A #Covid ‘variant soup’ is making winter surges hard to predict. Descendants of #Omicron are proliferating worldwide — and the same mutations are coming up again and again https://t.co/wlImhsOsMr
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) October 31, 2022
Many factors have contributed to the huge decline in life expectancy — for both genders and all races — in the USA, 2020-21. But #COVID19 clearly leads the way. pic.twitter.com/KbWF1T2hm8
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 27, 2022
Wasting pixels here, so you don’t have to waste your time. TL;DR — ProPublica and Vanity Fair, two publications that should both know better, got stampeded into publishing the GOP’s latest But what if it really *was* a lab leak? just-asking-questions campaign. Links to long-form critiques, in case you need them (if only to rebut the easily alarmed on your social-media networks):
The recent Senate report on COVID origins is overtly political & contains many factual errors.
Some of the most glaring are extremely basic but may not seem so to a non-virologist. As I am a virologist, I can help. Let’s talk about biosafety at WIV.https://t.co/GlHrg4zzhe
— Dr. Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen) October 29, 2022
From a (long, meaty) thread:
Let’s hope that the bipartisan investigation which Sen. @PattyMurray said is ongoing consults experts who actually understand how operational biosafety works rather than a bunch of political science majors & Chinese secret translators.
— Dr. Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen) October 29, 2022
Hi, you can read it here: https://t.co/iQqk1Etjog Share this if you think it's interesting. 🤖
— Thread Reader App (@threadreaderapp) October 30, 2022
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Officials in Chinese cities and provinces across the country are pulling no punches in stamping out sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks as winter nears, quickly closing venues and enforcing longer temporary lockdowns on millions of people. https://t.co/yyjnW0oqeq
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) October 31, 2022
Holy shit that's a hell of a spike, I thought they accidentally added an extra zero.
Still all in surgical masks though so it will be the usual needlessly slow and painful grind to get those numbers back down… https://t.co/HYZbdglbI6
— Naomi Wu 机械妖姬 (@RealSexyCyborg) October 31, 2022
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India reports 1,046 fresh #Covid19 cases, 1,287 recoveries, and 53 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Read all #coronavirus news and updates: https://t.co/wRVUWKHLZ4 pic.twitter.com/2JaaHpEu14
— BQ Prime (@bqprime) November 1, 2022
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… For the time being, Russia plans no restrictive measures, RIA Novosti reports.
“Last week, we identified two new genovariants in Russia. They are BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 (cerberus – ed.),” Anna Popova, head of Rospotrebnadzor, RIA Novosti said.
… Popova did not rule out an increase in the incidence of COVID-19 by the end of autumn, however, according to her, “no restrictive measures are planned to be introduced as of yet.”…
In Russia, 9,348 new cases of coronavirus infection have been registered over the past 24 hours, operational headquarters for combating the coronavirus infection said. This is the lowest daily increase in coronavirus incidence since July 27, when 9,027 cases were detected. As many as 1,466 people were hospitalized, (+3.8 percent than on October 21, when 1,413 people were hospitalized). About 15,040 people recovered, 90 died.
I continue to be encouraged by Germany and the UK’s latest data for COVID19. This is today’s update for Germany’s cases and the latest update for UK hospitalization (October 24). I really do see much smaller waves and it is hopeful. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t mask for now. pic.twitter.com/EePFRcrHW4
— Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD 🏴☠️ (@TheAngryEpi) October 31, 2022
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What a remarkable #LongCovid info resource by 20 long-haulers & experts, @fi_lowenstein @LisaAMcCorkell @theheatherhogan @priyakamal @chiluvs1 @dunkindona @karlitaliliana @PutrinoLab @WildNycgirl & many others, w/ @VirusesImmunity afterword
Thank you so much for this work! pic.twitter.com/5InoLvjzyS— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) October 30, 2022
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There are two major reasons this post is bad:
1) makes the historic success of disabled folks getting good jobs seem like a bad thing
2) erases the fact that our disability system isn’t really equipped to deal with Long COVID symptoms and few people are getting disability for it— Armand Domalewski (@ArmandDoma) November 1, 2022
Insert ‘let them fight’ .gif here…
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Reader Interactions
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NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
117 new cases on 10/28/22.
