{Shrug emoji}:
… While infections are still spreading — with an average of over 50,000 new cases per day as of Tuesday — the country is far from the peaks of the pandemic, when daily counts surpassed 1 million. Restrictions, too, are easing as many Americans appear to be putting the pandemic behind them. Masking requirements have been lifted across most of the country, and officials stopped enforcing a federal mask mandate in transportation settings after a judge struck down the requirement.
“We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase,” Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, said Tuesday on PBS’s “NewsHour.”
Fauci said the United States was no longer seeing “tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now.”…
The coronavirus will not be eradicated, Fauci said, but can be handled if its level of spread is kept “very low” and people are “intermittently” vaccinated, though he said he did not know how frequently that would have to be. And he echoed warnings from the World Health Organization and the United Nations this month that worldwide, the pandemic is far from over as vaccination rates remain too low, particularly in developing nations.
The Biden administration, meanwhile, is appealing a ruling by a Trump-appointed judge that struck down the federal transportation mask mandate, including on planes, though even if successful, the effort would face an American public that could be unwilling to comply again…
Vice President Kamala Harris tests positive for COVID as infections rise in some parts of U.S. due to the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 subvariant https://t.co/iXLvMP3VQ7 pic.twitter.com/mS0WpNyhCs
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 27, 2022
Three out of every four U.S. children have been infected with the coronavirus and more than half of all Americans had signs of previous infections, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers estimated in a report. https://t.co/E4c3qgTzrV
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 26, 2022
My emphasis:
Three out of every four U.S. children have been infected with the coronavirus and more than half of all Americans had signs of previous infections, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers estimated in a report Tuesday.
The researchers examined blood samples from more than 200,000 Americans and looked for virus-fighting antibodies made from infections, not vaccines. They found that signs of past infection rose dramatically between December and February, when the more contagious omicron variant surged through the U.S.
For Americans of all ages, about 34% had signs of prior infection in December. Just two months later, 58% did…
In the CDC report, the most striking increase was in children. The percentage of those 17 and under with antibodies rose from about 45% in December to about 75% in February.
The older people were, the less likely they had evidence of past infections. That may be because older adults have higher vaccination rates and they may be more likely to take other COVID-19 precautions, such as wearing masks and avoiding crowds, Clarke said…
… Every four to six months since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen the emergence of a significant variant, including Delta in the spring of 2021 and Omicron in late fall of 2021. There is little reason to think we are done with viral evolution or that we won’t see more transmissible or immune-evasive variants in the future.
First, we need to continue to strengthen our surveillance system, so we can identify variants early and forecast potential surges. This includes expanding wastewater surveillance, which can give us early insights into rising case rates and help us track infections in the community.
Second, we need to maintain our testing capacity. The Biden administration has dramatically strengthened domestic testing manufacturing, increased the number of ways Americans can get tested for free and sent 250 million free at-home tests directly to households across the country. But we must sustain that progress to stay prepared. Stockpiling tests now, when the demand for them is low, will keep domestic manufacturing lines open for surge production and allow us to distribute tests better when they’re needed.
Third, we need to redouble our efforts on protecting the most vulnerable among us, including older adults, the immunocompromised and people with disabilities. This includes encouraging everyone to get their first booster as soon as it’s time to do so. The highest-risk individuals should also get a second booster shot four months after their first…
Fourth, we need to keep making high-quality masks widely available. The Biden administration has already sent more than 270 million N95 masks to local pharmacies, grocery stores and health centers for people to pick up for free; we must continue stockpiling masks and keep domestic manufacturers in business so we’re ready when they are needed.
Finally, to get this pandemic behind us, we have to ensure the world is vaccinated. Every major variant that has hit us hard was first identified outside the United States. There is no domestic-only strategy for a pandemic – certainly not one that could possibly work.
The Biden administration has already delivered more than 500 million doses to 114 countries, and we can and should do more to help support the distribution and administration of these vaccines. It’s not only the right thing to do but also in our own best interest, both in terms of health and global leadership.
All of these ideas, laid out in President Joe Biden’s plan, are now possible due to the miracles of the scientific community, the ingenuity of our private sector and the hard work of our government agencies, civil society and community organizations.
We can do this. But we need funding to make it happen.
