A federal Appeals Court has upheld President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for federal workers. The ruling reversed a decision that had blocked the White House from requiring federal workers to be vaccinated https://t.co/lASjfMrgK9
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) April 8, 2022
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic, her spokesman said https://t.co/op0cGIm1Lg pic.twitter.com/lWuazw9K77
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2022
'We have stringent protocols at the White House that we keep in place to keep the president safe, to keep everybody safe. Those go over and above CDC guidelines, and that includes ensuring that anyone who is going to be around the president is tested,' Jen Psaki said pic.twitter.com/Zk0qhG07GD
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2022
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Shanghai widens COVID testing as other Chinese cities impose curbs https://t.co/yCcMDilQBT pic.twitter.com/WR8k7SyQa3
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2022
Great thread on how Shanghai residents have turned to group buying to deal with the food shortages: https://t.co/w3vmff64Nf
— Dan Wang (@danwwang) April 8, 2022
Is the Shanghai lockdown Xi's biggest crisis yet?
'Pets beaten to death. Parents forced to separate from their children. Elderly folks unable to access medical care. Locked-up residents chanting “we want to eat” and “we want freedom.”'https://t.co/l5AtoVnXFg
— Iain Marlow (@iainmarlow) April 7, 2022
Per France24: Taiwan will move away from a zero-Covid policy and instead focus on tackling the most severe infections in an effort to live with the coronavirus, its health minister said Thursday.
The decision leaves China — and its financial hub Hong Kong — as the only major economy still sticking to the strategy even as Omicron breaks through those defences.
Taiwan has largely closed its borders and implemented strict quarantine rules throughout the pandemic, keeping infection numbers low.
An outbreak last year prompted the temporary reimposition of economically painful social distancing measures until it was brought under control.
Infections are once again rising but Taiwan’s leaders have signalled they will follow other former zero-Covid economies like Singapore, Australia and New Zealand by opening up.
Asked at a parliamentary session on Thursday if Taiwan was in a “transitional phase” from pursuing zero cases to living with the virus, health minister Chen Shih-chung replied: “Yes, you can say so.”
“We will not stop our journey towards opening up, this is our direction but we will maintain effective management. The main goal now is harm mitigation,” he said…
… In a new analysis released Thursday, the U.N. health agency reviewed 151 studies of COVID-19 in Africa based on blood samples taken from people on the continent between January 2020 and December 2021. WHO said that by last September, about 65% of people tested had some exposure to COVID-19, translating into about 800 million infections. In contrast, only about 8 million cases had been officially reported to WHO during that time period.
“This undercounting is occurring worldwide and it’s no surprise that the numbers are particularly large in Africa where there are so many cases with no symptoms,” WHO’s Africa director Matshidiso Moeti said in a statement. WHO’s analysis found that a large proportion of people with COVID-19 — 67% — showed no symptoms when infected with the disease, a higher percentage than other world regions…
To date, Africa has reported 11.5 million COVID-19 cases including more than 250,000 deaths. WHO said the virus has been trending downwards since January, although there have been some variations in some countries and some, including South Africa, have been hit particularly hard during successive waves of disease. Last week, WHO said the number of COVID deaths fell by about 30% on the continent.
“Despite Africa’s declining infections and high exposure to the virus, we cannot declare victory yet against COVID-19,” said WHO Africa chief Moeti.
“The risks of more lethal variants emerging which overwhelm immunity gained from past infections cannot be brushed aside,” she said, calling for increased vaccination rates across the continent. To date, only about 15% of people in Africa have been immunized against COVID-19.
======
In this long thread Dr. @Bob_Wachter tries to answer:
– Should you get a 2nd booster?
– If so, which one and when?
– Is it worth the risk to wait a few months?
– Should you mix-and-match vax types?
– Why not just get infected & take antiviral drugs?