118 new cases on 10/29/22.
69 new cases on 10/30/22.
67 new cases on 10/31/22.
Deaths now at 2054, up 17 from last week. No bueno.
Baud
Wow. That’s depressing. More so than Musk buying Twitter.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 2,913 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, for a cumulative reported total of 4,902,964 cases. It also reported nine deaths, for an adjusted cumulative total of 36,475 deaths – 0.74% of the cumulative reported total, 0.75% of resolved cases.
21,281 Covid-19 tests were conducted yesterday, with a positivity rate of 8.9%.
There were 31,436 active cases yesterday, 71 more than the day before. 1,407 were in hospital. 56 confirmed cases were in ICU; of these patients, 34 confirmed cases were on ventilators. Meanwhile, 2,833 more patients recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,835,053 patients recovered – 98.6% of the cumulative reported total.
2,906 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. Seven new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 1,206 doses of vaccine on 31st October: 91 first doses, 100 second doses, 276 first booster doses, and 739 second booster doses. The cumulative total is 72,399,654 doses administered: 28,108,964 first doses, 27,518,966 second doses, 16,251,130 first booster doses, and 520,594 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 entire trapping folks inside a casino was sort of crazy. My thing is…why were they allowed into the casino, if not to trap them?🤔
New Deal democrat
Biobot updated yesterday, and it was a real surprise. COVID levels are the lowest nationwide in over 6 months, including in every region except the Midwest. In particular, levels in the Northeast have sharply declined. Nationwide the levels are consistent with about 175,000 cases daily.
Confirmed cases nationwide were at 36,200 yesterday, only 900 above their lowest levels of the past 7 months. At 24,200, hospitalizations are 1,300 above their lowest levels since late May. Deaths, at 340, are equivalent to their lowest range since July 2021.
Regional data shows confirmed cases down slightly in the past 4 weeks in all regions except the Northeast, where they are flat. Cases are climbing in NM, NC, KY, IL, NJ, and PR. Cases are not declining significantly in any State.
Last Friday, the CDC variant update showed BA.5 down slightly below 50% of all cases, with the alphabet soup of new variants making up the rest. In real numbers, this means that BA.5 has declined precipitously from about 85,000 two months ago to 18,000 now. Meanwhile in the past several weeks cases of the alphabet soup variants have increased from about 10,000 to 18,000.
In Europe the most recent alphabet soup wave lasted 4-5 weeks from trough to peak, before cases started to decline again. A reasonable guess is that the US alphabet soup wave will peak after the holiday get-together’s, and will be of similar amplitude to the BA.2.12.1 and BA.5 waves.
Anyway
@Baud:
Ugh! The lab-leak theory that will never die… reminds me of the hunt for WMDs in Iraq. Dubya’s administration had made up its mind and no evidence (or lack of) could convince them otherwise.
Matt McIrvin
The wastewater numbers have definitely abruptly dropped in my area of northeastern MA even though the new scariants are supposed to be gaining rapidly in the variant breakdown. It’s hard not to wonder if there’s some causal connection–if these things burn through the most susceptible subpopulation relatively quickly and then subside. Or maybe it’s just that BA.5 is subsiding and leaving more of the others.
There seems to be something of a disconnect between wastewater numbers and case counts, maybe because of lax testing–I’ve noticed that hospital admissions track the wastewater numbers better, though with a lag as one might expect.
Baud
I trust only the shit.
JML
Getting my next booster next week. and a flu shot. gearing up for Turkey Day!
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Nominated.
jonas
@Anyway: The thing is, virologists have always acknowledged that it’s theoretically possible that somehow the original Covid virus came from that lab, probably from a sample collection, but that it’s far more likely, with far fewer dots to connect, that there was just an animal vector in that nearby wet market. What Republicans are trying to allege is that Covid was some biological weapon being engineered in the Wuhan lab in a program funded by Fauci and the NHS/CDC.
