South Korea: Test and trace that makes what the Mandalorian uses look like a 1998 flip phone.
USA: Sneeze guards. Big ones. Lots of'em.— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) May 28, 2020
the coronavirus has reached its kill limit! we're safe again! https://t.co/QVmGuai6A1
— James "Stay In. Make Masks. Test People" Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) May 29, 2020
Follow @Reuters liveblog for the latest developments around the coronavirus outbreak https://t.co/cEBwkoEQ5P pic.twitter.com/M6RENxeOWh
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 29, 2020
Politico: In at least a dozen states, officials have altered #COVID19 testing or mortality data. https://t.co/aZ7eOUmJQm
— Matthew Jacob (@mattindctweets) May 29, 2020
A less-than-cheering thread:
Let's talk "herd immunity" & #COVID19 :no country is getting there simply by letting the virus spread. Sweden — the most radical case — has only achieved abt 30% infection, and even that is only in Stockholm. NYC w/largest urban epid in world = 16%.
MOREhttps://t.co/py0jE0AE70— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) May 27, 2020
2/ The only hope is mass #vaccination for #COVID19 to get >90% of the population immunized. That should stop #SARSCoV2 in a country like US.
But new poll shows only 50% of Americans willing to get a vaccine when it's available.
So, NO herd immunity.
MOREhttps://t.co/qZDP6Ch5q1— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) May 27, 2020
China reports no new coronavirus cases for May 28 https://t.co/iQaWcXnfJA pic.twitter.com/K79YfPPIlc
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 29, 2020
“The Chinese CDC has ruled out the market as a possible origin site for the outbreak. Instead, it may have been the site of an early super-spreader event.” https://t.co/lTp333ToKZ
— David Wallace-Wells (@dwallacewells) May 29, 2020
This is a great thread and something I've been thinking about a lot. Discussion about novel virus emergence often implicates an obvious culprit (wildlife trade, research labs), but historically this isn't really correct. Emergence is often a case of unfortunate coincidence. https://t.co/oN9hxFZrUd
— Dr. Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen) May 28, 2020
Even more troubling, this need to assign blame for pathogen emergence gets really racist really fast. Why is wild game hunted in Africa referred to as "bush meat" rather than wild game? Why don't we refer to venison from deer or elk in North America as "bush meat"?
— Dr. Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen) May 28, 2020
Inside a COVID-19 hospital in India, doctors see no end in sight https://t.co/gnQbYqjzNi pic.twitter.com/vm2q2po8EW
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 29, 2020
Hospitals in Indonesia’s second largest city of Surabaya have been overwhelmed by a surge of new #coronavirus cases, forcing them to turn patients away? https://t.co/4uaVlol2Tz
— Andreas Harsono (@andreasharsono) May 29, 2020
Coronavirus: How Turkey took control of Covid-19 emergency https://t.co/vuYeSy10jl
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 28, 2020
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is relaxing a lockdown in the country’s epicenter of coronavirus infections, in a tightrope move as the economy weakens and the government spends money to help feed millions of poor families restricted to their homes.
