the other half would be at the “discretion” of the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told reporters. A Republican aide said that $750 million was being eyed for research and development of new vaccines and treatments.
Several GOP lawmakers said about $1 billion in funding would be set aside to support global vaccinations — down from the White House’s $5 billion request for global aid. But that number appeared to be in flux, with several Democrats on Thursday arguing for considerably more and lawmakers acknowledging that they were still negotiating…
For weeks, the White House has publicly sought more than $22 billion for the response, although Biden officials in early January had privately concluded that they needed as much as $80 billion in additional covid aid for vaccines, therapeutics and other supplies.
By early March, congressional leaders had settled on about $15.6 billion and sought to attach that to a broader package to fund the government, an effort to ensure passage of the coronavirus aid…
He's absolutely righthttps://t.co/Ai3ngEmpA3 @GawandeUSAID @PostOpinions
"The virus is not waiting on Congress to negotiate; it is infecting people and mutating as we speak." pic.twitter.com/ao00YwBZEr— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 31, 2022
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BEIJING, April 1 (Reuters) – In China’s southern Guangdong province, a teacher was told by her school that she must somehow find four unvaccinated individuals aged 60 or older and get them to take COVID shots to help boost the district’s elderly inoculation rate.
Otherwise, her performance review would be affected…
Because some other individuals in her district had been given similar tasks by their employers, Sherry said she had to offer cash incentives from her own pocket to beat the competition to win over the elderly. She said she had spent nearly 1,000 yuan ($158) in total on two people she managed to get vaccinated.
In the past month, the Omicron variant has dragged the world’s most populous nation into its biggest COVID outbreak since it contained the 2020 Wuhan epidemic, even though the numbers are modest by international standards.
There were over 38,000 local symptomatic cases in March, more than four times the number of infections in the whole of 2021. That number did not include those without symptoms, which China classifies separately.
Nevertheless, China is maintaining a policy of curbing transmissions as soon as they emerge and considers its elderly as a weak link, given their low vaccination rates.
Out of the 264 million people aged over 60, about 20%, had not completed their primary vaccination as of March 25. By comparison, the complete vaccination rate for the 1.41 billion population is around 88%…
China is worried about what happened in Hong Kong, where most deaths in its recent COVID outbreak were the elderly. Beijing has said the flare-up in the former British colony is a lesson the mainland should learn from.
Many grassroots leaders have dispatched people to knock on doors to pitch the idea of vaccination to the elderly, keep a record of those yet unvaccinated and their reasons for being so, hold conversations with them to allay concerns about vaccines, and rigorously update how many doses they are short of targets…
About 16 million residents in Shanghai are being tested for the coronavirus as a staged lockdown shifts to the western half of China’s biggest city and financial capital. https://t.co/NzbxwodhwL
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 1, 2022
The BA.2 variant situation in Shanghai is deteriorating with unreported deaths
"Orderlies, nurses and doctors, we're all infected"https://t.co/2jfWOsZENv @xinwenfan— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) April 1, 2022
‘Bloomberg News in China / President, Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club’:
Per @SCMPNews on #Coronavirus #HongKong "#Omicron causes 7 Xs more deaths among hospitalized children than #influenza ."
• 15% of children hospitalized w/#Omicron BA.2 had neurological complications
• 0.35% fatality ratehttps://t.co/8L6SVIIMGs— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) March 31, 2022
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Analysis: Governments want COVID vaccine developers to aim higher in hunt for better shots https://t.co/smwFEp8guz
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) March 31, 2022
Diabetes risk rises after Covid, according to a massive study. Even mild SARSCoV2 infections can amplify a person’s chance of developing diabetes, especially for those already susceptible to the disease https://t.co/uTvtFVAsxd
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) March 31, 2022
Should I get a 2nd booster?
A much more difficult decision than the 1st booster.
Review of the data and my recommendationshttps://t.co/Ni6O3Dux8L pic.twitter.com/uXr8Zs2RRQ— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 31, 2022
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The high rate of coronavirus infection, hospitalization and death among Black Americans has prompted concern over what will likely be the next crisis: a prevalence of long COVID-19 in the Black community. https://t.co/QHSRRGdE3b
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) March 30, 2022
And yet the conspiracists are *not* going away anytime soon…
On The Road – Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!) – Belize, December 2021, Part 1: Birds of Pook’s Hill Lodge
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
348 new cases. High numbers three days in a row.