It's a thoughtful journey.? https://t.co/TgSk0EL0fl— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) April 7, 2022
Scientists expect Covid-19 to eventually become endemic, something we learn to live with. But endemic diseases can take many forms, few of them harmless. We explored the possibilities. https://t.co/CMvDX19wwz
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 7, 2022
After more than a billion mRNA vaccine doses, hypersensitivity reactions (anaphylaxis) are extremely rare. A review of the mechanisms and root causes @NatureNano with insights from nanomedicines https://t.co/25HNlZ6KYp pic.twitter.com/K0fs1rBkSZ
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) April 7, 2022
When Nicole Flecchia contracted COVID-19 in January of 2021, the University of Rhode Island grad student figured she might be looking at a few days or weeks of symptoms. https://t.co/5BASEmTLre
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) April 8, 2022
======
The US BA.2 variant wave leader states watch, log-plot
None are above 24 new cases/100,000 residents
No sign of any surge or rapid ascent like BA.1/BA 1.1 that got up to >300/100,000 pic.twitter.com/DfSOWc223a— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) April 7, 2022
On The Road – Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!) – Belize, December 2021 part two, Entering the Maya Selva at ChanChich Lodge
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
531 new cases yesterday. But at least I got my second order of tests from the Post Office yesterday.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 11,994 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 4,292,585 cases. It also reported 36 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 35,228 deaths – 0.82% of the cumulative reported total, 0.85% of resolved cases.
Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 0.83.
91 confirmed cases and 106 suspected cases are in ICU; of these patients, 50 confirmed cases and 58 suspected cases are on ventilators. Meanwhile, 16,603 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,099,786 patients recovered – 95.5% of the cumulative reported total.
Four new clusters were reported yesterday, for a cumulative total of 6,941 clusters. 151 clusters are currently active; 6,794 clusters are now inactive.
11,969 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 25 new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 27,934 doses of vaccine on 7th April: 3,721 first doses, 15,374 second doses, and 10,639 booster doses. The cumulative total is 69,101,615 doses administered: 27,543,413 first doses, 25,870,912 second doses, and 15,899,713 booster doses. 84.3% of the population have received their first dose, 79.2% their second dose, and 48.7% their booster dose.
Delk
Sitting in the waiting room waiting to be called in for surgery. Nothing major, fixing some sinus issues.
mrmoshpotato
eclare
@Delk:
Keeping good thoughts for you!
germy
NotMax
re: China
COVID doesn’t give a hoot in hell about ideological purity.
Starfish
We can treat anaphylaxis! This is deeply fortunate because my child was done in by a single cookie the other week. We were in the ER the other day, and the venue was trying to deny the existence of the cookie. I am tired.
mrmoshpotato
@Delk: Hoping for a quick surgery. Then have a spicy chorizo omelette for breakfast. ??
mrmoshpotato
@germy: Yup. That’s exactly right. ?
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: COVID also does give a hoot about your zero-COVID policy. COVID will COVID all over your delicious respiratory system.
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
In a hospital? Lucky to get a room temperature fruit cup and some limpid gelatin.
And be charged $98 for the meal.
//
mrmoshpotato
@Starfish: Hope your kiddo has a fast and full recovery. And a slap to that venue.
Starfish
@NotMax: You don’t even get a fruit cup if it is outpatient surgery.
germy
Masks are nonexistent in upstate NY. And up here, almost every man looks like this:
Starfish
@mrmoshpotato: It was a school field trip. We learned that the school nurse (that is over several schools and not just a single school because we have defunded education) has to do a report when an Epi-Pen has to be applied on a school field trip.
rikyrah
@Delk:
????????
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax:
Maybe that chorizo omelette isn’t in this morning’s breakfast…
(Would be in mine if I had some chorizo! Hehe)
mrmoshpotato
@germy: (insert Obama shrugging disgustedly here)
New Deal democrat
In Europe every country has now peaked. In Canada ON is still not reporting, but in QE and BC cases are rising.
In the US, cases declined slightly to 26,700. Hospitalizations were flat for the 4th day in a row at 10,500. Deaths rose to 562.
Regionally the South is still decreasing, the Midwest flat, the West increasing slightly, and the Northeast still increasing. More States are increasing; it is easier to list the States that are decreasing: AL, AR, CO, GA, KS, KY, MO, NC, ND, SD, TN, TX, and WV. Fl, NV, and NH are not reporting.
It had appeared the increase in NY and MA was decelerating. As of today that is no longer true. The wave in the Northeast is now 3.5 weeks old. If it follows the pattern of Europe it should be peaking imminently, particularly as BA.2 probably makes up 90% of cases in that region by now. I still expect US deaths to decline to 200 or even less.
satby
@Delk: Best of luck Delk!
Suzanne
@Delk: Hang in there! Wishing you well.
Is it one of those surgeries which gives you the “nosegasm” afterward? If so, enjoy that.
