Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended that the agency authorize Moderna’s COVID vaccine for children and teens aged 6 to 17 years of age https://t.co/we3d2WOosh pic.twitter.com/f1uoaDjD3x
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 15, 2022
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… The Heaven Supermarket in Beijing’s busy entertainment area Sanlitun has been linked with 320 local infections that spread across the city in the past week. Authorities say it did not strictly follow epidemic control requirements such as checking customers’ test results and temperatures or scanning their health codes.
Before the latest cluster emerged, the capital was seeing a tapering off the outbreak that started at the end of April and forced restaurants to ban dining-in, shops to close and many people to work or study at home.
Now, with infections spreading across 14 districts of the city, students and school pupils – except those taking the high school entrance exam – have been ordered to remain at home while residential areas have been locked down…
The latest Beijing cluster highlights the challenge of maintaining a “dynamic” zero-Covid policy against the highly transmissible Omicron variant. The city reported 63 new local infections on Wednesday morning, all connected with the bar.
It also dealt another serious blow to the city’s restaurant and entertainment industry, which has just reopened after a month-long closure starting in early May.
Chaoyang district, the city’s largest district and home to foreign embassies, has closed all entertainment venues. In Sanlitun alone, 700 restaurants have been ordered to stop dining-in, while 74 bars, over 200 beauty salons, cultural venues, gyms and game parlours have also had to close…
The cluster emerged when three men who lived in different districts but had all visited the bar were found positive in mass testing last Thursday.
Police said so far six people have been put under criminal investigation for breaking health control rules linked with the cluster in the bar.
These include three bar goers who broke home isolation rules and led to more people being isolated.
One of them, a 31-year-old who lived in Tongzhong district, took public transport to several places and went to restaurants and shopping malls before testing positive – resulting in 29 people being placed in central isolation and 1,800 people in home quarantine.
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The BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron are estimated to make up about 8.3% and 13.3% of the coronavirus variants in the United States as of June 11, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday. https://t.co/d0SOfTIbAv
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) June 15, 2022
My (cynical) interpretation is that Pfizer wants to profit from a drug that is useful for older & immunocompromised people, but doesn’t want the risk of getting sued for some rare side effect in a group with less to gain:
… The drug has emergency use authorization for high-risk groups in which it has been effective in reducing hospitalizations and deaths.
The new data, however, showed a 51% relative risk reduction in standard-risk groups, which the company said was not statistically significant.
The standard-risk population usually includes people who do not have health conditions that put them at risk of severe disease and who can recover without the drug…
Omicron infection is a poor booster of immunity to #coronavirus future infection. A common assumption has been that infection gives a natural immune boost. Findings from a new British study reveal omicron infection does little to boost immunity https://t.co/Qb5Oc9NnUv
— delthia ricks (@DelthiaRicks) June 14, 2022
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NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
NYSDOH says 44 new cases again yesterday(PCR tests only).
I have a package of the Kimberly Clark “duck bill” N95 masks on order which should be delivered today. I hope they’re as comfy and effective as advertised.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 1,922 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, for a cumulative reported total of 4,530,312 cases. It also reported four deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 35,720 deaths – 0.79% of the cumulative reported total, 0.79% of resolved cases.
There were 22,961 active cases yesterday, 354 more than the day before. 992 were in hospital. 32 confirmed cases were in ICU; of these patients, 18 confirmed cases were on ventilators. Meanwhile, 1,564 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,471,631 patients recovered – 98.7% of the cumulative reported total.
1,919 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. Three new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 6,658 doses of vaccine on 14th June: 609 first doses, 4,456 second doses, and 1,593 booster doses. The cumulative total is 71,073,029 doses administered: 28,012,631 first doses, 27,153,826 second doses, and 16,121,239 booster doses. 85.7% of the population have received their first dose, 83.1% their second dose, and 49.4% their booster dose.
Baud
I didn’t realize global cases and deaths had fallen so far. Good news.
YY_Sima Qian
On 6/14 Mainland China reported 54 new domestic confirmed (9 previously asymptomatic), 65 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 new domestic suspect cases, & 0 new deaths.
At Guangdong Province 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
At Guangxi “Autonomous” Region 5 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 36 active domestic asymptomatic (all at Fangchenggang) cases remaining.
