U.S. COVID update:
– New cases: 97,966
– Average: 54,815 (+2,849)
– States reporting: 43/50
– In hospital: 15,363 (+523)
– In ICU: 1,838 (-3)
– New deaths: 684
– Average: 387 (+4)More data: https://t.co/YDZSbYO7l7 pic.twitter.com/mrg3YyDBQj
— BNO|Medriva Newsroom (@medriva) April 28, 2022
Covid safety at journalists’ gala event – the germicidal UV technology we proposed can be installed in a few hours and, we discov yesterday, could be suspended from the overhead theater lighting in the ballroom. Hope it is routine by next year. https://t.co/lL5319bZ2A
— Don Milton (@Don_Milton) April 27, 2022
*One* bit of good news, IMO, concerning #NerdProm…
… Organizers say they are committed to holding an event that significantly reduces the risk of coronavirus infections, pointing to vaccine and testing requirements that were strengthened after a dinner hosted by Washington’s Gridiron Club this month was linked to at least 85 infections that sickened Cabinet members, reporters and other guests.
Yet some White House officials and experts worry that those measures are insufficient and that this weekend’s events may become another high-profile superspreader event, said three administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue. Behind the scenes, one prominent coronavirus expert is scrapping with party organizers hesitant to install devices that disinfect the air using ultraviolet light because of concerns the devices might interfere with the program.
Don Milton, a University of Maryland environmental scientist who has advised the White House and others on airborne transmission, said his offer to have a company install the devices at no charge was rebuffed by both the correspondents’ association and the Washington Hilton, which is hosting the event. “I enlisted a team of scientists and germicidal UV lighting companies to provide, as a demonstration project at no cost, a temporary installation to help protect the White House correspondents’ dinner,” Milton said. “Unfortunately, it has not worked out.”
In an interview, Steve Portnoy, a CBS News reporter who serves as the WHCA’s president, said the association had put safety protocols in place and Milton’s offer came too late.
“We’re interested in learning more about this technology,” Portnoy said. “We just aren’t in a position, with less than a week to go, to more fully understand the benefits or potential risks of what appears to be an experimental technology.”…
But at least some individuals are choosing to bow out. Anthony S. Fauci, the president’s top medical adviser, canceled his plans to attend the dinner, citing his personal risks, CNN first reported late Tuesday night. In an interview on Wednesday, the 81-year-old doctor said that it is his “personal choice” not to attend the event, even as he maintained the United States was moving past the “full-blown pandemic” phase of the virus.
As of Wednesday, the White House said that Biden, 79, planned to be there to show his support of the media but would skip the dinner portion of the evening and might take precautions like wearing a mask at times.
Many coronavirus experts say that new infections linked to the dinner and the accompanying parties are inevitable, noting that local cases have climbed, key officials such as Vice President Harris tested positive for coronavirus this week and the sheer number of attendees means that some infected people will unknowingly slip through the protections put in place. The correspondents’ association says it has sold 2,600 tickets…
After dozens of coronavirus infections were linked to the Gridiron Club dinner three weeks ago, Milton said, he had reached out to the correspondents’ association and arranged a conversation with a vendor, Far UV, that would have temporarily set up more than 100 devices at the Washington Hilton. Those ranged from small gadgets that resemble smoke detectors to portable lamps that can be set up around a room.
But WHCA officials said the conversations came too late in their planning, and that they feared the lights might irritate the eyes of attendees, interfere with servers trying to navigate the ballroom — and even make someone like Biden look blue when he addressed the crowd.
In an interview, Milton said the technology had been proved effective, noting the White House last month touted the benefits of UV disinfecting light to fight the coronavirus, and federal regulators have similarly encouraged its use. He noted that he had no financial relationship with Far UV, or any other company that develops the ultraviolet devices.
