Booster rates in US have lagged behind other countries for the past year, although there’s been a slight uptick recently.
(When we wrote this story a few weeks ago, 4% of eligible Americans had gotten new covid vaccine. That’s now up to 6%.) https://t.co/sst8ocEjZe
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) October 23, 2022
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End of July 2022
91% reduction of deaths, all ages pic.twitter.com/GIPkSo2daH— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) October 22, 2022
I don’t often link to Eric Feigl-Ding, because he’s predicted approximately 35 of the last 6 crises, but he’s… not wrong here. China deserves a bit of a victory lap:
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Yeah, I agree that the U.S. probably couldn’t have enforced adequate lockdowns — certainly not under TFG — but it’s no longer feasible to pretend that China didn’t have good reasons to choose the strategy they did.
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Do you know any of the >110 million Americans who got vaccinated but never got a booster? A summary of the data for why now is a good timehttps://t.co/G9Gnosk8E8 pic.twitter.com/j2faDPKdsy
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) October 24, 2022
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What causes #Covid's worst symptoms? Apparently severe Covid induces autoantibodies—antibodies against 1 or more of your own proteins. In this study autoantibodies bombarded the protein angiotensin 2, causing blood pressure dysregulation & disease severity https://t.co/wOK7kRQCYO pic.twitter.com/WxOkOyORYI
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) October 23, 2022
Like many viruses, #SARSCoV2 deploys a molecular arsenal to neutralize the host's immune response.
Explore how the virus wields versatile proteins to foil our immune system’s counterattack in this interactive: https://t.co/sKBsKFoxnV pic.twitter.com/Gw6nA4vqk0
— Science Magazine (@ScienceMagazine) October 22, 2022
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An expected winter rise in Covid cases appears poised to collide with a resurgent flu season and a third virus, RSV, which is straining pediatric hospitals in some states. It could all lead to a "tripledemic." https://t.co/pNpVDS9vhd
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 23, 2022
“I would be lying to you if [I said] it doesn’t keep me up at night worrying that there is a certain chance that we may have to deploy another booster…”
@HelenBranswell interviews the FDA’s Peter Marks. https://t.co/v5beZ5epwY
— Matthew Herper (@matthewherper) October 21, 2022
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The new bivalent COVID booster: Older folks, a highly vaccinated group, appear less interested in getting it than earlier shots, and unsure about whether they should. I wrote about why that is and what could help. https://t.co/EEHPNdO9r0
— Paula Span (@paula_span) October 22, 2022
A huge percentage of the people we continue to bury from this awful virus bought into this nonsense. Lives snuffed our because some people have what amounts to adult oppositional defiant disorder. https://t.co/a7VKoSlYka
— Jort-Michel Connard ?? (@torriangray) October 20, 2022
Both sides!
My aunt died in a “cancer treatment center” like this after spending vast sums of money she didn’t have on quack bullshit pretending to be science. I have nothing but contempt for the vile thieves who scam people like this and nothing but contempt for ‘leftists’ propping them up. pic.twitter.com/hP1AM7fcrC
— Ben Miller (@benwritesthings) October 21, 2022
Reader Interactions
82Comments
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Matt McIrvin
If those graphs in Eric Topol’s tweet aren’t age-adjusted, they’re actually greatly underselling the effectiveness of vaccination, because vaccinated people and definitely double-boosted people are older and more vulnerable on average.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
108 new cases on 10/22/22.
91 new cases on 10/23/22.
60 new cases on 10/24/2243
Deaths now at 2037, up 6 from last week.
I’m an “older folk” and I got my bivalent booster as soon as it was available. I’m still masking when I go out, too. I am having lunch next Saturday with a friend I haven’t seen in a year, so I’m hoping to get lucky and not pick up anything other than indigestion at the restaurant.
Ken
People who take regular exercise are healthier? Why has no one ever told me this?
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 1,737 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, for a cumulative reported total of 4,883,796 cases. It also reported three deaths, for an adjusted cumulative total of 36,447 deaths – 0.75% of the cumulative reported total, 0.75% of resolved cases.
22,886 Covid-19 tests were conducted on 23rd October, with a positivity rate of 6.9%.
There were 26,994 active cases yesterday, 384 fewer than the day before. 1,042 were in hospital. 52 confirmed cases were in ICU; of these patients, 19 confirmed cases were on ventilators. Meanwhile, 2,118 more patients recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,820,355 patients recovered – 98.7% of the cumulative reported total.
1,736 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. One new case was imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 382 doses of vaccine on 23rd October: 44 first doses, 83 second doses, 105 first booster doses, and 150 second booster doses. The cumulative total is 72,390,566 doses administered: 28,107,654 first doses, 27,517,192 second doses, 16,248,378 first booster doses, and 517,342 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.
Princess
I got the bivalent after two shots and a booster before that but I understand why people are slow/wondering if it is worth it because I wondered too. I’ve had omicron twice, and I know many many who had omicron too. So I wonder what an omicron bivalent adds to the immunity I got from being infected. I still think people should get it; I’m uncertain but even a slight additional protection is worth it. But I suspect others may be thinking how I am and coming up with a different calculus. And we may be thinking about it the wrong way (another reason I got the shot).
Matt McIrvin
The most interesting thing about Topol’s Substack article is the evidence that the bivalent booster isn’t actually any more effective against the newest variants than the original wild-type vaccine was (though that is still a lot when it comes to severe disease).
The thing is, my impression is that that’s because of “original antigenic sin” effects–that if someone got the original vaccine, their immune system still remembers that and mounts a response to it even after a bivalent booster. Which makes me think the allocation of the original vaccine for initial shots and the bivalent for boosters is exactly backwards–we should be doing it the other way around, reserving the newer vaccine for initial shots (though I do understand how we got here, from a regulatory perspective).
