As a young woman compares herself to Nazi resistance fighter Sophie Scholl at a 'Querdenker' (Covid-denier) rally in Hannover, the disgusted security guard quits on the spot. pic.twitter.com/k7QoTJw41d
— Mike Stuchbery ???? (@MikeStuchbery_) November 22, 2020
With a record number of Americans hospitalized for 13 straight nights, the U.S. is on pace to hit another benchmark: 200,000 daily infections. https://t.co/ZmAWZWqYLK – @NBCNightlyNews
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 24, 2020
The number of Covid deaths may worsen. As the US heads into the holiday season cases are rising at their fastest rate. More than 150k new cases were reported each day last week. Indoor gatherings during Thanksgiving may cause cases to surge even higher https://t.co/NoZzgu3ZAz
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 23, 2020
#COVID19 cases could nearly double before Biden takes office. Even though Inauguration Day is 2 months away, confirmed cases are likely to reach 20mln by the end of January, nearly doubling the current 11.4mln cases, a forecasting model has revealed https://t.co/pxtTsnLaXG
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 23, 2020
Trump and his allies tried to pretend that coronavirus containment measures were just cynical efforts to hurt Trump’s reelection. Turns out they were about having fewer people die. Who knew. https://t.co/EirYuqzcuS
— Philip Bump (@pbump) November 24, 2020
White House planning holiday parties indoors despite pandemic warnings – ABC News – https://t.co/f96VyVT0zA
— COVID19 (@V2019N) November 24, 2020
======
The global #pandemic shows absolutely no signs of slowing — indeed, it is accelerating, driven by 4 nations.
This morning's data: pic.twitter.com/OwwPvuQJqR
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) November 23, 2020
.@WHO head singled out 1 developing country for its success in managing the #coronavirus pandemic.
Thailand was the 1st country outside China to report a case of #COVID19 but it has had <4,000 cases & just 60 fatalities, despite having 70 million people.https://t.co/OfQTCKYS1U pic.twitter.com/MpIPRAMhor
— MicrobesInfect (@MicrobesInfect) November 23, 2020
The US and Germany have announced plans to begin COVID vaccinations in their countries as early as December.#GraphicTruth from @gzeromedia on the trajectory of cases in the US vs the EU. https://t.co/ot6rbYcY0W
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) November 24, 2020
France is expected to loosen its coronavirus restrictions as the boss of a major airline says proof of vaccination will likely become the only way people can fly in a post-pandemic world https://t.co/kXWXmCaRdh pic.twitter.com/NJ7RAuKWBC
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 24, 2020
Italy, the first European country to be hit by the global coronavirus pandemic, surpassed 50,000 COVID-19 deaths Monday.
Most took place earlier this year, but around 15,000 deaths have been reported since the beginning of September. https://t.co/BZN6mD2nMi
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) November 23, 2020
Pope Francis took aim Monday at protests against coronavirus restrictions, contrasting them with the "healthy indignation" seen in the global demonstrations against racism after the death of George Floyd https://t.co/6GNwtSaQ7o
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 23, 2020
"We should have learned something": Spain's mortuary workers are in high demand again, carefully picking up the infectious bodies of COVID-19 victims as the virus resurges. https://t.co/N6qIlLff5l
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) November 24, 2020
Russia has confirmed more than 25,000 new coronavirus infections in a single day, a record-breaking number. The country surpassed 2 million cases three days agohttps://t.co/bvtQJDyB8h
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) November 23, 2020
Experts say the coronavirus has caused a jump in excess deaths in Russia both directly and indirectly. https://t.co/CUK3rE82nR
— Meduza in English (@meduza_en) November 23, 2020
In Perm and Voronezh, the risk of contracting COVID-19 is 15 percent higher than Russia’s national average. https://t.co/sjBuo9e33V
— Meduza in English (@meduza_en) November 20, 2020
Positive Covid cases at Shanghai airport spark 'chaotic' mass testing https://t.co/WnfIrKC8Fh
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 23, 2020
Thousands of underpaid migrant workers living in crowded dormitories — what could possibly go wrong?
Covid-19: World's top latex glove maker shuts factories https://t.co/SCQr6nHvP0
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 24, 2020
======
AstraZeneca/Oxford Univ #coronavirus vaccine up to 90% effective w/ a two-dose shot and easily transportable, company says. Less effective –about 70% w/ 1 dose https://t.co/hvUhEXizx0
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 23, 2020
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford is 70% effective, large scale trial shows
Here's everything you need to know about the vaccine and how it works https://t.co/r595cun90h pic.twitter.com/L38ECpCvkw
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) November 23, 2020
How the experts see the @AstraZeneca #COVID19 #vaccine (and compare it to the @pfizer & @moderna_tx products):https://t.co/w3zXky4M0P
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) November 23, 2020
Summary slide shown at @CDCgov ACIP panel meeting today. pic.twitter.com/fJxnwQjGax
— Kerry Dooley Young (@KDooleyYoung) November 23, 2020
There are now 3 vaccines heading to the @US_FDA for approval — but it will be a long time — probably summer 2021 — before there's one for all of us. So who goes 1st, 2nd, etc?