Scientists are developing a new generation of vaccines that could provide broader and longer-lasting protection. These will likely be ready this fall, but we cannot guarantee they will be available unless Congress steps up and provides the resources. More and even better treatments are on the horizon, but we need funding to secure them…
======
The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday urged countries to maintain surveillance of coronavirus infections, saying the world was "blind" to how the virus is spreading because of falling testing rates. https://t.co/mS8MG1BkSo
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) April 27, 2022
Beijing in race to detect COVID infections as locked-down Shanghai in distress https://t.co/lmbFrBNmWc pic.twitter.com/uJomCmejWK
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 27, 2022
Shanghai authorities say they will start rounds of testing over the next few days to determine which neighborhoods are safe to allow a limited amount of freedom of movement. Residents in Beijing watch carefully on word for whether the city will lock down. https://t.co/VzErLzKQOt
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 27, 2022
A virtual protest has taken place on #China’s heavily monitored social media platforms, where netizens took turns to keep a censored video called the Voice of April about #Shanghai's lockdown alive and overwhelm censors. https://t.co/zWPpMNaP7o
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) April 23, 2022
Fed up with COVID lockdown, bankers, fund managers looking to leave Shanghai https://t.co/aMqDYLVYNn pic.twitter.com/ujWPAcTX7p
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 26, 2022
Nanjing may have “zero covid,” but factories are stalled due to supply shortage from Shanghai, colleges under lockdown, field hospitals being set up. I spent some time in an industrial park to see how SH lockdown effects are spreading https://t.co/E3Lg3KLALc
— Eva Dou (@evadou) April 26, 2022
“Sr. Fellow for Global Health at @CFR_org”:
======
COVID-19 patients have two treatment options that can be taken at home. But that convenience comes with a catch: The pills have to be taken as soon as possible once symptoms appear. https://t.co/QhZTtNUjtl
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 27, 2022
======
More than 520 vaccine-related bills have been introduced in statehouses nationwide since Jan. 1. Bills in half the states are specifically tied to childhood vaccine requirements.
?: @_SandyWest https://t.co/KI5tyjaDZI
— Kaiser Health News (@KHNews) April 26, 2022
Politicians think America?? is eager to dump travel ?masks. But that's not what 5 polls show: Support for travel mask mandates polled between 56% & 62%.
Have #Republicans miscalculated on #COVID19 ?https://t.co/e4tmRJbNol
& https://t.co/s6NSTI7d7y
& https://t.co/u20HrnfRLz— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) April 26, 2022
Remember the old joke about which body part got to be the boss?…
On The Road – ?BillinGlendaleCA – Malibu Creek State Park
YY_Sima Qian
On 4/26 Mainland China reported 1,818 new domestic confirmed (1,308 previously asymptomatic), 12,404 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 domestic suspect cases, & 48 new deaths.
Guangdong Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 33 domestic confirmed & 8 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 180 active domestic confirmed & 92 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.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic (1 each at Baise & Fangchenggang) cases. 20 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 4 active domestic confirmed (all at Baise) & 213 active domestic asymptomatic cases (183 at Fangchenggang, 25 at Baise, 4 at Qinzhou, & 1 at Nanning) in the province.
Hunan Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases, both at Shaoyang, both traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 42 active domestic confirmed 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. 4 sites at Shaoyang are currently at Medium Risk.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 7 new domestic confirmed cases, all at Manzhouli in Hulun Buir. 1 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 31 active domestic confirmed (25 at Hulun Buir, 3 at Baotou, 2 at Chifeng, & 1 at Hinggan League) & 1 active domestic asymptomatic (at Hinggan League) cases in the province. 4 sub-districts in Manzhouli are currently at Medium Risk.
Tianjin Municipality did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining.
Shandong Province reported 6 new domestic confirmed (3 previous asymptomatic) & 66 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 9 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 28 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 57 active domestic confirmed cases & 628 active asymptomatic cases in the province. As not all of the administrative divisions in the province provide data on recoveries, I cannot track the count of active cases in all of the administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Shanxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (mild) cases, at Taiyuan, a traced close contact under centralized quarantine. 6 domestic confirmed & 15 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 57 active domestic confirmed (46 at Taiyuan, 9 at Shuozhou, & 1 each at Xinzhou & Yangquan) & 214 active domestic asymptomatic (208 at Taiyuan & 6 at Shuozhou) cases remaining. 1 site at Taiyuan is currently at Medium Risk.
