I asked @JoeBiden if he still has confidence in his coronavirus task force being able to inject 50 million Americans with the vaccine in his first 100 days. He said he’s “confident” they’ll get it done: pic.twitter.com/yTgaU8syLf
— Marianna Sotomayor (@MariannaNBCNews) January 11, 2021
“Transition officials described encountering a litany of challenges and a lack of long-term planning by the Trump administration, putting them in a hole so deep it could take weeks to get the vaccination campaign on track.” https://t.co/rHIDbSYNLi
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) January 11, 2021
BREAKING: Rep. Pramila Jayapal has just said she's tested positive for COVID-19 "after being locked down in a secured room at the Capitol" with maskless Republicans who "mocked colleagues and staff who offered" face coverings https://t.co/5xkCtbAyHh
— Axios (@axios) January 12, 2021
Bloody hell. The insurrectionists are pulling resources away from vaccinations. https://t.co/kOiaLZHTZf
— Alex Tabarrok (@ATabarrok) January 11, 2021
Circulating a letter to @GOPLeader. @POTUS incited a mob-100s of Members were evac’ed to a secure location where GOP members ridiculed wearing face masks. Our colleague @RepBonnie – a cancer survivor – has now tested positive for Covid. McCarthy must enforce the mask rule. pic.twitter.com/YBMlNnibbX
— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) January 12, 2021
For the first time ever, the US is currently averaging over 3K #COVID19 deaths every single day, according to Johns Hopkins University.
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) January 11, 2021
An estimated 373,000 people have died of COVID19 in the U.S., and with mounting cases nationwide, there's no end to coronavirus deaths in sight https://t.co/1UQhjOEwDw
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 11, 2021
Our daily update is published. States reported 1.9M tests, 194k cases, 129,748 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, and 1,739 deaths. pic.twitter.com/NKANfbCI91
— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) January 12, 2021
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Despite vaccines, Covid herd immunity won't happen in 2021, according to the WHO. We'll have to continue measures like physical distancing, hand washing and mask wearing to rein in the pandemic, said chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan during a news briefing Monday pic.twitter.com/CXGwE6cFiz
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 11, 2021
I've never seen an epi curve like this. The B.1.1.7 variant is spreading like wildfire in the UK and Ireland. If it spreads here, it will make an already-bad situation even worse. pic.twitter.com/VZB5BPm5om
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) January 11, 2021
England’s chief medical officer has warned that the coming weeks will be the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic for the health care system, appealing to the public to more closely follow the guidelines meant to prevent the spread of the virus. https://t.co/LDcN38LPca
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) January 11, 2021
Lebanon to impose 11-day round the clock curfew, hoping to curb a dramatic surge in coronavirus infections as hospitals run out of beds. The spike in cases has exhausted a health care sector already battered by an unprecedented economic crisis.https://t.co/S2c0nMGxZ5
— AP Middle East (@APMiddleEast) January 11, 2021
Another Chinese city goes into lockdown amid new COVID-19 threat https://t.co/Cnh8jUBQHE pic.twitter.com/HCrMSfooVI
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 12, 2021
Japan to widen state of emergency beyond Tokyo as virus surges: media https://t.co/4pOz0WWZdj pic.twitter.com/WuWUahMOpd
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 12, 2021
Malaysia's king declares state of emergency to curb spread of COVID-19 https://t.co/ZUH70OTjZ9 pic.twitter.com/GGmyK6Wv41
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 12, 2021
Coronavirus: How India is readying for its massive vaccine drive https://t.co/bqd89xW6gz
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 12, 2021
South Africa's hospitals are exceeding capacity and deaths are rising amid a spike in COVID-19 cases driven by the spread of its more infectious variant during widespread holiday travel. https://t.co/myriE6x4J7
— AP Africa (@AP_Africa) January 11, 2021
South Africa says it will import 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to inoculate its healthcare workers. This is S. Africa's first announcement of a COVID-19 vaccine purchase. Cases have been skyrocketing, driven by a variant of SARSCoV2 https://t.co/PB3VuRTjMH
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 11, 2021
The United States ambassador to South Africa, Lana Marks, said she spent 10 days in a South African hospital's intensive care unit with COVID-19 and is now recovering at her residence. She urged all in South Africa to take precautions amid spike in cases..https://t.co/CnxzVkzS2D
— AP Africa (@AP_Africa) January 11, 2021
Australia records handful of new coronavirus cases as national frictions grow https://t.co/NnwFhCpr6U pic.twitter.com/LiKCcPmFer
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 12, 2021
New Zealand to ask international travellers for negative virus test before flying in https://t.co/Q4ElM1AWh6 pic.twitter.com/q7pNfZtoAb
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 12, 2021
Uruguay registers record number of new Covid cases https://t.co/9xT41NUs08
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 11, 2021
One 18-hour flight, four coronavirus infections. An outbreak aboard a September flight from Dubai to New Zealand offers researchers, and airlines, an opportunity to study in-transit contagion https://t.co/wSlE4U2cfx
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 11, 2021
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A new MMWR from the @CDCgov finds that patients who have no symptoms and test negative for #COVID19, after quarantining for 7 days from a COVID exposure event, is effective in stopping the spread. May lead to CDC recommending shorter quarantine times.https://t.co/DMxLmQ3oA3
— Medical Research Library of Brooklyn (@DMCLibraryBKLYN) January 11, 2021
Much of US data to detect newest #coronavirus variants is several months old.