Here's the @CDCgov algorithm for ethically deciding #COVID19 #vaccine access https://t.co/7zoSkiwh4F— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) November 23, 2020
Covid and pollution: intimately linked and a compound threat https://t.co/o1ndjLZtza via @physorg_com
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) November 23, 2020
Brazil has enough infection data to analyze Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine – officials https://t.co/nhBIuSkZhG pic.twitter.com/3bUG7Yykec
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 24, 2020
======
ACIP, which advises @CDCgov on vaccination policy, signals it will recommend essential workers are closer to the front of the #Covid19 vaccine priority line in a move aimed at addressing the pandemic's disproportionate toll on people of color. https://t.co/ulufCvw5ue
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) November 24, 2020
Critically ill COVID-19 patients from rural areas are often sent to city hospitals for high-level treatment — and as their numbers grow, some urban hospitals are buckling under the added strain.https://t.co/ge3SxRgnqy
— NPR (@NPR) November 23, 2020
As the pandemic slams rural areas, one big concern is that people in rural America are both older and have a higher rate of pre-existing conditions, leaving them more vulnerable to serious illness and death from COVID-19.https://t.co/JbGNH0FlNX pic.twitter.com/aBA8rTT9a3
— Larry Levitt (@larry_levitt) November 23, 2020
Government-ordered business shutdowns to stop the spread of Covid-19 damaged the US economy
Now researchers say the closures in March through May saved 29,000 lives — at a cost of $169 billion, or around $6 million per person https://t.co/X3quox1oVp pic.twitter.com/Yc38WNzJ3W— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 24, 2020
Those that known me IRL, know that I’m usually too positive about things but now look at me ??♂️
“It's going to get far worse…Maybe when the morgue trucks start parking outside, maybe people will be moved." (new from @Hilarx) https://t.co/fmRLrb7LQp
— ??? ??????????? ? ?? (@eliowa) November 23, 2020
It’s no longer an argument about facts, it’s a statement of faith:
…In March, White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx said Bismarck had the worst COVID-19 protocols she’d seen anywhere in the US. Yet in city commission meetings, locals have continued to ardently condemn mask requirements.
“I’ve personally, just in the last few weeks, experienced the loss of two close family friends due to consequences of COVID,” one resident said at an October meeting, then went on to explain that despite all that, her anti-mask stance hadn’t changed.
“I cannot… blindly follow the herd and put a piece of cloth over my face,” she said…
“You say, ‘You know, when you leave the hospital, the coronavirus outbreak’s really bad, can you please wear a mask?'” Perencevich said. “A lot of the patients, particularly males, said, ‘No, I’m not going to do that. That’s against my freedom.’ And it’s just like, so — you will die.”
Yet counterintuitively, he added, patients still listen to his other recommendations.
“You believe me that your blood pressure medicine works, but you won’t believe me that a mask works?” Perencevich said. “It’s quite bizarre.”…
It's been months since they passed away in NYC's spring #COVID19 crisis. But these lost souls either have no family to claim them, or none with funds for their burial.
Deeply tragic. https://t.co/JYW38dpLMB— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) November 23, 2020
matt the somewhat reasonable
This anti-mask thing is an almost perfect lab study of the effect of bad political leadership on people’s behavior. People go to the doctor, they’re sick, they listen to the doctor more or less. Sometimes when they advice is costly or unpleasant they won’t follow it. Masks are really neither. But these leaders are telling people your freedom is at stake, wearing a mask to protect yourself and others is just part of a conspiracy to get you to believe in the hoax disease. And of course people believe it. They’re committed to these leaders. They can’t be idiots, following idiots into death. They won’t go that far, even as their families are dying, even as they sicken and die.
Mary G
Orange County had its highest number of new cases since the pandemic began today – 1422, compared to an average of 220 on November 1. The chart looks vertical, like No. Dakota. Moving back into the most restrictive tier hasn’t had any effect so far. We have had more stupid protests in Huntington Beach and a mask burning on the beach here where I live. Idiots will be death of a lot of us.
Housemate and her day patient both tested negative after their contact with the cleaning crew guy last week, so that was a bit of good news.
