Biden launches U.S. plan to help Americans struggling with long COVID https://t.co/YIKQtt4oXc pic.twitter.com/TOUCJaLYRh
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 5, 2022
President Joe Biden on Tuesday tasked the U.S. health department with developing a national action plan to tackle the looming health crisis of long COVID, a complex, multi-symptom condition that leaves many of its sufferers unable to work.
Long COVID, which arises months after a COVID-19 infection, affects nearly 7% of all U.S. adults and 2.3% of the overall population and has cost an estimated $386 billion in lost wages, savings and medical bills, according to an analysis by the Solve Long Covid Initiative, a non-profit research and advocacy group…
The plan will expand research, care and disability services for people suffering from the condition, the White House said. Becerra will release the jointly developed National Research Action Plan within 120 days, Biden said in a presidential memorandum.
It addresses some concerns raised by patient advocacy groups, which have criticized the slow speed of the National Institutes of Health’s $1.15 billion RECOVER research program, and aims to accelerate the enrollment of 40,000 people with and without long COVID.
Under the new plan, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will invest $20 million next year to investigate how healthcare systems can best help those with long COVID, mentor primary care practices, and develop multi-specialty clinics across the country…
The plan also aims to translate its findings into actionable disability policies with the Social Security Administration, and work with the Department of Labor on helping affected workers who are deciding if they are able to return to their jobs.
eh, it's just widespread disability and deathhttps://t.co/eUjgQTwbLs
— Karl Bode (@KarlBode) April 5, 2022
Read the whole thing — it’s not very long!
The U.S. literally stopped tracking the pandemic (or maintaining even baseline safety precautions) because it was to politically, economically, and personally inconvenient to give a fuck pic.twitter.com/wHg1QXKV4b
— Karl Bode (@KarlBode) April 5, 2022
The CDC's director, Rochelle Walensky says she "really would encourage" 2nd boosters for older people & those w/ chronic conditions. Her suggestions are her clearest to date on who should get a 4th shot: People over 50 w/ chronic disorders & anyone 65 & up https://t.co/GHOF6YR5Gr
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) April 6, 2022
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Countries around the world should provide $15 billion in grants this year and $10 billion a year thereafter to manage the long-term risks of COVID-19, the International Monetary Fund said in a new staff paper released on Tuesday. https://t.co/nKPhCc1e1A
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) April 5, 2022
… The global alliance did not exercise the option for 166 million doses of the shot for the third quarter of 2022, as well for 166 million doses in the fourth quarter, which expired on April 1, a Moderna spokesperson said.
COVAX, which is backed by Gavi, the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, is struggling to place more than 300 million doses, Reuters reported in February.
Moderna and Gavi have agreements for up to 650 million doses of the company’s vaccine to be made available to COVAX participants through 2021 and 2022…
COVAX has picked up pace of supplies after struggling to acquire shots last year, delivering about 1.40 billion doses to 144 countries as of April 1.
As supply and donations ramped up, some poorer nations are, however, facing hurdles such as gaps in cold-chain shortage, vaccine hesitancy and a lack of funds to support distribution networks.
“We are in conversations with manufacturers … to align with magnitude and timing of country needs,” the Gavi spokesperson said.
The colour-coded Covid app that’s become part of life in China https://t.co/WAGfZglAuJ
— South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) April 5, 2022
As the pandemic enters its third year, China is trying to put more emphasis on targeted responses to cases in its pursuit of zero-Covid, as it seeks to limit the economic and social costs of mass testing and sweeping lockdowns.
To do this, accurate contact tracing and risk prediction is needed. And that relies on people voluntarily reporting their whereabouts, as well as on big data – mainly from the “health code” mobile app that is used across mainland China.
Some have raised privacy concerns over the system – which is now required for entry nearly everywhere in China – and questioned whether there is a sufficient legal framework for it…
Now, provinces, regions and municipalities all have their own versions that can be downloaded via popular platforms WeChat and Alipay. (Alipay is run by Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, which also owns the South China Morning Post.)
They require real-name registration and generate a colour code – green, yellow or red – that indicates the person’s Covid-19 risk level.
When your code is green, it means you have not been exposed to any potential cases or been to any risky areas, and you can travel, dine and work as usual. Yellow and red codes result in restrictions such as not being allowed into restaurants, coffee shops, public transport or hotels, and not being able to leave the city…
The elderly woman slouched in a chair in Shanghai's cool spring weather as her three companions squabbled with police and others clad in white biohazard suits, the only people visible on a street emptied by the COVID-19 lockdown. https://t.co/6oPmwOJn7q
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) April 6, 2022
… “She has had a fever for a few days now!” exclaimed one, gesturing to the woman. The people in the hazmat suits stood at least three metres away.
