Our daily update is published. States reported 1.8M tests, 186k cases, 122,700 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, and a record 4,409 deaths. pic.twitter.com/5WYUdLQoFw
— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) January 21, 2021
NEW: Amazon has extended an offer to President Joe Biden to assist with the national distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, a move that could expedite the federal effort to combat the pandemic.
More from @DylanByers. ??https://t.co/FNNNwuXTd7
— NBC News Business (@NBCNewsBusiness) January 20, 2021
WOW—Biden WH is much more aggressive with #COVID19 safety and testing—and so much more organized says CBS News @PaulaReidCBS.
Adults are clearly back in the WH. pic.twitter.com/T73LodKe3n
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 20, 2021
Tomorrow morning, early on the East Coast, the U.S. will rejoin the World Health Organization.
Representing the U.S. will be Dr. Anthony Fauci.
— Andy Slavitt @ ??? (@ASlavitt) January 21, 2021
Surgeon General resigns at Biden’s request. The ouster is regarded as a break with the Trump administration’s #coronavirus response, which Biden has called a failure https://t.co/Ri6lQCbFWF pic.twitter.com/8clN4HVMQS
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 21, 2021
Dr. Anthony Fauci says President Joe Biden will order the United States to support projects to deploy COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics to people in need around the world. https://t.co/gkXDmHJ3CU
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 21, 2021
======
China is turbocharging efforts to discredit Western vaccines & to spread #coronavirus conspiracy theories https://t.co/m3KN4QPGy1
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 20, 2021
India's vaccine diplomacy in south Asia pushes back against China https://t.co/MB9dIwycP8 pic.twitter.com/gSP6KOlyXg
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 21, 2021
Sri Lanka reopens to foreign tourists after a nearly 10-month pandemic closure that cut deeply into the Indian Ocean island nation’s lucrative travel industry. https://t.co/K6h71cR9ZB
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 21, 2021
Europe’s growing mask request: Ditch the cloth ones for medical-grade coverings https://t.co/5iMdWaVdYL
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 20, 2021
On Britain's COVID-19 frontline, medics and patients fight for life https://t.co/rI6dBkmkwC pic.twitter.com/Vs6pHLSyZQ
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 21, 2021
Infections in Germany have been on the decline for 10 days in a row.https://t.co/shM2bapbLS
— DW News (@dwnews) January 21, 2021
UK emergency services trying to protect AstraZeneca vaccine factory from flooding – LBC https://t.co/qUdmKglMAG pic.twitter.com/LkTfiGoMVv
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 21, 2021
Coronavirus latest:
– Spain reports highest ever number of daily infections
– Covid patients now occupy 19.95% of hospital beds and 35.02% of ICUs – rates higher than the first wave
– In the last seven days, 1,759 deaths have been recorded https://t.co/SCQEQXGOHP— El País English Edition (@elpaisinenglish) January 21, 2021
Sweden extends pandemic curbs amid tentative signs of slowing outbreak https://t.co/FXXHcUedJi pic.twitter.com/DQYRqaL3f3
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 21, 2021
Covid: Israel vaccine fears 'out of context and inaccurate' https://t.co/RdDdLlRPFt
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 21, 2021
Kenya reports two cases of new coronavirus variant first seen in South Africa https://t.co/RILQL2k2VH pic.twitter.com/OcgWz6qZvY
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 21, 2021
Australia posts zero virus cases, state chief calls for 'Pacific bubble' https://t.co/pP7gWsk5KD pic.twitter.com/FctZEjTWJe
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 21, 2021
Ecuador says first batch of 18 million contracted doses of COVID-19 vaccine arrive https://t.co/5CVc0cH3h6 pic.twitter.com/VXu15UJxwB
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 21, 2021
Peru’s doctors stage hunger strike to protest the lack of equipment https://t.co/woptmzz2Zj
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 20, 2021
======
'We know this is real:" The special needs of COVID 'long haulers,' is giving rise to new clinics. New York City's Mount Sinai has a clinic with over 1,600 patients https://t.co/SEt1bamjSj via @medical_xpress
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 20, 2021
Scientists are reporting troubling signs that some recent mutations of the coronavirus may modestly curb the effectiveness of two current vaccines. But they stress that the shots still protect.https://t.co/lxA2I6chPU
— AP Health & Science (@APHealthScience) January 20, 2021
More potential COVID-19 vaccines to fight the pandemic still are being tested, and some researchers are driving mobile labs into neighborhoods to recruit diverse volunteers. https://t.co/6FoWvJckke