Matt McIrvin
@Princess: Some elements of immunity wane over time, and with a new wave of the virus coming, you need a top up. The shot is more recent than your last infection. I think that annual or biannual shots are going to be a good idea going forward, much as with flu.
There also seems to be a cumulative effect–you get substantial extra protection against severe disease even if you already did get infected.
Matt McIrvin
@Ken: Balancing the benefits of exercise against a greater risk of getting infected in the places where you do the exercise (when the weather is no longer nice) can be a tricky one. My experience is that real fitness freaks have a weird propensity to be unvaccinated, too… there’s this attitude of “my fitness will protect me, conventional medicine is for lazy fat people”.
Betty
I always appreciate confirmation that it was my bout of Covid, contracted in March of 2020, that set off my irregular blood pressure. Every doctor I tried to explain this too rejected the idea. After all, I was just old, and old people have high blood pressure. Frustrating.
Suzanne
@Ken: We already knew that there was a strong link between bad COVID outcomes and obesity. I only read the WaPo link, didn’t chase down the original study, but I wonder if they controlled for weight. I don’t even know if you could control for weight when doing a study about exercise in this fashion.
I had my bivalent booster and flu shot four weeks ago now, and I can still just barely feel the enlarged lymph node under my left collarbone.
NotMax
FYI.
OzarkHillbilly
I got the bivalent. Why not? It was free. As a bonus, I get far better reception.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Same. I’m not sure why it’s an issue except for the few people who had severe reactions to the vaccine already. I didn’t even have side effects this time.
Baud
@NotMax:
Symptoms are now the same as every other common illness. Great.
raven
and hope for the best!
New Deal democrat
Biobot has updated, showing a 10% increase in COVID particles in the last two weeks, but still very close to a 6 month low, equivalent to about 250,000 actual cases per day. The increase has been mainly driven by the Midwest, which has more than offset a slight decline in the Northeast.
Confirmed cases averaged 37,000 close to their 6 month low as well. Hospital admissions have ticked up slightly to 23:500. At 350, the very slow downtrend in deaths has been continuing.
In general, despite the alphabet soup of new variants descended from BA.2 and BA.5, there is no evidence of any big wave developing. Rather, so far it is like a ripple. Nevertheless, as winter approaches, I think the increase in the Midwest, with the Northeast already the region with the most new cases, signals an increase is coming in the colder weather with more indoor socializing.
raven
@Matt McIrvin: I am limited to “aqua-jogging” in the diving well at the Y. There is rarely any one else in there and the locker room is usually empty when I go. It’s not enough to get rid of this goddamn covid-gut but 45 minutes as day is what I do.
rikyrah
One day, we will need to have a real talk about the pure-D racism that undergird our early COVID response.
Matt McIrvin
One of those articles said something about COVID being less obviously seasonal than flu (as an obstacle to going to a yearly booster), but based on the past couple of years’ experience, I’m not sure that’s true at all. Around here it seems pretty damn seasonal to me–it never completely goes away, of course, but it comes on strong in the fall and winter when people spend more time congregating indoors and the air is colder and dryer. It was just ridiculous to expect that pattern in the first wave.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Pure-D?
Soprano2
@Matt McIrvin: I think it depends, pretty much everyone I know at my Jazzercize class has been vaccinated, including the instructors. You’re thinking about the “warriors” at the gym, people who do things like Crossfit
This is great news for me; I do a class 4 times a week, and yoga once a week. Makes my doctor smile when I tell him that.
NotMax
@Soprano2
And can’t be arsed to wipe down the equipment?
Soprano2
@NotMax: I don’t miss that about going to the gym. I love Jazzercise and yoga. We do strength stuff in class, so I get that plus cardio, and it’s fun!
catclub
I thought Alex Meshkin GED was clearly a joke.
The tweet around him seems to be taking him seriously.
Note the novel treatments (when we find them).
catclub
so I got my covalent booster a month before the president.
Soprano2
I have to say I’m kind of worn out by the idea that somehow China did it right. No country that was not a dictatorship could do what China did, and continues to do. It’s just not possible. Even New Zealand couldn’t keep that up for as long as China did, and they were never as severe as China has been. How many years are those people who haven’t gotten a decent vaccine and have never been exposed to Covid going to be stuck in China? Forever?
When I was in Hawaii my phone prompted me to download their tracker app, which I did. Thankfully I never got a notification. I wish every state had something like that, it would have been helpful. Now with so much home testing I’m not sure how good it actually is.
Matt McIrvin
@NotMax: AARRRRGH
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2: China did the part right that nobody else did right. The frustrating thing is that their vaccine policy isn’t that great, arguably worse than ours, so actually NOBODY got it right.
catclub
@catclub: I looked at other Alex meshkin tweets. Now I have no idea, probably an idiot?
NotMax
Preface this by stating I don’t go outside much regardless, much less frequent anyplace where will encounter ::shudder:: other people, same practice as in the years BCE (Before Covid Era).
Sticking to getting a shot every six months. Initially, as recommended then, two shots a month apart when first became eligible here in April and May of 2021, booster in November, second booster in May ’22, planning on getting newest booster this November. Thus far have remained infection-free.
HinTN
@raven:
Much like the “freshman fifteen” it’s the COVID nineteen. I managed to hold the line at five but that’s not really indicative of the muscle mass loss combined with the waistline.
catclub
@OzarkHillbilly:
But which stations? AM or FM or Shortwave?
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2: For me exercise seems to work best when it’s a solitary activity–it’s me time, I can listen to music. I get very self-conscious about any kind of group physical activity, no matter how supportive the environment is; probably the effect of bad PE class experiences long long ago.