Baud
The only solution is to elect more Republicans.
YY_Sima Qian
On 3/31 Mainland China reported 1,787 new domestic confirmed (56 previously asymptomatic), 5,442 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 domestic suspect cases.
Guangdong Province reported 4 new domestic confirmed & 14 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 16 new domestic asymptomatic cases (2 at Fangchenggang & 14 at Baise). 11 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 22 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 26 active domestic confirmed (12 at Fangchenggang, 3 each at Baise, 9 at Qinzhou, & 1 each at Nanning & Guilin) & 269 active domestic asymptomatic cases (101 at Fangchenggang, 36 at Baise, 41 at Chongzuo, 73 at Qinzhou, 5 at Liuzhou, 6 at Guilin, 3 each at Beihai & Nanning, & 1 at Guigang) 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 Hengyang & 1 at Loudi) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic (both at Changsha) cases. Both cases at Changsha are recent arrivals from Shanghai. Both cases at Hengyang are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine, & the case at Loudi is conductor on a high speed train originating from Shanghai (when test results in Shanghai returned positive the train was stopped at Loudi, the nearest station). 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 51 active domestic confirmed & 7 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 13 sites at Changsha & 1 zone at Shaoyang.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both at Hohhot, both traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 1 asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed (2 at Hohhot, 1 at Chifeng & 6 at Tongliao) & 25 active domestic asymptomatic (16 at Hohhot & 9 at Tongliao) cases in the province. 1 residential compound at Chifeng is currently at Medium Risk.
Tianjin Municipality reported 1 new domestic confirmed (previously asymptomatic, mild) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all of the new domestic positive cases are traced close contacts under quarantine. 12 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 6 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 273 active domestic confirmed & 204 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 7 sites are currently at High Risk. 4 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shandong Province reported 4 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 28 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 43 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 66 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 283 active domestic confirmed cases & 2,175 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 did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed (5 Xinzhou & 1 at Jinzhong) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Changzhi) cases remaining.
Hebei Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 50 domestic asymptomatic cases. 31 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 326 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 263 active domestic confirmed & 2,708 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 2 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 61 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 60 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 95 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 364 active domestic confirmed & 1,446 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 (all mild) & 17 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 21 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 24 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 214 active domestic confirmed & 218 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Jilin Province reported 1,363 new domestic confirmed (24 previously asymptomatic, 1,354 mild, 8 moderate & 1 serious) & 871 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 639 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 364 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 did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 community remains at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 358 new domestic confirmed (20 previously asymptomatic) & 4,144 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 3,718 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. I am not trusting that the city has reached inflection point, yet. 12 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 336 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 1,340 active domestic confirmed & 32,648 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 13 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shaanxi Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 36 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 75 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. 1 residential compound at Tongchuan remains at Medium Risk.
Hubei Province reported 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases (3 at Huangshi & 1 each at Ezhou & Suizhou), 4 are recent arrivals from elsewhere & under centralized quarantine, & the case at Suizhou is a hospital staff found via regular screening. 1 domestic asymptomatic case was a released from isolation. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed (both moderate, 1 each at Wuhan & Shiyan) & 14 active domestic asymptomatic (3 each at Huangshi, Xiaogan & Huanggang, 2 at Ezhou, & 1 each at Suizhou, Xianning & Xiangyang) cases in the province.
Jiangsu Province reported 9 new domestic confirmed & 34 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 7 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 30 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 48 active domestic confirmed & 413 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 2 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, both mild, 1 each at Fuyang & Huainan) & 49 new domestic asymptomatic (22 at Huainan, 6 at Wuhu, 15 at Fuyang, 2 at Ma’anshan, 3 at Bengbu & 1 at Tongling) cases. All of the cases at Wuhu & Huainan are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine or via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure. The new cluster at Fuyang are all workers at a coal mine, seeded by am employee from Huainan. The cases at Ma’anshan & Tongling are recent arrivals from elsewhere. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. 12 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 18 active confirmed (6 at Wuhu, 2 at Tongling, 6 at Huainan, & 1 each at Fuyang, Hefei, Ma’anshan & Xuancheng) & 308 active domestic asymptomatic (13 at Ma’anshan, 9 at Haozhou, 52 at Wuhu, 111 at Huainan, 10 at Bengbu, 5 at Hefei, 83 at Tongling, 2 each at Anqing, Suzhou & Chuzhou, 18 at Fuyang & 1 at Huaibei) cases in the province. 1 site at Ma’anshan, 3 at Huainan, 2 at Tongling, 1 at Fuyang, & 4 at Wuhu are currently at Medium Risk.
