The number of Americans newly diagnosed with the coronavirus is falling — a development experts credit at least partly to increased wearing of masks — even as the outbreak continues to claim nearly 1,000 lives in the U.S. each day. https://t.co/UrzuHd5Dd0
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 25, 2020
In the Western world, the US tops the list at 1290 deaths a day.
Spain is in second place.
At 52.
— Pwn All The Things (@pwnallthethings) August 26, 2020
Sure, ok, let's try this tweet again, but this time scaling up everyone's numbers as if they had the same population as the United States
US: 1290
Germany: 35
UK: 78
Canada: 61Hmm. Still not greathttps://t.co/Cj9k2fuQ59
— Pwn All The Things (@pwnallthethings) August 26, 2020
31 times Trump said the coronavirus would go awayhttps://t.co/fswjvFlRoS pic.twitter.com/bwo2McDfBR
— The Fix (@thefix) August 25, 2020
US Food and Drug Administration chief apologises for overstating benefits of plasma for treating coronavirus patients https://t.co/3BxGeuNOhH
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 25, 2020
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Track the COVID-19 spread ? https://t.co/6kN6yIQ0OL pic.twitter.com/MskrxeIrf3
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 26, 2020
Many countries in the Southern Hemisphere apparently blocked the flu during the pandemic. But there’s no guarantee the Northern Hemisphere will avoid dueling epidemics as its own flu season looms while the coronavirus still rages. https://t.co/Hsn2dVshJX
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 26, 2020
South Korean health officials order thousands of striking doctors to return to work as the country counts its 13th straight day of triple-digit jumps in coronavirus cases. https://t.co/9JwHYPZj1N
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 26, 2020
South Korea closes Seoul schools amid rise in coronavirus cases https://t.co/ODNkqHsB8r
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 25, 2020
Indonesia reports 2,306 new coronavirus infections, 86 deaths https://t.co/AcepskDD1L pic.twitter.com/WcsApoPPG6
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 26, 2020
Coronavirus restrictions 'severely hampering' South Asia flood relief https://t.co/XwdapJgSHT
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 25, 2020
How India's Silicon Valley saw its COVID-19 success come undone https://t.co/BrSnIWlNol by @sachinr27 @derekfrancis089 @tweetsfromnivi pic.twitter.com/csdPf4IIC6
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 26, 2020
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 1,576 to 236,429: RKI https://t.co/9zvGuKLQ3p pic.twitter.com/htPaQOMJjX
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 26, 2020
#UPDATE Spain will call in the army to help identify those who have been exposed to people infected with #coronavirus as part of efforts to curb the spread of the disease, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Tuesday https://t.co/cjaWShlrLN pic.twitter.com/cqskMNFDXU
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 25, 2020
A representative of Lebanon's hospitality sector said Tuesday that service and tourism businesses would defy a newly reinstated coronavirus lockdown that has compounded the crisis-hit country's economic woes https://t.co/z1irHBpuZm
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 25, 2020
Across Africa and elsewhere, local aid workers are exposed on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic with painfully few means to help the vulnerable communities they know so well. https://t.co/GIjvOmMWZn
— AP Africa (@AP_Africa) August 26, 2020
Woman in Australia jailed for six months over quarantine breach https://t.co/XyRNgKZ18R
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 25, 2020
Carnival and coronavouchers: Brazil’s economic struggles https://t.co/Efsr3765Xk
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 26, 2020
"Where did the money go? Nobody knows"
Ingrid dos Santos has no idea who's been receiving the paychecks from her job as a nurse at a COVID-19 field hospital in Rio de Janeiro, but she knows it isn't her https://t.co/cgrua3oeXn pic.twitter.com/fvQFBpv0kn
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 26, 2020
Mexico's confirmed coronavirus cases rise to 568,621, deaths reach 61,450 https://t.co/GCphPHB6Ru pic.twitter.com/gYhDYBxxMz
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 26, 2020
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Most adults with lupus or inflammatory arthritis are not at greater risk of hospitalization from COVID-19, a pair of studies said Tuesday, in what researchers said was reassuring news https://t.co/Y8J7XS7GMD
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 25, 2020
Trial data for the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca’s possible coronavirus vaccine could be given to regulators this year but corners cannot be cut to speed up approval for emergency use, a scientist leading the trials said https://t.co/2R92MsDMDK
— Reuters UK (@ReutersUK) August 26, 2020
Three-quarters of patients who recover from #COVID report long-term effects. 81 of 110 patients were still experiencing breathlessness, fatigue & muscle aches weeks after discharge. Researchers say findings hold "significant implications." Preprint. https://t.co/PY8rh2kAN5 pic.twitter.com/0wazu3820M
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) August 25, 2020
Such a smart piece from @Dereklowe: Phase 3 #Covid19 vaccine results are coming. We all need to be ready for surprises and take some deep breaths.