It’s completely insane. Yet here we are with one of our two major political parties running around in tinfoil hats acting like an 8 year-old who just checked out his first book on UFOs and is now convinced everything that scares him is caused by aliens.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
Indeed. Even if they can’t just say it flat out, by this point they know damn well that the Republicans are lying about practically everything, and should treat anything they say as unverified rumor in the absence of independent authentication, rather than as news.
@Baud:
“But it’s really great shit, Mrs. Presky!”
Amir Khalid
@rikyrah:
I guess this is how an authoritarian government does pandemic control. Other countries moved on from this extremely disruptive approach once they had enough of their population vaccinated and new infections were at a manageable level, but the renowned epidemiologist Xi Jinping reckons his way is better.
lowtechcyclist
The Republicans have been accusing China since the very beginning of having created Covid as a weapon to attack us with.
And also since the very beginning, they’ve demanded that we do nothing to defend ourselves against this hostile attack.
Bunch of surrender monkeys, they are.
Matt McIrvin
@jonas: This is classic “motte and bailey” stuff: the tactic is that you have a lurid, nutty position that you can’t defend (“Anthony Fauci colluded with the Chinese to develop COVID as a bioweapon”), and a more defensible position that sounds kind of similar but is more qualified and mundane (“it’s not logically impossible that COVID escaped from some kind of laboratory”; “questions can be raised about somebody somewhere engaged in research that we think is dangerous”), and you freely switch between the two of them depending on how legit an argument the venue requires, and rely on the goodwill of people being willing to bend over backwards to accommodate you. If they can’t exclude the mundane argument that lends credibility to the nutty one.
Ohio Mom
@lowtechcyclist: And it’s not as if Covid hasn’t been horribly disruptive to Chinese society. That’s a dumb way to attack your rivals, by killing your own people and shutting/locking down all your economic activity.
Another Scott
@Baud: Yes, something went very wrong with this story. Very disappointing. I hope and expect that they fix what allowed it to be published in this state.
Cheers,
Scott.
YY_Sima Qian
On 10/31 Mainland China reported 498 new domestic confirmed (93 previously asymptomatic), 2,221 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 new domestic suspect cases, & 0 new deaths.
Guangdong Province reported 242 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic, 190 at Guangzhou, 23 at Shenzhen, 16 at Meizhou, 8 at Shantou, 3 at Jiangmen, & 1 each at Foshan & Qingyuan) & 458 new domestic asymptomatic (289 at Guangzhou, 154 at Meizhou, 6 at Shenzhen, 4 at Foshan, 2 each at Jiangmen & Jieyang, & 1 at Shantou) cases. 1 of the new domestic positive cases was found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (at Shenzhen), 2 via community screening (1 each at Guangzhou & Jieyang), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 26 domestic confirmed & 43 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 928 active domestic confirmed & 1,821 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 55 sites at Guangzhou, 18 at Shenzhen, 4 each at Jiangmen & Yangjiang, 3 at Meizhou, 2 at Huizhou, & 1 at Jieyang are currently at High Risk. 68 sites at Guangzhou, 24 at Shenzhen, 14 at Jiangmen, 6 at Jieyang, 4 at Meizhou, 2 at Huizhou, & 1 at Foshan are currently at Medium Risk.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 7 new domestic asymptomatic (7 at Chongzuo & 1 at Yulin) cases, none from the community. 3 domestic confirmed & 16 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 88 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
Hunan Province reported 15 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, 10 at Shaoyang & 5 at Huaihua) & 47 new domestic asymptomatic (42 at Shaoyang & 5 at Huaihua) cases. 1 was found via community screening (at Shaoyang), none from the community. 6 domestic confirmed & 19 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 175 active domestic confirmed & 786 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 193 sites at Shaoyang & 55 at Huaihua are currently at High Risk. 186 sites at Shaoyang, 48 at Huaihua, & 2 at Changsha are currently at Medium Risk.