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 29, 2020
Russia's coronavirus outbreak worsens with 8,371 new infections in the past 24 hours https://t.co/4HLAyIfODm pic.twitter.com/1pxToDJnlW
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 28, 2020
Moscow more than doubles city's Covid-19 death toll https://t.co/ckBJXTaxNF
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 28, 2020
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov 'healthy' after coronavirus scare https://t.co/I9yfRZt1ME
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 28, 2020
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 741 to 180,458: RKI https://t.co/aPs5JtvkzC pic.twitter.com/5z59Te0dqn
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 29, 2020
French coronavirus cases jump by 3,325 due to better tracking https://t.co/uwePBxJrzu pic.twitter.com/MyVrn6dgFh
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 29, 2020
Brazil registers record 26,417 coronavirus cases in a day: ministry https://t.co/fvcbmUBmcN pic.twitter.com/gbzTR5AFdd
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 29, 2020
Most states in Brazil are prohibiting large gatherings in their efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus, forcing many couples to put off traditional wedding ceremonies. Some, though, are seeking out alternatives. https://t.co/uxf7hVjion
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 29, 2020
Until recently the #COVID19 #pandemic levelled its worst tolls in rich countries. Awful as it has been, the worst is yet to come, as the #coronavirus hits the world's poorest countries — like war-torn #Yemen . https://t.co/QIicvNWWJm
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) May 28, 2020
?New @WHO guidance on protecting vulnerable people in long term care:
“In countries with community transmission of COVID-19, over 40% of total confirmed COVID-19 deaths occur in long-term care facilities, and in some cases, this is closer to 60%.” https://t.co/iWu8qaPCjL— Ed Belongia MD (@EdBelongia) May 28, 2020
Bulgarian scientists studying whether the 100 yr/old TB vax might guard against #SARSCoV2. Bulgaria is a major manufacturer of BCG —Bacillus Calmette-Guerin. Bulgarians have a high rate of BCG vaccination & say that may explain their low rate of #COVID19 https://t.co/GwhYoQAMuV pic.twitter.com/06Ml1RF0bb
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 28, 2020
New research shows how dangerous the coronavirus is for current and former cancer patients.https://t.co/Sej2WW2HW8
— AP Health & Science (@APHealthScience) May 28, 2020
The pandemic has upended international travel and some organ and tissue transplant services have been forced to get creative to ensure their deliveries. One courier for an Israeli bone marrow registry crisscrosses the Atlantic, sleeping in empty airports. https://t.co/zipBNm9Ree
— AP Middle East (@APMiddleEast) May 29, 2020
Shocking/not-shocking: In a study of a SF census tract, 95% of people who tested positive for #Covid19 were Latinx. “Our community was out working, keeping the city moving & fed. Of course they were more exposed and getting sick.” @ushamcfarling reports. https://t.co/CGzKA9icZ7
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) May 28, 2020
New York City has been locked down and shut off for more than 2 months. And yet, somehow, tens of thousands of people are still contracting the coronavirus, in the city and across the entire region. https://t.co/pPGbMJnhv5
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 28, 2020
.@CDCgov tries to protect church goers from practices that can spread #Covid19 by urging suspension of choirs, which have been shown to spread virus if a singer is infected. WH tells CDC to take it out. https://t.co/aoMXtSINOU
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) May 29, 2020
Two weeks after Wisconsin Supreme Court scraps 'Safer at Home,' the state sets record for new #coronavirus cases & deaths https://t.co/ZqlDm3etKF via @madison_365
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) May 28, 2020
it's not an unreasonable conclusion: if *all* that stuff is necessary to make offices safe, maybe… offices aren't safe https://t.co/IRpacHOV0e
— Gerry Doyle (@mgerrydoyle) May 29, 2020
The Boston Marathon has been canceled for the first time in its 124-year history. It had earlier been postponed from April to September.
Organizers plan a “virtual event” instead.
by @jgolen >> https://t.co/2orAKSvTHO pic.twitter.com/JrK7TfAbjJ
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) May 28, 2020
Emma
Agree with Dr. Rasmussen about “bush meat.” In a similar vein, just call wet markets “markets.”
And I’m definitely not a CCP fan, but I can’t wait for the crazies to immediately scream about how they’re lying about the Wuhan market not being the origin. Little bit toooo invested in blaming certain people, ifyouknowwhatImeanandyoucertainlydo…
YY_Sima Qian
@Emma: CTists will simply take this as further evidence that it was from the WIV lab, after all!
Calouste
@Emma: I’ve always understood that “bushmeat” was the local term used in Africa, or at least in some English-speaking parts of Africa.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily numbers*: a whopping 103 new cases — ten times as many as yesterday — mostly foreign workers including 53 Bangladeshi workers, and 24 janitorial workers of unspecified nationality whose employer took the initiative to get them tested. 12 Malaysians from local infections, seven imported infections. Total 7,732 cases.