TS (the original)
Apart from the fact that the shutdown did much more than save lives – and a shutdown done properly has been shown to control the spread of coronavirus – there are some things in life that should not and cannot be equated to money. I am entirely sick of hearing people say we have to let people get ill and die – for the economy. There may be things worth dying for – keeping the stock markets high for the billionaires , or allowing amazon to make more money, are not included in my list.
YY_Sima Qian
Yesterday, China reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases and 0 new asymptomatic cases.
1 confirmed case is reported by Shanghai Municipality, a worker in the FedEx facility at Pudong International Airport, found during the mass screening of all 17+K workers in the cargo/logistics area of the airport. I had previously thought they were testing all employees of the airport, but I am surprised that just the cargo/logistics area has so many workers. 17 close contacts have been traced and quarantined, all have tested negative so far.
1 confirmed case is reported by Tianjin Municipality, previously asymptomatic and have been under isolation since 11/8. He is the index case of the outbreak, a dock worker who had handled contaminated frozen pork knuckles from Germany. The mass screening at Binhai New District is approaching it conclusion. As of 3 PM on 11/23, 2.4473M individuals have been tested, of the 2.334M results obtained so far, all are negative.
Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia “Autonomous”Region has completed mass screening of all residents as of 3 PM today. As of 7 AM today, 164,995 individuals have been swabbed, the 64,213 results obtained so far are all negative. 305 close contacts of the 2 cases reported on 11/21 have been traced and quarantined, all negative so far. The authorities just announced that all public transportation in the city is temporarily halted from today, resumption TBD. I am surprised that the authorities there is implementing further restrictions, in the absence of community transmission chains.
Yesterday, China reported 20 new imported confirmed cases and 8 imported asymptomatic cases and 1 imported suspect case:
* Xiamen in Fujian Province – 2 confirmed and 1 asymptomatic cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Russia
* Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Japan and Hong Kong
* Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 3 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from the Congo (Kinshasa) and 1 from Uganda; 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from the US, Ethiopia and Gabon
* Maoming Port in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese crew member off a cargo ship from Malaysia
* Shanghai Municipality – 3 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from the UK and 1 from Japan; 1 suspect case, no information released
* Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 3 confirmed cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Nepal
* Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 2 confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic), both Chinese nationals returning from Italy
* Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 2 confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic), both Chinese nationals returning from Russia
* Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 confirmed and 2 asymptomatic cases, no information released
* Hohhot in Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region – 1 confirmed case, off a flight diverted from Beijing, no information released
* Tianjin Municipality – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from France and Spain
Yesterday, Hong Kong reported 80 new cases, 11 imported and 69 local (10 of whom with out clear sources of infection, 54 associated with dance clubs).
Joey Maloney
Anne Laurie, I continue to be grateful to you for providing these daily roundups. How much time does it take you to compile the info every day?
Aleta
Thanks Anne.
I’m thankful for: Biden won.
matt the somewhat reasonable
@TS (the original): With a 2% death rate, it seems to me that the $6 million man study ought to be considering the lifetime cost of a COVID infection that’s survived as well on the balance sheet.
mrmoshpotato
Ummmm……no death cult? No death cult? You’re the death cult?
NeenerNeener
366 new cases in Monroe County, NY yesterday, 2 new deaths, 289 hospitalized, 53 in the ICU. Ugh.
mrmoshpotato
@Mary G:
??
I…
OzarkHillbilly
Yes, also reduced the number of people being treated both in hospitals and out thereby saving us on healthcare costs. Funny that that they don’t mention that. While I have no idea how much it was, it had to be substantial.
TS (the original)
@OzarkHillbilly:
There is also a massive cost in so many people being ill – everything they are unable to do plus (in some countries) the cost of government support while they are ill.
The sane viewpoint has always been, sort out the covid first and the economy will take care of itself.
StringOnAStick
@mrmoshpotato: The SS Trumptanic seems determined to sink with as many on board as possible. If it didn’t put non cult members at risk too, I’d be entirely fine with that outcome.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. The Ministry of Health reports 2,188 new cases today, beating yesterday’s record, for a cumulative reported total of 58,847 cases. The Ministry also reports four new deaths for a total of 341 deaths — 0.58% of the cumulative reported total, 0.77% of resolved cases.
Teratai cluster in Selangor, involving workers at Top Glove, the world’s largest manufacturer of latex surgical gloves, once again accounts for most of the new cases with 1,511 cases — 69% of today’s number.
14,353 active and contagious cases are currently in hospital; 112 are in ICU, 49 of them on respirators. Meanwhile, 1,673 patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 44,153 patients recovered — 75.0% of the cumulative reported total.