Suzanne
FYI, I am a mostly remote employee, but my office officially “returned” this week. Everyone except me and a few others is required to be there in person three days a week. The policy there was was everyone had to be vaccinated. As such, you are allowed to go without the mask in the office but have to wear it in the common areas of the building.
I bet you can guess where I’m going with this.
Already getting emails asking everyone to “consider” wearing masks within the office because cases are going up in the city. And the company has had one positive this week, so all of that person’s contacts were notified and are quarantining…. back at home. Where they’re working. Just like everyone’s been working for two years.
debbie
@Suzanne:
My work is ending medical accommodations on May 2. If that remains in place, I’m out. I’m having enough trouble breathing as it is.
YY_Sima Qian
On 4/7 Mainland China reported 1,540 new domestic confirmed (412 previously asymptomatic), 22,561 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 domestic suspect cases.
Guangdong Province reported 7 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases. As the province does not break down recovered cases between domestic & imported, I cannot keep track of the count of active domestic cases there.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both previously asymptomatic, both at Baise) & 11 new domestic asymptomatic (9 at Chongzuo, & 1 each at Fangchenggang & Baise) cases. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 14 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 18 active domestic confirmed (7 at Qinzhou, 5 at Fangchenggang, 4 at Baise & 1 each at Guilin & Yulin) & 228 active domestic asymptomatic cases (92 at Fangchenggang, 41 at Baise, 24 at Chongzuo, 57 at Qinzhou, 8 at Guilin, & 3 each at Beihai & Nanning) in the province. 3 sites at Qinzhou are currently at Medium Risk.
Hunan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (mild, at Shaoyang), a truck driver coming from elsewhere, passing through. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 1 domestic asymptomatic case was a released from isolation. There currently are 28 active domestic confirmed & 11 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 2 new domestic confirmed, 1 each at Hinggan League & Tongliao, both traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. 3 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed (1 each at Hinggan League, Hohhot & Chifeng, & 6 at Tongliao) & 15 active domestic asymptomatic (8 at Hohhot & 7 at Tongliao) cases in the province. 1 residential compound at Chifeng is currently at Medium Risk.
Tianjin Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. 22 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 20 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 78 active domestic confirmed & 30 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 2 sites are currently at High Risk. 4 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shandong Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 46 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 30 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 212 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 324 active domestic confirmed cases & 1,450 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 5 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, all mild, 4 at Taiyuan & 1 at Yuncheng) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Taiyuan) cases. There currently are 34 active domestic confirmed (22 at Taiyuan, 5 Xinzhou, 4 at Yuncheng, & 1 each at Datong, Jinzhong & Linfen) & 8 active domestic asymptomatic (5 at Taiyuan, 2 at Yuncheng, 1 at Changzhi) cases remaining.
Hebei Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 162 domestic asymptomatic cases. 29 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 243 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 131 active domestic confirmed & 1,837 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 1 new domestic confirmed & 36 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 30 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 120 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 149 active domestic confirmed & 928 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 1 new domestic confirmed (mild) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 16 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 22 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 175 active domestic confirmed & 185 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Jilin Province reported 617 new domestic confirmed (61 previously asymptomatic, 583 mild & 32 moderate & 2 serious) & 1,649 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1,439 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 1,158 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 9 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, all mild) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all of the new positive cases are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine.
Shanghai Municipality reported 824 new domestic confirmed (323 previously asymptomatic) & 20,398 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 19,919 of the new domestic positive cases were already under quarantine, & the rest from screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure. 47 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 693 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 3,989 active domestic confirmed & 120,494 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 13 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shaanxi Province reported 11 new domestic confirmed (9 mild & 2 moderate) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all at Xi’an, 11 who arrived from elsewhere on 4/6 that tested positive upon arrival, & 3 who arrived on 3/25 & found via community screening. 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 38 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. All areas of the province are now at Low Risk.
Hubei Province reported 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases (all at Wuhan), 1 traced close contact under centralized quarantine & 2 truck drivers from elsewhere. There currently are 81 active domestic asymptomatic (41 at Suizhou, 12 each at Huangshi & Wuhan, 5 at & Xiaogan, 4 at Ezhou, 3 at Huanggang, 2 at Jinzhou, & 1 each at Xianning & Xiangyang) cases in the province.