About an hour later, one of her male companions fed the woman the contents of a medicine sachet provided by the suited workers. A close-up photo showed it was Lianhua Qingwen, a traditional Chinese remedy that China recommends for treating COVID-19. Reuters was not able to obtain the name of the woman or her companions, or verify details, given lockdown curbs.
A man surnamed Zhang, who works at the property management office of the building that housed the local neighbourhood committee – from which the woman was trying to seek help – said she had self-tested positive but had not gotten her official test results back. As a result, it was unclear what care she could get.
The episode on Tuesday, which Reuters witnessed and which lasted more than two hours, is a snapshot of life in China’s most populous but now largely silent city, which has put draconian lockdown curbs on its residents in a bid to stamp out its monthlong COVID outbreak…
China does not allow home quarantine, but some Shanghai residents have said that authorities have taken days to transport COVID-positive people, stoking anxiety and confusion. Poor access to essential medical treatment and difficulties in ordering food have also been common gripes.
Most have turned to Chinese social media platforms to voice their complaints, as the majority are not allowed to even leave their homes.
On the street in Shanghai, the woman and her companions eventually gave up trying to seek help there. One of her male companions got a scooter and after helping her on, drove away with her riding pillion.
Shanghai will ask all 26 million residents to take another round of COVID-19 tests, a city official said on Wednesday, adding that lockdown curbs would continue until the exercise is complete. https://t.co/moxAx5l73n
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) April 6, 2022
Traditional wooden coffins are running short in Hong Kong as authorities scramble to add mortuary space in the global financial hub's battle on COVID, which is swamping funeral parlors https://t.co/f0rNiufo6Z pic.twitter.com/Ts7481mGKX
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 6, 2022
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On The Road – ?BillinGlendaleCA – M*A*S*H 4077
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
592 new cases yesterday. Ugh. It’s last January all over again. We must not be at peak Omicron 2 yet.
New Deal democrat
Cases nationwide increased slightly to 26,600 (but have broken out this week to the downside of their previous range just above 30,000), while deaths decreased to 524.
Regionally cases are declining in the Midwest and South, are still increasing in the Northeast, and are increasing slightly in the West. Within the Northeast, most States continue to rise at a steady rate, but the rate of increase has declined significantly in NY, which will probably peak within a week, and has declined slightly in MA.
In the West, CO has peaked, while CA is now rising. In the Midwest, IL, MN, and WI are now rising. In the South, TX is declining sharply, while MD is rising slightly, and FL has stopped reporting.
Internationally, Canada’s BA.2 wave has peaked and is now declining. Almost all countries in Europe are now flat to declining, including France and the UK; only Malta and Germany are increasing.
It appears increasingly likely that in the US as a whole, BA.2 is manifesting as a fat tail of a very slow decline, as has been the case in South Africa, rather than a new wave at all. I suspect the reason is that the US and South Africa had much more severe Delta and BA.1 waves than those European countries which have had separate BA.2 waves.
Deaths are still on target to decline to 200, or possibly even as low as 100 a day within the next month.
debbie
FWIW, I saw my ENT guy yesterday and asked him about a second booster. He thinks more targeted boosters could be available by September and suggested I hold off until then.
Raven
@debbie: Does that mean the targeted one won’t work because I got 4?
Baud
@debbie: @Raven:
I got 4. No side effects this time.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 12,017 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 4,268,486 cases. It also reported 33 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 35,160 deaths – 0.82% of the cumulative reported total, 0.86% of resolved cases.
Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 0.86.
102 confirmed cases and 132 suspected cases are in ICU; of these patients, 49 confirmed cases and 82 suspected cases are on ventilators. Meanwhile, 20,431 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,062,154 patients recovered – 95.2% of the cumulative reported total.
One new cluster was reported yesterday, for a cumulative total of 6,941 clusters. 163 clusters are currently active; 6,778 clusters are now inactive.
11,958 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 59 new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 22,807 doses of vaccine on 5th April: 2,501 first doses, 8,670 second doses, and 11,636 booster doses. The cumulative total is 69,042,067 doses administered: 27,535,790 first doses, 25,842,177 second doses, and 15,876,357 booster doses. 84.3% of the population have received their first dose, 79.1% their second dose, and 48.6% their booster dose.