“We’ve got really good data going back many decades,” Milton said, adding that he had tried to persuade the correspondents’ association about the devices’ value for weeks, although the group continued to decline the offers. “The reasoning is not clear to me,” he said…
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Measles cases jumped by 79% in the first two months of this year compared to 2021, after COVID-19 and lockdowns disrupted child vaccination campaigns around the world, according to data from UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). https://t.co/pPCRnpdSl5
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) April 27, 2022
Beijing is shifting more classes online in a tightening of COVID-19 restrictions, as China's capital seeks to prevent a wider outbreak. The city of 21 million has already ordered three rounds of mass testing this week, with the third coming Friday. https://t.co/FG4ql5SQAG
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 28, 2022
China’s Guangzhou rolls out mass-tests, cancels flights after suspected Covid case https://t.co/GvP1tos0nL pic.twitter.com/yclnbCJTiP
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) April 28, 2022
⚡️ “Financial lobby group urges Shanghai to ease COVID rules for staff stuck in offices for a month” by @ReutersBiz https://t.co/7AX0DIkQBH
— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) April 27, 2022
For Chinese commuter workers on the outskirts of Beijing, the country's strict zero-COVID policy has upended their lives completely https://t.co/TOCDtPvZ0a pic.twitter.com/zDj2C9is1j
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 28, 2022
EU estimates up to 80% of population has had COVID https://t.co/CoPeAgrU8t pic.twitter.com/cHDuBKlSTS
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 27, 2022
A 3rd (booster) vaccine shot's marked impact during the Omicron wave in Italy
Hospitalizations reduced by 84%
ICU admissions reduced by 92%
Death reduced by 87%
Benefits across all age groupshttps://t.co/1gIVGkGU2A pic.twitter.com/9RoJEi2S6b— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) April 27, 2022
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Do vaccines protect against #LongCovid? Maybe, according to a growing number of studies, but there’s not yet a definitive answer https://t.co/MX2CL1F8dT
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) April 28, 2022
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So to be clear, conservative judges have ruled that: 1) COVID is no longer a great threat so the CDC has no right to mandate masks on airplanes and 2) COVID is such a grave hazard that the US must deny entry to migrants to protect American public health. https://t.co/JxzsN9uWcI
— Eric Klinenberg (@EricKlinenberg) April 27, 2022
Puerto Rico, punished for doing *too* good a job restricting viral spread during earlier (more dangerous!) waves…
New Deal democrat
Cases in the US rose to 53,400, an increase of 25% from one week ago. Hospital admissions increased to 13,166, equivalent to their previous pandemic lows from last summer. Deaths rose slightly to 347.
NY is peaking right now, as cases are up 4% from one week ago, vs. up 20% in the previous 7 days. In NJ they are up 6%, vs. 8% the previous week.
Cases are rising almost everywhere else, including the big States of CA, FL, IL, MI, NC, OH, PA, and TX. The only States with declines are AK, AZ, CO, and ND, plus DC. CT and KY are flat.
It still looks like a peak near Memorial Day of about 75,000-90,000 cases and 25,000-30,000 hospitalizations. If deaths have bottomed, their peak may be about 1000 at mid year.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
848 new cases yesterday. We’re having a very cold, wet spring. I can’t wait for it to get warm to see if this number drops at all.
NotMax
Locally,
germy
Matt McIrvin
Cases in Massachusetts are rising again but the wastewater counts still look to be declining from a peak more than a week ago. So it’s hard to say what all this means–maybe just that under current conditions it takes longer for people to suspect they have COVID unless they’re being regularly tested. We are in high allergy season and it means that for a lot of people in the area, COVID-like symptoms are normal about now.
Guac
@New Deal democrat: South Carolina hasn’t reported cases since April 16… The SCDHEC website has been “under construction” for about a week. I suspect we’re about to lose county-level reporting.
WereBear
And my allergic friends are saying it’s really bad this year, as well.
All winter I’ve had spells of dry throat triggering coughing, and having to clear my throat, even though I live with humidifiers. The dry air is everywhere when we are below freezing for weeks on end.
New Deal democrat
@Guac: Thanks. South Carolina apparently is following Florida’s lead by reporting cases less than once a week, which makes comparisons almost impossible. The NY Times site has worked around FL, but not some of the other States.
YY_Sima Qian
On 4/27 Mainland China reported 1,494 new domestic confirmed (934 previously asymptomatic), 9,791 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 domestic suspect cases, & 47 new deaths.
Guangdong Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 24 domestic confirmed & 15 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 156 active domestic confirmed & 77 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 did not report any new domestic positive (cases. 13 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 4 active domestic confirmed (all at Baise) & 213 active domestic asymptomatic cases (174 at Fangchenggang, 25 at Baise, & 1 at Nanning) in the province.