No new clusters were reported today.
All the new cases today are local infections. Selangor has the most cases, 1,623: 1,539 in existing clusters including the 1,511 in Teratai cluster; 54 close-contact screenings; and 30 other screenings. Sabah has 232 cases: 31 in existing clusters, 131 close-contact screenings, and 70 other screenings. Perak has 112 cases, all in existing clusters. KL has 90 cases: 82 in existing clusters, and eight other screenings.
Negeri Sembilan has 73 cases: 71 in existing clusters, and two other screenings. Johor has 19 cases: five in existing clusters, nine close-contact screenings, and five other screenings. Penang has 15 cases: 10 in existing clusters, one close-contact screening, and four other screenings. Kedah has 14 cases: 12 in existing clusters, and two other screenings.
Kelantan has six cases: two in existing clusters, and four other screenings. Melaka has two cases, both in existing clusters. Labuan has one case in an existing cluster. And Sarawak has one case, found in other screening.
Putrajaya, Pahang, Terengganu, Perlis and Kelantan have reported no new cases.
The four deaths today are an 84-year-old man in Penang with hypertension and chronic pulmonary disease; a 74-year-old man in Sabah; a 41-year-old woman in Sabah; and a 45-year-old non-Malaysian man in Sabah.
OzarkHillbilly
@TS (the original): Yep.
mrmoshpotato
@StringOnAStick: Same here.
Splitting Image
Toronto went back into lockdown yesterday, with a few notable holdouts.
Cases spiked a few weeks ago after Thanksgiving, so there is some hope that the current wave will die down a bit over the next few weeks, but I don’t know if Canadians are really any more likely to learn their lesson here than Americans are. Even if things clear up a little, Christmas is likely to be a disaster.
Amir Khalid
@mrmoshpotato:
Trump has NFLTG. Simple as that.
JMG
France’s 2nd shutdown (schools open, everything else closed, close confinement to the home except for 1 hour a day) has been a success. The number of daily new cases has gone from 90,000 to 4500 in two weeks. My daughter in Bordeaux says this is because almost everyone follows the rules. But she also says it is expected the shutdown will be lifted for the Christmas-New Year’s season, at least as far as travel and private gatherings go, because otherwise most people would ignore the restrictions anyhow.
satby
One of the two hospitals in South Bend has the ICU filled and is maxxed out at 10 beds over the normal capacity. Rationing care has started here.
It just didn’t have to be this way.
Rusty
@TS (the original): Amen.
mrmoshpotato
@Amir Khalid: I know, but it doesn’t stop being horrific.
WereBear
@TS (the original):
It also betrays the “all the Monopoly money is mine”! lack of understanding of economics. Did they add up all the economic contributions of those saved lives?
I think not.
Kathleen
@satby: Indeed it did not.
debbie
Ohio can’t even keep up with the new cases count. This morning, they reported more than 11,000, but said that included some from the day before, when they also couldn’t keep up.
Starfish
@TS (the original): That bothered me too.
This type of reasoning is why governors are not shutting down as needed. They are afraid of harming business.
TS (the original)
@mrmoshpotato:
While MJ complains about Gov Cuomo planning to visit his Mum (which visit I believe has been cancelled)
I have zero understanding as to why the trump sycophants think they are immune when they are falling like flies.
mrmoshpotato
@TS (the original):
Death meet cult. Also ass meet clowns.
Oh, and JoeJoe can go suck Dump’s voluminous orange ass.
Brachiator
The recent USA Today story about Thanksgiving 1918 was tremendously fascinating.
Similar resistance to wearing masks in some cities. Similar requests that people restrict Thanksgiving dinners.
This should be shared with any folks who believe that this battle is something new or that tactics to fight the pandemic are arbitrary or an attempt to steal their freedoms.
And this was “just the flu.”
Robert Sneddon
Amazon is making money hand over fist because of COVID-19, same with any well-scaled remote services and delivery operation. I commented elsewhere back in March that companies like Zoom were going to do really well in the coming crisis and I was right, not surprisingly.
mrmoshpotato
@Robert Sneddon: And XPO Logistics…
Oh, that was because of USPS fuckery. Tick tock Louis DeJoy!
Sab
@WereBear: Also, did they add up the huge economic cost to individual families that have lost their primary breadwinner? I know a couple of those. 30 year old father whose wife is now trying to support 3 preschoolers, one of whom was a new born when father died.