Hubei Province reported 76 new domestic asymptomatic (56 at Wuhan, 6 at Huanggang, 5 each at Xiangyang & Yichang, & 1 each at Ezhou, Jingzhou, Jingmen & Tianmen) cases. 2 were found via screening of persons deemed ar risk of exposure (both at Wuhan) & 7 via community screening (all at Wuhan), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 32 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 670 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 1 site at Wuhan is currently at High Risk, & 3 at Medium Risk.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 13 new domestic confirmed (7 at Hohhot, 5 at Ordos, & 1 at Chifeng) & 152 new domestic asymptomatic (144 at Hohhot, 4 at Ordos, & 2 each at Bayan Nur & Chifeng) cases. 21 domestic confirmed & 69 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 466 active domestic confirmed & 2,432 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region. 265 sites at Hohhot, 9 at Ordos, 5 at Ulanqab, 4 at Baotou, & 1 at Bayan Nur are currently at High Risk. 207 sites at Hohhot, 35 at Ordos, 18 at Bayan Nur, 17 at Baotou, 11 at Chifeng, 6 at Ulanqab, 3 at Wuhai, & 1 at Alxa League are currently at Medium Risk.
Gansu Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (all previously asymptomatic) & 31 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Lanzhou) cases, none from the community. 1 domestic confirmed & 4 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 11 active domestic confirmed & 237 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 8 sites at Lanzhou & 1 at Wuwei are currently at High Risk. 32 at Lanzhou & 2 at Wuwei are currently at Medium Risk.
Shanxi Province reported 17 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, 7 at Datong, 4 at Xinzhou, 2 each at Lüliang & Shuozhou, & 1 each at Linfen & Yangquan) & 123 new domestic asymptomatic (44 at Datong, 43 at Xinzhou, 15 at Jinzhong, 13 at Shuozhou, 5 at Lüliang, & 1 each at Changzhi, Taiyuan & Yuncheng) cases. 14 domestic confirmed & 27 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 543 active domestic confirmed & 786 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 80 sites at Datong, 34 at Shuozhou, 11 at Yuncheng, 7 at Taiyuan, & 1 at Linfen are currently at High Risk. 24 sites at Yuncheng, 18 at Datong, 4 at Shuozhou, 3 each at Linfen, Lüliang & Taiyuan, & 1 at Jinzhong are currently at Medium Risk.
Shaanxi Province reported 11 domestic confirmed (4 previously asymptomatic, 6 at Xi’an & 1 each at Ankang, Hanzhong, Weinan, Xianyang & Yulin) & 44 new domestic asymptomatic (24 at Xi’an, 13 at Baoji, 3 at Weinan, 2 at Hanzhong, & 1 each at Shangluo & Xianyang) cases. 6 of the new domestic positive cases were found via community screening (4 at Xi’an & 2 at Weinan), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 13 domestic confirmed & 28 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 215 active domestic confirmed & 614 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 43 sites at Xi’an, 21 at Hanzhong, 14 at Yulin, 10 at Baoji, 9 each at Weinan & Xianyang, & 1 at Shangluo are currently at High Risk. 68 sites at Xi’an, 26 at Hanzhong, 8 at Xianyang, 7 each at Baoji & Yulin, 6 at Weinan, & 1 at Shangluo are currently at Medium Risk.
Ningxia “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both at Wuzhong) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic (2 at Yinchuan & 1 at Guyuan) cases. 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 285 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 14 sites at Wuzhong, 4 at Yinchuan, 2 at Ningdong, & 1 at Guyuan are currently at High Risk. 13 sites at Wuzhong, 7 at Yinchuan, 3 at Ningdong, 2 at Guyuan, & 1 each at Shizuishan & Zhongwei are currently at Medium Risk.
Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region reported 23 new domestic confirmed & 380 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 9 domestic confirmed & 209 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The region is not publishing the counts of active domestic positive cases. 877 sites at Ürümqi, 73 at Bayingol Prefecture, 61 at Tacheng, 42 at Turfan, & 33 at Yili Prefecture are currently at High Risk. 150 sites at Ürümqi, 50 at Tacheng, 37 at Turfan, 31 at Yili Prefecture, & 6 at Bayingol Prefecture are currently at Medium Risk.
