Biden’s latest National Biodefense Strategy for the next deadly pandemic calls for the US to produce a test for a new pathogen within 12 hours of its discovery and enough vaccine to protect the nation within 130 days, @rileyraygriffin reports:https://t.co/dBI7FeH1UI
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) October 18, 2022
Once the federal government stops paying for COVID vaccines, tests, and treatments, patients on Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance should still be able to obtain those items at low or no cost, but things will be more difficult for the underinsured or uninsured, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief.
Two things are happening soon that will affect the supply of COVID-related products, the brief noted. First, supplies of these items that the federal government bought are running out, and “while the administration has said that it will need additional funding if more products are to be procured and provided for free (and has asked Congress for approximately $9.1 billion as part of a supplemental emergency funding request), Congress has yet to provide any,” the authors noted. “It is widely expected that once the current federally purchased supply is depleted, these products will transition to the commercial market for their manufacturing, procurement, and pricing.”
This depletion could subject patients to cost-sharing, and in addition, “without the federal government’s guaranteed ‘market’ for these products through their advance purchase, it is uncertain whether manufacturers will have an incentive to produce sufficient quantities, including, for example, during future COVID-19 surges or for new and updated vaccines,” the brief said. “It is also uncertain how many vaccines local pharmacies may purchase, particularly in areas with low demand.”
The second event is the federal declaration of a public health emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, which requires, among other things, that certain COVID-19 treatments be provided free of charge. The government has extended the PHE several times for a 90-day period each time, but it is likely to end in 2023, and “when it does, the protections put in place by Congress and the administration that are tied to the PHE will also end either right away or, in some cases, 1 year following its end,” the authors noted. These events combined could create a “double whammy,” they said, and — depending on the patient’s insurance coverage — “access problems could come in the form of new or higher cost sharing, more limited coverage, or both.”…
With most Americans delaying or skipping new COVID-19 booster shots, analysts and investors are now predicting far fewer will be given each year, pushing the number of shots well below annual flu vaccinations. https://t.co/pFoDHrJt5o
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) October 20, 2022
Speaking of timing…
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US exceptionalism essentially requires that media represent China’s superior COVID outcomes much as Gen. Westmoreland infamously described Vietnam in 1974: “‘The [Asian] doesn’t put the same high price on life as does a Westerner. Life is plentiful. Life is cheap in [Asia]” https://t.co/YsyiDSWFWc
— Martha Lincoln (@heavyredaction) October 19, 2022
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Diwali starts next Monday (if I’m reading google correctly)…
This would be the first time since the Coronavirus outbreak that citizens would be celebrating Diwali without any restrictions | @pankajcreates https://t.co/c2sYo3Mqdz
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) October 19, 2022
Finally, Russian state media pushed anti-vaccine messaging abroad while simultaneously promoting vaccines and calling vaccine skeptics "imbecile murderers" at home.https://t.co/UceUoVd4hh
— Meduza in English (@meduza_en) October 20, 2022
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Beyond mice, animal reservoirs of Covidhttps://t.co/IcLdJ4jjUL by @meghas @sciam @unamandita pic.twitter.com/HAsqzOIuih
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) October 19, 2022
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The inversion (next wave) is likely starting by the rise in hospitalizations. Great time for CDC to stop daily tracking 🤔 https://t.co/RXymG9t41x
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) October 21, 2022
The Biden administration should put the CDC back in charge of fighting the #Covid pandemic, said vaccine expert Dr. Peter Hotez. Until we do that, we're definitely not ready for another pandemic https://t.co/2EcckPDJza
— delthia ricks ?? (@DelthiaRicks) October 18, 2022
Hello, the unroll you asked for: https://t.co/laCrZicc0t See you soon. 🤖
— Thread Reader App (@threadreaderapp) October 20, 2022
Keep an eye on New York, leading the country with % cases BQ.1.1, bellwether for the next wave https://t.co/vw77IAyHJj (update, first picked up by @JPWeiland) pic.twitter.com/MPJSVvzqEY
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) October 21, 2022
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10 times as many kids under the age of 5 haven't received a single dose of Covid vaccine as kids in that age group who have.