Hunan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, at Cenzhou, a person returning from Shanghai & under centralized quarantine since arrival. There currently are 43 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 9 new domestic confirmed cases, all at Manzhouli in Hulun Buir. 2 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 38 active domestic confirmed (34 at Hulun Buir, 3 at Baotou, & 1 at Chifeng) cases in the province. 4 sub-districts in Manzhouli are currently at Medium Risk.
At Tianjin Municipality there currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining.
Shandong Province reported 8 new domestic confirmed (2 previous asymptomatic) & 84 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 asymptomatic case, at Taiyuan, a traced close contact under centralized quarantine. 12 domestic confirmed & 21 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 45 active domestic confirmed (36 at Taiyuan, 8 at Shuozhou, & 1 at Yangquan) & 194 active domestic asymptomatic (188 at Taiyuan & 6 at Shuozhou) cases remaining. 1 site at Taiyuan is currently at Medium Risk.
Hebei Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 9 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed & 82 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 19 active domestic confirmed & 1,003 active asymptomatic case in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Liaoning Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (previously asymptomatic) & 55 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 1 domestic confirmed & 8 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 33 active domestic confirmed & 290 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 11 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 19 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 397 active domestic confirmed & 276 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Jilin Province reported 56 new domestic confirmed (27 previously asymptomatic, 54 mild & 2 moderate) & 98 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 289 domestic confirmed & 569 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 48 new domestic confirmed (39 mild & 9 moderate) & 2 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. 5 sites are currently at High Risk. 16 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 1,292 new domestic confirmed (858 previously asymptomatic) & 9,330 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 9,572 of the new domestic positive cases were already under quarantine, & 192 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (effectively meaning from the community). There were 47 deaths (avg. 84.7 y.o., youngest at 67 y.o. & oldest at 101 y.o., all w/ a range of underlying conditions, 1 vaccinated). 2,310 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 24,877 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 21,624 active domestic confirmed (304 serious & 48 critical) & 168,506 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 13 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shaanxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (mild), at Yangling, a truck driver coming from elsewhere & tested positive upon entry. 2 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed & 5 active asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks. 1 site at Xi’an is currently at Medium Risk.
Hubei Province did not report any new domestic positive cases, 4 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 5 active domestic confirmed (all mild, 4 at Wuhan & 1 at Huanggang) & 151 active domestic asymptomatic (72 at Wuhan, 43 at Ezhou, 3 each at Enshi Prefecture & Suizhou, 4 at Yichang, 23 at Huanggang, 2 at Xiangyang, & 1 at Xiaogan) cases in the province.
Jiangsu Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 72 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 4 domestic confirmed & 95 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The currently are 69 active domestic confirmed & 1,176 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 15 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 2 domestic confirmed & 53 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 10 active confirmed & 441 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Zhejiang Province reported 46 new domestic confirmed (44 previously asymptomatic) & 20 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.
At Gansu Province 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 asymptomatic case, at Ningde, a traced close contact under centralized quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered & 14 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There currently are 44 active domestic confirmed & 138 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. 3 sites at Ningde remain at Medium Risk.
Ürumqi in Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, staff at a university, found via regular screening.
Guizhou Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Tongren, a person returning from Shanghai on 4/25 & under centralized quarantine since. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered.
Jiangxi Province reported 10 new domestic confirmed (all mild) & 79 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 3 domestic confirmed & 17 asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 270 active domestic confirmed & 466 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 4 new domestic confirmed (2 at Zhengzhou & 1 each at Anyang & Luoyang) & 13 new domestic asymptomatic (2 at Zhengzhou, 9 at Anyang, & 1 each at Luoyang & Sanmenxia) cases. All of the cases at Zhengzhou were found via screening of residents under movement control. The cases at Luoyang are persons returning from building temporary hospitals in Shanghai & under centralized quarantine since arrival. The case at Sanmenxia is a traced close contact under centralized quarantine. 23 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 45 active domestic confirmed & 204 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 are currently at Medium Risk.
Sichuan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Bazhong) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases (at Yibin), persons coming from areas w/ active outbreaks & 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 Pengshui County), a person coming fro elsewhere & tested positive upon entry. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases remaining in the city.