Headline writers should read this piece. So should everyone else. https://t.co/WlG7krgBvY— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) August 25, 2020
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Texas had >6k new cases today
California had >5k
Florida and Georgia had >2k each
Four other states (IL, NC, MO, VA) had >1k each pic.twitter.com/XGb5g1jmZu— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 26, 2020
Yes, I plan to give this story [caveat: IT’S A PRE-PRINT] its own post, later:
Holy moley: The 2-day Biogen conference in a Boston Marriott in February led to 20,000 cases of coronavirus in the state, including 122 people living or working at homeless shelters, according to a new study. https://t.co/QfVi4fVUgx
— Ellen Barry (@EllenBarryNYT) August 25, 2020
Ohio Republicans draft articles of impeachment against GOP governor over coronavirus orders https://t.co/uOlXYprHlg pic.twitter.com/6KzF0GSDpS
— The Hill (@thehill) August 25, 2020
Universities sound alarm as coronavirus cases emerge just days into classes — 530 at one campus https://t.co/uMAxnQrOZ5
— Chris Mooney (@chriscmooney) August 25, 2020
The University of Alabama, seen as a test case for returning to in-person learning amid the pandemic, has reported close to a thousand positive coronavirus cases since reopening https://t.co/SVZX3kRER1
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 25, 2020
I'm sure @KimReynoldsIA and @joniernst will speak conscientiously about this and the choices they have made thus far that *bursts into laughter* https://t.co/xfOjuZvYdw
— The Cyberpunk Landsknecht (@cakotz) August 25, 2020
Anti-mask confrontations have gotten so bad, the CDC says retailers should install panic buttons https://t.co/39QtXbH96I
— Fast Company (@FastCompany) August 25, 2020
OzarkHillbilly
Coronavirus: “Uhhh, No.”
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily numbers. Six new cases. Five cases from local infection, all Malaysians and all in Kedah: three more cases from the Tawar cluster, which has now accounted for 73 cases so far; one case screened after presenting with severe acute respiratory infection; one case screened after presenting with symptoms. One imported case, a non-Malaysian, arriving from Singapore. The cumulative reported total is 9,291 cases.
Seven more patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 8,978 patients recovered — 96.6% of the cumulative reported total. Active and contagious cases currently being isolated/treated in hospital dipped to 188 patients; nine are in ICU, six of them on respirators.
No new deaths since 31st July, matching Malaysia’s longest period without Covid-19 deaths since the outbreak began. The total remains at 125 deaths, 1.35% of the cumulative reported total and 1.37% of resolved cases.
Mary G
Orange County has been off the state monitoring list for three days, as hospitalizations, number of new cases, and percent positive continue to go in the right direction. If we can get to 14, some limited reopening can happen. Not having school has made people be more serious, I think, though I haven’t seen anything about numbers.
YY_Sima Qian
Yesterday, China reported 0 new domestic confirmed cases and 0 new domestic asymptomatic case, for the 5th day in a row.