An international database shows the US ranks 61st in the world in how quickly virus samples are collected from patients, analyzed & then posted online.https://t.co/MdlI22eQqV
— MicrobesInfect (@MicrobesInfect) January 11, 2021
As many as eight gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park are presumed to have contracted COVID-19 from a human handler after one of the animals tested positive, marking the first known transmission of the virus to apes https://t.co/KE47l73p5r pic.twitter.com/U3dwSNg6ic
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 12, 2021
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COVID19: The five worst-hit states are scattered around the country: Arizona, California, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and South Carolina. They're averaging the most daily new cases nationwide https://t.co/O9B9DlgkRw
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 11, 2021
Stadiums, fairgrounds and convention centers are being used as part of a major expansion of the biggest vaccination effort in U.S. history. Public health officials are attempting to inoculate a larger and more diverse pool of people. https://t.co/UQSCAhn89T
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 11, 2021
Disneyland to become mass vaccination site in Orange County, California https://t.co/OGX3m3PcmY pic.twitter.com/enNypI5izc
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 12, 2021
Coronavirus deaths in California have hit 30,000 and new infections are rising at a dizzying rate of more than a quarter-million a week. But there may be some light ahead. Hospitalizations in the nation's most populous state finally are leveling off. https://t.co/y4iKlpgTp4
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 12, 2021
ROLL-COVID-TIDE! Let's create a super spreader event and further strain medical resources while endangering the health of literally thousands of people because a team i like won a football game.
Fucking dumb-asses. https://t.co/lp4YZtKBK7— August (@augustbenassi) January 12, 2021
'We're going to run out': New York urges U.S. to increase vaccine supply https://t.co/3TfNAfKxNT pic.twitter.com/7eanxf6boc
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 11, 2021
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY yesterday:
460 new cases. The age group with the most cases is, as usual, those in their 20s.
The number of dead and hospitalized hasn’t changed from Saturday, which makes me think they’re behind on updating those numbers.
Mary G
Psyched for the Disneyland vaccination site, but I’m a long way down the list. Right now the appointments are coming through employers and I don’t have one. Housemate’s family are getting theirs, which is good. Their friends keep dying.
Martin
Uh, hospitalizations can’t help but level off – we’ve been at 0% availability for 2 straight weeks.
YY_Sima Qian
On 1/11 China reported 55 new domestic confirmed, 71 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
At Dalian in Liaoning Province, 6 domestic confirmed cases recovered and 4 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 22 domestic confirmed cases and 15 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. There are 13 communities, 2 residential compounds and a village currently at Medium Risk in the city.
At Shenyang in Liaoning Province, 2 domestic confirmed case recovered. There are currently 33 domestic confirmed and 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 5 residential compounds have been re-designated as Low Risk. There are 1 community, 2 buildings and 8 residential compounds currently at Medium Risk in the city.
Beijing Municipality reported 1 new domestic confirmed cases, a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine since 1/10. However, the case is young boy that lives at a different village in a different township in Shunyi District, not sure what is the connections with the positive cases reported on 1/9 and 1/10. 1 village was elevated to Medium Risk. There are 8 residential compounds and 1 village are at Medium Risk in Beijing.