Zhejiang Province reported 10 new domestic confirmed (5 previously asymptomatic) & 8 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 9 new asymptomatic cases. 24 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 32 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 74 active domestic confirmed & 264 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Fujian Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 73 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 39 domestic confirmed case recovered & 24 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 944 active domestic confirmed & 1,850 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.
Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region reported 13 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 38 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
Hainan Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both mild, both at Haikou) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic (both at Sanya) cases, all recent arrivals from Shanghai.
Guizhou Province reported 1 new confirmed case, at Guiyang, a person returning from Shanghai on 3/29. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed (both at Guiyang) & 2 active domestic asymptomatic (1 each at Zunyi & Liupanshui) cases in the city.
Jiangxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (mild) & 18 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 6 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 15 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 36 active domestic confirmed & 282 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 3 new domestic confirmed (1 each at Luoyang, Xinyang & Zhengzhou) & 17 new domestic asymptomatic cases (8 at Zhoukou Luohe, 2 each at Zhumadian, Luoyang, Hebi & Xinxiang & 1 at Zhengzhou). There currently are 108 active domestic confirmed & 104 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 reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both traced close contact under centralized quarantine. 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently is 11 active domestic confirmed & 4 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 3 dormitory buildings are currently at Medium Risk.
Sichuan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (mild, at Leshan) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic (1 each at Leshan & Deyang) cases, 1 recently arrived from Shanghai, 1 found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure & a traced close contact. 2 residential compounds at Leshan are currently at Medium Risk.
Yunnan Province reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 4 domestic confirmed case recovered & 20 new domestic asymptomatic were released from isolation. There currently are 41 active domestic confirmed & 232 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 3/31, Mainland China reported 40 new imported confirmed cases (22 previously asymptomatic, none in Guangdong), 117 imported asymptomatic cases, 2 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 1,120 confirmed cases recovered (101 imported), 1,336 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (115 imported) & 78 were reclassified as confirmed cases (22 imported), & 18,941 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 29,306 active confirmed cases in the country (695 imported), 66 in serious condition (all domestic), 59,056 active asymptomatic cases (1,182 imported), 20 suspect cases (all imported). 378,105 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 3/31, 3,270.874M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 3.734M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 4/1, Hong Kong reported 5,823 new positive cases, 3 imported & 5,820 domestic (2,740 via RT-PCR & 3,080 from rapid antigen tests), 96 deaths (10 fully vaccinated, including 3 boosted) + 24 backlogged deaths.
On 4/1, Taiwan reported 236 new positive cases, 132 imported & 104 domestic. There currently are 20 separate transmission chains w/ unknown origin. For the 1st time ever (I think), Taiwan will start utilized 10:1 pooled sampling to screen populations deemed at lower risk of exposure. I
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 18,560 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 4,201,919 cases. It also reported 44 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 34,983 deaths – 0.83% of the cumulative reported total, 0.88% of resolved cases.
Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 0.87.
128 confirmed cases are in ICU, 79 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 18,253 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 3,960,082 patients recovered – 94.2% of the cumulative reported total.
No new clusters were reported yesterday, and the cumulative total remains at 6,932 clusters. 198 clusters are currently active; 6,734 clusters are now inactive.
18,373 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 187 new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 57,199 doses of vaccine on 31st March: 6,788 first doses, 1,895 second doses, and 48,518 booster doses. The cumulative total is 68,909,031 doses administered: 27,506,802 first doses, 25,805,425 second doses, and 15,808,761 booster doses. 84.2% of the population have received their first dose, 79.0% their second dose, and 48.4% their booster dose.
New Deal democrat
Internationally the BA.2 wave is only still increasing in France and Malta. It appears to be peaking in Luxembourg, and is now declining in Ireland, Cyprus, and the U.K. Cases are flat or declining in the rest of Europe.
In the US, cases increased slightly to 30,700, and remain within the narrow range they have been for the past 2.5 weeks. Deaths declined slightly to 680. Deaths are likely to decline to 200 or even as low as 100 within the next month.
Regionally cases are flat in the Midwest and South, declining in the West, and rising sharply in the Northeast. Notably, cases are still declining in CA, declining again in TX, and rising in MD, DE, PR, CT, and sharply in MA and NY. They may be beginning to peak in NJ.