In Ürumqi, there are currently 124 confirmed and 44 asymptomatic cases, with 4 cases in serious condition. 36 confirmed cases recovered yesterday and were released from hospitals, 5 asymptomatic cases were released from medical quarantine, 3 serious cases improved to moderate conditions. There are 3,024 close contacts remaining under quarantine and medical observation.
Voices of discontent is definitely rising within Xinjiang, with the authorities’ proclamation of “scientific COVID-19 prevention measures” becoming a joke among the local citizens. Even state media has had to acknowledge and express empathy toward the frustration of residents who have been under Wuhan style lock down for 40 days, despite very few new cases (all asymptomatic) for over a week, and all residents having tested negative on RT-PCR multiple times (those who have tested positive are hospitalized or under medical quarantine). The continued lock down of cities other than Ürumqi is even more difficult to justify.
Western media have linked the draconian counter COVID-19 measures to the suppressive measures taken primarily against Uighurs. It is an understandable, but ultimately myopic, framing in my opinion. Every Ürumqi and Xinjiang resident is suffering from the restrictions, regardless the ethnicity. Han Chinese make up just over 50% of Xinjiang’s population, and 75% of Ürumqi’s population. The voices of dissatisfaction I am reading on Chinese social media, and being cited by western MSM, are all from Han Chinese residents. The massive overreaction, and the fact that the Ürumqi outbreak was slower to peak despite the massive overreaction, to me speaks of lower overall competence of the municipal and regional authorities, who are accustomed to having a free hand implementing excessive blanket policies combating forces deemed a threat by the CCP regime (basically very broad definition of religious extremism, separatism and militancy), and without even a little bit of transparency. They have applied the same principles to combating a public health challenge, and their authoritarian inclinations have never been challenged in the past. Authorities elsewhere in China, as well as the central authority in Beijing, are much more sensitive to the possibility of popular backlash in their policymaking.
At Dalian in Liaoning Province, 4 cases are currently in the hospital. There are 173 close contacts remaining under quarantine.
Yesterday, China reported 15 new imported confirmed cases, 14 imported asymptomatic cases:
Yesterday, Hong Kong reported 24 new cases, all from local transmission, 10 of whom do not have clear source of transmission. Another 10 cases are preliminarily confirmed. The Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region government announced that distancing and restriction measures will start to be relaxed in phases. Dining in is allowed in restaurants and night markets until 9 PM, cinemas and beauty parlors and outdoor exercise areas will be allowed to open, and people do not have to mask when in open outdoor areas. I am rather skeptical about the decision to reopen cinemas and beauty parlors.
rikyrah
Germany- COUNTRY
Has fewer cases than the State of Florida?
NotMax
Worldwide total reported cases currently hovering at 24 million.
U.S. plus Brazil plus India together account for more than 50% of that number.
Caphilldcne
I used to think DeWine (when he was a senator) was on the right wing fringe of his party. I just am agog by these Republican lunatics.
rikyrah
@Caphilldcne:
Impeachment for trying to keep the people in his state safe
WereBear
This whole mask-defiance thing infuriates me. It was stupid Trump telling his cultists they didn’t have to. And their toddler side, always on the ascendant, did the rest.
All those deaths are on HIM, sure. But doing it now shows how deeply we have been bitten by the stupid.
Baud
The bodyguard of Western civilization indeed.
Chyron HR
I’m old enough to remember when the president wore a mask and said it made him look like the Lone Ranger and the entire Republican party declared that mask-wearing was now manly and patriotic. What happened?
WereBear
@Chyron HR:
The Base knew it was “forced to by the libs” and sure enough, he dropped the whole thing.
These people have watched Faux News effortlessly pivot back and forth from contrary positions over decades. None of the concepts in their brains touch each other, like a series of sealed Tupperware containers.