Jiangsu Province reported 13 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic) & 65 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 15 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 80 active domestic confirmed & 634 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 69 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 22 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 19 active confirmed & 613 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Zhejiang Province reported 8 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) & 36 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.
At Gansu Province 10 domestic confirmed cases recovered 18 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed & 113 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province no longer breaks down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in the administrative divisions.
Wuzhong in Ningxia “Autonomous” Region did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
Fujian Province reported 20 new domestic confirmed (14 previously asymptomatic) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 119 domestic confirmed case recovered & 165 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 467 active domestic confirmed & 1,345 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 1 new domestic asymptomatic case. 10 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 42 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
Hainan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all at Sanya, a traced close contact under centralized quarantine, 2 via screening of persons under movement restriction & 2 via community screening. There currently are 40 active domestic confirmed (10 at Haikou, 21 at Sanya, 5 at Qionghai, 2 at Danzhou & 1 each at Lingshui County & Wanning) & 67 active domestic asymptomatic cases (59 at Sanya, 4 at Haikou, 2 at Lingshui County, & 1 each at Qionghai & Wanning).
Guizhou Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed (2 at Guiyang & 4 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 4 new domestic confirmed (all mild) & 32 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 2 domestic confirmed case recovered & 19 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 18 active domestic confirmed & 218 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 19 new domestic asymptomatic cases (16 at Zhoukou & 3 at Shangqiu). 31 domestic confirmed case recovered & 22 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 55 active domestic confirmed & 242 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 1 at Luohe & 2 at Shangqiu, are currently at Medium Risk.
At Chongqing Municipality 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 4 active domestic confirmed & 8 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. All areas of the city are now at Low Risk.
Sichuan Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, all mild, 4 at Chengdu & 1 at Suining) cases. 1 of the cases at Chengdu was previously asymptomatic, 2 of the new positive cases are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine & the other is a recent arrival from elsewhere. The case at Suining is a traced close contact under centralized quarantine. 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 11 active domestic confirmed & 5 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 8 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 3 domestic confirmed case recovered & 7 new domestic asymptomatic were released from isolation. There currently are 23 active domestic confirmed & 138 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 4/7, Mainland China reported 36 new imported confirmed cases (10 previously asymptomatic, 0 in Guangdong), 87 imported asymptomatic cases, 4 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 1,867 confirmed cases recovered (54 imported), 2,481 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (105 imported) & 422 were reclassified as confirmed cases (10 imported), & 31,955 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 23,832 active confirmed cases in the country (479 imported), 77 in serious condition (all domestic), 152,693 active asymptomatic cases (965 imported), 19 suspect cases (all imported). 432,100 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 4/7, 3,289.463M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 3.090M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 4/8, Hong Kong reported 2,492 new positive cases, 8 imported & 2,484 domestic (1,219 via RT-PCR & 1,265 from rapid antigen tests), 70 deaths (16 fully vaccinated, including 1 boosted) + 16 backlogged deaths.
On 4/8, Taiwan reported 507 new positive cases, 123 imported & 384 domestic.
Starfish
@Suzanne: Before the holiday party, my sister’s company tested people who wanted to attend. There were three cases that had been in the office, one of whom worked closely with the principals of the architecture firm. Leadership was banned from the holiday party. ??
Kayla Rudbek
@Suzanne: yes, the federal government is supposed to be going back to the office in April or May depending on the agency (with some agencies still having people working from home) and the Secretary for the Department of Commerce got Covid from that Gridiron dinner, so the whole Department of Commerce town hall about going back to the office had to be postponed.
I’m glad that Mr. Rudbek and I are going to be still teleworking for at least half a year more…
Peale
Lordy. Pretty much every chart on Omicron just shows what a disaster it was. It should never have been reported as “Mild” or “Milder.” Oh look, people spend 2 fewer days in a hospital. That’s great, I guess.
Omicron in Shanghai is going to look much worse just because the policies in the past were effective. If China as a whole ends up peaking at fewer than 200K cases per day, the lockdown probably was effective. But people are going to get impatient with trying to stretch out an old apple and a cup of rice into three meals rather quickly. its going to lead to massive hoarding problems at every other wave going forward. First hint of a new wave going forward and the shelves will quickly be emptied.