My favorite thing of all is this cardio machine they have at the gym called an AMT, sort of like an elliptical but with more degrees of freedom. I just crank away on that thing. They’re too expensive to have at home.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Soprano2: I seem to need the routine of a class to exercise regularly. I like the social aspect. Covid really upset my exercise habit.
HinTN
@Baud: It’s a neologism from the 70s and indicates an absolute.
OzarkHillbilly
@catclub: FM only for me, to many RWNJs on AM.
catclub
@New Deal democrat:
Is ‘Biobot’ what I think it is? Sampling sewage streams for covid particles? delightful.
zeecube
Got the covid/flu shots combo over the weekend. Day 1 symptoms was sore arms and blahness. Day 2 – slept more than 6 hrs and woke up feeling great,
YY_Sima Qian
On 10/24 Mainland China reported 205 new domestic confirmed (12 previously asymptomatic), 638 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 new domestic suspect cases, & 0 new deaths.
Guangdong Province reported 33 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic, 22 at Guangzhou, 4 at Foshan, 3 each at Meizhou & Shenzhen, & 1 at Huizhou) & 62 new domestic asymptomatic (43 at Guangzhou, 8 at Meizhou, 6 at Foshan, 3 at Jieyang, & 1 each at Jiangmen & Shenzhen) cases. 1 of the new domestic positive cases was found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (at Shenzhen), 12 via community screening (7 at Guangzhou, 2 each at Foshan & Shenzhen, & 1 at Jiangmen) & 7 at fever clinics (3 at Meizhou, 2 at Guangzhou, & 1 each at Foshan & Huizhou), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 53 domestic confirmed & 19 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 407 active domestic confirmed & 598 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 79 sites at Guangzhou, 8 at Shenzhen, 5 at Zhongshan, 3 at Jiangmen & Meizhou, & 1 at Huizhou are currently at High Risk. 42 sites at Guangzhou, 26 at Shenzhen, 5 each at Jieyang & Zhongshan, 4 at Meizhou, & 1 each at Foshan, Huizhou & Jiangmen are currently at Medium Risk.
Guangxi “Autonomous” Region reported 7 new domestic asymptomatic (4 at Nanning, 2 at Wuzhou, & 1 at Yulin) cases, 5 came from out of province & 2 are persons under quarantine. 3 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 12 active domestic confirmed & 130 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region.
Hunan Province reported 11 new domestic confirmed (11 at Huaihua & 1 at Shaoyang) & 77 new domestic asymptomatic (61 at Shaoyang, 14 at Huaihua, & 2 at Hengyang) cases. 14 were found via community screening (11 at Huaihua & 3 at Shaoyang), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 4 domestic confirmed & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 93 active domestic confirmed & 480 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 181 sites at Shaoyang, 5 at Huaihua, & 1 at Yueyang are currently at High Risk. 133 sites at Shaoyang, 12 at Huaihua, 2 at Hengyang, & 1 each at Yongzhou & Yueyang are currently at Medium Risk.
Hubei Province reported 27 new domestic asymptomatic (15 at Wuhan, 7 at Yichang, 3 at Jingmen, & 2 at Xiangyang) cases. 3 were found via community screening (all at Wuhan) & 1 at a fever clinic (at Yichang), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 38 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 7 active domestic confirmed & 448 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 21 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic, 8 at Hohhot, 6 at Chifeng, 4 at Baotou, & 1 each at Ordos, Wuhai & Xilingol League) & 78 new domestic asymptomatic (49 at Hohhot, 14 at Chifeng, 7 at Ulanqab, 3 at Bayan Nur, 2 each at Baotou & Hulun Buir, & 1 at Alxa League) cases. 20 domestic confirmed & 90 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 462 active domestic confirmed & 2,255 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the region. 237 sites at Hohhot, 50 at Baotou, 36 at Chifeng, 6 at Wuhai, 5 at Hulun Buir, 4 at Alxa League, 2 at Ordos, & 1 at Bayan Nur are currently at High Risk. 237 sites at Hohhot, 61 at Baotou, 23 at Chifeng, 9 at Wuhai, 6 at Ordos, 5 each at Hulun Buir & Bayan Nur, & 1 at Alxa League are currently at Medium Risk.
Gansu Province reported 12 new domestic asymptomatic (al at Lanzhou) cases. 31 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 165 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 5 sites at Lanzhou & 1 at Wuwei are currently at High Risk. 16 at Lanzhou & 2 at Wuwei are currently at Medium Risk.
Shanxi Province reported 70 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic, 57 at Datong, 7 at Yuncheng, 3 at Shuozhou, 2 at Linfen, & 1 at Taiyuan) & 76 new domestic asymptomatic (40 at Datong, 16 at Shuozhou, 9 at Linfen, 6 at Taiyuan, & 5 at Yuncheng) cases. 32 domestic confirmed & 25 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 389 active domestic confirmed & 377 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 54 sites at Datong, 27 at Yuncheng, 21 at Shuozhou, 5 at Taiyuan, & 4 at Linfen are currently at High Risk. 37 sites at Yuncheng, 23 at Datong, 4 at Shuozhou, & 1 at Jinzhong are currently at Medium Risk.
Shaanxi Province reported 17 domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic, 11 at Xi’an & 6 at Hanzhong) & 69 new domestic asymptomatic (41 at Xi’an, 15 at Hanzhong, 12 at Xianyang, & 1 at Baoji) cases. 2 of the new domestic positive cases were found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (1 each at Baoji & Hanzhong), & 3 via community screening (all at Xi’an), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 8 domestic confirmed & 16 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 204 active domestic confirmed & 533 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 74 sites at Xi’an, 49 at Hanzhong, 11 at Xianyang, & 1 at Weinan are currently at High Risk. 91 sites at Xi’an, 21 at Xianyang, 14 at Hanzhong, & 6 at Weinan are currently at Medium Risk.