Sloane Ranger
Yesterday in the UK, we had 15,450 new cases, about 3200 fewer cases than the day before, but figures may still be affected by the weekend delays. The R number remains at 1.0 to 1.1 but the trend is definitely going down and the rolling 7-day average of new cases is showing a reduction of 22.8%. New cases by nation,
England – 13,329 (down @3300)
Northern Ireland – 280 (down 42)
Scotland – 949 (up @100)
Wales – 892 (up @90).
Deaths – There were 206 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday with the 7-day rolling average showing an increase of 6%. 194 deaths were in England, 3 in Northern Ireland, 9 in Wales and none in Scotland. Figures may be affected by weekend delays.
Testing – 279,041 tests were processed on 22 November out of a capacity of 535,906. The rolling 7-day average shows an increase of 0.1%.
Hospitalisations – 16,390 people were in hospital on 19 November and 1421 were on ventilators on 20 November.The rolling 7-day average for people admitted to hospital shows a decrease of 2.9% and it looks like the number in hospital and on ventilators MAY be levelling off.
General – The general lockdown in England will end on 2 December. The government has announced that the 3 tier system will be re-instated at that point, but with some changes. The new restrictions are,
Tier 1 – “Rule of 6” applies; businesses and venues may open in a COVID secure manner other than those still closed by law e.g. nightclubs; pubs and restaurants must be table service only (if serving alcohol), must close between 11pm and 5am (with some exceptions for airports and motorway services) and last orders of alcohol is 10pm; mass entertainment venues must close at 11pm except for cinemas and theatres which may conclude a performance that started before 10pm; public attendance at indoor and outdoor venues is permitted at either 50% capacity or 4000 (outdoors) or 1000 (indoors), whichever is lower; places of worship subject to Rule of 6; weddings and funerals can go ahead with limitations on numbers; wakes and wedding receptions limited to 15 people; organised indoor sport, exercise can continue subject to Rule of Six.
Tier 2 – Same as Tier 1 plus, no indoor socialising with anyone outside your household/support bubble; Rule of Six applies to outdoor socialising; pubs and bars must close unless operating as restaurants and serving substantial meals; take-out allowed; attendance at sports, shows and events limited to 50% capacity or 2000 people (outdoors), 1000 (indoors), whichever is lower; no socialising in places of worship; organised indoor sport prohibited unless it is possible to prevent people mixing with those outside their household; must continue to follow Tier 2 rules if travelling to Tier 1 area.
Tier 3 – Same as Tier 2 except, can only socialise with up to six others outside your household or bubble in outdoor public spaces (not in private gardens); pubs and restaurants closed except for take out; hotels etc closed; indoor entertainment and recreation venues closed; indoor venues at mainly outdoor attractions to close (except toilets); leisure and sports venues to remain open but no group classes; attendance at outdoor and indoor sports and other mass attendance events prohibited; outdoor sports and exercise classes may continue for participants; no travelling to other parts of the UK unless essential for work or other necessary reasons.
Which areas go into which category is still to be announced.
Christmas – Negotiations on a UK-wide relaxation over the Christmas period are still continuing with the devolved administrations.
International Travellers – From 15th December, international travellers will be able to shorten their 14 day quarantine period to 5 days by paying between £65-£120 for a private COVID test, which, if negative, will allow them to move freely after the 5th day. One law for the rich… Sigh!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@TS (the original): On the other hand the shut down was a bit of wasted effort because the way the Trump admin wasted the opportunity to get the PPE and testing going because it was hard work.
charon
@Starfish:
Also the tax revenues needed to keep the state government functioning.
Sab
@debbie: Ohio can’t keep up. Thank God they are being honest about this.
My husband and I are staying in with just us for Thanksgiving, but other family members were doing “limited” Thanksgiving with “smaller” groups. Big Catholic family so no gatherings are small by by my definition.
Calling around last night, we heard that every one of them had cancelled the “small” multifamily gatherings. Vaccine is on the way, so they can wait a year.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@mrmoshpotato: They really should name and same the people who are going as the idiots they are considering how many members of the Trump admin are infected.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Mary G: Monday, so that’s also tests from this weekend.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
Meanwhile in Georgia:
November 14th McDonough, GA parents from Ola High School decide to have hold a private Homecoming dance, are able to rent a venue and hire a DJ for the dance. I wonder how many of these kids or their grandparents, older parents, or siblings with commodities will have COVID-19 by the weekend after Thanksgiving…
Parents in McDonough, GA throw Homecoming dance for highschoolers
“It’s my daughter’s senior year, so I hosted a dance,” one parent, Beth Knight, told The Daily Beast over Facebook messenger. “It was terrific.”
“We sold over 300 tickets, but only about 250 kids actually showed up because they were warned by teachers and coaches that they should not attend because of the virus,” Knight added. “The kids who came had fun.”