Hebei Provincial Health Commission reported 40 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic) and 26 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There are currently 305 domestic confirmed cases (1 critical, 9 serious, 294 moderate and 1 mild) and 227 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
Xingtai did not report any new domestic positive cases. There are currently 16 domestic confirmed and 4 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 2 communities were elevated to Medium Risk. 2 communities, 5 residential compounds, 2 offices and 1 village are at Medium Risk.
Gu’an County in Langfang reported 1 new domestic confirmed case. The case had visited family at Shijiazhuang several times over the past 2 weeks (which district is not disclosed), but apparently had contact with a confirmed case. The case also commutes daily to Beijing for work. She had tested negative on 1/9, but was sent to centralized quarantine anyway due to her travel history to Shijiazhuang. The adjacent Sanhe County has ordered mass screening of all residents, with all residents to stay home for 7 days, despite not having a single reported positive case. An example of over-zealotry of local officials, particularly being so close to the capital.
Shijiazhuang reported 39 new domestic confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic) and 26 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 32 of the confirmed cases at Haocheng District (2 previously asymptomatic already under isolation, 18 traced close contact already under centralized quarantine, 11 from mass screening already under home or centralized quarantine, and 1 from fever clinic who was driving freight truck across the country over the past 10 days), including 31 at the epicenter township; 3 at Xinle District (1 traced close contact and 2 found at fever clinics); 2 at Yuhua District (1 traced close contact and 1 found at fever clinic); 1 at Zhengding Country (found from mass screening). No information have been released for the asymptomatic cases. Currently, there are 288 confirmed cases and 223 asymptomatic cases. The city commenced the 2nd round of mass screening today. The authorities believe the index case of the outbreak was infected before 12/15, and there was cryptic transmission for at least 17 days. Weddings, church events and hospitals are super spreading events. Haocheng District remains at High Risk. 12 residential compounds, 4 village, 2 dormitories and 1 neighborhood committee office were elevated as Medium Risk. 1 village was elevated to Medium Risk. There are 18 residential compounds, 7 villages, 2 dormitories, 1 office and 1 dormitory are at Medium Risk in the city.
Over 4K residents of the epicenter village in the epicenter township in Haocheng District had been moved to centralized quarantine the evening of 1/10. 20K residents across 12 villages at the epicenter township are in the process of being moved to centralized quarantine, spread over a number of townships in the region. The exceptions are elderly invalids and their caretakers, and those working in animal husbandry. This is a really questionable decision to me. It is indeed more challenging to supervise home quarantine in rural villages with spread out individual houses than urban residential compounds with walls and gates. However, having residents bussed to locations a hour or two away simply increase the risk of transmission on the bus. They also bring potentially infected cases to areas free of COVID-19. We know from past experience (China and Australia) that improper protocols (both inter-personal interaction and disposal of waste) at quarantine hotels can serve as vector to spread to the surrounding community. A suddenly influx of tens of thousands of people to locations inexperienced with managing centralized quarantines increase this risk. I see sardonic comments on Chinese social media that the local authorities are taking these actions with “protecting the capital” in mind. At least room and board are free.
Jinzhong in Shanxi Province reported 2 new asymptomatic cases, both had come from Shijiazhuang, including 1 from the epicenter township, on 1/2 & 1/4. The 2 cases had similar travel histories since 1/4. 18 close contacts have been traced so far, and have been placed under centralized quarantine.
Wangkui County in Suihua, Heilongjiang Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (previously asymptomatic) and 36 new domestic asymptomatic cases, including 20 that I mentioned in yesterday’s post. All of cases live in the same village. Case information for 21 of the cases have been published, they belong to several family clusters centered around 2 weddings as super spreading events. There are currently 1 domestic confirmed and 45 domestic asymptomatic cases there. So far, 583 F1 close contacts and 718 F2 close contracts have been traced. The county is in the process of mass screening all residents. As of 8PM on 1/11, 114,294 individuals have been swabbed, with 7,192 results obtained. The screening is expected to complete by 1/13. The village is currently at Medium Risk, but probably will elevate to High Risk shortly.
Changchun in Jilin Province reported 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases, including the 4 I mentioned in yesterday’s post (2 couples who had recently come from Wangkui County). The other 3 are close contacts (immediate family members) of 4 aforementioned asymptomatic cases.