YY_Sima Qian
The chart in Eric Topol’s tweet, on the 7-day moving average of China’s daily incidence, is not the most useful way of assessing China’s COVBID situation, at least not now. China’s COVID numbers are still being driven by Shanghai & Changchun in Jilin Province, w/ dozens of clusters & small outbreaks elsewhere in the country that are being contained, suppressed & eliminated, though new ones also pop due to introductions from Shanghai. Jilin City in Jilin Province has clearly suppressed its major outbreak. Changchun’s 2nd wave driven by rapid transmission via workers at produce markets & logistics seems to have peaked & is coming down. Nowhere else is out of control like Shanghai. In the vast majority of locations, the new cases are found from people already under quarantine, screening of residents in areas under various levels of movement control, persons deemed at risk of exposure, or arrivals from areas w/ active outbreaks. In Shanghai, daily incidence seems to be peaking, but the response system there is so overwhelmed by the shear quantity of cases that I am not sure how reliable they are. There must be considerable lag.
I have been chatting w/ friends & colleagues in Shanghai, & we are all flabbergasted that Shanghai seems to be managing its lock down even more poorly than Wuhan in the early days. The the local authorities have not mobilized volunteers from retired party members, state owned enterprise workers or government workers in idled departments, to do the grunt work of managing a megalopolis in lock down. Food distribution by the neighborhood committees have been very uneven, & residents in many areas have been resorting to group buying to obtain food & daily necessities, & through barter trade between neighbors (happed in every citywide lock down). However, group buying via mobile APPs is essentially a free for all that greatly disadvantage the elderly, the infirm & the poor. In an effort to ensure more equitable food distribution, local authorities started to commandeer gourd purchased shipments w/o notice. The military and/or paramilitary has been brought in to help w/ the last mile logistics of food distribution, not just the medical corps. This is a 1st in China.
There is a resignation letter by a party secretary of a local community in Shanghai doing the rounds on WeChat. In it, the official describes the desperate situation that community workers are trapped in. The small team of 8 are responsible for the welfare of nearly 2K households under lock down, help carry out the nearly daily mass screening campaigns, plead for ambulances for people suffering from non-COVID illnesses. They have been working on 0 – 3 hrs of sleep a day for 3 weeks, not able to visit their family members under lock down, & had themselves been locked in the office for a week due to a positive case in the team. Just arranging following up testing of the groups of residents whose batch tested positive is an exhaustive around the clock job. (W/ Shanghai’s relatively high prevalence, batch testing may not be that useful in many communities, anymore.) No volunteers or reinforcements have been mobilized to assist or relieve them. The letter is still up, a full day after it was posted.
Word has gotten out that Shanghai is classifying symptomatic cases differently than the rest of the country, & in variance w/ guidance from the China National Health Commission – only people who show infection in the lungs (as seen on CT scan) are counted as symptomatic, whereas the SOP has been (& still is) any clinical symptoms at all are counted as confirmed cases. Well, there are not likely CTs (other than portable units) in the temporary hospitals built to isolate the “asymptomatic” cases, so how often would a case get a lung scan to be reclassified as symptomatic, unless the case presents severe enough other symptoms (such as high fever) to warrant hospitalization regardless. That explains the 99.5% of “asymptomatic” cases that is almost unique to Shanghai, which sure does not help w/ motivating vaccine uptake among the elderly or compliance w/ NPIs by the general population.
There are some discussions on how Shanghai got to this point, & why Beijing allowed Shanghai to get to this point. Everyone has been seeing the same epidemiological curve out of Shanghai over the past 2 months. Other places in China are doing localized (at sub-district or larger) lock downs when daily incidents reach double digits. One suggestion/speculation is that Beijing was using Shanghai as an undeclared test case for “Living w/ COVID”, using much lighter touches (due to Shanghais greater health care resources, higher vaccination rate, etc.), but the quickly escalating case incidence, & panicked/furious protestations from around the country that introductions from Shanghai are quickly jeopardizing their “Zero COVID” mandate, spooked the central government. Shanghai’s party secretary is thought to be an ally of Xi Jinping, though the debate will not help his career prospects. Reminiscent of the brief period of relatively openness on social media at the beginning of Wuhan/Hubei’s 1st wave, cries for help & angry fulminations by Shanghai residents on Chinese social media are not being heavily censored. Perhaps the central authorities realize that need to let the residents vent their frustrations, as well as help uncover where dangerous gaps have developed. Still does not explain why Shanghai government did not have a Plan B for wide area lock downs, should it prove necessary.