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 21, 2021
How does SARSCoV2 destroy your sense of smell? New research suggests the #coronavirus's many neurological symptoms can be explained by the body's widespread inflammatory response & associated blood vessel damage https://t.co/PTQ3nV6j59 via @medical_xpress
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 20, 2021
New trial finds arthritis drug tocilizumab no better than standard care for severe COVID-19 https://t.co/udVYiWfVe3 via @medical_xpress
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 20, 2021
======
Thousands of appointments for vaccination are being canceled as the U.S. vaccine supply dwindles https://t.co/Az8pqP9gmK
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 21, 2021
A new California variant may be driving the virus surge in the state. In late December California scientists began searching for a fast-spreading new variant that had just been identified in the UK. What they found: Calif had a mutant of its own—CAL.20C https://t.co/khDgO7XAly
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 20, 2021
Much of Texas remains overrun by the virus, threatening U.S. progress https://t.co/OV5I5PQy2z
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 20, 2021
Biden is ‘inheriting a disaster’ as coronavirus infections continue to grip the nation amid a chaotic vaccine rollout https://t.co/CsxpNGBtkQ pic.twitter.com/TUTo7GDJMX
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) January 21, 2021
… Biden is taking power as the national numbers are at, or very close to, the peak of their winter surge. The only reason the numbers are likely to decline in coming weeks is that the virus has been so efficient in spreading that it is starting to run out of new victims. The virus that for most of last year operated with a wide-open landscape of “susceptibles” now finds itself in a different biological situation, having infected so many people that it often collides with human immunity…
Experts warn against fatalism and continue to urge people to focus on what they can do to crush the pandemic. That includes getting vaccinated. The experts agree that one of Biden’s challenges, and that of the scientific community more broadly, is to persuade skeptics that the vaccines are not only safe for individuals but critical to the common good…
“This pandemic has plunged us to the bottom of a very deep well,” Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security, wrote on Twitter on Monday. “After recovering from the shock of a long, abrupt fall into cold, fetid water, we looked up and saw only darkness. But we did find a ladder leading upward.”
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY yesterday:
363 new cases. 741 hospitalized, 171 in the ICU. 841 deaths, up from 802. 34% of hospital beds available, 22% of ICU beds available. 6.3% positivity.
Chyron HR
Imagine having access to medical-grade masks.
YY_Sima Qian
On 1/20 China reported 126 new domestic confirmed, 107 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Liaoning Province did not report any new domestic positive cases:
– At Dalian, 1 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 4 domestic confirmed cases & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 community was re-designated as Low Risk. There are 2 communities currently at Medium Risk in the city.
– At Shenyang, 3 domestic confirmed case recovered. There are currently 6 domestic domestic confirmed cases in the city.
Beijing Municipality reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic), both at the epicenter community in Daxing District, which has been elevated to High Risk. The new positive case was found via mass screening. From 1/17 to 1/21, the district has almost completed the swabbing of all residents. 1 village at Shunyi District was re-designated as Low Risk. There are currently 3 villages (at Shunyi District) at Medium Risk.
Hebei Province:
Hebei Provincial Health Commission reported 20 new domestic confirmed (5 previously asymptomatic) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 8 domestic confirmed case recovered & 17 domestic asymptomatic cases was released from isolation. There are currently 830 domestic confirmed cases (9 critical, 30 serious, 663 moderate and 128 mild) & 150 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province:
– Xingtai did not report any new domestic positive cases. There are currently 56 domestic confirmed & 9 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. Nangong District remain at High Risk, 1 residential compound at Longyao County remain at Medium Risk. Nangong District has completed several rounds of mass testing, and will commence another round today, Longyao County has completed its 1st round of mass screening (all 414,224 resident tested are negative).