Raven
@Baud: It kicked my ass for one day.
debbie
@Raven:
He used the comparison of getting last year’s flu shot rather than the flu shot formulated for the current year.
There’s five months between now and September, so there may not be an issue. ?
debbie
@Raven:
Every shot’s kicked me around, but not as bad as COVID would.
Raven
@debbie: I don’t get it, what’s the point of holding off?
Baud
@debbie:
I don’t think it’s a big deal unless you’re in a high risk environment. I’m traveling soon so I went with the recommendation.
Raven
@Baud: I’m going deep sea fishing next month!
Baud
@Raven:
Close quarters with who knows whom. I’d boost too.
lowtechcyclist
It’s been 5 months since I got my first booster, and they’re saying get booster #2 now. If it’ll be another 5 months until they get these targeted boosters out, I don’t see how getting #2 now will interfere. So I’m just gonna go get booster #2.
WaterGirl
@debbie: Seems like if there are targeted boosters in Sept or Oct that you would be able to get the new targeted booster when it comes out.. Sept is nearly 6 months away.
mrmoshpotato
What’s sotrovimab? Cattle paste?
(Rhetorical question, I really don’t give a damn.)
Nicole
I just got my fourth dose yesterday. For some reason I wasn’t able to relax when I got the shot, so my arm muscle is pretty sore today and I woke up a couple times during the night feeling a little ill, but overall not much in the way of side effects.
As that article posted here a couple days ago about that guy in Germany who got 87 doses indicated, I figure it’s not gonna hurt if I need to get another booster more targeted for the latest variants in the fall. ?
Anne Laurie, thanks again for this daily aggregation of articles, I read it every single day. My son‘s sixth grade math teacher developed a unit based around Covid for the kids that’s teaching them rudimentary statistics and how it’s possible for the media to use bias to misinterpret statistics, and a fair number of questions they’re asked deal with health policy. The information you post on how China is attempting to address the virus was really helpful when he was doing his homework last night.
rikyrah
AL,
I have routinely copied tweets that I have found here to other sites. With you posting screenshots, I can’t copy the tweets. Can you stop posting screenshots???
YY_Sima Qian
On 4/5 Mainland China reported 1,383 new domestic confirmed (127 previously asymptomatic), 19,089 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 domestic suspect cases.
Guangdong Province reported 7 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic (1 each at Fangchenggang & Baise) cases. 5 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 19 active domestic confirmed (8 at Fangchenggang, 7 at Qinzhou, 2 at Baise & 1 each at Guilin & Yulin) & 230 active domestic asymptomatic cases (96 at Fangchenggang, 40 at Baise, 16 at Chongzuo, 63 at Qinzhou, 8 at Guilin, 4 at Nanning, & 3 at Beihai) in the province. 3 sites at Qinzhou are currently at Medium Risk.
Hunan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic (both at Loudi) cases, both medical staff at the local designated COVID hospital, found via regular screening. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 36 active domestic confirmed & 12 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. All areas in Huaihua are now at Low Risk. 10 sites at Changsha & 1 village at Hengyang are currently at Medium Risk.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region 1 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both at Tongliao, both traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed (1 at Hohhot, 1 at Chifeng & 4 at Tongliao) & 18 active domestic asymptomatic (9 each at Hohhot & Tongliao) cases in the province. 1 residential compound at Chifeng is currently at Medium Risk.
Tianjin Municipality reported 3 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. 25 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 19 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 110 active domestic confirmed & 126 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 6 sites are currently at High Risk. 4 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shandong Province reported 4 new domestic confirmed & 45 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 26 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 51 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 373 active domestic confirmed cases & 1,775 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 8 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic, all mild, 7 at Taiyuan & 1 at Yuncheng) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic (both at Yuncheng) cases. 2 of the cases at Taiyuan were previously asymptomatic & 5 are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. The cases at Yuncheng were found via screening of residents under lock down. The case at Jinzhong is a traced close contact under centralized quarantine. There currently are 22 active domestic confirmed (12 at Taiyuan, 5 Xinzhou, 2 at Yuncheng, & 1 each at Datong, Jinzhong & Linfen) & 4 active domestic asymptomatic (2 at Yuncheng, 1 at Changzhi & Taiyuan) cases remaining.