Any national wave of BA.2 in the US is likely to peak in about 2 weeks. It looks more and more like it will be a very small one.
Sloane Ranger
Thursday in the UK we had 74,720 new cases. The rolling 7-day average is down 12.6%. New cases by nation,
England – 62,816
Northern Ireland – 1461
Scotland – 9064
Wales – 1379.
Although cases are declining they are still at a high level. My Sunday Lunch Club for this upcoming Sunday has been cancelled by the venue we were going to, due to a massive COVID outbreak among the staff.
Deaths – There were 192 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is up by 21.3%. 136 deaths were in England, 3 in Northern Ireland, 35 in Scotland and 18 in Wales.
Testing – 718,916 tests took place yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is down 7.1%. Free testing has now ended in England and Wales. Free tests are currently still available in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The cost of a single test is around £2, while a pack of 5 will cost around £9.50, prices vary slightly depending on where you buy them.
Hospitalisations – There were 19,534 people in hospital on Wednesday, 30th March and 365 on ventilators on Tuesday, 29th. As of 27th March, the 7-day average for hospital admissions was up by 11.6%.
Vaccinations – As of 30th March, 91.8% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot, 85.9% had had 2, and 67.5% had had a 3rd shot/booster.
New Deal democrat
That BNO tweet about US cases is scaremongering. Cases “rose” on a *daily* basis for the last three days, but also *rose* on a daily basis in the middle of last week as well. That’s why we use 7 day averages, and the 7 day average isn’t showing any significant movement at all.
And btw, the BA.2 variant by now probably accounts for 60%-65% of all US cases. Some people really wanna see a major new wave. Nagana happen, at least not with BA.2.
YY_Sima Qian
Thanks A.L. for highlighting the article on the outbreak at the elderly care hospital in Shanghai!
I did not see any mentions in my Toutiao newsfeed, so I searched for on Toutiao & found a long post by someone claiming to be staff at the private hospital, information aligning w/ most of the WSJ reporting, though did not mention deaths. The post directed its ire toward the hospital administration, claiming lack of adequate PPE, failure to set up Green, Red & buffer zones to separate the contaminated & non-contaminated areas. As a results, many elderly patients & staff have been infected. Near end of Mar. the hospital was taken over by medical teams sent by the municipal authorities, but hospital admin refused to allow the original nursing staff to leave, even after testing negative, apparently because they are all close contacts. Hospital admin halted daily testing of patients since 3/27 & daily testing of staff since 3/30. There are indeed references to protests by the hospital’s workers.
Like WSJ, I cannot vouch for the information posted, but it certainly could be credible. As for the reported deaths, considering the size of the hospital & the age/health status of the patients, it is certainly possible at least some/most of the deaths are non-COVID or deaths w/ COVID (rather than of COVID). However, considering the low vaccination rates of the same cohort, & what has happened in Hong Kong, COVID mush have been the cause of at least some of the deaths. Don’t know why they have not yet been reported by the municipal authorities. When Changchun in Jilin reported 2 deaths a couple of weeks ago, both w/ a number of serious underlying conditions, medical experts at municipal, provincial & national levels convened & agreed that COVID was not likely the proximate cause. Nevertheless, they were recorded as COVID deaths.
There are rumors flying about that Shanghai is classifying people w/ very mild symptoms (such as fevers below 37.7 deg. C, queasy stomach or light cough) as asymptomatic, thus explaining the extraordinarily high percentage of asymptomatic cases reported by the city. However, if the authorities wants to scare the elderly into getting that vaccination shots & boosters, & population to remain compliant, underreporting the severity of symptoms is counterproductive. Furthermore, cities w/ clusters & outbreaks seeded by travelers from Shanghai are also reported very high percentage of asymptomatic cases. Since the China National Health Commission has not changed the criteria for classification of COBID cases, deliberate underreporting of severity of symptoms would required a massive conspiracy of national/province/local authorities across large parts of the country, & which will inevitably leak. As of now, they are still rumors.
Soprano2
@New Deal democrat: I hate it when they do that. It’s hard enough to get people to believe the experts without some of them twisting statistics to try to freak people out that another huge wave is coming. Some people absolutely cannot take good news!