Hebei Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 13 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed & 49 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 18 active domestic confirmed & 1,076 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 102 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 2 domestic confirmed & 14 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 33 active domestic confirmed & 244 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 25 new domestic confirmed & 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 11 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 405 active domestic confirmed & 277 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Jilin Province reported 51 new domestic confirmed (31 previously asymptomatic, 50 mild & 1 moderate) & 80 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 967 domestic confirmed & 1,097 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. 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 31 new domestic confirmed (21 mild & 10 moderate) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases. As the city does not break down recoveries by imported vs. domestic cases, I cannot track the count of active domestic cases there. 1 site is current at High Risk. 12 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 1,606 new domestic confirmed (1,253 previously asymptomatic) & 11,956 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 12,138 of the new domestic positive cases were already under quarantine, & 171 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (effectively meaning from the community). There were 48 deaths (avg. 80.85 y.o., oldest at 99 y.o., all w/ a range of underlying conditions). 2,639 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 30,534 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 22,689 active domestic confirmed (244 serious & 27 critical) & 184,911 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 13 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
At Shaanxi Province 4 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed & 8 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 site at Xi’an is currently at Medium Risk.
Hubei Province reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic (both at Xiangyang) cases, both recent arrivals from elsewhere. 36 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 5 active domestic confirmed (all mild, 4 at Wuhan & 1 at Huanggang) & 155 active domestic asymptomatic (3 at Suizhou, 72 at Wuhan, 45 at Ezhou, 5 at Enshi Prefecture, 4 at Yichang, 23 at Huanggang, 2 at Xiangyang, & 1 at Xiaogan) cases in the province.
Jiangsu Province reported 8 new domestic confirmed (4 previously asymptomatic) & 76 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 15 domestic confirmed & 75 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The currently are 71 active domestic confirmed & 1,199 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 each administrative division, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Anhui Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 8 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed & 38 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 12 active confirmed & 479 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Zhejiang Province reported 16 new domestic confirmed (15 previously asymptomatic) & 31 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 there.
Gansu Province 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 4 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.
Fujian Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, at Nanping, a truck driver coming from elsewhere & tested positive upon entry. 4 domestic confirmed case recovered & 13 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 45 active domestic confirmed & 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. 2 sites at Ningde remain at High Risk, & 6 sites remain at Medium Risk.
At Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region the last domestic asymptomatic case recovered.
At Guizhou Province there currently is 1 active domestic confirmed (at Guiyang) cases remaining.
Jiangxi Province reported 56 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, 55 mild & 1 moderate) & 41 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed & 7 asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 263 active domestic confirmed & 404 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 (2 at Anyang & 1 at Xinyang) & 14 new domestic asymptomatic (2 at Jiyuan, 7 at Anyang, & 4 at Xinyang) cases. 4 of the cases at Xinyang are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine & 1 via screening of residents under movement control. The cases at Jiyuan came from Suzhou in Jiangsu on 4/20 & under centralized quarantine since. 4 domestic confirmed & 36 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 41 active domestic confirmed & 214 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 Xinyang & 1 site at Luohe are currently at Medium Risk.
Sichuan Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (1 previously symptomatic, both at Bazhong) cases, the new positive case is a person coming from area w/ active outbreak & under centralized quarantine since arrival. As the province does not break down recoveries by imported vs. domestic cases, I cannot track the count of active domestic cases there.
Chongqing Municipality reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (at Wushan), a person coming fro elsewhere & tested positive upon entry. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases remaining in the city.
Qinghai Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 2 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 40 active domestic confirmed & 29 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Yunnan Province reported 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases (all at Jinping County in Honghe Prefecture). 1 domestic confirmed & 32 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 15 active domestic confirmed & 199 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 4/26, Mainland China reported 6 new imported confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic), 70 imported asymptomatic cases, 0 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 3,278 confirmed cases recovered (14 imported), 32,054 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (62 imported) & 1,310 were reclassified as confirmed cases (2 imported), & 51,545 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 26,774 active confirmed cases in the country (195 imported), 318 in serious/critical condition (all domestic), 225,249 active asymptomatic cases (602 imported), 0 suspect cases. 410,877 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 4/26, 3,336.285M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 2.267M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 4/27, Hong Kong reported 430 new positive cases, 15 imported & 415 domestic (207 via RT-PCR & 208 from rapid antigen tests), 8 deaths (1 fully vaccinated & boosted) deaths.