Hebei Province reported 6 new domestic confirmed & 103 domestic asymptomatic cases. 14 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 134 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 157 active domestic confirmed & 1,941 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 7 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, all mild) & 43 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 38 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 147 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 205 active domestic confirmed & 1,151 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 8 new domestic confirmed (all mild) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 12 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 17 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 194 active domestic confirmed & 201 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Jilin Province reported 973 new domestic confirmed (65 previously asymptomatic, 938 mild & 26 moderate & 9 serious) & 1,798 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1,531 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 658 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 4 new domestic confirmed (all mild) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all traced close contacts under centralized quarantine.
Shanghai Municipality reported 311 new domestic confirmed (40 previously asymptomatic) & 16,766 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 16,260 of the new domestic positive cases were already under quarantine, & the rest from screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure. 30 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 463 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 2,922 active domestic confirmed & 65,958 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 13 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shaanxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Xi’an) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic (at Baoji) cases, a traced close contact under centralized quarantine, & a person arriving from elsewhere on 3/31 & under centralized quarantine since. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 36 active domestic confirmed & 3 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 6 new domestic asymptomatic cases (2 each at Huangshi & Suizhou, & 1 each at Ezhou & Wuhan). The cases at Suizhou & Wuhan are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. The case at Ezhou is a recent arrival from elsewhere on 4/3, passing through. The cases at Ezhou & Huangshi are all recent arrivals from elsewhere & under centralized quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 74 active domestic asymptomatic (38 at Suizhou, 12 at Huangshi, 5 at & Xiaogan, 8 at Wuhan, 4 at Ezhou, 3 at Huanggang, 2 at Jinzhou, & 1 each at Xianning & Xiangyang) cases in the province.
Jiangsu Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 74 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 28 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 68 active domestic confirmed & 541 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 56 new domestic asymptomatic. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 41 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 19 active confirmed & 533 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Zhejiang Province reported 17 new domestic confirmed (4 previously asymptomatic) & 50 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 1 new asymptomatic case. 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered 24 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 27 active domestic confirmed & 141 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Fujian Province reported 7 new domestic confirmed (all previously asymptomatic) & 22 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 57 domestic confirmed case recovered & 58 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 699 active domestic confirmed & 1,723 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 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 3 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 60 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
Hainan Province reported 10 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, 9 at Sanya & 1 at Haikou) & 22 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Sanya) cases. 14 of the cases at Sanya are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine, 1 via screening of persons under movement restrictions, & 16 via community screening. The case at Haikou was previously asymptomatic. There currently are 33 active domestic confirmed (10 at Haikou, 14 at Sanya, 5 at Qionghai, 2 at Danzhou & 1 each at Lingshui County & Wanning) & 58 active domestic asymptomatic cases (53 at Sanya, 3 at Haikou, & 1 each Qionghai, Chengmai, Wanning & Qiongzhong).
Guizhou Province reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic (both at Xingyi in Qianxinan Prefecture) cases, both traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. There currently are 5 active domestic confirmed (2 at Guiyang & 3 at Xingyi in Qianxinan Prefecture) & 5 active domestic asymptomatic (3 at Xingyi in Qianxinan Prefecture, & 1 each at Puding County in Anshun & Liupanshui) cases in the city.
Jiangxi Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both mild) & 33 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 12 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 83 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 15 active domestic confirmed & 210 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 33 new domestic asymptomatic cases (30 at Zhoukou & 1 each at Nanyang, Yongcheng, & Xuchang). 6 domestic confirmed case recovered & 4 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 96 active domestic confirmed & 220 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, are currently at Medium Risk.
Chongqing Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 5 active domestic confirmed & 8 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 3 dormitory buildings are currently at Medium Risk.
Sichuan Province reported 10 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic, all mild, all at Chengdu) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic (3 each at Chengdu & Leshan, & 1 at Nanchong) cases. 2 of the new positive cases at Chengdu were previously asymptomatic, all new positive cases are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. The case at Nanchong arrived from Xi’an in Shaanxi on 4/2 & under home quarantine since 4/4. 3 residential compounds at Leshan are currently at Medium Risk.
Qinghai Province reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases (both at Xining), both traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. There currently are 13 active domestic confirmed cases in the province.
Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 7 domestic confirmed case recovered & 27 new domestic asymptomatic were released from isolation. There currently are 27 active domestic confirmed & 150 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 4/5, Mainland China reported 32 new imported confirmed cases (17 previously asymptomatic, 1 in Guangdong), 110 imported asymptomatic cases, 0 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 1,910 confirmed cases recovered (82 imported), 1,908 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (106 imported) & 144 were reclassified as confirmed cases (17 imported), & 22,416 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 24,565 active confirmed cases in the country (541 imported), 75 in serious condition (all domestic), 113,950 active asymptomatic cases (1,013 imported), 17 suspect cases (all imported). 405,535 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 4/5, 3,283.586M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 1.982M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 4/6, Hong Kong reported 2,777 new positive cases, 7 imported & 2,770 domestic (1,482 via RT-PCR & 1,288 from rapid antigen tests), 84 deaths (13 fully vaccinated, including 2 boosted) + 27 backlogged deaths.