In 3 states — Alabama, Louisiana & Mississippi — only 2% of kids aged 6 m to 4 y have received their 1st dose of Covid vaccine. https://t.co/dkw4uIf7Nb pic.twitter.com/q7hJOMC3A1— Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 (@HelenBranswell) October 19, 2022
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Reader Interactions
20Comments
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NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
76 new cases on 10/18/22.
103 new cases on 10/19/22.
133 new cases on 10/20/22.
Not looking any better.
New Deal democrat
Biobot updated yesterday, showing a mild decrease both nationwide and in all regions. Nationwide cases are down 75% from their June peak to a 6 month low of 35,200. Only 3 months of the last two years have seen fewer cases. Hospitalizations have continued to decline slowly to 24,000, almost 50% from their June peak, and also the lowest except for 4 months in the past two years. Deaths are back down to 338, in their March-May range, and only higher than 2 months in summer 2021.
Regionally, confirmed cases are declining everywhere except the Midwest. The most cases per capita are in NY, NJ, New England, MI, and WI. The fewest are in the Southeast. Increases are occurring in AZ, NM, HI, TX, IL, OH, NE, RI, and NH.
The CDC will update its variant information later this morning. At the moment, there is no sign of any significant seasonal increase nationwide, although cases are more prevalent in the northern tier of States than the Southeast and CA.
New Deal democrat
BTW, that increase in hospitalizations touted by Eric Topol was revised away this morning. Hospitalizations are still *declining.*
Oops!
E.T.A.: NYS had a significant increase in cases 2-4 weeks ago. Hospitalizations follow with a lag. I see no reason to suspect the data he cites is the tip of a wave.
Sometimes Topol is excellent. Not today.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 2,561 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, for a cumulative reported total of 4,875,131 cases. It also reported eight deaths, for an adjusted cumulative total of 36,437 deaths – 0.75% of the cumulative reported total, 0.75% of resolved cases.
32,157 Covid-19 tests were conducted yesterday, with a positivity rate of 6.7%.
There were 25,636 active cases yesterday, 1,305 more than the day before. 1,102 were in hospital. 51 confirmed cases were in ICU; of these patients, 23 confirmed cases were on ventilators. Meanwhile, 1,248 more patients recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,813,058 patients recovered – 98.7% of the cumulative reported total.
2,553 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. Eight new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 2,244 doses of vaccine on 20th October: 132 first doses, 253 second doses, 522 first booster doses, and 1,337 second booster doses. The cumulative total is 72,386,095 doses administered: 28,106,855 first doses, 27,516,179 second doses, 16,247,036 first booster doses, and 516,025 second booster doses. 86.1% of the population have received their first dose, 84.3% their second dose, 49.8% their first booster dose, and 1.6% their second booster dose.
rikyrah
The CDC needs to act like they want the job of COVID RESPONSE. They do some questionable shyt
YY_Sima Qian
Naomi Wu tends toward hyperbole, as her tweet quoted her shows. Shenzhen is still differentiating between imported & domestic cases, & distinguishing between local community cases, cases found in quarantine or lock down, or cases from elsewhere in China. However, the city has stopped publishing where the imported cases come from. They are highly likely to be from Hong Kong, many are true drivers sustaining the cross-border logistics.
Her tweet betrays an anti-Hong Konger bias that is unbecoming, but common in Shenzhen. There is definitely a love-hate relationship between many Hong Kongers & Shenzheners. Throughout the 90s & aughts, Hong Kongers had a poor reputation on the Mainland, since many of those who visited & lived on the Mainland were rich, ostentatious, assh*le businessmen keeping mistresses & visiting prostitutes. Naomi Wu claims to have grown up in a community full of such kept “2nd wives” (whom she says were the kindest people).
The mutual contempt really soared after the protests & rioting of 2019, when anti-Mainlander nativism was on naked display, enthusiastically played up by Chinese state media (& studiously ignored by Western MSM). At the start of the protest movement, when it was peaceful, sentiments in Shenzhen were largely neutral to somewhat sympathetic (at least those who cared). Then the extremists/nihilists among the protesters started to burn the Chinese flag, fly American, British & colonial era flats, & harass/assault Mainlanders & Mandarin speakers. The rest of the movement failed to disown & discard these elements in no uncertain terms. Likely because the movement had highly decentralized leadership, there was disagreement whether to dissociate from such elements, since such elements had formed the most effective “muscle” in causing disruption.
rikyrah
I always thought that the anti-vaxx propaganda the Russians were pushing, they thought that they could cast doubt on Moderna.and.Pfizer, and what. we would want the Russian vaccine?