Shandong Province reported 7 new domestic confirmed (4 at Qingdao & 3 at Zaozhuang) & 96 new domestic asymptomatic (25 at Zaozhuang, 14 each at Liaocheng & Zibo, 11 at Linyi, 7 each at Dezhou & Jining, 5 at Qingdao, 3 each at Dongying & Tai’an, 2 each at Binzhou, Jinan & Yantai, & 1 at Heze) cases. 6 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (3 at Binzhou, Jinan & Tai’an), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 2 domestic confirmed & 29 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 25 active domestic confirmed & 739 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 74 sites at Zaozhuang, 14 at Linyi, 10 at Qingdao, 9 each at Jining, Rizhao & Zibo, 4 each at Dezhou & Liaocheng, 3 at Dongying, & 1 at Weihai are currently at High Risk. 16 sites at Linyi, 14 each at Jining & Zibo, 12 at Zaozhuang, 10 at Rizhao, 5 at Qingdao, 4 each at Jinan & Weihai, 3 each at Dongying & Liaocheng, & 1 at Dezhou are currently at High Risk.
Hebei Province reported 60 new domestic asymptomatic (29 at Langfang, 18 at Cangzhou, 4 at Tangshan, 3 at Handan, 2 each at Shijiazhuang & Xingtai, & 1 each at Baoding & Qinhuangdao) cases. 5 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 2 domestic confirmed & 285 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 25 sites at Zhangjiakou, 16 at Baoding, 10 at Chengde, 8 at Shijiazhuang, 6 at Handan, 5 at Qinhuangdao, 4 at Xingtai, 3 at Cangzhou, 2 each at Langfang & Xiong’an, & 1 at Tangshan are currently at High Risk. 20 at Zhangjiakou, 18 at Baoding, 3 each at Chengde, Handan, Qinhuangdao & Xiong’an, 2 at Cangzhou, & 1 each Shijiazhuang & Tangshan at are currently at Medium Risk.
Henan Province reported 13 new domestic confirmed (all at Zhengzhou) & 91 new domestic asymptomatic (82 at Zhengzhou, 8 at Nanyang, & 1 at Shangqiu) cases. 25 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (all at Zhengzhou), the rest are person under quarantine. 2 domestic confirmed & 16 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 133 active domestic confirmed & 461 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 21 sites at Zhengzhou & 6 at Pingdingshan are currently at High Risk. 83 sites at Zhengzhou are currently at Medium Risk.
Liaoning Province reported 17 new domestic asymptomatic (14 at Jinzhou & 1 each at Dalian, Dandong & Yingkou) cases, 1 was found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (at Yingkou), 3 via community screening (2 at Jinzhou & 1 at Dandong), the rest are persons under quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed & 4 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 30 active domestic confirmed & 68 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 17 sites at Jinzhou, 2 at Chaoyang, & 1 at Dandong are currently at High Risk. 17 sites at Jinzhou, 3 each at Dandong & Yingkou, & 2 at Chaoyang are currently at Medium Risk.
At Jilin Province 11 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the counts of active domestic positive cases. 2 sites at Changchun are currently at Medium Risk.
Heilongjiang Province reported 5 new domestic confirmed (3 at Suihua & 1 each at Harbin & Mudanjiang) & 184 new domestic asymptomatic (167 at Suihua, 8 each at Heihe & Mudanjiang, & 1 at Harbin) cases. 25 were found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (10 at Suihua, 3 at Heihe, & 1 each at Harbin & Mudanjiang), 2 via community screening (both at Heihe), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 5 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 34 active domestic confirmed & 626 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 216 sites at Suihua, 18 Heihe, 8 at Mudanjiang, & 6 at Harbin are currently at High Risk. 153 sites at Suihua, 24 at Heihe, 9 at Harbin, & 4 at Mudanjiang at are currently at Medium Risk.
Beijing Municipality reported 21 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 was found via community screening, the rest are persons under quarantine. 6 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The municipality is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there. 12 sites are currently at High Risk, & 10 at Medium Risk.
Tianjin Municipality reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 24 new domestic asymptomatic cases, none form the community. 1 domestic confirmed & 11 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The municipality is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there. 51 sites are currently at High Risk, & 41 at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 1 was found via the community screening, the rest are persons under quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed & 8 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 8 active domestic confirmed case in the city. The city is no longer publishing the number of active asymptomatic cases. 16 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Anhui Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Hefei) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Hefei) cases, none from the community. 1 domestic confirmed & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 17 active domestic confirmed & 79 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 24 sites at Hefei & 1 at Fuyang are currently at Medium Risk.