On 4/6, Taiwan reported 359 new positive cases, 78 imported & 281 domestic.
NotMax
@Raven
Not in Florida, one hopes. Wouldn’t drop so much as a dime in that woebegone peninsula at this point.
Anne Laurie
New blog rules: Because the Twitter website doesn’t play nice with FYWP any more, I can only embed *ten* tweets in one post. So:
– I try to pick out the ten stories that most commentors, by my guess, will want to click over to read.
– When a story is ‘extractable’, I hand-copy an extract & link to the story, so readers can click on the link.
I agree this is hardly the best of all possible worlds, but I’m already spending 3-5 hours every day on this stuff, and I doubt anybody has the stamina to read multiple covid-related posts every morning!
Soprano2
Here’s a link to a CNN article about increasing interest in wastewater surveillance for Covid. I think this will be important in light of this little factoid:
Official testing results may quit telling us that much about the true prevalence of Covid in the population. It’s never been that great anyway because of so many asymptomatic cases.
mrmoshpotato
@Raven:
Tuna! Beware! Raven’s in a boat up there!
Cameron
@NotMax: Your concern for our welfare is duly noted.
Cameron
@New Deal democrat: Florida has stopped reporting. Gee, I wonder what that could mean….really have to think about it……
YY_Sima Qian
Sometimes Laurie Garret has incisive tweets, & sometimes just flippant. There currently are 3 different transmission chains in Beijing, the authorities suspect only one of them have to do w/ clothing imported from South Korea, the others are introduced by travelers from Shanghai. The massive outbreak at Shanghai started from breach at quarantine hotel. There currently are dozens of clusters & outbreaks in China, the vast majority traced to Shanghai or Jilin Province. There are even cases where the authorities suspect fomite transmission via parcels originating from domestic epicenters. However, foreign media’s & commentators’ ears only perk up when they hear a local Chinese authority blame an outbreak on fomite transmission via international parcel.
YY_Sima Qian
@Anne Laurie: Thank you A.L. for your dedication & perseverance for over 2 years of the pandemic!
raven
@mrmoshpotato: Alas the gulf trips out of Destin rarely get tuna unless it’s the odd blackfin. AJ season is on in May and it’s about the only big fish you can reasonably count on these days. Of course I did and that 60lb Wahoo on juts such a trip last year!
Steeplejack
Is there some sort of test for long COVID, or is the diagnosis just self-reported symptoms?
PST
You can add me to the list of the newly second boosted. In fact, as evidence that I run with a pretty old crowd these days, nearly everyone I know seems to have had the second booster as well, including my mother-in-law, who wants to be fully immune for her ninety-eighth birthday party next month. No one had the slightest trouble finding a shot, and no one had much in the way of side effects. My arm ached a bit for a few hours. If I need COVID boosters from time to time for the rest of my life that’s okay with me. I’m getting plenty of other shots.
p.a.
@rikyrah: Can you save as a photo and post it that way? The links won’t be active but viewers can always type them in if they want follow-through.
Makeitso
New here but why the emphasis on the stats from China? Are they reliable?
YY_Sima Qian
@Makeitso: As someone who moved to Wuhan just in time for the start of the pandemic, & have been pretty closely following the data & the actual situation here in China for the past 2+ yrs, I would say the case counts are fairly accurate, except for Wuhan & Hubei Province during the 1st wave. Wuhan reported ~ 50K official through the 1st wave (asymptomatic cases were not published as part of the daily data dumps until Apr. 1, 2020), but later seroprevalence surveys conducted in late Apr. – May suggest ~ 4% of the population in the city had been infected, or ~ 350K people. Contact tracing never did break down outside of Hubei Province, so China probably caught most of the cases & broken all of the transmission chains to get to “Zero COVID”. Starting from mid-2020, Chinese cities started to employ multiple rounds of citywide mass screening even in response to small clusters, to uncover the extent of cryptic transmission. W/ such standard response, I think China had captured the vast majority of positive cases to repeatedly eliminate clusters & outbreaks for the subsequent 2 yrs. Shanghai is probably missing at least a percentage of cases right now, due to the relatively high (for China) prevalence, the very high percentage of asymptomatic & very mild cases, as well as inadequate quarantine/isolation conditions that are deterring some people from participating in the mass screening campaigns. There is a reason medical workers are going door to door in high(er) prevalence neighborhoods.