On 1/11, China reported 13 new imported confirmed cases, 10 imported asymptomatic cases:
* Shanghai Municipality – 4 confirmed cases, all Chinese nationals returning from the US
* Yingkou Port in Liaoning Province – 3 confirmed and 4 asymptomatic cases, all crew members off a cargo ship; surprisingly, none of the 100+ dock workers who boarded the ship have tested positive, so far
* Tianjin Municipality – 2 confirmed cases, 1 Chinese national returning from Niger (via Paris CdG), no information released for the other case, yet
* Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 confirmed cases (previously asymptomatic), no information released
* Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), a Chinese national returning from Indonesia
* Qingyuan in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed cases, a Chinese national returning from the US, off a flight that landed in Guangzhou
* Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese nationals returning from the Congo (Kinshasa) (via Nairobi)
* Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Japan
* Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 confirmed and 1 asymptomatic cases, no information released
* Taiyuan in Shanxi Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Poland, off a flight diverted from Beijing
* Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, an Indian national coming from India (via Kathmandu)
* Yunnan Province (city not specificed) – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Myanmar, via land border crossing
Overall in China, 31 confirmed cases recovered, 17 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation and 5 were reclassified as confirmed case, and 567 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 697 active confirmed cases in the country (291 imported), 18 are in serious condition (4 imported), 565 asymptomatic cases (256 imported). 27,830 traced contacts are currently under quarantine.
On 1/12, Hong Kong reported 60 new cases, all domestic (13 of whom do not have source of infection identified). There are another 30+ preliminarily positive cases, awaiting retesting for confirmation.
sab
NY : “We are going to run out”… well maybe if your amazing governor had gotten his shit together over the last six months and had more realistic guidelines. Throwing vaccines out because not enough hospital employees want them and not authorized to vaccinate non-employes.
Ohio governor DeWine taking lots of flack for relaxing his guidelines, but he has been clear. He wants shots in arms within 24 hours of receiving vaccines, and reporting back to the state within the next 24 hours. And give the shots to anyone who wants it, regardless of their tier instead of throwing it out. My dad got his a day early because his caretakers didn’t want their vaccines. Ohio has consistently used more than half it’s vaccines within a day of getting them, one of only 4 states out of 50 to manage to do that.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 3,309 new cases today in his media statement, yet another record high, for a cumulative reported total of 141,533 cases. Dr Noor Hisham also reports four new deaths today, for a total of 559 deaths — 0.39% of the cumulative reported total, 0.50% of resolved cases.
30,390 active and contagious cases are currently in hospital; 190 are in ICU, 83 of them on respirators. Meanwhile, 1,469 patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 110,584 patients recovered – 78.1% of the cumulative reported total.
11 new clusters were reported today: Jalan Manan and Persiaran Kuala in Selangor; Udarama, Iris, Batu dialysis, and Jalan Kiara in KL; Bukit Sekubong in Sarawak; Kampung Badak and Taman Kesedar in Kelantan; Putra dialisys in Putrajaya; and Permint Harmoni in Terengganu.
3,303 new cases today are local infections. Selangor has 1,006 local cases: 271 in older clusters, 92 in Jalan Manan and Persiaran Kuala clusters, 462 close-contact screenings, and 181 other screenings. Johor has 442 cases: 318 in existing clusters, 77 close-contact screenings, and 47 other screenings. Sabah has 409 cases: 26 in existing clusters, 260 close-contact screenings, and 123 other screenings. KL has 322 local cases: 86 in older clusters, 42 in Udarama, Iris, Batu dialysis, and Jalan Kiara clusters, 115 close-contact screenings, and 79 other screenings. Penang has 317 cases: 119 in existing clusters, 81 close-contact screenings, and 117 other screenings. Perak has 241 cases: 202 in existing clusters, 24 close-contact screenings, and 15 other screenings. Sarawak has 145 local cases: 101 in older clusters, 20 in Bukit Sekubong cluster, three close-contact screenings, and 21 other screenings.
Pahang has 96 cases: 71 in existing clusters, 16 close-contact screenings, and nine other screenings. Kelantan has 86 cases: 17 in older clusters, eight in Kampung Badak and Taman Kesedar clusters, 47 close-contact screenings, and 14 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan has 85 cases: 17 in existing clusters,46 close-contact screenings, and 22 other screenings. Kedah has 62 cases: 24 in existing clusters, 29 close-contact screenings, and nine other screenings. Putrajaya has 36 cases: two in older clusters, nine in Putra dialisys cluster, 20 close-contact screenings, and five other screenings. Melaka has 21 cases: seven in existing clusters, 13 close-contact screenings, and 0ne other screening.