Jiangsu Province reported 16 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic, all at Nanjing) & 10 new domestic asymptomatic (5 at Nanjing, 2 each at Suzhou & Xuzhou, & 1 at Huai’an) cases, 1 came from out of province & found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (at Nantong), none form the community. 6 domestic confirmed & 17 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 131 active domestic confirmed & 171 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 3 sites at Nanjing & 1 at Nantong are currently at High Risk. 27 sites at Nanjing, 6 at Suqian, 4 each at Nantong & Yangzhou, 3 each at Suzhou & Xuzhou, & 1 at Lianyungang are currently at Medium Risk.
Zhejiang Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 5 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the counts of active domestic positive cases.
Fujian Province reported 82 new domestic confirmed (68 previously asymptomatic, all at Fuzhou) & 123 new domestic asymptomatic (115 at Fuzhou, 7 at Nanping, & 1 at Pingtan) cases. 1 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 211 active domestic confirmed & 834 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 92 sites at Fuzhou are currently at High Risk. 128 sites at Fuzhou & 1 at Pingtan are currently at Medium Risk.
Jiangxi Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic (at Nanchang) case, coming from out of province. 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 14 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Sichuan Province reported 9 new domestic confirmed (6 previously asymptomatic, 3 each at Chengdu & Guangyuan, 1 each at Deyang & Liangshan, & a person transferred from out of province to unspecified location) & 45 new domestic asymptomatic (27 at Mianyang, 9 at Nanchong, 5 at Guangyuan, & 4 persons transferred from out of province to unspecified location) cases. 1 of the new domestic positive cases was found via community screening (at Mianyang), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 19 domestic confirmed & 38 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the counts of active domestic positive cases. 22 sites at Guangyuan, 7 at Nanchong, & 1 each at Chengdu & Yibin are currently at High Risk. 11 sites each at Guangyuan & Nanchong, 9 at Mianyang, & 1 at Chengdu are currently at Medium Risk.
Chongqing Municipality reported 7 new domestic confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic, all at Yongchuan District) & 6 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Yongchuan District) cases, none from the community. 4 domestic confirmed & 10 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 115 active domestic confirmed & 164 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 10 sites are currently at High Risk, & 12 at Medium Risk.
Guizhou Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (1 each at Guiyang & Qiannan Prefecture) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic (at Guiyang) cases, none from the community. 3 domestic confirmed & 9 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 6 active domestic confirmed & 10 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Qinghai Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both at Xining) & 126 new domestic asymptomatic (43 at Xining, 47 at Haibei Prefecture, 25 at Yulshul Prefecture, 9 at Haidong, & 2 at Hainan Prefecture) cases. 41 were found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (all at Haibei District), 7 via community screening (all at Xining), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown, or came from elsewhere & tested positive upon arrival. 6 domestic asymptomatic cases. recovered. There currently are 25 active domestic confirmed & 764 active asymptomatic cases in the province. 126 sites at Xining, 12 each at Haidong & Haibei Prefecture, & 2 at Yulshul Prefecture are currently at High Risk. 107 sites at Xining, 31 at Haidong, 6 at Yulshul Prefecture, & 3 at Haibei Prefecture are currently at Medium Risk.
Tibet “Autonomous” Region reported 10 new domestic asymptomatic (7 at Lhasa & 3 at Ngari Prefecture) cases, none from the community. 7 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The region is no longer publishing the count of active domestic positive cases.
Yunnan Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (2 at Dehong Prefecture & 1 at Lincang) & 98 new domestic asymptomatic (96 at Dehong Prefecture & 1 each at Lincang & Pu’er) cases. 2 were found via community screening (1 each at Lincang & Pu’er), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 3 domestic confirmed & 16 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the counts of active domestic positive cases. 28 sites at Dehong Prefecture & 1 at Honghe Prefecture are currently at High Risk. 46 sites at Dehong Prefecture & 4 at Honghe Prefecture are currently at Medium Risk.