Qinghai Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic). 2 domestic confirmed & 5 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 39 active domestic confirmed & 23 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case (at Jinping County in Honghe Prefecture). 2 domestic confirmed & 15 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 15 active domestic confirmed & 185 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 4/27, Mainland China reported 9 new imported confirmed cases (0 previously asymptomatic), 73 imported asymptomatic cases, 0 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 2,724 confirmed cases recovered (21 imported), 25,984 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (93 imported) & 934 were reclassified as confirmed cases (all domestic), & 36,337 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 25,506 active confirmed cases in the country (183 imported), 399 in serious/critical condition (all domestic), 208,195 active asymptomatic cases (582 imported), 0 suspect cases. 428,075 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 4/27, 3,338.555M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 2.27M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 4/28, Hong Kong reported 413 new positive cases, 24 imported & 389 domestic (182 via RT-PCR & 207 from rapid antigen tests), 5 deaths (1 fully vaccinated) deaths.
On 4/28, Taiwan reported 11,517 new positive cases, 164 imported & 11,353 domestic (5,953 asymptomatic). Symptom onset for the domestic cases range from 3/26 – 4/27. There were 2 new deaths (actual dates of death on 4/20 & 4/22, neither vaccinated, both having a range of underlying conditions).
Soprano2
@Matt McIrvin: I think wastewater monitoring is about a week ahead of when testing starts to show cases rising, so that could actually be logical.
Someone from Missouri was talking about not getting any numbers from the state on here yesterday. Here’s the link to the Sewershed Surveillance Project https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f7f5492486114da6b5d6fdc07f81aacf I saw in an industry e-mail that Louisiana is going to start a Covid monitoring project, which is good. I think this is the future of knowing what the prevalence of Covid is in the community, because eventually most state governments will probably stop putting out testing results.
ETA – Y’all better be prepared for the day they say Joe and/or Jill Biden have Covid, because it’s probably coming. Look how well they protected VP Harris, and how careful they are, yet she and her husband both got it anyway.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
Found this account of visiting Taipei under quarantine: https://idlewords.com/2022/4/my_taipei_quarantine.htm
I can see how they thought they could manage zero Covid
Jesse
At this point, studies like “boosters are beneficial” aren’t saying anything new any more. I mean, sure, as a public health matter, it’s valid to track down the numbers and document things rigorously. But as a medical fact, boosters have been shown to be useful, and that’s not news from like yesterday or last week. I’m not sure why the numbers from Italy, in particular, would be any materially different from numbers coming from other sources.
This is all another just way of venting my frustration with Topol & fellow travelers for their style of communicating and choice of material.
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2:
Harris’s case may well never have been detected if she weren’t frequently tested. I would not be surprised to hear (if this were somehow ascertained) that I already got an undetected COVID infection at some point.
Matt McIrvin
@Jesse: It’s not saying anything new, but it’s also a thing that even many people who got vaccinated are still unconvinced of, for some reason. All-or-nothing thinking may be the problem–if getting boosted isn’t an impenetrable shield (which it isn’t), and just getting the initial course of shots gives you pretty good protection from dying, they figure, what’s the point?
Zzyzx
So we rolled the dice and went to Phish at Madison Square Garden last week. My wife got it and I didn’t, and yet somehow I’m much sicker than her.
Soprano2
@Matt McIrvin: When people tell me they haven’t had Covid, I say “as far as you know” because there are so many asymptomatic cases. Look how many of those they find when people are routinely tested, and then extrapolate that to the general population. That’s why I think wastewater monitoring is the future of detecting Covid, because it detects those cases too.
sdhays
@Chacal Charles Calthrop: I’ve both studied and worked in Taiwan and visited many times. It’s a lovely place. Thanks for that link!
The Moar You Know
It also destroys building interiors: paint, wood, fabric especially.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 3,471 new Covid-19 cases yesterday in its media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 4,440,383 cases. It also reported six deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 35,526 deaths – 0.80% of the cumulative reported total, 0.81% of resolved cases.
Malaysia’s nationwide Rt stands at 0.70.
56 confirmed cases and 42 suspected cases are in ICU; of these patients, 33 confirmed cases and 30 suspected cases are on ventilators. Meanwhile, 6,900 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,346,421 patients recovered – 97.9% of the cumulative reported total.
Again, information about new and active clusters was inadvertently omitted from today’s statement.