Ningxia “Autonomous” Region reported 4 new domestic asymptomatic (3 at Yinchuan & 1 at Wuzhong) cases. 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed & 271 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 16 sites at Yinchuan, 14 at Wuzhong, 4 at Ningdong, 3 at Zhongwei, & 1 at Shizuishan are currently at High Risk. 20 sites at Zhongwei, 16 at Yinchuan, 14 at Wuzhong, & 1 at Ningdong are currently at Medium Risk.
Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region reported 9 new domestic confirmed (6 at Ürümqi & 3 at Yili Prefecture) & 124 new domestic asymptomatic (71 at Ürümqi, 27 at Yili Prefecture, 10 at Turfan, & 8 each at Bayingol Prefecture & Tacheng) cases. 27 domestic confirmed & 292 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The region is not publishing the counts of active domestic positive cases. 822 sites at Ürümqi, 73 at Bayingol Prefecture, 61 each at Yili Prefecture & Tacheng, & 42 at Turfan are currently at High Risk. 123 sites at Ürümqi, 50 at Tacheng, 37 at Turfan, 27 at Yili Prefecture, & 8 at Bayingol Prefecture are currently at Medium Risk.
Shandong Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Zaozhuang) & 33 new domestic asymptomatic (15 at Zaozhuang, 6 at Linyi, 4 at Rizhao, 3 at Dongying, 2 at Jining, & 1 each at Dezhou, Heze & Yantai) cases, 3 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (2 each at Jining & 1 at Heze), 2 via community screening (1 each at Rizhao & Zaozhuang), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown. 10 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 19 active domestic confirmed & 255 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 40 sites at Zaozhuang, 9 at Rizhao, 7 at Linyi, 4 each at Jining & Tai’an, & 2 at Dezhou are currently at High Risk. 10 sites each at Linyi & Rizhao, 6 at Zaozhuang, & 3 at Jining are currently at High Risk.
Hebei Province reported 5 new domestic asymptomatic (2 each at Baoding & Handan, & 1 at Xiong’an) cases. 4 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 1 domestic confirmed & 127 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 16 sites at Zhangjiakou, 14 at Baoding, 2 each at Handan, Qinhuangdao & Xiong’an, & 1 at Tangshan are currently at High Risk. 20 at Zhangjiakou, 15 at Baoding, 3 each at Handan & Xiong’an, 2 each at Qinhuangdao & Tangshan, & 1 at Cangzhou are currently at Medium Risk.
Henan Province reported 6 new domestic confirmed (all at Zhengzhou) & 19 new domestic asymptomatic (15 at Zhengzhou & 4 at Puyang) cases. 3 via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (all at Zhengzhou), the rest are person under quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed & 20 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 124 active domestic confirmed & 315 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 17 sites at Zhengzhou & 6 at Pingdingshan are currently at High Risk. 39 sites at Zhengzhou are currently at Medium Risk.
At Liaoning Province 14 domestic confirmed & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 44 active domestic confirmed & 63 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 3 sites at Jinzhou are currently at High Risk. 4 sites at Huludao, 3 at Fushun, & 2 at Jinzhou 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 4 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Heihe) cases, none from the community. 11 domestic confirmed & 12 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 37 active domestic confirmed & 112 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 15 sites at Heihe & 5 at Suihua are currently at High Risk. 23 sites at Heihe & 2 Suihua at are currently at Medium Risk.
Beijing Municipality reported 18 new domestic confirmed cases. 2 were found via community screening. 13 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The municipality is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there. 1 site is currently at High Risk, & 3 at Medium Risk.
Tianjin Municipality reported 3 new domestic confirmed & 36 new domestic asymptomatic cases, none form the community. 2 domestic confirmed & 20 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The municipality is not publishing the count of active domestic positive cases there. 15 sites are currently at High Risk, & 25 at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 19 new domestic asymptomatic cases, none from the community. 2 domestic confirmed & 16 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 9 active domestic confirmed case in the city. The city is no longer publishing the number of active asymptomatic cases. 18 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Anhui Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both at Hefei) & 13 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Hefei) cases, 1 found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure, the rest are person under quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed & 29 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 15 active domestic confirmed & 128 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 1 site at Hefei is currently at High Risk, & 39 at Medium Risk.
Jiangsu Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Lianyungang) & 14 new domestic asymptomatic (4 each at Suqian & Suzhou, 3 at Xuzhou, 2 at Nantong, & 1 at Zhenjiang) cases, 2 came from out of province & found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (1 each at Suqian & Zhenjiang), & 1 via community screening (at Suzhou), the rest are persons under quarantine. 1 domestic confirmed & 17 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 61 active domestic confirmed & 186 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 9 sites at Nantong, 4 at Suqian, & 1 each at Lianyungang & Taizhou are currently at High Risk. 46 sites at Taizhou, 37 at Nantong, 14 at Xuzhou, 9 at Suqian, & 2 at Nanjing are currently at Medium Risk.
Zhejiang Province reported 3 new domestic confirmed (all previously asymptomatic) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic (both at Jiaxing) cases. No cases from the community. 7 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the counts of active domestic positive cases.
Fujian Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic (at Sanming) & 56 new domestic asymptomatic (51 at Fuzhou, 4 at Nanping, & 1 at Putian) cases. 2 were found via community screening (both at Fuzhou), & 1 came from out of province & tested positive via voluntary testing (at Putian), the rest are persons under quarantine or movement control. 5 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 16 active domestic confirmed & 86 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. 2 sites at Fuzhou are currently at Medium Risk.