66 more patients recovered, total 6,235 recovered or 80.64% of all cases. Of 1,382 active cases, eight are in ICU of whom two are on ventilators. No new deaths, total still at 115. Infection fatality rate 1.51%, case fatality rate 1.81%.
DG of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah noted that infection among Malaysians is still low; the concern now is for foreign workers who live in crowded dormitories, where it is hard to practise good hygiene and social distancing. Dr Noor Hisham says a multi-agency effort will be needed to tackle this issue of crowded accommodations, which would help not only with Covid-19 but also with other infectious diseases.
*Today’s link is from the Health Ministry, the source for Worldometer’s Malaysian numbers.
WereBear
I thought it was a tenet of epidemiology that the once common practice of essentially “living in the barn with your farm animals” increased the transmission between species.
Ebola was connected to a certain cave where many kinds of animals, including bats, had coated the interior with their bodies and dung, mixed with abundant fungus spores.
And the 1918 Pandemic started in Kansas: though the Great War spread it globally.
Amir Khalid
@Calouste:
True. But it seems to have acquired a less than positive connotation in other places, like the term “wet market” has among non-Asians. Bush meat is the same thing as wild game, and should really be called wild game by non-Africans.
Amir Khalid
The White House’s censorship of CDC’s advice to churches is a malicious act against churchgoing Americans — who this November will not have forgotten, I hope, that Trump doesn’t care if they live or die as long as he thinks he has avoided looking bad.
YY_Sima Qian
@Amir Khalid: American politics is so polarized and irrational that 40+% percent of Americans will continue to fervently support Trump because he allows them to vocalize their hate and fear of the “Other”, legitimize their nativism and racism, and engender a blind loyalty one normally associates with fanatics of sports teams. Owning the opposing side has become the objective.
That is why I have no patience for any American politician’s jingoistic sermonizing about how great and exceptional USA is, how the American led world order must be defended at all costs. Want to prevail over the CCP regime in an ideological contest? Demonstrate to the world, and the average Chinese, that American style democracy is functional, competent, and largely humane; be that shining city on the hill, object of desire, envy and hope; show that it is still capable of extraordinary feats, and capable of organizing international cooperation at confluence of mutual interests.
Mere assertions fall on deaf ears now outside of the US, but we sure will hear a lot of it during the Presidential campaign.
charon
@YY_Sima Qian:
“American Exceptionalism” is based on the notion that God favors the U.S. because (supposedly, according to right-wing Christian lore, not true) U.S. founded on Judeo-Christian values. The implication is that Christianity should get preferential treatment asthe reason U.S. has it so good
As with much other Christian dog-whistling, a lot of people are oblivious to the secret code.
Bruce K
Welp. Greece has announced a list of 29 countries from which it will allow tourists in without two-week quarantines, starting June 15. (source)
To my utter lack of surprise, the United States is not on that list.
Jinchi
I think the problem is that we’ve currently got a president who is desperate for a miracle cure, willing to cut corners to get one, and doesn’t particularly care if a vaccine is “safe and effective”.
Get us a president who isn’t mulling over injecting bleach and those numbers will go up.
Jinchi
I agree. But “American exceptionalism”, like “America First”, isn’t meant to prevail in a contest for international opinion. It’s supposed to be offensive to foreigners. It has one target: right-wing American voters. Nobody else matters to the people who use those arguments.
YY_Sima Qian
@Bruce K: Neither are the UK and Sweden. Nevertheless, Greece is taking a tremendous risk. Many of the countries on the list do not have COVID-19 fully suppressed, yet. I suppose the Greek economy relies too much on tourism.
ThresherK
As someone who’s volunteered at maybe ten Boston Marathons (but not for a few years because of my schedule), Marathon Monday passed by this year and I didn’t even notice it at the time*. Didn’t know it was postponed. I just already figured it was cancelled and I’m not surprised they officially did so.
(*That’s part of the world we live in now, given how seasonal things aren’t happening the way they used to.)
Bruce K
@YY_Sima Qian: Wasn’t that long ago that Grexit was the prevailing term, not Brexit, and it was about Greece being thrown out of the EU because of its economic dire straits. I suspect they’re opening for tourism for much the same reason they locked down hard and early: the social safety net doesn’t have enough slack to absorb a massive shock.