– Gu’an County in Langfang did not report any new domestic positive cases. The county has completed 2 rounds of mass screening, and all residents in the compound and the village were positive cases were found are tested every 2 days. There are 1 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 1 residential compound remain at Medium Risk.
– Shijiazhuang reported 20 new domestic confirmed cases (5 previously asymptomatic) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 8 confirmed case recovered & 17 asymptomatic case was released from isolation. 16 of the confirmed cases are at Gaocheng District (5 previously asymptomatic already under isolation, 8 traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine, 3 from mass screening already under home or centralized quarantines), all at the epicenter township; 4 at Xinle District (all traced close contacts). No information for the asymptomatic cases. Currently, there are 773 confirmed cases & 140 asymptomatic cases. 2 residential compounds were elevated to Medium Risk. The city has commenced the 3rd round of mass screening. There are 33 residential compounds, 7 villages & 1 residential building at Medium Risk in the city. There are 2 districts at High Risk.
Jinzhong in Shanxi Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both previously asymptomatic), both had traveled from Shijiazhuang at the beginning of Jan.
Heilongjiang Province:
Heilongjiang Province reported 68 new domestic confirmed (13 previously asymptomatic) & 85 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all are F1 or F2 close contacts of previously reported positive cases. 1 domestic confirmed case recovered and 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There are currently 259 domestic confirmed (including 2 critical and 10 serious) & 377 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.:
– Suihua reported 67 new domestic confirmed (13 previously asymptomatic) & 59 new domestic asymptomatic cases. Wangkui County reported 65 confirmed (13 previously asymptomatic) & 48 asymptomatic cases, Hailun reported 2 confirmed & 7 asymptomatic cases, Anda reported 3 asymptomatic cases, and Suiling County reported 1 asymptomatic case. No case information released so far. There are currently 248 domestic confirmed & 301 domestic asymptomatic cases there. The entire Wangkui County has been elevated to High Risk.
– Harbin reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Daoli District) & 21 asymptomatic cases (5 at Hulan District, 14 at Limin Development Zone and 2 at Nangang District). The confirmed case is a traced close contact of the new cluster at Daxing District in Beijing Municipality (traveled to Harbin on 1/14). 1 of the new asymptomatic cases is a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine, 12 are from screening of coworkers of a previously identified positive case, and 8 from community mass screening. There are currently 6 domestic confirmed & 40 domestic asymptomatic cases there. Mass screening has started in all districts with positive cases. 4 residential building units are at Medium Risk, but more areas will surely be added by tomorrow.
– Qiqihar reported 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 3 at Fularji District and 1 at Jianhua District, all are traced close contact already under centralized quarantine since 1/13 or 1/16. There are 1 domestic confirmed & 29 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 1 village remains at Medium Risk.
– Yichun did not report any new domestic positive cases. There are 2 domestic asymptomatic cases there.
– Daqing reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Zhaozhou County, a traced close contact of an asymptomatic case at Anda in Suihua already under centralized quarantine. There are 1 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 1 residential building unit remain at Medium Risk.
– At Mudanjiang, 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation, there are 3 domestic asymptomatic cases there.
– At Heihe, 1 domestic confirmed case from the recent outbreak recovered, with 3 domestic confirmed cases remaining. 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. The last residential building at Medium Risk was re-designated as Low Risk.
Qingdao in Shandong Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, both at Pingdu, a couple arriving from Anda in Suihua on 1/14. As persons traveling from Medium Risk area, they were required to test for RT-PCR on 1/14 & 1/16, both negative. The husband developed a fever in the evening of 1/19, and the couple visited a fever clinic, where both tested positive. As of 7 AM on 1/21, 77 F1 & 305 F2 close contacts have been traced and placed under centralized quarantine.
Jilin Province
Jilin Province reported 33 new domestic confirmed cases (28 previously asymptomatic) & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases, there are currently 162 confirmed (4 critical, 9 serious, 114 moderate and 35 mild) & 39 asymptomatic cases there.:
– Songyuan reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both previously asymptomatic). There are 2 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases there. 1 residential compound was elevated to Medium Risk.