On 4/27, Taiwan reported 8,923 new positive cases, 101 imported & 8,822 domestic (4,138 asymptomatic). Symptom onset for the domestic cases range from 4/1 – 4/26. There were 2 new deaths (1 domestic & 1 imported, both fully vaccinated, both having a range of underlying conditions).
Spanky
Well, looks like I can continue not to care about Wimbledon. This time with reasons! CREAM.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
1028 new cases yesterday. Guess we haven’t hit peak yet.
New Deal democrat
Cases rose to 50,300 yesterday, and are up over 20% in the last week. Hospital admissions rose 400 to 13,167, an increase of almost 20% in the last week, but still a very low historical number. Deaths declined to a new low of 338. Deaths were only lower in late June and July of last year.
The CDC updated its variant proportions data yesterday. BA.2.12.1 cases grew from 19% to 29% of all US cases, and from 45% to 60% in NY and NJ. At the other end of the spectrum, BA.2.12.1 was only 9% of cases in the Pacific Northwest and 8% in the South Central region. BA.1 is down to only 2% of cases.
Focusing on NY and NJ, NY appears to be peaking right now, 6.5 weeks after its recent lows, with cases essentially flat for the last 6 days, and up only 7% for the week. Cases tripled during that 6.5 week period. NJ has had a little spurt in the last couple of days, and is now up 15% for the week (after having been up only 4%). This is probably just an artifact of daily reporting.
I still suspect a US peak by about Memorial Day at 75,000-90,000 cases and 25,000-30,000 hospitalizations. Deaths now seem likely to peak a little under 1000.
The CDC also published an important study of seroprevalence through February:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm?s_cid=mm7117e3_w
“During December 2021–February 2022, overall U.S. seroprevalence increased from 33.5% […]to 57.7% […] . Over the same period, seroprevalence increased
from 44.2% […] to 75.2% […] among children aged 0–11 years and
from 45.6% […] to 74.2% […] among persons aged 12–17 years. Seroprevalence increased
from 36.5% […] to 63.7% […] among adults aged 18–49 years,
28.8% […] to 49.8% […] among those aged 50–64 years, and
from 19.1% […] to 33.2% […] among those aged ≥65 years.
“[In summary,] As of February 2022, approximately 75% of children and adolescents had serologic evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2, with approximately one third becoming newly seropositive since December 2021. The greatest increases in seroprevalence during September 2021–February 2022, occurred in the age groups with the lowest vaccination coverage ….
“The findings in this report are subject to at least four limitations. First, convenience sampling might limit generalizability. Second, lack of race and ethnicity data precluded weighting for these variables. Third, all samples were obtained for clinical testing and might overrepresent persons with greater health care access or who more frequently seek care. Finally, these findings might underestimate the cumulative number of SARS-CoV-2 infections because infections after vaccination might result in lower anti-N titers,and anti-N seroprevalence cannot account for reinfections.”
I see no way to read this study without concluding that somewhere between 90%-95% of all Americans have either been vaccinated and/or infected. This is going to put enormous evolutionary pressure on the virus in the direction of immune avoidance. I think this also strongly suggests that the fatality rate will continue to decline.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 3,361 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 4,436,912 cases. It also reported 13 deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 35,520 deaths – 0.80% of the cumulative reported total, 0.81% of resolved cases.
Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 0.73.
55 confirmed cases and 46 suspected cases are in ICU; of these patients, 35 confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases are on ventilators. Meanwhile, 9,484 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,339,521 patients recovered – 97.8% of the cumulative reported total.
Again, information about new and active clusters was inadvertently omitted from today’s statement.
3,355 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. Six new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 34,376 doses of vaccine on 26th April: 6,906 first doses, 22,782 second doses, and 4,688 booster doses. The cumulative total is 70,158,087 doses administered: 27,734,588 first doses, 26,616,401 second doses, and 16,020,386 booster doses. 84.9% of the population have received their first dose, 81.5% their second dose, and 49.1% their booster dose.
Amir Khalid
More news: Health Minister Khairy Jamaludin announced today that, effective May 1st, masking will no longer be required outdoors, and people entering business premises will no longer be required to check in using the MySejahtera smartphone app. Just in time for Eid.