On the other hand, the extremely low death count since mid-2020 is… curious to say the least. China has registered 10s of thousands of symptomatic (domestic & imported) cases since mid-2020, before the latest Omicron BA.2 surge in Shanghai & Jilin Province, yet only a handful of deaths. The CFR is a far outlier compared to the rest of the world, even accounting for the fact that China maybe capturing the vast majority of positive cases & most parts of the world are likely missing the majority of cases during each COVID wave. Perhaps having each severe/critical case being consulted by municipal/provincial/national level experts & plenty of resources on hand dramatically improve survival rate.
If a case is no longer testing positive at time of death, they are not counted at COVID deaths (there have been a few such cases reported). If a case is positive for COVID & died of underlying health conditions, China counts them as COVID deaths even if COVID is not the direct cause. If Chinese authorities at all levels are systemically classifying COVID deaths as non-COVID for 2 yrs., it would have leaked by now.
Makeitso
@YY_Sima Qian: Thank you.
Matt McIrvin
@Raven: I think the idea is that getting boosted now might prevent you from getting boosted a few months from now, if they’re only doing people who are X months past their previous boost, so you might want to wait for some better version of the shot.
I agree with the person who said this is kind of like trying to time the stock market, probably a fool’s errand. Last I heard on Omicron-targeted boosters was that they’re not much better than the existing ones, so there’s not a lot of incentive to order them.
YY_Sima Qian
@Matt McIrvin: You probably want to time a booster shot in the late fall, before the seasonal surge.
Matt McIrvin
@YY_Sima Qian: I got my fourth shot as soon as I could in part because a second Omicron surge from BA.2 (likely combined with the lifting of a lot of mask/vaccine mandates) is clearly beginning here right now. It might end up being nothing like the scale of the main Omicron surge but it’s going to be significant. But that would put me six months past it sometime in the late fall.
NorthLeft12
Report from Ontario, Canada. Since the dropping of almost all restrictions, COVID is running pretty rampant here. Of course, since we are not testing, people can blithely ignore it. I will say that hospitalizations have dropped and steadied out as of late, but anyone that thinks this is over is being purposefully blind.
Kudos to Quebec for extending their mask mandate in the face of the sixth wave, which is something I don’t see our Conservative government ever doing. People could be dropping dead in the streets and they will not reimpose any restrictions.
On a personal note, I am going in for gall bladder surgery early next week, so I am isolating to ensure I can have this done.
YY_Sima Qian
@Matt McIrvin: I gave the same advise to my parents.
Sloane Ranger
Tuesday in the UK, we had 50,202 new cases. This is a decrease in the rolling 7-day average of 25.9%. New cases by nation,
England – 41,436
Northern Ireland – 1387
Scotland – 5545
Wales – 1834.
Deaths – There were 368 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is up 11.7%. 313 deaths were in England, 4 in Northern Ireland, 44 in Scotland and 7 in Wales.
Testing – 563,343 tests took place on 4 April. The rolling 7-day average is down by 16.2%.
Hospitalisations – There were 20,398 people in hospital and 351 on ventilators on 4 April. The 7-day average for hospital admissions was up by 7.1% as of 31 March.
Vaccinations – As of 4 April, 91.9% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot of a vaccine; 86.1% had had 2, and 67.6% had had a 3rd shot/booster.
Jay
@Makeitso:
YY_Sima Quan, like many contributors here, voluntary amasses data daily, on Covid in China and Hong Kong. He puts a lot of work in, from many regional reports to aggregate a single picture. Where many are reporting on a single County, State or Province, he is very kindly reporting on a massive country +, broken down into regional/city details, because in part, in China it matters. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, say for business, can really mess up your month with quarantine.
Matt McIrvin
Curiously, the latest mini-surge in New Hampshire seems to have already crested in some places. But look over at Vermont and what you see is not a single surge but a whole ragged series of them, so it’s not clear how we should interpret this.
Wastewater COVID numbers are still steadily increasing in greater Boston, though the numbers from the south system had a couple of high outliers over the past week that seemed to subsequently clear.
Ken J.
@rikyrah:
To get from a screen shot to the original tweet, I have had good succcess with a Google search string:
twitter [tweeter id] [a sequence of hopefully-unique words from the tweet]
I do this if I want to see the Twitter thread.