– Tonghua reported 29 new domestic confirmed (24 previously asymptomatic) & 6 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 4 of the 11 new positive cases are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine, the other 7 are from mass screening. There are currently 123 domestic confirmed & 28 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. The city has started the 2nd round of mass screening of all residents. The entire Dongchang District remains at High Risk. 1 residential compound at the High Tech. Dev. Zone remain at Medium Risk.
– Changchun reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases (both previously asymptomatic). There are currently 37 domestic confirmed & 9 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. Mass screening of all residents are ongoing. 1 township & 3 residential compounds are at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases today. The 1st case was found via regular screening of hospital custodian staff, the 2nd case was found via regular screening of support staff at another hospital. and is a neighbor of the 1st case, and the 3rd case is a traced close contact of the 1st case. 71 F1 & 78 F2 close contacts have been traced and will be tested (37 F1 & 25 F2 close contacts have tested negative so far). 14,411 related individuals have been identified and tested, 10,971 negative results so far. 661 environmental samples collected, of the 144 results obtained 4 are positive (all associated w/ the 1st case). 1 residential area has been elevated to Medium Risk.
Overall, it appears that the outbreaks in Shenyang and Dalian in Liaoning Province are nearly eradicated, and the ones in Hebei and Jilin Provinces are also getting under control (most new confirmed cases are reclassified from asymptomatic ones, fewer new asymptomatic cases found, and new positive cases are almost always already under quarantine). The one centered around Wangkui in Suihua, Heilongjiang province is still yet to peak, though almost all of the new positive cases can be traced to identified transmission chains. In any case, the area is under lock down. The main concerns are the new clusters at Daxing District in Beijing Municipality and at Limin and Hulan Districts in Harbin, especially since the cluster at Daxing is infected by the B.1.1.7 variant. The newest cluster at Shanghai bears watching.
To further discourage travel and contain the risks associated with the massive Chinese New Year migration, the Chinese government just announced that, from 1/28 to 3/8, all returnees to rural areas will need negative RT-PCR report with 7 days of travel, and self-quarantine for 14 days upon returning home. The policy applies to 3 categories of returnees to rural areas: those returning from out of province, those returning from Medium and High Risk areas within the province, and those who work in one of the listed occupations that have been identified as high risk (cold chain logistics, customs, public transportation, handlers of imported goods and quarantine hotel staff, etc.). The policy is clearly discriminatory, as it only applies those who are returning to rural areas, not urban areas. They also make up the majority of the people are likely to travel out of city/province over the holiday. People in rural areas typically live in multigenerational dwellings, not clear if everyone in the household are expected to self-quarantine. It would be useless otherwise. On the other hand, epidemic surveillance, containment and health care systems are all much weaker in rural areas, as the outbreaks at Shijiazhuang and Suihua have illustrated. Each flare up would result in costly quarantines and testing campaigns, as well as economically and socially damaging lock downs. During China’s 1st wave in late winter/early spring of 2020, COVID-19 never did penetrate deep into the rural areas outside of Hubei Province, or even inside of most of Hubei. Within Hubei it was contained and eradicated with a hard lock down lasting 70+ days. Back then contact tracing was also much easier – just target people returning from Hubei, and their families and other close contacts. Now, an outbreak could happen anywhere in China.