Imported Cases
On 10/31, Mainland China reported 49 new imported confirmed cases (15 previously asymptomatic), 110 imported asymptomatic cases, & 0 imported suspect cases:
Fujian Province – 13 confirmed (5 previously asymptomatic) & 5 asymptomatic cases
Beijing Municipality – 12 confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic) & 9 asymptomatic cases
Guangdong Province – 7 confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 24 asymptomatic cases
Sichuan Province – 4 confirmed (3 previously asymptomatic) & 8 asymptomatic cases
Shanghai Municipality – 3 confirmed & 17 asymptomatic cases
Chongqing Municipality – 3 confirmed cases
Jiangsu Province – 2 confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 5 asymptomatic cases
Liaoning Province – 2 confirmed (both previously asymptomatic) & 5 asymptomatic cases
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region – 2 confirmed cases
Yunnan Province – 1 confirmed & 5 asymptomatic cases
Zhejiang Province – 11 asymptomatic cases
Tianjin Municipality – 10 asymptomatic cases
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region – 6 asymptomatic cases
Heilongjiang Province – 2 asymptomatic cases
Hubei Province – 1 asymptomatic case
Shandong Province – 1 asymptomatic case
Overall in Mainland China, 187 confirmed cases recovered (39 imported), 730 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (100 imported) & 108 were reclassified as confirmed cases (15 imported), & 55,421 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 4,638 active confirmed cases in the country (537 imported), 17 in serious/critical condition (1 imported), 20,170 active asymptomatic cases (1,134 imported), 0 suspect cases. 597,693 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine. There have been 5,226 total COVID-19 deaths to date.
As of 10/31, 3,439.802M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 104K doses in the past 24 hrs.
As of 10/31, Hong Kong reported 4,418 new positive cases, 437 imported & 3,981 domestic, & 13 new deaths. There have been 10,410 total COVID-19 deaths to date.
On 10/31, Taiwan added 34,274 new positive cases, 32 imported & 34,242 domestic (including 71 moderate or serious). There were 46 new deaths (from 30+ to 90+ y.o., all w/ underlying conditions, 15 fully vaccinated & boosted). There have been 12,859 total COVID-19 deaths to date.
YY_Sima Qian
I can vouch that the translation job of the ProPublica story (I have zero expectations of VF) is amateurishly, laughably, & painfully bad. The Toy Reid character that the piece puffs up is a transparent charlatan, making claims that he alone can decipher CCP Party speak (something he claims native Chinese speakers cannot) in the official documents (which are published on public websites for all to see), possesses the unique skill of being able to use a VPN & set the location to China to access these websites. I have to conclude that either ProPublica’s journalistic standards are now at the level of Fox News, or they are in on the GOP propaganda effort, leading up to the Mid-Terms.
In the meantime, Marco Rubio is targeting the China Project (used to be known as SupChina) as agents of the CCP Regime, in a Semafor article, based on nothing more than the accusations of a former employee that worked there for 3 months. The accusation is risible & laughable on its face, as the the body of work by the team there for the past decade plus shows nothing of the sort. What they have done is brought in the best subject matter experts on specifics of Chinese politics, foreign policy, military, economy, society, arts, history, etc., w/ the deepest experience & established expertise, to share their insights in formats friendly to the casual consumer (& yet still useful to other China experts). Their guests (which these days only vary in their skepticism & criticism of the CCP regime by degrees, but also by definition share a fascination of China) for podcasts & columns are consistently focused on facts, honest & fair analysis, & make earnest attempts to minimize any hypocrisy & double standards. I think it is actually the best resource for nuanced & intellectually rigorous analysis of any & all aspects of China. Highly recommended it you want to know China more, beyond the problematic coverage of the MSMs. They have just lifted the paywall for all of their archives, so this a rare opportunity to see for yourself.
There is a deeply worrisome trend of early stage “Red Scare” McCarthyism in the US (& the UK, & to a lesser extent the rest of the West). Even in the “China Watching” community (which now contain many generalists w/o deep experience or expertise on China), accusations of one being an agent of the CCP’s United Front Works Department, or a CCP regime apologist, are being carelessly flung. Disagreements in analyses & policy recommendations become questions of loyalty. There is a rapid race to the bottom on China related discourse, among politicians (both Ds & Rs), in the media, among think tankers, & now academics are being dragged in. There will also be a race to the bottom on China related policy, as Ds & Rs compete to out hawk each other. (You watch if the Rs take Congress in the Mid-Terms, or the WH in 2024). That race to the bottom is one the Ds will not win.