Terengganu has 20 cases: two in older clusters, two in Permint Harmoni cluster, 12 close-contact screenings, and four other screenings. And Labuan has 15 cases: eight close-contact screenings, and seven other screenings.
Only Perlis reported no new cases today.
Six new cases are imported. Four were reported in KL, one in Selangor, and one in Sarawak.
The four deaths today are a 67-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and chronic kidney disease; a 60-year-old man in Selangor with hypertension, heart disease, dyslipidaemia, and rheumatoid arthritis; a 52-year-old woman in Selangor with no listed co-morbidities; and a 69-year-old man in Perak with diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia.
Platonicspoof
From the Delthia Ricks quote “One eighteen hour flight . . . . ” to the NYT article:
So there wasn’t a federal policy and regulations? Left up to the states? The Marketplace?
Edit for link.
Robert Sneddon
The UK has reported on the number of excess deaths in 2020, all attributable to the coronavirus outbreak. The number is 91,000 excess deaths compared to an average of the past five years, about an increase of 15%. It’s the worst excess death rate since 1940 when we were getting bombed by the Luftwaffe and soldiers were getting killed in France.
Wag
I cannot wait for the Biden administration to uncover and widely publicize the malfeasance in the Trump response to the pandemic. The slow rollout of testing, the disparaging of masks, the laziness of the uncoordinated federal response, the suppression of epidemiological information from the CDC, the purposeful slow rollout of vaccines. Whenever there was a choice in how to handle the pandemic, the Trump approach has been “What will cause the most damage? Ok, let’s go with that!”
Sloane Ranger
Back on the internet, hopefully permanently.
Here are yesterday’s figures from the UK. Yesterday, there were 46,169 new cases (a 5.5% increase in the rolling 7-day average) and this number is probably depressed due to weekend processing delays. The total number of cases in the UK since the start of the pandemic is now over 3 million. New cases by nation,
England – 41,835 (down @8400)
Northern Ireland – 759 (down @350)
Scotland – 1782 (down @100)
Wales – 1793 (up @130)
Deaths – There were 529 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is a 50% increase in the rolling 7-day average. 495 deaths were in England, 16 in Northern Ireland, 1 in Scotland and 17 in Wales.
Tests – 619,941tests were processed on Thursday, 7 January out of a capacity of 778,382. This is an increase in the rolling7-day average of 32.6%.
Hospitalisations – 32,294 people were in hospital on Thursday, 7 January and 3098 were on ventilators on Friday 8th. There has been a 34.6% increase in the rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions.
Vaccinations – New Entry. 2,286,572 people have received the 1st dose of a vaccine as of 11th January.
General – England settling in to the current lockdown. Each lockdown seems to be taken less and less seriously by the population. Widespread reports of people ignoring the rules. Under pressure, supermarkets are now saying they will enforce mask wearing in their stores, which they have not done previously. Workers are saying that they have been told by managers not to enforce the mask mandate because if they did, the people concerned might go elsewhere to shop.
In other news, Boris Johnson is under scrutiny for being seen cycling in the Olympic Park, some 7 miles from Downing Street. To be honest, I might dislike the man but I think this is a storm in a teacup. Providing he left No. 10 riding the bike and returned there on his bike, 7 miles isn’t that much of a distance for a bike ride.
Winston
Welp, I called the Board of Health Hot line to schedule a Covid Vax. After 16 busy signals I finally connected to the Robot operator. After 10 minutes of “We will be with you shortly, thanks for holding” messages I got a real person to speak with. Gave her my information, where upon she said thank you. I said thank you too, and asked when and where I would get the vax. She said we will get back to you, this is just registration. I said, well you know it took 16 calls to get to you. She said “Lucky you, some have told me they made 200 calls”. Lucky me.
YY_Sima Qian
Shenyang Municipal CDC has published the transmission map of the recent outbreak. Someone took the trouble to translate the key individuals and vectors.
The index imported case directly infected more than half of the 37 positive cases in the outbreak, via her frequent movement about the city while pre-symptomatic and symptomatic. Unfortunately, the index case is still in serious condition. There were nosocomial transmission at 5 medical facilities, other transmission took place at a convenience store, a bus and 2 pharmacies. There were 3 instances of fomite transmission, 2 at hospitals and 1 at a pharmacy.