On 1/20, China reported 18 new imported confirmed cases, 16 imported asymptomatic cases, 5 imported suspect cases:
* Shanghai Municipality – 9 confirmed cases, 3 Chinese nationals returning from the US, 2 from Brazil (via Germany) and 1 each\ from Germany, Switzerland, France & Finland; 5 suspect cases, no information released
* Tianjin Municipality – 5 confirmed cases, all Chinese crew members of a cargo ship with last port of call at Singapore
* Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Ghana (via Cairo); 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Bangladesh
* Foshan in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from South Sudan and Kuwait, off a flight that landed Guangzhou
* Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Malaysia, off a flight that landed Guangzhou
* Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the Congo (Kinshasa); the case had COVID-19 in Sept. while in the Congo and later recovered, arrived at Guangzhou on 1/29, passed through 14 days of centralized quarantine in Jiangmen and tested negative on RT-PCR 3 times, then another 7 days of hotel
* Nanning in Guangxi “Autonomous” Region – 1 confirmed & 2 asymptomatic cases, all Chinese national returning from overseas, no further information released
* Beijing Municipality – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Serbia (via Copenhagen)
* Wuhan in Hubei Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Pakistan
* Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
* Kunming in Yunnan Province – 3 asymptomatic cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from Sri Lanka and 1 from Myanmar
* Yuncheng in Shanxi Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
* Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, all Chinese nationals returning from Japan
* Wuhu in Anhui Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from overseas (origin not released) that landed at Chengdu in Sichuan Province on 12/31, passed through the 14 days of centralized quarantine and tested negative on RT-PCR multiple times, upon release from quarantine on 1/14 flew to Nanjing in Jiangsu Province was transferred to centralized quarantine at Wuhu, tested positive on 1/20
Overall in China, 19 confirmed cases recovered, 32 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation and 56 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 1,246 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,598 active confirmed cases in the country (288 imported), 68 are in critical/serious condition (2 imported), 819 asymptomatic cases (266 imported). 36,874 traced contacts are currently under quarantine.
On 1/21, Hong Kong reported 70 new cases, 7 imported and 63l domestic (16 of whom do not have sources of infection identified). There are another 40+ cases preliminarily positive, awaiting retesting for confirmation.
OzarkHillbilly
Ummm… Seeing as we are nowhere near herd immunity any such “colliding with human immunity” has to have at best a minimal effect on the rate of infection. Here in the hills and hollers 3 or 6 or 9 months ago, mask wearers were as rare as Manatees in the Mississippi, but now they are as common as fleas on a hound. It’s not 100%, never will be, but it is at or above 90%.
A whole lot of people are now taking this far more serious than they ever thought they would.
sab
My one stepson caught corona virus at work about a month ago and it spread to his fiancee. They are both much better now.
My other stepson has been exposed at his work by a co-worker now positive. Stepson now has a dry cough. Hoping it’s nothing. He’s being tested today.
Biden won and got inaugurated, but this isn’t over by a longshot
ETA: Stepsons have both been very careful, but whatcha gonna do about co-workers when you are an essential worker.
NotMax
FYI.
OzarkHillbilly
Because of getting tested in preparation for my little procedure, I was able to talk to people who actually knew wtf is going on with the vaccine around here and they told me where to go (my *google-fu* sucks donkey dick) hence I was finally able to get signed up for the vaccine (group 1B). Now we’ll see how long it will take before they get to me.
** might not have been the fault of my google-fu, one person told me my healthcare system just now got it set up
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
Might have been up and running sooner but one of your senators raised an objection.
//
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: Around here? No doubt they all objected.
Mousebumples
@OzarkHillbilly: i agree we’re nowhere near herd immunity, but the skeptics who are not taking covid precautions (and those essential workers unable to work from home)… I’m wondering what the infection level (*antibody level) is among them? Our infection rates have been dropping in Wisconsin, but I’m not sure on the WHY aspect…
Mary G
Link goes too CNN. We knew this was true, but something about seeing it confirmed is just enraging all over again.
The OC’s numbers are better today, if not good. 1,701 new cases, 31 deaths. Only one death is in a nursing home, which is unusual.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 3,170 new cases today at his media briefing, for a cumulative reported total of 172,549 cases. Dr Noor Hisham also reports 12 new deaths today, for a total of 642 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.49% of resolved cases.
41,755 active and contagious cases are currently in hospital; 260 are in ICU, 103 of them on respirators. Meanwhile, 2,490 patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 130,152 patients recovered – 75.4% of the cumulative reported total.
Dr Noor Hisham reports that Malaysia’s R0 is currently at 1.14.
Another 16 new clusters were reported today: Kota Muhibbah, Taman Sejahtera, and Jalan Slim in Perak; Gunung Raya and Orion in Kedah; Jalan Canang Emas and Jalan Kelapa in Selangor; Seri Bayu, Jalan Sempadan, and Tampoi Tujuh in Johor; Silimpopon and Ladang Sebrang in Sabah; Jalan Terolak and KL Wholesale Market 2 in KL; Kampung Tanah Merah in Teremgganu; and Mandin Jaya in Penang.