Yeah, way to teach your kids that enjoying a dance is worth the people it may sicken or kill. Happy Superspreader Thanksgiving, morons. Meanwhile, yesterday my husband and his coworkers said goodbye to one of their own…and I was informed of positive case number 3 in my work building.
TS (the original)
@Amir Khalid:
This reached our news today
Amir Khalid
What’s happening at Top Glove (see the story at the BBC link, plus my comments yesterday and today) is a test of Malaysian efforts to find a balance between lives and livelihoods. When cases started spiking recently in Selangor, Putrajaya, and KL, the Health Ministry recommended for this region movement control orders, like those introduced nationwide in March: basically lockdown, though short of the maximal enhanced movement control orders where everyone is confined to residence and all businesses are closed. The National Security Council rejected this, because of what it would do to the region that essentially drives the nation’s economy. Aside from the enhanced movement control orders zone around the Top Glove factories and its worker dorms, the region is under conditional movement control orders, which allows most businesses to stay open.
YY_Sima Qian
On the topic of mass screening of cargo/logistics unit workers at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, I still videos (including the ones embedded in an WP article), that show overcrowding and jostling, all over my Jinri Toutiao feed (“Headlines Today”, Chinese new aggregator APP). However, they generally have neutral titles or captions, though comments often express consternation. The videos with the provocative or critical titles/captions probably have been censored.
Looking at the videos, overcrowding appears to be limited to a part of the effort. Most of the videos I have seen show the same two scenes, but from different angles, as recorded by bystanders. They show hundreds of workers crowded on a ramp, pressed against each other, between floors of the parking garage that was repurposed for the screening effort. They slowly pushed forward, against a single thin line of security and medical personnel in full protective gear. I think the workers at the front were trying to stop upon instruction by the security and medical personnel, but they were pushed forward by people behind them. Ultimately, the thin line could not hold, and the mass of people moved on to the upper floors. There is no sense that all order was lost, however, otherwise the thin line of personnel would have been quickly overrun and trampled. There were plenty of spectators recording the spectacle with their phones, but no one really acted all that excited.
Clearly, the logistics of the mass screening was poorly planned and executed. Such overcrowding at choke points should not have been allowed to happen. When workers came off long shifts expecting to go home, and were then told that they have to wait for their turn to be swabbed before they can leave, raised tempers are expected. I have not found any reports about what happened to the workers after they were swabbed, but I assume they were not placed into quarantine, otherwise the cargo operations at the Pudong Airport (one of the busiest in China) would grind to a complete halt. The cargo/logistics unit fully resumed operations today. Either they were kept on site overnight, or were allowed to go home.
As I mentioned above, the mass screening did uncover 1 symptomatic case working for FedEx at the airport.
mrmoshpotato
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Fixed.
mrmoshpotato
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: They? – the media?
Agreed – and then slap them silly. And then the media can punch itself repeatedly for how they treated this orange fascist as a joke.
mrmoshpotato
@EmbraceYourInnerCrone: I’d say smack them all with fines, but that thief Kemp…
Amir Khalid
@YY_Sima Qian:
The risk to the workers waiting to be screened — which from your description sounds like a potential super-spreader event — doesn’t seem quite worth the yield of only one positive case.
Robert Sneddon
One thing the Biden administration could do next year, maybe around the end of May or thereabouts when the SCIENCE! BITCHES!! vaccines have backed COVID-19 into a corner, is to declare a national “Day of Thanksgiving” when the survivors can have the big family get-togethers you are missing out on this month.
Robert Sneddon
@Amir Khalid: The Chinese authorities regard one positive case as a disaster and well worth over-reacting to root it out. Other nations, not so much. The results speak for themselves.
YY_Sima Qian
Tianjin Binhai New District has completed the mass screening as of 10 AM today, all 2,467,411 results are negative. The Tianjin Municipal Health Commission also shared fascinating information from the epidemiological investigation into the current outbreak. The 10 positive cases (confirmed and asymptomatic) actually fall under 2 separate and unrelated clusters.