Sab
@WereBear: That advice that masks don’t help (February) has been permanently imprinted on some peoples brains. Last time I was at my work dropping stuff off (early June) there were still people running around maskless despite company mandate. Founding partner (in his eighties), another partner (seventy), a sixtyish co-worker and the office manager.
I still think Mike DeWine did wonders in Ohio by putting Dr Acton out front so early. I even forgive him for backing off later. He knows how nuts his Party is. He is balancing on a knife edge and knows it.
Robert Sneddon
Scotland — 6 deaths reported last week where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the National Records of Scotland, 4 deaths in care homes and 2 in hospital. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirms that in the past 24 hours two deaths were reported of patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous 28 days. These are the first such positive-test deaths reported in the daily figures since July 16.
There were 67 new cases reported overnight, the test positivity rate is about 0.5%. Hospital patient numbers are up slightly.
There has been an outbreak in Hawick in the Borders, seven linked cases have tested positive. Aberdeen’s lockdown has been lifted with no new cases overnight and hospitality businesses are opening up again. There are more reports of schoolkids across Scotland testing positive but it still seems their infections were acquired outside school. The special-needs school in Dundee that was closed last week now has 31 linked cases that have tested positive, mostly adults who worked at the school and their close contacts. The outbreak at the 2 Sisters food processing plant in Coupar Angus seems to be contained, only four new associated cases overnight and no tertiary spread outside the workers and their immediate contacts.
Kristine
The writer of that long-term effects tweet should’ve fit in the bit that the patients in question had been sick enough to be hospitalized. Their word choice makes it sound like 3/4 of all those who had the virus suffered long term effects. I know—for all we know, that may be the case, but we don’t know that yet.
WereBear
@Kristine: I’ve seen other studies indicating that even people who never went to the hospital are still dealing with “long Covid.”
Sloane Ranger
The UK Coronavirus Dashboard suffered “technical difficulties” yesterday (3rd time in as many weeks) so here are yesterday’s figures from the UK (not counting Scotland which is ably covered by Robert Sneddon).
There were 1184 new cases yesterday and 16 new deaths. 1065 of the new cases were in England, 47 in Northern Ireland and 28 in Wales. Cases seem to be holding steady nationally at around this level.
The Dashboard shows all 16 deaths occurred in England so the 2 deaths RS reports in Scotland haven’t made the nationwide Dashboard yet.
The North West remains the hardest hit region with 704.4 cases per 100,000 of the population. The national average for England is 503.3, Northern Ireland, 360.3 and Wales, 563.7.
Soprano2
I read a WaPo article about that Biogen conference yesterday. They said we should be doing more tracing like that. It was fascinating, how they traced the spread from that conference.
As far as the anti-maskers, they probably watch Fox News. This interview with Brian Stelter on “Fresh Air” yesterday is well worth a listen. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/25/905805029/hoax-traces-the-grotesque-feedback-loop-between-president-trump-and-fox-news It’s terrifying to me that the president is taking advice from TV personalities, and TV personalities know that they can influence American policy by what they say on TV.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@WereBear: the base eats up the anti mask thing because gives them an excuse to abuse retail workers.
WereBear
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
YES. In fact, this is one of the main reasons they agitated for things to OPEN UP.
As someone who waited tables in the south, the after church lunch crowd was notorious for running a server ragged and leaving a tract for a tip. And I swear, they go shopping to abuse “the help.”
Kristine
@WereBear: I know. But that’s not the point of that particular article. I read the tweet, thought oh shit, and dug deeper. With the firehose of info out there, how many people have time to do that.
People who were not hospitalized, who were asymptomatic—those would be different studies with possibly different outcomes.
Amir Khalid
I went to a popular local steakhouse today for a meal I rarely* treat myself to, a medium-rare T-bone. I had called ahead, but they told me I didn’t need a reservation. And sure enough, the lunchtime crowd consisted entirely of me. That can’t be good for an eatery’s business.
Sigh. At least I was safe from infection.