3,162 new cases today are local infections. KL has 571 local cases: 101 in older clusters, 20 in Jalan Terolak and KL Wholesale Market 2 clusters, 189 close-contact screenings, and 261 other screenings. Selangor has 544 local cases: 23 in older clusters, 20 in Jalan Canang Emas and Jalan Kelapa clusters, 263 close-contact screenings, and 238 other screenings. Johor has 422 local cases: 43 in older clusters; 53 in Seri Bayu, Jalan Sempadan, and Tampoi Tujuh clusters; 219 close-contact screenings; and 107 other screenings. Sabah has 400 local cases: 18 in older clusters, 14 in Silimpopon and Ladang Sebrang clusters, 245 close-contact screenings, and 123 other screenings. Perak has 245 cases: nine in older clusters; 57 in Kota Muhibbah, Taman Sejahtera, and Jalan Slim clusters; 121 close-contact screenings; and 58 other screenings.
Penang has 171 cases: 31 in older clusters, 21 in Mandin Jaya cluster, 54 close-contact screenings, and 65 other screenings. Kedah has 156 cases: 15 in older clusters, seven in Gunung Raya and Orion clusters, 76 close-contact screenings, and 58 other screenings. Kelantan has 135 cases: 14 in existing clusters, 88 close-contact screenings, and 33 other screenings. Sarawak has 132 cases: 100 in existing clusters, three close-contact screenings, and 29 other screenings. Melaka has 106 cases: 12 in existing clusters, 51 close-contact screenings, and 43 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan has 102 cases: 13 in existing clusters, 55 close-contact screenings, and 34 other screenings.
Terengganu has 57 cases: seven in older clusters, four in Kampung Tanah Merah cluster, 22 close-contact screenings, and 24 other screenings. Pahang has 48 cases: three in existing clusters, 28 close-contact screenings, and 17 other screenings. Putrajaya has 33 cases: one in an existing cluster, 21 close-contact screenings, and 11 other screenings. Labuan has 32 cases: 16 in existing clusters, eight close-contact screenings, and eight other screenings. And Perlis has eight cases: six close-contact screenings, and two other screenings.
Eight new cases are imported, consisting of seven Malaysians and one non-Malaysian. Five were reported in KL, one in Selangor, one in Sabah, and one in Johor. They are arrivals from the UK (two), Indonesia, Egypt, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Uganda.
The 12 deaths today are a 61-year-old woman in Negeri Sembilan with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity; an 82-year-old man in Sabah, DOA with obesity; an 81-year-old woman in Sabah, DOA with diabetes, hypertension, and bronchiectasis; an 81-year-old man in Johor with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and chronic kidney disease; a 72-year-old man in Johor with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and chronic kidney disease; a 47-year-old man in Perak with tuberculosis; a 68-year-old man in Johor with diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and a swollen prostate; a 67-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes; an 84-year-old woman in Selangor with diabetes and hypertension; a 53-year-old woman in Selangor with uterine fibroids; a 79-year-old man in Johor with dyslipidaemia; and a 51-year-old man in Sarawak with chronic kidney disease.
In other news, Senior Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced that, with the exception of Sarawak state, all of Malaysia is now under movement control orders until 4th Feruary. Two groups of states and federal territories were declared under MCO on different days a week apart; this gives them a common end date for that status. Sarawak continues under recovery movement control orders.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mousebumples: You are right to point that out, but there is still a wide-open landscape of “susceptibles”.
I speak of mask wearing because it is the most visible sign of how serious people are taking this. I am *assuming* there is a corresponding rise in social distancing and in staying home more too, but I have no idea for instance of how empty or full restaurants are in relation to 3 months ago, simply because I haven’t been in one since last Feb/March.
** with all the inherent innacuracies that allows, I am certain there is a correlation, just not sure of the exact amount.
Amir Khalid
@Mary G:
CNN story says the Trumpistas’ total incompetence came as no surprise to Biden’s people. That says it all, doesn’t it?
Mousebumples
@OzarkHillbilly: you are totally right.
On a related note, I’m thinking of how I’ve been interviewing new nannies this week since ours is moving at the end of the month. Candidates ranged from, “Oh, I think i caught it in March” to “Everyone who died had a preexisting condition” (which i pushed back on) to “I quit my teachers aid job in the fall when they wanted me to do in person school during a pandemic.”