In my county, both the 7-day case average and hospitalizations are low enough to be in the “green” zone together for the first time since July 2020. Vaccinations are still going up about 0.01% a day, which is terrible but at least they’re still going up. We’re now at 54.05% fully vaccinated. As far as I can tell they aren’t counting boosters.
Meanwhile, in MO, the governor has announced that officially Covid is over! It’s no longer a crisis in MO according to someone who actually cannot make that happen. The most significant change is here:
Just as I predicted, states run by Republicans are going to quit reporting these stats, making it seem like Covid is gone! I think it’s wishful thinking, but I guess we’ll see.
daveNYC
I’m somewhat flummoxed that China is willing to use all sorts of coercive tactics to slow or halt the spread of Covid except for the obvious one of forcing people to get vaccinated.
J R in WV
Covid is also over here in WV — even the hospitals are making wearing of masks optional as of a couple of days ago. Totally shocked! Sad! I just bought a 50-pack of masks, and we will continue to wear masks out in public for the foreseeable future.
I’m going to get a booster asap, Wife will hold off as her surgery coming up may prefer she not be newly vaccinated going into that procedure. Have Dr appointment to schedule next week, will ask about it then.
YY_Sima Qian
@daveNYC: There is tendency in Sinophone sphere social media & MSM (at least MSM in Hong Kong & Taiwan) of fear mongering side effects from vaccines & playing up deaths that follow vaccination. If the CCP regime issues a vaccine mandate, & some of the old & frail folks get the shots, develop a fever & unfortunately passes away shortly after (even if the shots had nothing to do w/ cause of death), there will be a firestorm on social media that will be hard for the regime to contain. We saw this in Hong Kong & Taiwan, there amplified by sensationalist media coverage. Doctors in all three places often advise against elders taking shots if there are underlying conditions (which make them vulnerable in the 1st place). Any censoring of such speech will only lend to their credibility in the eyes of large segments of the population. All of that will simply drive up vaccine skepticism & reduce overall uptake.
Furthermore, the successful “Dynamic Zero COVID” strategy meant there was not the same level of urgency as countries where COVID had rampaged in multiple waves to vaccinate the most vulnerable populations. There was also the thought that even the inactivated whole virion vaccines will have some effect in slowing down transmission, & high uptake in the overall population (88% of total population in China fully vaccinated, nearly 50% boosted) will help protect the vulnerable unvaccinated. However, the immunity escaping Omicron Variants shot that hope to pieces.
Even now, w/ the Chinese government clearly strengthening the drive to vaccinated the elders (& children 3 & up), it is implementing policies that place the onus on the adults (party members, public sector employees, the children of the elders), rather than the elderly population directly.
YY_Sima Qian
In the corner of Upstate NY where my parents live, masks have disappeared. My dad visited the local War-Mart last week, & he was the only one masked in the whole store. My NY based colleagues all report that masks have gone off in the offices, factories & labs (unless part of the required PPE for handling dangerous material). I told my parents that they must wear KN95s now, properly sealed. Surgical masks won’t do a thing in such an environment.
Eunicecycle
@Soprano2: in Ohio they’ve gone to weekly reporting, too, which may explain the uneven numbers. The 7 day average seems like the most reliable number to use.
UncleEbeneezer
Vent: I’ve never been more pissed to be only 49, not 50 years old. Would really love to get another booster as I’m 6 months past my Moderna (on top of J&J original), work with kids and do most of the shopping and other public stuff for my family.
Tom Levenson
@UncleEbeneezer: if you’ve only had two shots, I’ll bet you can get another now as your first booster. Certainly my doc would have given that the thumbs up, and I’m betting most pharmacies don’t care.
But remember: any thoughts from me are worth not more than you paid for them, and likely much less.
UncleEbeneezer
@Tom Levenson: I’ll check with my doctor. Problem is that I believe the CVS and other appointment apps ask for your dose history and probably will say I’m not eligible due to that and my age.
Origuy
Italy has extended their entry requirements, which were due to expire at the end of March.
Some internal restrictions have been reduced, but you still need a test, proof of vaccination, or proof of recent recovery from Covid. They have been requiring something called a Green Pass or a Super Green Pass, for entry into museums, theaters, and indoor restaurants. That is being lifted, but masking is still required.
tybee
me and what’ser’name got our second booster this morn. :)
Matt McIrvin
@New Deal democrat: How major is major? A bunch of counties in central New York state are having outbreaks that are major by comparison with everything except the Omicron wave. But I guess our standards got readjusted.