Jiangxi Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic (at Shangrao) case, coming from out of province & tested positive upon arrival. 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 13 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Sichuan Province reported 4 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic, 2 at Chengdu & 1 at Meishan, & a person transferred from out of province to unspecified location) & 57 new domestic asymptomatic (49 at Guangyuan & 7 at Nanchong, & a person transferred from out of province to unspecified location) cases. 2 of the new domestic positive cases were found via screening of persons deemed at risk of exposure (1 each at Guangyuan & Nanchong), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown, or came from out of province & tested positive upon arrival. 25 domestic confirmed & 53 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the counts of active domestic positive cases. 19 sites at Nanchong, 17 at Guangyuan, 4 at Luzhou, & 1 at Chengdu are currently at High Risk. 23 sites at Nanchong, 6 at Guangyuan, & 1 each at Chengdu, Luzhou & Yibin are currently at Medium Risk.
Chongqing Municipality reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Yongchuan District) & 12 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Yongchuan District) cases, none from the community. 17 domestic confirmed & 18 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 86 active domestic confirmed & 164 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 10 sites are currently at High Risk, & 14 at Medium Risk.
Guizhou Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Guiyang) case, not from the community. 7 domestic confirmed & 16 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 14 active domestic confirmed & 68 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. All areas of the province are now at Low Risk.
Qinghai Province reported 32 new domestic asymptomatic (14 at Xining, 10 at Haidong, & 4 each at Haibei & Yulshul Prefectures) cases. 5 were found via community screening (all at Haidong), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown, or came from elsewhere & tested positive upon arrival. There currently are 87 active asymptomatic cases in the province. 63 sites at Xining, 24 at Haidong, & 4 at Haibei Prefecture are currently at High Risk. 53 sites at Xining, 25 at Haidong, & 1 at Haibei Prefecture are currently at Medium Risk.
Tibet “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic confirmed (1 at Lhasa) & 5 new domestic asymptomatic (4 at Lhasa & 1 at Nagqu) cases, none from the community. 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. The region is no longer publishing the count of active domestic positive cases.
Yunnan Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed (both at Dehong Prefecture) & 31 new domestic asymptomatic (29 at Dehong Prefecture & 2 at Honghe Prefecture) cases. 1 was found via community screening (at Honghe Prefecture), the rest are persons under quarantine or lockdown, or came from elsewhere & tested positive upon arrival. 15 domestic confirmed & 54 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The province is not publishing the counts of active domestic positive cases. 48 sites at Dehong Prefecture & 2 at Honghe Prefecture are currently at High Risk. 49 sites at Dehong Prefecture & 7 at Honghe Prefecture are currently at Medium Risk.
Imported Cases
On 10/24, Mainland China reported 41 new imported confirmed cases (7 previously asymptomatic), 146 imported asymptomatic cases, & 0 imported suspect cases:
Overall in Mainland China, 376 confirmed cases recovered (54 imported), 1,043 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (112 imported) & 19 were reclassified as confirmed cases (7 imported), & 56,475 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 3,654 active confirmed cases in the country (592 imported), 18 in serious/critical condition (all domestic), 15,096 active asymptomatic cases (1,070 imported), 0 suspect cases. 468,367 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine. There have been 5,226 total COVID-19 deaths to date.
As of 10/24, 3,439.087M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 94K doses in the past 24 hrs.
As of 10/24, Hong Kong reported 5,221 new positive cases, 454 imported & 4,767 domestic, & 10 new deaths. There have been 10,343 total COVID-19 deaths to date.
On 10/24, Taiwan added 39,203 new positive cases, 55 imported & 39,148 domestic (including 53 moderate or serious). There were 42 new deaths (from 50+ to 90+ y.o., 39 w/ underlying conditions, actual dates of death range from 6/6 – 10/22, 9 fully vaccinated & boosted). There have been 12,410 total COVID-19 deaths to date.
Scout211
A new study was recently published that tells us what we already knew. But now there’s a study with results. Link
Suzanne
@Soprano2:
I get sick of this framing, too, because it’s lazy. Yesterday on the thread about housing policy, someone suggested something (very sensible) about bike infrastructure and said, “It’s easy, we just have to have the political will to do it”.
Then it isn’t easy. My entire career would be totally different if I didn’t have to consider other people’s often totally irrational, stupid, ill-informed, maybe even bordering on toxic or malevolent desires when trying to advance a common project. Herding cats is a hard thing to do. Making decisions about allocation of scarce resources is a hard thing to do. Balancing competing priorities and interests is a hard thing to do.
What also chaps my ass is that usually these statements are followed shortly thereafter with some sort of imperious sneer implying that the person encouraging caution/pragmatism just doesn’t have enough intelligence/futuristic vision, is insufficiently dedicated to the common project, or, worse, is secretly conservative or a bad person in some way.
Baud
@Suzanne:
👍
ETA: it’s the cult of the savvy. It always kills us.
Soprano2
@Matt McIrvin: The nice thing about Jazzercise is no mirrors, and no judgement. It’s for anyone at any level of ability. They have 3 lb hand weights if that’s all you can use.
Soprano2
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m the same way. I used to belong to a gym, but without the routine of a regular class my attendance was hit and miss.
Soprano2
@catclub: Yes, IMHO it’s always been the best way to know what the level of covid is in your community because it detects all the cases in your community, not just the people who actually got tested. Everyone pees!
Baud
@Soprano2:
I pee in bottles precisely to avoid the deep surveillance state.