Zoom interviews with a masked/outside meet and greet for the best options since I’m curious to see mask wearing in action.
Hopefully we’ll get pregnancy test like At Home Covid tests for cheap soon. I’ll totally invest in that to be an extra check on possible spread.
YY_Sima Qian
On the topic of the supposed Chinese propaganda campaign against western vaccines, so far I have not seen any effect internally in China. No one has forwarded me dodgy write ups against Moderna or BioNTech vaccines, with selective interpretation of data, on WeChat. It doesn’t come up in everyday conversation either. I spend quite a bit of time on Toutiao (Chinese news aggregator) everyday reading COVID-19. Toutiao aggregates everything from state media, select translations of international media, blogs, micro-blog and short form video posts, but vaccines are not a hot topic discussion (as opposed to latest data updates and press conferences from areas with outbreaks, or summaries of new confirmed and asymptomatic cases), and the mass vaccination campaign is getting much less coverage than the mass testing campaigns and lock downs at hot spots. Certainly Chinese vaccines get positive coverage, to the extent that they get coverage, and the western vaccines do not get the glowing coverage that they receive in western MSM. Nevertheless, even the ~ 50% general efficacy figure of the Sinovac vaccine from the Brazilian Phase III trial is not hidden away, but are put in proper context with the ~ 78% efficacy against mild disease and ~ 100% efficacy against moderate and severe illness from the same trial, and that the trial participants were all HCWs.
I don’t read much Chinese English language state media and do not follow Chinese propaganda organ on social media, so I do not have a feel whether there is an external facing propaganda campaign. I am not surprised that there is push back, however. Coverage of Chinese vaccines in Anglo-sphere MSM has been disgraceful. It’s one thing to highlight the lack of detailed data from the Phase III trials, and the inconsistent headline interim efficacy estimates publicized by the health authorities of countries where trials are being run (and not by the Chinese vaccine makers). It is quite another to insinuate that the Chinese vaccines, specifically the Sinovac one, to be nearly worthless. When Brazil Sao Paolo state’s Butantan Institute published the 50% general efficacy figure, western coverage dripped with derisive glee. Articles covering of the start of vaccination campaigns at Brazil, Turkey, and Indonesia with the Sinovac vaccine pretty much claimed that these countries are taking huge risk with inferior product. In reality, a vaccine with 100% efficacy against moderate/severe disease, 78% efficacy against mild disease, 50% efficacy against “very mild” disease would still be enormously helpful in reducing the danger of COVID-19 and alleviating the burden on health systems. It’s sterilizing efficacy is probably < 50%, but we do not know the sterilizing efficacies of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, either. Western MSM coverage, which remain influential in the world, merely serve to excite the anti-vaxxers and drive down vaccine adoption in the developing world, to everyone’s detriment. I do note that I have not seen scientific authorities in the West (StatNews, ScienceMag, etc.) comment much on the Chinese vaccines, given that detailed trial data are yet to be published, I also note that all of the recent coverage on Chinese vaccines in Anglosphere media are written by political or country based reporters without much scientific training, and not the excellent science reporters they have on staff.
As for renewed insinuations from Chinese propagandists that COVID-19 originated from Fort Dietrich, I see that as unfortunate counter trolling. Western MSMs have been good about not giving space to the lab escape or man-made conspiracy theories for COVID-19 origin, but the same could not be said of the Trump administration. The last time there was trolling from Chinese propagandist to insinuate that COVID-19 came out of Fort Dietrich, back in Apr. last year, it followed barrages from Tom Cotton, Mike Pompeo and Donald Trump trumping the lab related conspiracy theories. This time, it followed Mike and Pompeo and Matt Pottinger (NSC Deputy Director for Asia) claiming to have “more and more evidence” supporting lab escape theory in their final days in office, but again failing to furnish any of the “evidence”. Mike Pompeo is probably trolling, I cannot tell if Matt Pottinger actually believes it. What Chinese propagandists are doing are juvenile, disgraceful and counterproductive, but it is also not happening in a vacuum.