3,461 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. 10 new cases were imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 34,833 doses of vaccine on 27th April: 7,805 first doses, 22,822 second doses, and 4,206 booster doses. The cumulative total is 70,197,502 doses administered: 27,743,589 first doses, 26,642,291 second doses, and 16,024,957 booster doses. 85.0% of the population have received their first dose, 81.6% their second dose, and 49.1% their booster dose.
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2: I recently heard about some study that looked for antibodies to parts of SARS-CoV-2 other than the spike protein (which would indicate prior infection, as opposed to vaccination) and found really high seroprevalence, like majority or close to it.
Eunicecycle
@WereBear: I agree with your allergic friends-it’s terrible this year. It’s tree pollen, and I don’t know if the trees were held back because of the cold weather and are all pollinating at once or it’s something else.
Matt McIrvin
@Zzyzx: That’s the thing, I’ve been doing things on about that level of riskiness for really a year now, and I haven’t gotten sick. I’ve jumped on every booster as soon as it gets approved, I wear good masks when I can, but I haven’t avoided public events. The most likely possibility may be that I have gotten infected but it just wasn’t symptomatic.
Sloane Ranger
I still have the NHS app on my phone and it pinged me this morning to say that I had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID on 26 April. I’m not currently showing any symptoms and I’m no longer legally obliged to isolate. Nevertheless I am choosing to do so for 7 days. I spent this morning in a flurry of phone calls; to the local museum, where I was due to volunteer today; to the Chair of our local u3a (I’m the Secretary) to say that I would be attending Friday’s committee meeting via Zoom (we run hybrid meetings) and, most importantly, to the Care Home where my best friend’s mother lives because I had visited her on the same day I was in close contact. The most irritating this is that my central heating packed up last week and it’s a cold, wet Spring. I contacted the company I have a maintenance contract with and the earliest appointment they had was next Thursday. Well, they rang me after I got the alert to say they could come today but, backed off when I told them about the alert. So I still have to wait until next week, and one of the portable electric heaters I’ve been using packed up this morning!
Anyway…
Yesterday in the UK we had 17,224 new cases. The rolling 7-day average is down 30.2%. New cases by nation,
England – 13,481
Northern Ireland – 365
Scotland – 3194
Wales – 184.
Deaths – There were 304 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is up 53.9%. 262 deaths were in England, 1 in Northern Ireland, 27 in Scotland and 14 in Wales.
Testing – 329,968 tests took place on 26 April. The rolling 7-day average is down by 2.5%.
Hospitalisations – There were 14,097 people in hospital and 326 on ventilators on 26 April. The 7-day average for hospital admissions was down by 24% as of 23 April.
Vaccinations – As of 26 April, 92.4% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot; 86.4% had had 2, and 68.2% had had a 3rd shot/booster.
scav
@Jesse: And yet it was just this exact week I had was listening to a neighbor going on about what good vaccines were if they didn’t 100% protect against infection.
Suzanne
@The Moar You Know: The germicidal UV technology has been tested in operating rooms for years. It’s cool, but it has a fatal flaw, which is that it isn’t as effective if it doesn’t have a clear line-of-sight to every surface. So sides of things don’t get clean enough. And it’s not cheap, and it takes time to work and no one can use the space while it’s doing its thing . It’s another arrow in the quiver but not a full solution on its own.
Dan B
@Suzanne: Good to know about UV in operating rooms. And… I’m appalled at the level of scientific ignorance. The WHCD organizers assuming that UV would make people look blue. OMG!
My partner is mortified by my ranting when Sci Fi gets basic science wrong. How else are people going to learn? They’re not learning from school, at least not the rote method of science education.
karen marie
I’m starting to think Fauci isn’t very good at this whole “make public statements” thing.
Has he always been like this, or has he just been sniffing his own farts long enough now that he is just letting words fall out of his piehole?
I’m still wearing my mask (KN95) and will continue to do so until I’m sure I’m not going to get sick from any of the local mouthbreathers. I’m in Arizona, so that probably means till I die.
karen marie
@New Deal democrat: The only way I see that AZ cases declining is that they’re simply not being reported.
Very few people have been wearing a mask since last month, and many of those who are wearing a mask have it on their chin.
I do not understand people who work in a service industry – like grocery store workers – who don’t wear masks. Are there breakdowns of cases within sectors like retail currently being published anywhere?