Lapassionara
@New Deal democrat: As far as I can tell, there is no accurate COVID data being reported from anywhere in Missouri. I hear anecdotally that hospitalizations are as low as they have ever been, but I don’t know whether the case rate is rising or falling or what the infection rate is. I have a doctor’s appointment this am, and his assistant called me yesterday to see if I had been exposed to COVID within the last ten days and to remind me to wear a mask. So the healthcare people are still being cautious. I too am still mostly masked and avoiding movies, gyms, and indoor dining. I need better data before I let down my guard.
Ohio Mom
I got my second booster yesterday, Moderna after three Pfizers. This morning my arm ACHES but the rest of me is fine.
So now I am prepared as can be for the two superspreader events we have coming up, Ohio Son’s community college graduation, taking place in a basketball arena, and a big, two-day long bar mitzvah in New Jersey.
On another note, as thrilled generally as I am with Biden and his administration, I have a nagging thought that the only reason we are being told the pandemic is abating is a public relations move.
Ues, we are having something of a lull but are we really sure another vicious variant isn’t going to develop? This isn’t one of those viruses you get once and have permanent immunity, it appears you can get Covid over and over.
mrmoshpotato
This anti-vax crap is targeting childhood vaccine requirements for ALL diseases, not just COVID-19.
Murderous, anti-medical trash.
New Deal democrat
@Lapassionara:
In general, I’ve found that the data from major sources is good at reporting trends, if not absolute levels. The major sources all show Missouri’s case rate rising. The CDC’s variant proportions data:
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions
shows Missouri in region 7, where BA.2.12.1 makes up 26% of all cases, so I would expect Missouri’s case rate to continue to rise for at least another month.
Hope that helps a little.
mrmoshpotato
No. (reads)
Hahaha!
I thought it was going to be the dick at first, because Novax Plagueratovic is a dick.
matryoshka
@Lapassionara: I think Governor Gomer declared the pandemic officially done here, so no one is tracking it any more. Local stats have not been reported in Boone County since March. As always, Missouri tries to claw back the “good old days” instead of reckoning with reality.
mrmoshpotato
@Ohio Mom:
Fixed.
YY_Sima Qian
Changchun in Jilin Province, which has been under hard lock down since early Mar., is scheduled to start lifting restrictions fro tomorrow, after 14 days of 0 cases in the community. Areas deemed at heightened alert will allow 1 person per household to leave per day, but everyone living in the urban district is not allowed to leave the urban area except w/ approval, & those living in rural counties are not allowed to leave the county except w/ approval. No change for the time being for areas under lockdown or movement control, but their restriction level should decrease in the coming days, as well. Businesses will reopen at reduced capacity, some bus services will resume (but not metro for now). Closed factories will resume operations in phases, as will in person schooling. Trains & flight services out of the city will start to resume, & 1K taxis will be on the road to start. The city will conduct citywide mass screening every 3 days to snuff out any remaining embers of virus.
Same w/ Jilin City.
Changchun had reached peak daily incidence of 2 – 3K, in a population a 3rd of Shanghai’s. It is a relief that even an Omicron outbreak of such size can still be contained/suppressed & hopefully eliminated. The cost has bee high, w/ some of the dame hardships & tragedies as seen in Shanghai, just less visible domestically & internationally. Changchun’s example should also give hope to Shanghai, as long as there is still high degree of compliance.
The Moar You Know
Glad COVID is over.
For some reason, my Elks lodge has cancelled bingo for the second week in a row, says it’s due to something called “COVID”. I wonder what that is? It sounds like the disease but it can’t be, everyone says that’s over.
Sloane Ranger
Yesterday in the UK we had 16,579 new cases. The rolling 7-day average is down by 29.1%. New cases by nation,
England – 13,045
Northern Ireland – 480
Scotland – 2711
Wales – 343.
Deaths – There were 451 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is up by 52.8%. 413 were in England, 4 in Northern Ireland, 24 in Scotland and 10 in Wales.
Testing – 374,661 tests took place on 25 April. The rolling 7-day average down by 1.1%.
Hospitalisations – There were 14,929 people in hospital and 321 on ventilators on 25 April. The 7-day average for hospital admissions was down by 24.8% as of 22 April.