Platonicspoof
From Live Science, summary of a mathematical model published Jan. 19, 2021, on the importance of masking:
The model is here, too heavy on math for me, but the bolded conclusions in section 4 were readable:
Since October when CDC officially came out on aerosol transmission, I’ve tried to get to stores just when they open. Also:
Easy to quickly change variables, although It took me a minute to see the changes in the numbers on the vertical axis were the biggest changes to the curve.
Sloane Ranger
Yesterday in the UK we had 38,905 new cases. This is an increase of more than 5600 from the day before but there is still a reduction of 21.5% in the rolling 7-day average. New cases by nation,
England – 35,061 (up @5000)
Northern Ireland – 905 (up @200)
Scotland – 1656 (up @500)
Wales – 1283 (up @180).
Deaths – There were 1820 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday, 1662 in England, 22 in Northern Ireland, 92 in Scotland and 44 in Wales. The rolling 7-day average is up 14.8%.
Testing – 579,194 tests were processed on Tuesday, 19th January out of a capacity of 817,011. This is an increase of 1.7% in the rolling 7-day average.
Hospitalisations – 39,068 people were in hospital on Monday, 18 January and 3947 were on ventilators on Tuesday, 19th. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions shows an increase of 0.5%.
Vaccinations – 4,609,740 people had received their 1st dose by 19 January and 460,625 had received their 2nd dose by the same date.
General – Glastonbury has been cancelled again this year. Imperial College has release a report saying that there is no evidence that cases numbers declined during the first 10 days of the current lockdown and early evidence that an increase may have occurred. Downing Street is having a presser this afternoon at 5pm.
Laura Too
@YY_Sima Qian: I can’t adequately express how much I value your insight into all things Covid. I know it must take you a lot of time and thought to put together your daily numbers and reactions to extras. I am grateful to live in a time when we can truly be a global community!
YY_Sima Qian
@Laura Too: Thank you!
It’s become an obsession, born of anxiety and boredom during Wuhan’s lock down last year. I am an engineer by training and vocation, and I am (morbidly fascinated) by the mechanics of an outbreak and its suppression/eradication, consuming the detective work that goes into epidemiological investigations. I am also fascinated by the public policymaking and its implications.
Posting here everyday helps me organize all of the information and thoughts and keep record. Governments at all levels in China have been generally and increasingly transparent (but still to varying degrees) since the end of the 1st wave. However, the information is still piecemeal from the multitude of nation, provincial and municipal sources, fragmented across government announcements, press reports and social media posts. CDCs and health commissions do not maintain user friendly dashboards, media organizations (especially APP portals) that maintain them only have high level aggregates and deltas. I am not sure if it is the case of government authorities not being tech savvy, or authorities do not want to make it so easy for the average citizens to analyze the raw data.
It is probably not an entirely health obsession, and I am still pending a lot of time reading international coverage (and not just COVID-19), but it’s become part of the daily routine… I will say that, reading Chinese social media, I am far from the only person with such obsessions.
As outbreaks become more frequent across China, I may not be able to keep up with the granularities anymore. I am definitely concerned about the weeks after Chinese New Year. We will be staying put this CNY.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
Was in the store after 9pm on tuesday because fewer people and there was on old white guy who insisted verbally that he was observing social distancing. In a rather sarcastic way. Which was far better than him not observing silently. I find that most people will follow an obvious attempt at distancing if I initiate it. I always wait at a respectful distance for someone to do their selection and move on. It changes the general tone of the process.
dnfree
@YY_Sima Qian: I would also like to add my thanks for your insights and all the work that goes into providing such comprehensive data. I seldom comment but I read this every day.
StringOnAStick
Since we moved to a new state where we don’t know any locals, proper adherence to masking and distance is how we’ve picked what businesses to use. We needed a 150k maintenance appointment for one car but walked out when no one was masked; to us that says “RW nutjob” and is a business we don’t want to support. We had two arborists here on Monday and not only were they masked and backed away from me immediately, they had all their safety kit for Covid and tree care; we will definitely use them again. Proper use of masks is a great tell, and about 1/3 of the local businesses failed based on either lack of masks or mostly commonly by improper use.