Fauci on difference between working for Biden after Trump: “It is somewhat of a liberating feeling.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 21, 2021
REPORTER: You've joked a couple times about the difference between the Trump and Biden administrations. Do you feel less constrained?
FAUCI: You said I was joking about it. I was very serious. I wasn't joking. pic.twitter.com/nyH4ow1zVj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 21, 2021
Death toll from coronavirus will likely top 500,000 next month, Biden says. pic.twitter.com/IM32lbe9Iw
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 21, 2021
The US had +193,758 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total to nearly 25.2 million. The 7-day moving average continued to steadily fall to under 192,000 per day. pic.twitter.com/uuFOzuhp61
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) January 22, 2021
Anyone who claimed “people will stop talking about COVID-19 after the election” (because it was just a political ploy) should be called on it in each and every interview they give.
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) January 21, 2021
Pres Biden will sign 10 more executive orders related to COVID-19 today including directing agencies to use the National Defense Production Act to compel companies to prioritize making supplies like N95 masks & swabs. He also released a 23 page plan. More: https://t.co/6yiqUGbpmS
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) January 21, 2021
#UPDATE In addition to needing a negative #Covid-19 test result before flying, travelers to the United States will now need to quarantine upon arrival, #PresidentBiden said, toughened existing regulations under #DonaldTrumphttps://t.co/dZyqaClkPE
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 21, 2021
"We'll move heaven and earth to get more people vaccinated for free"
President Joe Biden promises to deliver 100 million shots of the coronavirus vaccine in his first 100 days in office
Latest: https://t.co/wsAUbovy4t pic.twitter.com/hVXxWpfk2L
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 21, 2021
======
A partial lockdown has been enacted in Beijing following the detection of the UK #coronavirus variant, B117 https://t.co/QrXpJYLNi5 via @medical_xpress
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) January 21, 2021
North China's Shijiazhuang sets up 458 quarantine centers to curb COVID-19 https://t.co/uHrkbhz6WO pic.twitter.com/khb4oERihp
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 21, 2021
China is rushing to build a massive quarantine camp with 4,000+ isolation suites in a region outside Beijing that’s dealing with a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
Officials have put tens of millions of people under a strict lockdown to stunt the spread. https://t.co/SMN61nAX60
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 21, 2021
Here you see the people of Beijing voting with their feet on whether they believe the government. Deciding if it's safe to take the subway.
So it's a cause for concern when there were visibly fewer people on my subway to work this morning compared to a few days ago.— James Mayger (@JDMayger) January 21, 2021
Japan stood firm on its commitment to host the Tokyo #Olympics this year and denied reports of a possible cancellation but the pledge looks unlikely to ease public concern about holding the event during a global pandemic https://t.co/9O0feC99Cy pic.twitter.com/5OfH9PPi03
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 22, 2021
Japan tourism push linked to surge in COVID-19 infections: study https://t.co/OZBvo4oczA pic.twitter.com/9SScsNtohb
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 22, 2021
India gives 1 million doses of #COVID19 vaccine to Nepal https://t.co/VwTbmDZlGx via @medical_xpress
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) January 21, 2021
In the UK, hospitals are straining to cope with a new #coronavirus variant, despite warnings last year that more preparations were needed for an expected surge of winter cases https://t.co/XBiYWgCb18
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) January 22, 2021
Why won't vaccinating the vulnerable end lockdown? https://t.co/McLQhHKegi
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 22, 2021
The death toll from the coronavirus in Germany has passed 50,000, a number that has risen swiftly over recent weeks even as infection figures are finally declining. https://t.co/9TxwQB3X08
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) January 22, 2021
Hungary first in EU to approve Russian Covid vaccine https://t.co/nZ0oYebmSy
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 21, 2021
Africa's long wait for the Covid-19 vaccine https://t.co/y8hxh6Jm14
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 22, 2021
Brazil says will receive two million AstraZeneca doses by Friday from India https://t.co/XUVGb097AE pic.twitter.com/pNLWtJI5sY
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 22, 2021
Pfizer and BioNTech agreed to supply their COVID-19 shot to the World Health Organization's COVAX vaccine scheme, which is aimed at lower-income countries, according to sources https://t.co/RYY7xP9CVu pic.twitter.com/VhhRSAy2iZ
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 22, 2021
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"I don't see why we can't be doing more to provide N95 masks particularly to high risk individuals. Especially as these new variants spread, masking is going to become more important," says @ScottGottliebMD on ways the new administration can use the Defense Production Act. pic.twitter.com/i8LlSs303c
— CNBC (@CNBC) January 21, 2021
Covid: What we know about India's coronavirus vaccines https://t.co/9UZGa239ee
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 22, 2021
Asked if he had 2nd dose of coronavirus vaccine, Dr Fauci told us: “I did. I had it on the 19th. I was hoping that I wouldn’t get too knocked out. I did for about 24 hours. Now I’m fine.”