The first cluster contains 2 cases (L genotype, European family branch I of SARS-CoV-2, prevalent in North America): a dock worker at a cold chain logistics warehouse and a truck driver that picked up a shipment from the same warehouse, though the 2 never had any contact with each other. They tested positive on 11/9 and 11/1, respectively. The only intersection is that they handled shipments of frozen pig heads from the US, but not even from the same storage room. (Yes, pork cheek, tongues and ears are delicacies in China), and not at the same time. On 11/4, the dock worker loaded batch #1 of American pig heads to store room #2, and a shipment of German pork knuckles to store room # 4, via separate loading platforms for these two rooms. Later in the same day, another worker loaded batch #2 of American pig heads into store room #5, using the loading platform for store room #4. Environmental samples from loading platforms for both store rooms #2 & #4 turned up positive. On 11/5, the infected dock worker unloaded batch #1 of American pig heads from store room #2 and the shipment of German pork knuckles from store room #4 via their respective loading platforms. The worker used the same smock and gloves as the previous day, without cleaning or disinfection. Therefore, the pork knuckles were likely contaminated by the loading platform or the dock worker, which then tested positive at Dezhou in Shandong Province (which kicked off the heightened scrutiny at Tianjin). Later on 11/5, the truck driver arrived to pick up batch #2 of American pig heads from store room # 5, via loading platform of store room #6. Truck drivers would normally not touch the merchandise, but during loading a package tore, and plastic wrapped pig heads were scattered on the ground. The driver helped to pick them up. The ground where the pig heads scattered had also tested positive. Therefore, the driver was likely infected via fomite transmission from the contaminated pig heads. All positive environmental samples have almost the identical genomic sequences as the two cases.
The 2nd cluster contains 8 cases (L genotype, European family branch II of SARS-CoV-2, prevalent in North America in Apr. – Jun.): 4 residents in Building #4 and 4 in Building #19. The index case is a dock worker for a cold chain logistics company at the port, though not the same one as the 1st cluster. He tested positive on 11/11. 2 cases from Building #4 are his roommates. The 4th case from Building #4 lives on a different floor but shares the same elevator. CCTV footage shows that the index case used the elevator, without wearing mask, and had coughed and sneezed during the ride. Less than 2 min after the index case got off, the 4th case and 2 family members got on the elevator, which is not enough time for the droplets from coughing and sneezing to settle, let along aerosols. The 4th case was the only member of the family not to wear a mask, and has been the only one to test positive so far. (Moral of the story, wear your mask in all enclosed spaces! Even if you think COVID-19 has been eradicated in your area!)
The 4 cases in Building #19 has 3 members of an extended family that live next door with each other, and a property management worker that lives in the building. There are no direct connections between the groups in Buildings #4 & # 19, but the genetic sequences of the samples from all 8 cases are almost identical. Furthermore, roommates of the index case in Building #4 frequently visited Building #9. The property management worker in Building #19 also frequently visited Building #9. Samples from door handles and elevators (as well as other public spaces) of all 3 buildings have turned up positive, and they are almost identical to the viral samples from the cases. The Tianjin CDC is speculating that the property management worker was infected via fomite transmission at Building #9, or his colleague carried the virus physically to Building #19.
Clearly, the Tianjin CDC and Municipal Healthy Commission do not have the full picture yet, especially the specific vector by which the cases in Building #19 of the 2nd cluster were infected. Suspected fomite transmission vectors described above can seem far fetched, which was my initial reaction, as well. On the other hand, China is receiving millions of packages and shipments of frozen food, fresh produce, and parcels everyday from around the world, most of which is suffering from high prevalence of COVID-19. In the past 7 months, only a handful of outbreaks have been tied to intercontinental fomite transmission. Maybe that does prove it is a low probability risk, just one that needs to be respected if a region is targeting, or has achieved, eradication of COVID-19. And people are getting more complacent, and most of China is entering winter. In addition, authorities in Tianjin (and across China in general) have been quite diligent in contact tracing. For example, with the 2 cases in the 1st cluster, a large number of close contacts, close contacts of close contracts, regular contacts, and even people at risk from handling the same products as the cases, have been traced and repeatedly tested, none positive. Along with mass screening all residents and workers at the Binhai New District, any hidden cases and cryptic transmission should have been detected. Perhaps as Sherlock Holmes famously remarked:”when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
This is the first time I have seen any Chinese authorities share such detailed investigation results in near real time. Normally, we only see such analysis in published papers, months after the fact. Recently Tianjin government has been coming under fire from netizens that the government updates are walls of texts, apparatchik/bureaucratic jargon that is confusing for the laymen to digest, in contrast to the streamlined but effective communication from their counterparts at Shanghai. Perhaps this is a reaction to the criticism.
YY_Sima Qian
@Amir Khalid:
Mass screening is a standard tool readily employed in China in response to just a handful of cases. Most of the time the logistics are handled competently. I saw it first hand in Wuhan with the 1st such city-wide campaign at end of May. However, in this case it was poorly done, which actually increased the risk of a super spreading event, as you noted. If the case found by the mass screening was in the throng, hundreds of workers may now need to be quarantined. The saving grace is that the screening was done in a large open sided parking lot, and everyone seemed to have worn their masks properly from the videos I saw. The authorities is brushing over this episode, as they are want to do, but I am sure heads are rolling at the Pudong Airport Authority.