Um, that’s a Hell No
YY_Sima Qian
On 10/20 Mainland China reported 158 new domestic confirmed (13 previously asymptomatic), 638 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 new domestic suspect cases, & 0 new deaths.
Guangdong Province reported 27 new domestic confirmed & 62 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 32 domestic confirmed & 11 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 457 active domestic confirmed & 413 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Xingning District in Nanning) & 24 new domestic asymptomatic (15 at Yulin, 7 at Xingning District in Nanning, & 1 at each Liubei District in Liuzhou & Benxi in Wuzhou) cases, 8 persons under centralized quarantine & 17 came from out of province. 3 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed & 98 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
Hunan Province reported 7 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, 3 each at Huaihua & Shaoyang, & 1 at Yongzhou) & 32 new domestic asymptomatic (20 at Shaoyang, 6 at Yueyang, 4 at Huaihua, 2 at Changsha, & 1 at Loudi) cases. 3 domestic confirmed & 5 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 76 active domestic confirmed & 264 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 50 sites at Shaoyang, 5 at Huaihua, 2 at Hengyang, & 1 at Yueyang are currently at High Risk. 34 sites at Shaoyang, 12 at Huaihua, 9 at Hengyang, 2 at Changde, & 1 each at Yongzhou & Yueyang are currently at Medium Risk.
Hubei Province reported 40 new domestic asymptomatic (17 at Wuhan, 13 at Xiangyang, 9 at Jingmen, & 1 at Enshi Prefecture) cases. The cases at Jiangmen & Xiangyang are persons under centralized quarantine or movement control. 8 of the cases at Wuhan are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine, 1 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure, & 8 via community screening. The cases at Jingmen are persons under centralized quarantine or under movement control. The case at Enshi Prefecture was found via community screening. 1 confirmed & 61 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed (5 at Xiangyang & 1 at Huangshi) & 462 active domestic asymptomatic (177 at Wuhan, 60 at Xiangyang, 51 each at Jingmen & Xiantao, 47 at Jingzhou, 22 at Huanggang, 20 at Suizhou, 11 at Enshi Prefecture, 9 at Shiyan, 7 at Yichang, 2 at Tianmen & Xiaogan, & 1 each at Ezhou, Huangshi & Qianjiang) cases in the province.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 27 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic) & 64 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 27 domestic confirmed & 141 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 457 active domestic confirmed & 2,367 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
Gansu Province reported 16 new domestic asymptomatic (8 at Lanzhou, 4 at Huan County in Qingyang, & 3 at Liangzhou District in Wuwei) cases. 26 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 247 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 5 sites at Lanzhou are currently at High Risk, & 6 at Medium Risk.
Shanxi Province reported 8 new domestic confirmed & 9 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 15 domestic confirmed & 35 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 361 active domestic confirmed & 315 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Shaanxi Province reported 29 domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic, 16 at Hanzhong, 11 at Xi’an, & 2 at Weinan) & 41 new domestic asymptomatic (27 at Xi’an, 11 at Hanzhong, 2 at Weinan, & 1 at Xianyang) cases, 57 persons under centralized quarantine, 4 via screening of residents in Medium/High Risk areas, 1 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (at Xi’an), & 7 via community screening (all at Xi’an), & 1 at a fever clinic (at Xi’an). 4 domestic confirmed & 21 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 168 active domestic confirmed & 399 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 57 sites at Xi’an, 31 at Hanzhong, 16 at Weinan, 8 at Xianyang, & 1 at Shangluo are currently at High Risk. 71 sites at Xi’an, 23 at Weinan, 19 at Xianyang, 16 at Hanzhong, 6 at Yulin, & 3 at Shangluo are currently at Medium Risk.
Ningxia “Autonomous” Region reported 6 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Yinchuan) cases. 3 domestic confirmed & 31 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 273 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 51 sites at Yinchuan, 14 at Zhongwei, 4 at Wuzhong, & 3 at Ningdong are currently at High Risk. 91 sites at Yinchuan, 16 at Zhongwei, 9 at Wuzhong, & 1 each at Guyuan & Ningdong are currently at Medium Risk.
Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region reported 7 new domestic confirmed & 113 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 24 domestic confirmed & 210 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 306 active domestic confirmed & 3,318 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
Shandong Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Binzhou) & 17 new domestic asymptomatic (3 each at Dezhou, Jining, Linyi & Zaozhuang, & 1 each at Dongying, Liaocheng, Rizhao, Tai’an & Yantai) cases, 13 persons under centralized quarantine, & 2 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (1 each at Jining & Rizhao). 9 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 16 active domestic confirmed & 185 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 6 sites at Tai’an, 5 at Linyi, 4 at Jining, 3 at Rizhao, & 2 each at Dezhou & Zaozhuang are currently at High Risk. 6 sites at Linyi, 4 each at Heze & Tai’an, 3 at Jining, 2 each at Rizhao & Zaozhuang, & 1 at Zibo are currently at High Risk.
Hebei Province reported 11 new domestic asymptomatic (7 at Anxin County in Xiong’an & 2 each at Baoding & Zhuolu County in Zhangjiakou) cases. 8 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 1 domestic confirmed & 141 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 15 sites at Zhangjiakou, 4 at Baoding, 3 at Qinhuangdao, 2 at Xiong’an, & 1 at Hengshui are currently at High Risk. 27 at Zhangjiakou, 8 at Baoding, 6 at Qinhuangdao, 4 at Handan, 3 at Xiong’an, & 1 at Hengshui are currently at Medium Risk.
Henan Province reported 9 new domestic confirmed (all at Zhengzhou) & 12 new domestic asymptomatic (6 at Zhengzhou, 5 at Hebi, & 1 at Puyang) cases, 17 persons under centralized quarantine, & 4 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (all at Zhengzhou & 1 at Jiaozuo). 3 domestic confirmed & 19 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 116 active domestic confirmed & 330 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 17 sites at Zhengzhou & 6 at Pingdingshan are currently at High Risk. 40 sites at Zhengzhou are currently at Medium Risk.
Liaoning Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 12 domestic confirmed & 9 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 82 active domestic confirmed & 88 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 7 sites at Fushun, 6 at Huludao, & 3 at Jinzhou are currently at High Risk. 21 sites at Fushun, 9 at Huludao, 8 each at Anshan & Chaoyang, 2 at Jinzhou, & 1 at Shenyang are currently at Medium Risk.
At Jilin Province 5 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 120 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 1 site each at Changchun & Tonghua are currently at Medium Risk.
Heilongjiang Province reported 6 new domestic asymptomatic (4 at Hailun in Suihua & 2 at Bei’an in Heihe) cases. 1 domestic confirmed & 15 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 58 active domestic confirmed (55 at Harbin & 3 at Suihua) & 132 active domestic asymptomatic (65 at Suihua, 56 at Heihe, 9 at Harbin, & 1 each at Daqing & Qitaihe) cases in the province. 15 sites at Suihua & 5 at Heihe are currently at High Risk. 15 sites at Suihua & 14 at Heihe are currently at Medium Risk.
Beijing Municipality reported 15 new domestic confirmed (4 previously asymptomatic) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 12 of the new domestic positive cases are persons under home/centralized quarantine, & 1 at a fever clinic (at Chaoyang District). 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered. The municipality is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there. 9 sites are currently at High Risk, & 10 at Medium Risk.
Tianjin Municipality reported 6 new domestic confirmed & 53 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all persons under centralized quarantine or movement control. 11 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The municipality is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there. 31 sites are currently at High Risk, & 24 at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 13 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all persons under centralized quarantine. 3 domestic confirmed & 27 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 20 active domestic confirmed case in the city. The city is no longer publishing the number of active asymptomatic cases. 26 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Anhui Province reported 9 new domestic asymptomatic (8 at Hefei & 1 at Nanling County in Wuhu) cases, 8 traced close contacts under centralized quarantine & 1 from out of province (at Wuhu). 2 domestic confirmed & 27 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 4 active domestic confirmed & 179 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 6 sites at Hefei & 1 at Fuyang are currently at Medium Risk.