JML
@Suzanne: My office ended all WFH this week, and basically the reason to end the “platooning” system that made it so anyone with shared workspace alternated so we weren’t on top of each other (my department is in a converted house) is because the VP lives back in 1983 and just wants everyone in the office where he can see them.
I don’t want full-time WFH, but I also no longer have any interest in full-time report to the office. And I’m back to sharing a bedroom office with an un-vaxxed coworker (who at least is still getting tested by the university every week, and we do have a barrier between us), and I kinda hate it.
Soprano2
I think the China zero Covid policy is a failure because they didn’t make everyone get vaccinated! How do they think they’re going to maintain this? Are they going to continue to lock out the world forever? Are they going to keep literally locking down cities with millions of people in them for weeks and weeks every time there is an outbreak? How do they think that’s going to keep working? As long as there weren’t vaccines it probably worked pretty well, but as time goes on that’s not going to work anymore. And anyone who believes we ever could have done anything like that here is delusional. Even the Chinese who are used to their dictatorship are rebelling against it!
I understand people’s reluctance to go back to the office; I know so many people who NEVER worked at home, including me. Working at home is still a luxury that only a minority of people can take advantage of. As we’ve discussed before, there are also some advantages to being in person with people that you just can’t get with Zoom. I understand why companies want people to come back, and it’s not just because they want to watch you
I think our local website must get their vaccination information from the state, because it hasn’t updated for a week now while everything else has. Missouri decided to start updating their Covid info weekly instead of daily at the beginning of April. I figure we’ll start seeing more and more of that in the next couple of months.
YY_Sima Qian
@Peale: I just stocked on some bags of rice, dried noodles, canned beef & SPAM. Will be stocking up on some eggs shortly.
lowtechcyclist
@Kayla Rudbek: The agency I work for decided the pandemic was an opportunity to ‘reimagine’ its workspace, and the work won’t be completed until early next year at the soonest. So my wife and I are working from home until then, at a minimum.
The good news is that the agency and the union are headed towards a pretty good agreement that will allow people to continue to telework full-time (the question there is, would they have to give up that sweet DC locality pay adjustment), but even those of us who don’t opt for that would only be required to be in the office for two days out of every 2-week pay period. So that isn’t too bad.
smith
@YY_Sima Qian: Thanks for explaining how “symptomatic” is being defined in Shanghai. I had been puzzled by the massive asymptomatic-symptomatic ratios being reported. They’re so far off other estimates it seemed like they might be dealing with a different disease.
lowtechcyclist
You know how we’re all hearing this in our heads.
Peale
@YY_Sima Qian: When COVID started to “get real” in 2020, my Chinese co-worker could not understand the hoarding. She was having a tough time finding SPAM. I told her that a lot of it was panic buying, but really if we did get locked in, we didn’t know when it would end. She told me that in China if you ran out of food, you’d just call the police and they’d bring you some. LOL. Like even the most adamant Blue Lives Matter flag wavers around here don’t want to give the police any reason to come around their homes, even if its for humanitarian purposes.
I found her the SPAM and dropped off two cans on her desk my last day in the office when we were leaving to WFH permanently.
La Nonna
Just received the alert that Il Nonno will have a 4th vaccine, 2nd booster, 120 days after his 1st booster (3rd dose). He has so far received only Pfizer, not sure if it is just out of caution, he is truly immunocompromised. We will take whatever advice the medico curante gives us, Italy has done a pretty good job of taking care of him.
Jay
Here in BC, mandates ended 3 weeks ago, ( masks, passports, etc),
Numbers are going up, reporting on cases will now be weekly,
Corporate is removing the mask mandate today, removed the “health check” yesterday,
So more masks are on order for me.
Sloane Ranger
Thursday in the UK we had 47,126 new cases. The rolling 7-day average is down 32.4%. New cases by nation,
England – 38,678
Northern Ireland – 1133
Scotland – 6778
Wales – 537.
Deaths – There were 317 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is up 20.2%. 274 deaths were in England, 5 in Northern Ireland, 33 in Scotland and 5 in Wales.
Testing – 528,405 tests took place on 6 April. The rolling 7-day average is down 20.8%. I will probably stop reporting on this, once the other home nations also end general access to free testing.