Even as some of the super-rich Chinese seek to emigrate, w/ Xi assuming his 3rd term in office w/ no end in sight, & some of the upper middle class Chinese (especially in Shanghai) are also seeking to emigrate to escape the “Dynamic Zero COVID” restrictions, > 1,400 scientists, engineers, researchers & academics of Chinese descent have switched affiliations from US institutions to Mainland Chinese ones in 2021 alone, driven out by the chilling atmosphere caused by the FBI’s China Initiative.
Scout211
The joint ProPublica/Vanity Fair report has gotten pushback. Apparently, ProPublica was seeking translators over the weekend to help them verify correct translations. Link
Two rabbits
I’ve always been interested in Biobot, but today was the first time to visit the site. Somewhat disappointing for my state, Michigan, population about 10 million. The only data point they have is for Leelanau county, population 22,000.
It is a rural county, I would expect 75% of population is using a septic system. Wiki says there are only three villages (nothing larger), ranging from 375 to 650 population. Seems like the “municipal “ system they test is about 300 households?
Sadly, the numbers have jumped from ~1000 to ~4500 in the last six weeks. Which sort of lines up with my anecdotal info from downstate.
To bad Biobot isn’t monitoring Detroit, G Rapids or Lansing.
YY_Sima Qian
Some of you may have heard of a mass exodus of workers at Foxconn’s facility in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, where ~ 85% of iPhones are assembled, in the past few days due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Based on the data dumps from the Henan Provincial Health Commission, the outbreak is probably in the dozens of cases a day. It is possible that Foxconn could be hiding cases, helped by local authorities. The authorities yesterday made a strange announcement that there have been no serious cases at Foxconn to date, begging the question of how many moderate/mild/asymptomatic cases there actually are.
Foxconn’s complex at Zhengzhou has hundreds of thousands of employees, & is the largest employer in Zhengzhou, probably Henan, & so has a lot of local clout. What caused the exodus is actually not fear of infection, but the fact that Foxconn has put workers on rotation of 2 days at work & 2 days off. During the days at work, the workers could eat in the factory canteens, though there have been widespread complaint about the quality & freshness of food (likely due to logistical challenges associated w/ COVID restrictions). However, during the days off, workers stay at their dormitory complexes. The canteens & eateries at the dorms have been contracted out, & the contractors are not operating due to COVID restrictions. This leaves the workers hungry during their days off, & felt abandoned. Given the crowded assembly lines, 1 positive case & the whole section becomes close contacts. To minimize disruption to production, Foxconn has asked such close contacts to continue working, rather than going to quarantine. Again, the workers feel abandoned & exploited.
Tens of thousands of workers have jumped fences to walk the dozens, even hundreds of kms home. Alone the way, villages have set up refreshment stations for these workers. After the massive public outcry, predictably, local governments & Foxconn are finally responding. Cities & counties where many workers are returning to are arranging bus transportation for anyone who wants to leave, though they have to quarantine upon arrival. Foxconn has reopened the canteens in the dormitories. Nevertheless, this is going to be as black a mark against Foxconn in China as the spade of suicides at their Shenzhen facility in 2006 – 2007, which led to the installation of the infamous suicide nets.
YY_Sima Qian
@Scout211: The pushback from virologists & Chinese-fluent China analysts have been overwhelming & nearly universal.
lowtechcyclist
@Ohio Mom: But it’s not like the average MAGAt has the least clue of how the pandemic’s affecting China, and they’d call it ‘fake news’ if they knew about it and it clashed with what they want to believe.
bluefoot
@Matt McIrvin:
I’ve been wondering about testing methodologies re wastewater testing – if the new variants are harder to detect. That is, are current RT-PCR primers (or probes) for the new variants not as good so need more cycles to detect the same amount? Or differences in RNA robustness? I keep meaning to dig into this to understand it better.