Jiangsu Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both at Nanjing) & 14 new domestic asymptomatic (6 at Nantong, 5 at Taizhou, 2 at Xuzhou, & 1 at Nanjing) cases, 11 persons under centralized quarantine, 3 via screening of persons in “closed loops”, 2 coming from out of province (1 each at Nanjing & Xuzhou). 6 domestic confirmed & 28 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 67 active domestic confirmed & 221 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 47 sites at Taizhou & 9 at Nantong are currently at High Risk. 45 sites at Nantong, 13 at Nanjing, 10 at Xuzhou, 9 at Taizhou, & 4 at Lianyungang are currently at Medium Risk.
Zhejiang Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed (all at Ningbo) & 19 new domestic asymptomatic (16 at Ningbo, 2 at Hangzhou, & 1 at Shaoxing) cases, all persons under home/centralized quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered.
Fujian Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic (at Longyan) case, a truck driver from elsewhere & tested positive upon arrival. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 23 active domestic confirmed & 9 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining.
Jiangxi Province reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic (both at Yushui District in Xinyu) cases, a traced close contacts under centralized quarantine, & 1 via community screening. 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 14 active domestic asymptomatic (7 at Xinyu, 4 at Ji’an, 2 at Yichun, & 1 at Ganzhou) cases in the province.
Sichuan Province reported 7 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 17 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 36 domestic confirmed & 13 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered.
Chongqing Municipality reported 4 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic, 1 each at Ba’nan, Jiangjin & Yongchuan Districts & Wushan County) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic (4 at Jiangjin District & 1 at Nan’an District) cases, 6 of the new domestic positive cases are persons under centralized quarantine or movement control & 1 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (at Wushan County). 10 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 140 active domestic confirmed & 219 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 7 sites are currently at High Risk, & 22 at Medium Risk.
Guizhou Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 5 domestic confirmed & 31 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 31 active domestic confirmed & 132 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Qinghai Province reported 4 new domestic asymptomatic (3 at Xining & 1 at Haidong) cases, 3 construction workers found via regular screening (all at Xining), & 1 coming from out of province & tested positive upon arrival. There currently are 5 active asymptomatic cases in the province. 5 sites at Xining & 1 at Haidong are currently at High Risk. 7 sites at Xining & 2 at Haidong are currently at Medium Risk.
Tibet “Autonomous” Region reported 4 new domestic asymptomatic (3 at Chengguan District in Lhasa & 1 at Nagqu) cases, all persons under centralized quarantine. 15 asymptomatic cases recovered. The region is no longer publishing the count of active domestic positive cases. All areas of the region are now at Low Risk.
Yunnan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (all at Dehong Prefecture) & 37 new domestic asymptomatic (34 at Dehong Prefecture & 3 at Menghai County in Sipsongpanna Prefecture) cases, 1 coming from out of province. 18 domestic confirmed & 57 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 127 active domestic confirmed & 527 active domestic asymptomatic cases there. 50 sites at Dehong Prefecture & 4 at Honghe Prefecture are currently at High Risk. 50 sites at Dehong Prefecture, 11 at Honghe Prefecture, 10 at Sipsongpanna Prefectures, & 1 at Yuxi are currently at Medium Risk.
Imported Cases
On 10/20, Mainland China reported 56 new imported confirmed cases (9 previously asymptomatic), 145 imported asymptomatic cases, & 0 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 279 confirmed cases recovered (55 imported), 840 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (99 imported) & 22 were reclassified as confirmed cases (9 imported), & 65,170 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 4,153 active confirmed cases in the country (624 imported), 13 in serious/critical condition (all domestic), 15,686 active asymptomatic cases (1,028 imported), 0 suspect cases. 469,991 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 10/20, 3,438.697M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 109K doses in the past 24 hrs.
As of 10/20, Hong Kong reported 5,393 new positive cases, 370 imported & 5,023 domestic, & 9 new deaths.
On 10/20, Taiwan added 37,265 new positive cases, 69 imported & 37,196 domestic (including 213 moderate & 73 serious). There were 78 new deaths (from 30+ to 90+ y.o., 74 w/ underlying conditions, 26 fully vaccinated & boosted).
mrmoshpotato
Damn. It’s like this guy actually wanted the job of President.