NotMax
@Suzanne
“The gift shop generates more immediate revenue than does the emergency room. Why don’t we take a chunk of the latter and double the size of the former?”
New Deal democrat
@catclub: “Is ‘Biobot’ what I think it is? Sampling sewage streams for covid particles? delightful.”
Yes it is. And it’s the best way to measure *actual* cases, since at-home self-testing has been the norm for nearly a year.
NotMax
@Baud
Waterford, Swarovski or Lalique?
:)
Soprano2
Yep. In my city there will be a line on our ballot for us to vote on whether a certain parcel of land in a certain area of the city can be zoned for a certain kind of use, because the people in the neighborhood are angry that a developer wants to build offices and apartments on a parcel that’s on a busy street. The neighborhood association wants single family (!) housing or maybe duplexes, but definitely no apartments (evidently there has been a lot of talk on the neighborhood FB page about the type of people who live in apartments, how they are not desirable) and no businesses of any kind. It’s insane that we are actually voting about zoning, something 99 out of 100 voters don’t know anything about. I’ll be voting “hell no we shouldn’t even be deciding this!”. All because the people in the neighborhood don’t want apartments there. My stance is that if they’re that determined, then they should pool their money and buy the land themselves so they can do whatever they want with it.
New Deal democrat
@Matt McIrvin: “One of those articles said something about COVID being less obviously seasonal than flu (as an obstacle to going to a yearly booster), but based on the past couple of years’ experience, I’m not sure that’s true at all.”
Covid does appear to display seasonality. The difference is that it does not disappear during the “off” season. It just surges to higher levels during the “high” season (when indoor social activities are at their peak).
Soprano2
@New Deal democrat: IMHO wastewater testing has always been the best way to measure Covid because of all the asymptomatic cases. Our local surveillance shows the levels are the lowest they’ve been ever right now.
raven
@HinTN: Yea, when. we were in the heat of it I was snarfing “frozen yogurt and chocolate sauce” and Dr Pepper and stopped all of it. We’ve been “intermittent fasting” for three months and it hasn’t done shit. I am religious about eating before and offshore trip so that’s done for this week.
YY_Sima Qian
@Matt McIrvin: At this point I would say China’s vaccine policy is definitely among the worst in the world, despite managing to fully vaccinate > 90% of the total population & boosting > 65%. The failure to import mRNA vaccines is part of it, as well as failure to ramp up availability of domestic mRNA or inhalable vaccines. However, I think the much bigger failure is not rolling out regular update schedule for the vulnerable population. The majority of the 65% of elders who are fully vaccinated & boosted had their last shot early a year ago, w/ a less effective vaccine.
I do think the China’s “Dynamic COVID Zero” is nearing the end of the road. The Chinese government is not willing to bear the socio-economic cost of taking the measures necessary to ensure elimination of every single Omicron outbreak ASAP. Therefore, in places where the local government has low governing capacity it takes a long time to suppress an outbreak, & there is a rebound as soon as restrictions are loosened. We are seeing this in Xinjiang, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, etc. Cordon sanitaire around regions w/ active outbreaks are no longer hermetically tight, so regions that do successfully eliminate their Omicron outbreaks keep getting introductions from elsewhere that seed new clusters. Due to some of the excessively onerous requirements that some local jurisdictions place on visitors from elsewhere (mandatory centralized quarantine out of one’s own pocket, even if coming from Low Risk areas), there is perversely lower compliance wrt notifying local community offices of one’s arrival & follow up periodic testing. Lower compliance causes more clusters.
Then there are the townships & counties that lockdown everything for 14 days when a single case is introduced from elsewhere, in direct contravention to national level guidelines. Unnecessary socio-economic disruption.
The tight rope is increasing more difficult to walk for China, as variants become ever more transmissive, & COVID-19 becomes endemic at high prevalence in the rest of the world. & we are heading toward winter. Certainly loosening restrictions going into winter is a terrible idea. However, China would be in better position, for when “Dynamic COVID Zero” inevitably becomes unviable, if everyone has received booster shots in the last couple of months, even if using the same inactivated whole virion vaccines.
NotMax
@New Deal democrat
YMMV but wold prefer to use the term seasonal opportunism rather than assigning a definitive COVID season as we do for hurricanes.
Suzanne
@Baud: @NotMax: One way that you can tell that most people — progressives and liberals included — do not spend much meaningful time around people who aren’t like them in some critical way is that they cannot fathom why someone would oppose insert totally obvious thing here. Like the discussion about bike lanes, duh, of course it’s totally easy to remove a lane of car traffic to turn it into a protected bike lane. From an engineering and construction standpoint, yes, it’s easy and cheap and fast.
But the honest truth is that lots of people love driving because they don’t want to spend time exercising or sharing space with potentially yucky other people, they like their cars a lot, and they are willing to accept a certain number of cyclist and driver deaths to maintain that element of their lifestyle. And before we call them assholes about it, we all accept a certain amount of risk for ourselves and for others in everything we do. But lots of progressives and liberals are urbanists and they don’t understand that some people really love driving and that cities like Phoenix and Houston and Jacksonville exist the way they do because some people love that shit. Their aesthetic preferences are just as real as yours. And you need their buy-in before you remove that traffic lane, so best of luck with that.
Re: the COVID vaccine in China, the people that live there have an entirely different view of themselves in relation to a larger whole. And you cannot get an effective lockdown in the absence of that. I would be willing to bet that most of us would rather have lived in the US rather than in China, if not during the pandemic itself, certainly most of the rest of the time. So it’s for good and for bad.
Matt McIrvin
@catclub:
Yep! It’s great because there’s absolutely no reliance on self-administration of tests. Everybody poops.