Soprano2
Some good news from here in Springfield; so far 42 of the people who went to the infected hairdresser have tested negative for COVID. If this continues, and no one or only one or two people got it, that might increase mask usage here.
As for those people who say they won’t take a vaccine, let this go on another year and then ask. I suspect the number will be higher, plus if we get Trump out and Biden in his leadership will increase people’s confidence, too. He won’t be encouraging people to take some bogus “miracle cure”.
I can’t believe the Trump administration wants to kill more people who go to church; that’s all I can conclude from them asking the CDC to remove the information about choirs. It appears that singing in a choir is one of the most dangerous things you can do right now. Why would you encourage people you think will vote for you to do that? I cannot understand the way they think. Lots of magical, wishful thinking there – “If we think the bad virus can’t get us, it won’t be able to” seems to be the logic.
charon
@Jinchi:
Like a shibboleth to proclaim “I am a right-winger, part of the tribe, are you?”
YY_Sima Qian
Exclamations of American Exceptionalism is fully bi-partisan, and by now a de rigueur trope of American politics. Even Obama paid homage frequently, though it was much less grating to the ear in his eloquent and vigorous baritone, and he tried to weave it in hopeful universal themes, and on one occasion even acknowledged that every nation considers itself exceptional (and caught hell for it for weeks). Yes, the modern Republicans tend to see American Exceptionalism in hegemonic, nationalist and imperialist terms, while more Democrats are drawn toward neoliberalism and liberal internationalism. However, even for the latter, the taken for granted American superiority is never far below the surface. Now, in the age of Trump and COVID-19, populism is ascendant across the spectrum. China bashing is about the only subject the two Party can agree on.
Don’t get me wrong, I will be voting D only come Election Day (or rather, I will be mailing in my absentee ballot ahead of time), if only to vote against the Rs, and there are a number of Democratic politicians at the national and regional levels that I actually admire.
sdhays
I’m so old I remember when Russia was trying to claim super resistance to COVID-19 due to their ancient TB vaccine. That doesn’t seem to have worked out so well for them. I wonder why Bulgaria still thinks that’s a valid hypothesis.
charon
@YY_Sima Qian
Maybe some conflict avoidance (not being the angry black man) or reaching across the isle.
You may find it bi=partisan, I find it grating.
RAM
@Calouste: You’re right. Just like bush tea (which is pretty good, by the way), bush meat is not a pejorative in Africa, but is instead a local descriptor.
Kattails
Anne Laurie, thank you once again for the efforts you put into compiling these posts. Extremely helpful. They want to reopen the store I worked at, I’ve been on a LOA stay at home with the occasional careful foray out. I really do not feel safe going back if they won’t mandate mask wearing for customers. Not sure I’ll feel or be safe even then, but that’s kind of a minimum. Seeing the testing (lack of) data, the falsification of data, is so disheartening, and I would certainly be exposed to out of staters over the next several months of tourist season.
I’ve been entertaining myself with the notion of walking into a no-mask store bare assed, or no shoes to be a bit less crude, and when someone objects ask why this is different from wearing a mask during a pandemic. You can mandate “no shoes, no shirt, no service” and btw we all assume no pants/skirt is included. We do not see mass actions over our right to go buck naked and shoeless. FFS.
J R in WV
@WereBear:
Hmmm. I dunno about that. I do know that my Swiss forefathers, specifically a G-G-(maybe another great)-Uncle lived in a house where downstairs was for the goat herd in wintertime, and his family lived upstairs. In the summertime, everyone lived up in the meadows, everyone being him and the goats. Made cheese, most probably.
This would have been 1800s, GGrandpa came over in 1890.
r€nato
same reason a white person with money who moves to another country is an expat, while a darker-hued poor person is an immigrant.
DocH
An excellent recent Gastropod podcast examines the bushmeat/game divide: Eating Wild: Bushmeat, Game, and the Fuzzy Line Between Them.