WereBear
@mrmoshpotato: From 14 to 18 is when I formed my political sensibilities, which have only grown stronger.
Image those years being spent under Trump. One would have to see Biden in action to know what government is even supposed to DO.
Matt McIrvin
@rikyrah: To some extent it was an own goal–they turned a lot of Russians into antivaxxers.
But in a larger sense it furthered their aim of just sowing chaos and division in the US, and killing Americans.
Matt McIrvin
The Boston-area wastewater numbers have a lot of noise in them that has made it hard to tell what the trend is, but what it looks like now is that the New England fall wave is a sort of gently declining plateau–not exploding but also not going away any time soon. Hospital admissions are up, which I’m pretty sure is the delayed effect of it. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it stay that way until around Thanksgiving and Christmas when we have big winter spikes up, much like the last couple of winters.
Most people around here are just not paying any attention to it–Massachusetts has had modest success getting the bivalent boosters out but it’s not as if they’re busting down the doors; the people getting them are mostly the minority who have been keeping up on boosters all along.
Matt McIrvin
@WereBear:
You’d also have to notice that it’s happening, which is difficult unless you’re a clued-in political junkie who reads past the soundbites and “news analysis” stuff.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Greece had 55,487 cases for the week reported on October 18, for a 7-day average of 7,927. Like reported elsewhere, it looks like a plateau, but in Greece’s case, it seems to be slowly rising, not falling.
My office put out a blast email recommending that everyone in the office mask up. I’m still doing work-from-home, but I’m putting on my mask whenever I go out, even though I’m starting to encounter people who upbraid me for wearing a mask when “you don’t need to any more”.
Eunicecycle
@YY_Sima Qian: Thanks for that explanation. There was obviously some history there.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: I honestly do not understand the people who find it offensive that other people still wear masks…what possible business is it of anyone if you wear a mask???
New Deal democrat
The CDC has now updated their variant proportion information. BA.5 declined another 5% to 62%. BA.4 is virtually gone. BA.2.75 and 2.75.2 are virtually unchanged at 3%, and BA.4.6 is virtually unchanged at 11%. BF.7 is up 3% to 7%, BQ.1.1 is up 1.5% to 7%, and this week’s winner is BQ.1, up almost 5% to 9%.
Since cases have continued to decline in the past several weeks, most likely only BQ.1 and BF.7 actually only increased in terms of case count. All of the alphabet soup of new subvariants (all progeny of BA.2) probably only increased by about 2,000 to 13,000 of new cases on average daily.
So far, this is looking more like a BA.2.12.1 increase than a Delta or Omicron wave.
Chris T.
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: I strongly suspect a lot of sexism here.
With some humans (depending on local hairstyles and such) and body shapes it can be hard to tell men from women without a peek at a jawline. Masks hide the jawline and suddenly certain folks are scared they might be attracted to the wrong sex, or something.
On a totally different note, with respect to the last tweet at the top, I wonder how these “99.7% survival rate” people would react to: “OK, then, Immagonna shoot you with my hand-loaded shotgun shell, which I believe has a 99.7% survival rate. Want it in the face, or the butt?”
Fair Economist
Summary of weekly flu report:
Flu positivity up from 3.3% to 4.4%. Hospitalizations up from 1,322 to 1,674. Influenza A continues to dominate, at 97.3% of cases, with 78% of that being H3N2 and 22% being H1N1. This is a more normal situation after last season’s freakish dominance by H3N2.
Respiratory illness percentage of total mortality up from 8.7% to 8.8%, although the excess continues to be mostly COVID. Respiratory illness mortality has never returned to normal since the arrival of COVID.
Symptom tracking is showing strong localization, with high rates in TX, GA, TN, SC, DC, and NYC, and mostly low rates elsewhere. NYC has very high COVID positivity, so COVID is probably driving that; not sure about the other locations because COVID reporting is getting pretty bad.
J R in WV
@Bruce K in ATH-GR:
I mostly wear a mask while out and about. I’ve seen people holding a mask in one hand while in a waiting room with a big fat “Masks Required for Entry!” as if having a mask in their grubby fist makes it OK to come on in.
And when I asked them to put it on, “NO! I won’t, it makes my glasses fog up!” How stupid can YOU get? Plenty stupid, obviously.