The one thing to watch out for is that if you try to compare rates with very early counts from before Omicron showed up, it’s misleading because an infected person pooped out way fewer virus particles back then. So there’s an exaggeration of the difference in infectiousness between variants. But it’s a great way to see trends emerging long before they show up in case or hospital or death rates.
Also, obviously they can’t cover communities without municipal sewage–they’re not sampling anyone’s septic tank.
The results published on Biobot’s site have a delay, but some places push out theirs earlier. Massachusetts actually has a count from my town’s individual sewage treatment plant that they put out in their weekly report. It’s up right now–I think BQ.1.x and BF.7 are hitting us noticeably.
Sure Lurkalot
As for exercise, I used to Jazzercize and go to other studio classes, enjoying the socializing aspect. Then work became more demanding so I set up a small area in the basement with a TV for videos, weights, resistance bands, step and ball. Also have a stationary bike (used sporadically).
I think going to a studio for classes and not machines may have made the transition to home easier. I missed the people at first but loved the time saving aspect of a workout in the basement. And since I live in Colorado where there’s generally nice weather, I do as much walking and cycling outside as I can.
So, it is possible to get good workouts without a gym…just add motivation (often harder than the routine), though of course a pool for exercise is beyond the reach of most.
Unfortunately, suffered a bad ankle sprain (not by exercise) and I’m thinking of getting a rower some time in the future. Would love any recommendations!
Suzanne
@Sure Lurkalot: The Hydrow is supposed to be awesome, but it’s expensive. I think there’s a Peloton rower, which might be good if you want the classes/content. Maybe look for a used one?
I know it’s dumb, but I really do like the Peloton bike. There’s so much content and I can fit it into whenever I have time.
Soprano2
@Suzanne: If I could realistically take public transport to my job I would (it would take me an hour on our bus to get here when I can drive in 5 minutes!), but biking most of the year is impossible because I would be a mess when I got here, and I don’t want to have to leave an hour early just to make myself presentable, and that isn’t considering the days when it rains. Most of the city I live in is made for cars, not bikes or pedestrians. People can be mad about that all they want, but it’s the way it is.
Matt McIrvin
@Suzanne: I think we often overemphasize judging people for individual consumer choices when policy choices are the things that really make enduring change. But the two interact with each other, especially in a democracy.
Driving vs. public transit, for instance–driving is almost always a vastly better experience than public transit for Americans, but it’s because American public transit specifically sucks dead donkeys through a straw, and that’s because it’s horribly underfunded, and that’s because most people prefer driving because the experience of public transit sucks so bad, to the extent that most people can’t even imagine that it could be good. It’s a real vicious cycle.
(Most Americans, for instance, cannot even conceive that there could be places where there’s a train every 2 minutes, so you don’t have to plan ahead or wait half an hour on a freezing platform to make a connection. That just doesn’t happen where they live, even if they live in a large city where it could reasonably be done.)
Ken
The one recommendation I remember for exercise equipment is to get something that has a small footprint when you fold it up, so that you’re not wasting valuable storage space when you stop using it.
The Moar You Know
@catclub: Not just COVID. The prototype was installed in VA in 2004, looking for illicit drugs.
It’s also how they caught the recent polio outbreak in NYC
As an early warning system for disease outbreaks, nothing beats it.
Suzanne
@Soprano2: The biking-to-work thing always confused me, too. Like, women’s office attire doesn’t lend itself to biking. Being sweaty at work is not okay.
@Matt McIrvin: I am not going to lie, the worst part of public transit is the other people. The getting-hit-on or inappropriate sexual comments, the people who shout and are visibly intoxicated, the people cornering you and asking for money when you can’t get away, etc. I take public transit often, but I also get why people don’t like it, and I don’t love taking my kids on it.
Matt McIrvin
@Suzanne: Yes–also, granted, in most parts of the US the canonical experience of driving is not pushing through a 90-minute-long continuous traffic jam full of homicidal Boston drivers, which is what it is for me.
Soprano2
@The Moar You Know: I’ve seen stuff in industry magazines where they can monitor subbasins of the sewer to see where drug usage is highest in cities. There’s a lot that can be done with wastewater monitoring.
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2: Cycling advocacy has some specific problems in that it seems like many proponents put an immense moral value on being a fit 26-year-old. Using a bicycle is great for your health and for the environment, but it has obvious accessibility issues and the community has a nasty streak of ageism and fat-phobia.
And god forbid you knock them for running down pedestrians–you just don’t understand, cars are so much deadlier, what about what about what about?
On the one hand, I share their goals, on the other, there are issues.
Layer8Problem
@Matt McIrvin: You’ve triggered my eye twitch, in Pike and/or Expressway.
lowtechcyclist
@Soprano2:
Damn, there really needs to be a way to vote for that.
Not just for the zoning stuff that you brought up, but also around here, our ballot includes offices like Clerk of the Court, Recorder of Deeds, Register of Wills, Judge of the Orphans’ Court, and a number of other ‘how the hell would an average member of the public have a clue of how well they’re doing their jobs, or even what doing a good or bad job would entail?’ offices.
Most of them are officially partisan offices, too, so I’ll be voting D automatically, but still, how would a Dem record the deeds differently from a Rethug? It’s a mystery.
Suzanne
@Matt McIrvin: Before I worked from home, I fought a 75-minute-each-way commute of crazy people on the road, too, so I get it.
But I really think the need to control bad behavior aspect is underrated. Like, the last step of making an effective system is the hardest: getting people to want to use it. Whatever new system you design has to be better than the status quo. So if you are trying to get people out of their cars and onto their bikes or onto a bus or a train….what are you doing to make that experience better than driving? The perception of not being safe is a huge, huge hurdle.