Vaccinations – As of 25 April, 92.4% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot; 86.4% had had 2, and 68.1% had had a 3rd shot/booster. There has been no change to these percentages for the last 3 days.
WaterGirl
“down to” only 300 deaths per day!
300 x 365 days = 109,500
that’s ONLY 37 September 11s in a year.
Yay???????????????
JFC, too much of the world, and this country, is being run by idiots and sociopaths.
eachother
The chart here yesterday representing massive Covid peaks occurring on a six month repeating pattern is in the books. Much easier, almost effortless is to ignore the chart’s suggestion this repeating pattern may repeat. But for the chart’s suggestion of being in that six month time frame now, and of that pattern and the apparent reach of the disease’s new numbers plotting a current, perhaps mirroring rise, it will give us something to wonder at as new plots draw another pattern.
Soprano2
@Lapassionara: We have some accurate data on our Covid dashboard for Springfield, but anything that comes from the state hasn’t been updated since March 31st. We have good wastewater monitoring in MO, search for it and see if your community is doing it. I’d post the link but I’m on my phone.
Matt McIrvin
I’d guess that the feeling on mask mandates is like guns and abortion: the median person is pro, but the anti side is far more intense than the pro side, to the point of mass disruption and violence, so the political effect is that of an overwhelming anti-mask majority. The right has gotten really good at whipping this up.
J R in WV
@WaterGirl:
This! So much this!!!
YY_Sima Qian
@Sloane Ranger: Any reason for the death count in the UK staying at an elevated level? W/ the very high vaccination/boosting rate of the vulnerable population, the repeated large waves of infection associated w/ each variant, & many of the most vulnerable having already died in the previous waves, why are there still so many deaths? Are there still immunologically naive people left to infect (not vaccinated & not previously infected)?
7-day moving average has slowly returned to the peak level of the previous Omicron wave in early Feb., according to Worldometer. Is the UK still counting every death w/in 28 days of positive test as COVID death, regardless of actual cause? If so, then most of the deaths should be w/ COVID & not of COVID, given the likely high prevalence (official data likely an undercount w/ Omicron). However, if that is the case, then we should see a relative steady state in deaths, & not significant swings from week to week, other than broader seasonality. Normally, deaths should be dropping as we head toward summer. Of course, the death data may simply reflect increase in the underlying prevalence in the general population, but then one should expect little lag between testing positive & death, if most of the deaths are w/ COVID.
The UK is one of the bell weathers for assessing whether COVID has truly reached endemicity in a highly vaccinated & infected population, & how much intervention might still be needed in the “new normal” (alternatively, the cost of premature return to the “old normal”).
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: Yup. Exactly.
Emmyelle
You know what I wish? I wish we could just “get back to normal”, as in, doing shit we used to do like proms and graduations and sports events and concerts and traveling BUT WITH INDOOR MASKS AND VACCINE MANDATES.
It’s like we are pretending that COVID is gone. Maybe because we want it to be.
By the way, I have COVID right and so does Emmy Jr. I believe she brought it to us because, for some insane reason, her high school which was really doing an excellent job managing COVID and not disrupting learning, decided that they would drop the masks right after spring break, and then have a prom and a play and a concert and a baseball game at the local MiLB stadium, and hey, guess what, now they all have COVID!
We are fine because we are vaxed and boosted, and because I work with doctors, they have all been pushing paxlovid on me and I am taking it. I felt like absolute crap for about 36 hours but now I just feel like I have a bad cold, and I guess since I have not had a cold in two years I forgot how miserable this can be so I’m being kind of a baby about it. Anyway, at Emmy Jrs school all the COVID prom kids have Zoom school and next week when they return to school they will all be……..wearing masks.
so
bluefoot
@Emmyelle: I recently got back from a trip to Italy. Life there was pretty normal, Rome as crowded as ever. Because everyone is required to be vaccinated and boosted, and N95 masks are required indoors and on transit. I had to show proof in order to board the plane to Italy and was asked to show my US vaccine card multiple times while in Italy, including on the train. I could do everything I wanted to do. This could be the US but no,WATB need to have their way and put others at risk.
it was a shock on the return flight when the crew told passengers that masks were optional once we were at ten thousand feet. Some people cheered and took off their masks. Then tried to argue with those of us who didn’t. All the assholes were white Americans, mostly male.