Uncle Cosmo
@Robert Sneddon: That’s not a bad idea…but I’d push the date out by a few months, and make damn sure that the virus really has been “pushed into a corner” with rapid, reliable, ubiquitous testing. Certainly no earlier than July; maybe repurpose Labor Day.
The cautionary tale is told by the Czech Republic, which did an outstanding job of stomping SARS-CoV-2 into the cobblestones – and then celebrated prematurely with mass suppers and beerfests (Czech beer, can you blame them?). After which Miz Rona rolled back in with a vengeance. They’re still struggling to tamp down the current wave.
Robert Sneddon
@Uncle Cosmo: Unless the science is badly wrong and/or there’s a much bigger push against vaccination than expected (Hi Winston!) then I’d expect at least 50% of the teen/adult population to have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the US by the end of March 2021. At that point the virus starts to run out of people it can infect and the numbers in hospital will go way way down while the lockdowns and restrictions are removed on a state by state basis. By May the worst will be over and it would be good to have a special celebration day then rather than co-opting one of the regular ones.
You can hand out gold-foil-wrapped chocolate Nobel Prize medals to the kiddies and tell them stirring tales of the brave scientists who worked tirelessly to defeat this disease while evil politicians sent thoughts and prayers to the suffering and infected people and then went golfing. It could become an annual tradition like Halloween, everyone dresses up in PPE and wears masks and avoids each other all day and then in the evening they rip it all off and collect together in familial comradeship and eat leftover turkey.
Uncle Cosmo
More the fool you, Limey. Between the whackjob antivaxxers and the yernotthebossame Trumpistas, no one who’s been paying attention expects more than half the US population to EVER be vaccinated. Moreover, there’s going to be real hesitation on the part of my contemporaries (judging by some friends, ~70 y/o, Trump supporters but not otherwise nuts) until enough folks have gotten the jab to judge the frequency of adverse effects, I’d expect 30% by the middle of May maximum.
Czech Republic holding on the spiked courtesy phone. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Hate to break it to ya, Bobby, but Memorial Day (May 31 in 2021) is a pretty big thing in the States, and it’s not one where the intended purpose of the day is especially prominent – most Yanks treat it as an excuse to hold cookouts and semi-officially open the summer vacation season. There’s not going to be yet another holiday butted up against it. And it’s less than 5 weeks from the Fourth of July, so good luck squeezing another holiday in there.
Biggest intervals in our holiday shedjewels ;^p are 64 days between the Fourth and Labor Day (6 Sep) and 66 days between Labor Day and Veterans Day (11 Nov).’ I’d opt for the first week of August or (to be safe) the second week in October. Maybe repurpose Columbus Day – no one but Italian-Americans celebrate it any more & the minority of us :^( who aren’t Mussolini-nostalgic Trumpistas are frankly kind of embarrassed by its persistence.
J R in WV
@Robert Sneddon:
Covid-Over Donut Day?
or Corona-Over Champagne Day?
And Winston got such a hostile reception it looks like he has run away, for which we can be so Thankful ~!!~
AntiVaxxers in the midst of a plague? What did we do to deserve that?!?!
Winston
@J R in WV: Despite the wonderful vax you keep promoting, the numbers just keep going up. But by now I believe you to be a Trumpier. How’s that clean coal working out for you down there?
Bill Arnold
The meduza.io piece on excess mortality in Russia is good to see. I had bave been waiting patiently for such a piece.
Excess mortality about 4X official COVID-19 fatality numbers. Seems about right. (120,000 vs the reported 28,200). Yada yada they note the usual excuses like deaths caused by other things including vague lockdown side effects. I.e. the lying willful undercounting about official COVID-19 death numbers does serve the purpose of obfuscating the incompetence of the official pandemic response.
Can’t easily lie about excess mortality without also lying about mortality in general. North Korea could do it, but not Russia.
hotshoe
@Robert Sneddon:
Lord I love this idea. Let’s plan for the first week of August! (Sorry, that seems like a much more reasonable “we’ve collectively gotten past the plague” timeframe than May.) Midsummer, big picnics in the park, street fairs, ballgames and Shakespeare-in-the-park with live audiences, perfect time for national recognizing that we owe the improved quality of life to the scientists, doctors, and those govt folks who managed to figure out how to get vaccine delivered …
It would mean more to the next generation than most of our usual national holidays. I especially like the idea of “chocolate Nobel Prizes” to remind us all – not just the kiddos – who to be thankful for!
Mo MacArbie
The trouble with such a holiday is that no one would get it off.