Hospitalisations – There were 20,409 people in hospital and 361 on ventilators on 6 April. The 7-day average for hospital admissions was up 2.7% as at 3 April.
Vaccinations – As at 6 April, 91.9% of all Uk residents had had 1 shot; 86.1% had had 2 shots, and 67.7% had had a 3rd shot/booster.
YY_Sima Qian
@Soprano2: The poor vaccination rate among the > 80 y.o. is certainly a huge glaring gap in China’s COVID response, making any exit from “Zero COVID” high problematic, until that is changed. However, should containment fail, it is still far better to have the Omicron Variant wash over a population that is highly vaccinated (88% of the total Chinese population completed full courses of vaccination, nearly 50% boosted), w/ Paxlovid & other treatments available, than having the Delta Variant wash over a negligibly vaccinated population & treatments in short supply. China still has the opportunity to close that gap in elderly vaccination in the coming months, though this may be the last opportunity. If you let COVID loose, there is no turning back the clock.
The best example is New Zealand.
It will also be interesting to follow the events in Taiwan, as it shifts away from “Zero COVID”. Data is hard to come by, but I think 60 – 70% of Taiwan’s > 80 y.o. is fully vaccinated. That is better than Mainland China’s just over 50% for the same cohort, & much better than the 25% for Hong Kong, but also well off the near complete coverage in parts of Western Europe.
YY_Sima Qian
@smith: Having a high fever & showing light signs of lung infection on CT scans is classified as “moderate” in China, which would be called “mild” in most parts of the world & does not require hospitalization. Needing oxygen support & having severe lung infection is classified as “serious” in China, which would require hospitalization in most parts of the world. Shanghai has claimed that, for all of the case load in the city, there is only a single serious case at this moment, no one in critical condition (needing ICU care & possibly intubation). The majority of China’s 77 serious/critical cases appear to be in Changchun in Jilin Province.
Let’s hope Shanghai has not played w/ the definitions of serious & critical cases, too.
YY_Sima Qian
@lowtechcyclist: Love Monthy Python!
kalakal
@Starfish: Oh how awful for you. Anaphyllaxis is terrifying. Glad your kid is ok. You can save yourself a great deal of money by using different epinephrine autoinjectors to Epipens. I use Auvi-qs which cost me abou $70 per year.( they also have built in audio instructions so that passers by finding me flaked out can more easily use them).
Cheryl from Maryland
Anecdotal evidence that even “mild” COVID has long term health implications — just got back from a visit to my spouse’s urologist — the doctor said that the practice was busy, busy, busy, not from delayed treatment due to cutting back on COVID exposure but from new issues arising in patients who had supposedly recovered from a minor case of COVID.
Miss Bianca
That last tweet proves, once again, how sociopathic Whiteness really is.
Disgusted by my tribal cohort, I really am.
smith
@Cheryl from Maryland: Long covid is a real time bomb, going off right now, even though lots of people want to ignore it. The CDC has estimates of the disease burden of covid for different age groups, and it’s clear that the 18-49 year old cohort (the ones who have been most blase about taking precautions) will bear the brunt of it. CDC estimates that more than 50% of infections have happened in this age group, which is maybe 40% of the population. The prime working age population is going to be seriously hampered by long covid unless we find ways to treat it in the near future. When we compare the effectiveness of different countries’ strategies in dealing with the pandemic, we may very well find that those that protected their young adults will fare better economically and socially.
Villago Delenda Est
I’m sure the Death Eaters will appeal the appeal, because George Washington was a tyrant.
Matt McIrvin
I was wondering why the BA.2 wave seems to have died aborning in New Hampshire, but looking more closely at the numbers, it looks as if they haven’t been reporting any data for the past several days. That’ll do it.
Ruckus
Got my second booster this morning – Moderna. Arm is letting me know I got a shot, not painful, just a slight notice.
Interesting that when I was signing up at CVS they found “my” name in the computer. Of course said person lived about 30 miles from me. In my first 20 yrs I met two other people with my name, first, middle initial, last name and suffix. My father met the other kids father on a Shriner’s bus to LV when he sat down and the other guy introduced himself. They lived about 4 miles from us. There is also someone at the VA clinic that I use with the same name, we always have to clarify which of us it is. We were once there at the same time to see the same doctor. He was called in as I was checking in so I didn’t get to meet him.