At Tianjin Municipality 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case remaining.
At Weihai in Shandong Province there currently are 9 active asymptomatic cases remaining.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 14 new domestic confirmed (8 previously asymptomatic) & 10 domestic asymptomatic cases. There currently are 301 active domestic confirmed & 257 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
At Jiuquan in Gansu Province there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case remaining.
Hebei Province reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both at Langfang, both traced close contacts of domestic positive cases in Beijing & under centralized quarantine. 3 active asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 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.
Liaoning Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 4 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Dandong) case. 4 domestic confirmed & 22 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 25 active domestic confirmed & 69 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 residential compounds at Dandong are currently at Medium Risk.
Jilin Province reported 6 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed & 4 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 25 new domestic confirmed (23 mild & 2 moderate) & 38 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 62 traced close contacts under centralized quarantine & 1 via community screening, all connected to the night club outbreak. 12 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The municipality is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there. 4 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 13 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 11 of the positive cases were already under centralized quarantine & 3 via community screening (at Baoshan, Songjiang, & Yangpu Districts). There were 0 new deaths. 13 domestic confirmed & 189 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 156 active domestic confirmed (7 serious & 8 critical) in the city. The city is no longer publishing the number of active asymptomatic cases. 41 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Jiangsu Province did not report any new domestic positive case. There currently are 4 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.
Zhejiang Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Taizhou, a person coming from Beijing on 6/11 & under centralized quarantine since 6/12. 23 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there.
At Fujian Province there currently are 8 active domestic asymptomatic (5 at Zhangzhou & 3 at Fuzhou) cases remaining.
At Jiangxi Province 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 5 active domestic asymptomatic cases (4 at Yichun & 1 at Shangrao) remaining.
At Henan Province 3 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Sichuan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 2 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there.
Chongqing Municipality reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, a traced close contact under centralized quarantine. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Menglian County in Pu’er. 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 16 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining. 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 6/14, Mainland China reported 23 new imported confirmed cases (4 previously asymptomatic), 93 imported asymptomatic cases, 1 imported suspect case:
Overall in Mainland China, 47 confirmed cases recovered (16 imported), 327 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (66 imported) & 13 were reclassified as confirmed cases (4 imported), & 6,807 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 949 active confirmed cases in the country (212 imported), 16 in serious/critical condition (all domestic), 1,980 active asymptomatic cases (467 imported), 1 suspect case (imported). 119,089 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 6/14, 3,391.088M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 894K doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 6/15 Hong Kong reported 1,047 new positive cases, 76 imported & 971 domestic (477 via RT-PCR & 494 from rapid antigen tests), 1 death (83 y.o., unvaccinated).
On 6/15, Taiwan reported 68,965 new positive cases, 26 imported & 68,939 domestic (including 227 moderate & 165 serious). There were 143 new deaths (ages ranging from 30+ y.o. to 90+ y.o., actual dates of death range from 5/28 – 6/12, 141 having a range of underlying conditions, 41 fully vaccinated & boosted).
Ken
The study also confirmed that water is wet and the sun rises in the east.
YY_Sima Qian
Why are countries giving up on vaccination requirements/mandates? Those should never be abandoned/suspended! For just about every country in the world except China, that is the only meaningful mitigation measure left standing.
New Deal democrat
Confirmed cases have been steady at between 105-110,000 for nearly 4 weeks. Deaths have averaged between 275-350 for the past 45 days. Hospitalizations have been slowly but steadily increasing for 2 months, and are now at 32,000, still low relative to most of the pandemic.
The CDC variant nowcast yesterday showed Ba.4/5 totaling about 22% of all cases, while Ba.2.12.1 totaled 64%. Ba.2 makes up the rest. Ba.4/5 is most prevalent in the South Central and West, while BA.2.12.1 is most prevalent in the Northeast and Upper Midwest.
smith
@Ken: Yep. CDC has been tracking the rural-urban comparison since the beginning, and with the exception of the very first surge in 2020, rural areas have had significantly more deaths in every surge. It’s not just vaccines that make the difference, it’s the whole attitude toward mitigation efforts, probably combined with less access to advanced medical care.
mario
heyo!
thanks for the twitter links you mensch!