Soprano2
@lowtechcyclist: We vote on Public Administrator, which for the people who don’t know is the person who administers the estates of people who die without having anyone to do that for them. Back in 2016 the Republicans put a person on the ballot for the job who couldn’t even get bonded, and because of straight ticket voting that person won! She had to be disqualified and never even took office; the previous officeholder, who was a Democrat, took the job instead. Why are we voting for this, how do I know who’s qualified for it? I agree, there are lots of things we vote on that we really shouldn’t.
Soprano2
@Suzanne: I wish we could do bike lanes like they do in Europe – they are completely separate from the car traffic, so they are much safer. I would be afraid to ride a bike on any major road around here. Cars have been known to run bikers off the road deliberately.
lowtechcyclist
@Soprano2: So much depends on the local culture. I’ve been riding the back roads of southern Anne Arundel and northern Calvert counties here in Maryland for the past 20+ years, and never once have I felt unsafe due to automobile traffic.
Before that, I lived in Bristol for five years, down on the VA/TN state line, and I’d have been taking my life into my hands to ride the back roads there.
Suzanne
@Soprano2: Agreed. People here in PGH mostly drive more moderately, but in PHX, I would absolutely never ride a bike on an arterial roadway. I lost a former colleague/friend earlier this year, when she was biking on a large road in Scottsdale.
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2: The bike infrastructure in the Netherlands is just amazing. I would totally commute by bicycle everywhere if I lived there.
(Bikes have a behavior/crime problem too, though–it’s absolutely trivial to steal them and they’re extremely difficult to secure. One way to approach it is to just use a worthless junker as your commute vehicle.)
Ruckus
I was born before the polio vaccine was available, the only vaccine at the time was for smallpox. I’ve seen what a lot of diseases do to people and anyone my age or older should understand that vaccines save lives. They won’t save every life – it doesn’t work that way, but it does save a hell of a lot of them.
I know someone my age who had polio and it has 3 major stages. 1st is getting it and it’s initial action is to basically either disable your leg(s) or your lungs. 2nd is attempting to recover from that, legs were helped, braces/crutches worked somewhat. Lungs required breathing help – an iron lung for some hours a day. (An iron lung is a large steel tube that pressurizes and forces air into your lungs – not a lot of fun) 3rd stage is that your affected muscles atrophy. If it was legs, you are wheel chair bound, if it’s lungs you die or live in an iron lung till you die. No one is left with polio in the lungs. People in wheel chairs still are alive, I know one.
The point of this story is that we have had vaccines for so long for most of the things that kill/massively disable you/make you and everyone else feel like shit for a long time and can shorten your life, no longer do and many people alive today have zero idea what it’s like to live in a world that can kill/maim so easily. We have belts and air bags in cars/crash zones and protective beams to dissipate damage. We have vaccines to stop pandemics, or what was considered normal life at one time. We had Roe v Wade protection for 50 yrs for women. Not much we can do for a new disease that is so easily passable – oh wait, we had vaccines that worked well in about a year. People who want life to go backwards because none of these things were around 100 or 500 or 2000 yrs ago, so they shouldn’t today either. They don’t want advancement they want to live in biblical times. They should all go live on a deserted island with no food, shelter, jobs, banks, life to find out what that was like and leave the rest of us alone, to actually live in now.
Ruckus
@Baud:
That must be some collection!
I do not want to see it or know any more!
StringOnAStick
The city we moved to has a strong push for more bike accessibility, and that is one of the things we put in the “pro” column when we were making our decision; we didn’t have to move from our old state, we chose to. Over the past two years, E bikes have exploded here and I see them daily, including some set up to be their grocery haulers. Winter is coming and it has suddenly changed to cold and wet, so I will be watching to see how much they use them in the winter. E bikes are still strictly forbidden from all the USFS land mountain biking trails, and I hope it stays that way.
As I get older, on really hot days it gets harder to motivate to use my people powered bike because I know I have a long, steep hill exposed to the sun all afternoon in order to get back home. I could see having a pedal-assist E bike for doing errands in the near future.
sdhays
@HinTN: I had never heard of it before either, and your response made me curious. According to English Stack Exchange:
Bruce K in ATH-GR
For those who’ve felt muscle pains after vaccination: is it normal for the muscle pain to be present three weeks after getting vaccinated? I’ve got those now, and a persistent cough since my bivalent booster (Pfizer BA45) at the beginning of October. I’ve consistently tested negative, including a negative test from a laboratory yesterday.
Ruckus
@Matt McIrvin:
The Los Angeles train and bus systems work reasonably well except for being slower than non rush hour traffic is. Rush hours here in SoCal can be 7-10am and 3-7pm so it often is no slower by the rapid transit system. I have 2 different trains to downtown LA, the diesel train stop is about a 1/4 mile from my home, the all electric is 2 1/2 miles but is significantly cheaper and runs more often, every 12 minutes during the day. I often have to travel 45 miles across town and the all electric and a bus gets me there within about 10 minutes of normal driving and I have driven this at an average of 25 miles/hr in traffic. The trains are always pretty full in the daytime. Because it’s cheaper, as gas here is still about $5.29/gal up to $5.89/gal. It has come down nearly a dollar/gal over the last month.
Chris T.
@Matt McIrvin:
I worked for a San Jose startup for a bit, in an office building set up to accomodate bikers: there was a shower in the men’s room. I didn’t bike there (much too far away) but one of the guys who did was hugely fat, so while there might be ageism and fat-phobia involved, it can be done. I think having bike-friendly offices as an option is a good thing. It was pretty rare though, as none of the other offices I worked at (either in SJ or much closer) were bike-friendly.