YY_Sima Qian
@Sloane Ranger: Welcome back! Unfortunately, things have really taken a turn for the worse in the UK, I hope you and Robert are staying safe! I know the UK is planning to vaccinate as much of the population with a single shot of vaccines, by lengthening the gap between shots to 12 weeks. Have the authorities (or academic institutions) modeled how long it would take for the mass vaccination to turn the epidemic around?
Ireland is particularly depressing. They had managed to substantially suppress their Oct. 2nd wave by early Nov. However, relaxation of restrictions in mid to late Nov. had allowed a 3rd wave to be obviously observable by mid-Dec., yet they decided to further relax distancing before the Christmas holidays. Now case counts are exploding to 4 – 5X of their Oct. peak, with no inflection in sight. Were they not aware of the B.1.1.7 mutation when they made that decision? At least the UK reversed the pre-Christmas relaxation when the impact of the B.1.17 strain became apparent. (But the UK authorities should have known earlier in Dec. when they planned for the pre-Christmas relaxation.)
Sloane Ranger
@YY_Sima Qian: Thanks. I’m trying to stay as safe as I can. Unfortunately my IT issues meant I had to have an engineer in to sort out the problem with my master socket. It was old and very corroded from the slow leak and he swore like a trooper! I had the windows open and tried to keep as much space between us as possible but we had to share a telephone at one point to sort out an administrative issue with his Head Office. I sterilised the phone afterwards and washed my hands but we’ll see what happens!
Yes, Ireland is depressing. Even if they didn’t know about the mutation, they should have noticed something was wrong, just from the public information available about the English figures. However, lockdown fatigue IS a thing in both countries and both need to be aware of public opinion, though I agree the Christmas relaxation of rules was a giant mistake and one that Boris Johnson needs to own
I don’t know if they’ve modelled how long it will take to turn the epidemic around but I know they’re saying they expect to have everyone over 18 vaccinated by the autumn.
J R in WV
Last week I put some time into attempting to investigate Covid-19 vaccination availability here in rural SW West Virginia. I have heard that WV is highly regarded as to the vaccination program here, and can only say that in the rest of the nation it must be a real cluster-fuck, because I got exactly nowhere phoning around but contradictory and wrong information.
Called the local county health department, located in an old former home at the end of the courthouse parking lot. They told me to call the Walgreens Drug store in town, which they said was going to be providing vaccinations in the county, population around 20K people. Sounded like no plan to me, but whatever.
When I called the drug store, their computer phone answering machine did not know the words Covid-19 nor Coronavirus, although it did know the word vaccination. Eventually I got to talk to a pharmacy tech who told me health-care workers and people over 80 in nursing homes were able to schedule vaccinations.
This is not what I was told by the staff at the county Health Dept… see what I mean about contradictory information?
No word on how people in long-term care facilities were to travel to the Walgreens Drug… I guess maybe they take a cooler full to the care homes? Dunno, tho.
My wife had part of her lung removed during her experience with septic shock due to pneumonia… she had a collapsed lung for weeks, and finally the guy who put the chest tubes decided to go in with tiny devices to see why it wasn’t recovering, he said he could glue any leaks he found, probably 30 minutes all told in surgery.
4 hours later he comes to the waiting room, is pale and sweaty (hard for a Filipino surgeon but he was right there!) and tells me that her third lobe of her left lung (the collapsed one) was necrotic — as in rotted away. He removed debris and sprayed with antiseptic and cleaned it up as best he could.
I asked “How common is this?” and he said he hadn’t ever even heard of it. Whatever he did worked, her remaining lung expanded into that space and her capacity is very near normal for a 72 y o person. However, her doctor thinks she would be totally vulnerable to Covid, and she hasn’t left our hollow in a year and a half now but for medical appointments. She is late for a mammogram now.
How do we get her into the queue for vaccination shots? Drugstores have no access to her medical records, don’t know she is more vulnerable than the average 72 y o, no method exists for her to get vaccinated early!!
I blame Trump, personally. He has allowed religious idiots to take charge of this whole pandemic problem from day one, and ignored professionals, fired the team designated to deal with health crises, etc.
In a just world the mob would have been after Trump, who caused this disaster to be much worse than it needed to be, not the Democratic leadership attempting to repair the situation now that it’s such a disaster.