*Please to excuse pun
mrmoshpotato
Oops! Sorry about that!
?
Amir Khalid
@WereBear:
Right now, we cannot know much about long Covid: the inescapabe truth is that it hasn’t afflicted us for long enough. The long term isn’t here yet. Medical science must wait at least a few years for a complete-enough picture of what happens to Covid-19 survivors.
mrmoshpotato
Boston Dynamics hasn’t created a bitchslap-a-plague-rat robot to deal with this idiotic problem?
holyrood
@Robert Sneddon: Thank you for reporting on this. My son’s primary here in Edinburgh has sent repeated emails to parents to please please keep kids home if showing symptoms worded in a escalating exasperated manner that suggests we shall soon be hearing of positive covid at his school.
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
So, how was the steak?
ETA: Here in my Southern California city, a number of places have adapted to outdoor dining. One place, though, has its tables too close together. And walking by one evening, I noted two large parties at two tables. I hope no one catches anything, but it did not look good.
A coffee shop I sometimes go to has good table separation, and small tables, all outside under umbrellas.
Amir Khalid
@mrmoshpotato:
The Trump administration has a habit of ignoring the experts and making bad bets on medical science re the pandemic, all because Trump himself desperately wants the Covid to go away NOW NOW NOW and not be a drag on his reelection campaign anymore.
mrmoshpotato
@Soprano2:
When a rage-filled, orange manbaby and his mobster crime family are in charge…
mrmoshpotato
@Amir Khalid:
Ouch. How was the beef?
mrmoshpotato
@Amir Khalid: I know, hence the ?.
Amir Khalid
@Brachiator:
The steak was pretty good, I had no regrets, but not great. Victoria Station has customer sign-in, either with the Government contact tracing app or sign-in sheet, as is mandatory these days. They also duct-tape a small “do not sit here” X on half the places at every table. Outdoor eating is simply not possible; there’s no place outside to set up tables.
snoey
@mrmoshpotato: This is a start:
mask gun
EthylEster
@Baud: Since when is Brazil not in the West? Or Mexico?
mrmoshpotato
@snoey: I saw that via Twitter post a few days ago. Still funny.
WaterGirl
@Kristine: I have seen the same studies as WereBear. Long term chronic problems /effects even with mild symptoms and asymptomatic cases.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: “I just repeated what they told me. How was I, chief of the US Food and Drug Administration, to know that I was spreading a falsehood?
WaterGirl
@Amir Khalid: Then call it medium-term if you want to, but a study that shows 87 out of 100 people who had covid are still having problems today, many of them significant.
Could those symptoms go poof in a month or in a year? Maybe. But based on what those symptoms are? Doubtful.
LongHairedWeirdo
Ah! I found a source for the story I’d heard – Digby blogged on it.
So the CDC is, in fact, trying to reduce case counts, undoubtedly because it pleases Trump.
It seems to me, anyone exposed, who finds out about it more than 24 hours later, needs to be tested for contact tracing purposes. I could be wrong about “24 hours” – it could be more, since it can’t be transmitted until a person is shedding the virus, and that takes *some* time post-exposure.
So it not only sounds like a Trump-play, it actively undermines prevention, which makes me quite certain it’s a Trump-or-lackey play.
I would not feel badly to hear that a high ranking CDC official went to jail over this, *if* I’m correct about the need for contact tracing (and thus, correct that this guidance undermines the mission).
Bill Arnold
@LongHairedWeirdo:
I’ve been increasingly suspicious today that the changes to the who-should-be-test CDC guidelines are about hiding the magnitude of school outbreaks, and also other workplace outbreaks, in the run-up to the election. The truth would eventually emerge but maybe post election, would be the GOP hope.
If so, then it’s yet another case of mass murder by the GOP serial mass murderers. I’m not pro-death-penalty so winching them slowly into a wood chipper is right out, but permanent exile to an island might be appropriate.