“Fatigued. A little achy. You know. Chilly. Not sick,” he told me, ahead of Biden remarks. pic.twitter.com/Ob0Pb91rrQ
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 21, 2021
What We’re Not Telling the Public When They Get the Vaccine.
Also, side note: I got my term “manaphylaxis” into ?@NYMag? ?@intelligencer? ?? https://t.co/5TrRD240Sl
— Jeremy Faust MD MS (ER physician) (@jeremyfaust) January 21, 2021
After receiving his second dose of @moderna_tx’s #COVID19 vaccine, co-developed with #NIH, @NIHDirector noted that it’s still important to follow the 3W’s. Here’s why: #MyCOVIDVaccine #SleeveUp pic.twitter.com/twI0e0pFQk
— NIH (@NIH) January 21, 2021
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the moment at which I knew the US was completely screwed was when a friend arrived back from Beijing in March and was basically waved through without the slightest check or concern https://t.co/pIqx8IULRU
— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) January 21, 2021
In September and October, there was about 1 in 8 chance for patients hospitalized for COVID-19 to die.
But since November, the chance of dying for those hospitalized with COVID-19 has increased to about 1 in 4, according to an L.A. County analysis. https://t.co/2ISS1rpDo3
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 21, 2021
All overweight Washington D.C. residents will get priority for the #coronavirus vaccine. Obesity has been a factor for poor outcome among people hospitalized for COVID19 https://t.co/GS0tyb98U8
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) January 21, 2021
Amazon to open pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Seattle headquarters https://t.co/GJRZORGsaH pic.twitter.com/68H63KydnF
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 22, 2021
When I say that the prion disease afflicting American conservatism, and therefore the Republican Party, which is its chief political vehicle, has reached the chronic stage, this is what I'm talking about. https://t.co/F0AHc0PtRp
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) January 21, 2021
On The Road – Mike in Oly – Texture & Pattern in Nature: Metal
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY yesterday:
398 new cases, up from 363. 727 hospitalized, 168 in the ICU. 841 deaths since last March. 33% of hospital beds available, 22% of ICU beds available. 6.1% positivity.
Heading in the wrong direction again.
YY_Sima Qian
On 1/21 China reported 94 new domestic confirmed, 99 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Liaoning Province did not report any new domestic positive cases:
Beijing Municipality reported 3 new domestic confirmed cases, all at the epicenter community in Daxing District, all are traced close contacts already under centralized quarantine since 1/17 or 1/19. There are currently 3 villages (at Shunyi District) at Medium Risk. 1 community (at Daxing District) is at High Risk.
Hebei Province:
Hebei Provincial Health Commission reported 18 new domestic confirmed (9 previously asymptomatic) & 3 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 13 domestic confirmed case recovered. There are currently 835 domestic confirmed cases (10 critical, 31 serious, 656 moderate and 138 mild) & 144 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province:
Jinzhong in Shanxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, a traced close contact already under centralized quarantine. There currently are 4 domestic domestic confirmed case. The cluster was seeded by travelers from Shijiazhuang at the beginning of Jan.
Heilongjiang Province:
Heilongjiang Province reported 47 new domestic confirmed (9 previously asymptomatic) & 88 new domestic asymptomatic cases. There are currently 306 domestic confirmed & 456 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.:
Jilin Province
Jilin Province reported 19 new domestic confirmed cases (1 previously asymptomatic) & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases, there are currently 181 confirmed (4 critical, 11 serious, 141 moderate and 25 mild) & 45 asymptomatic cases there.:
Shanghai Municipality reported 6 new domestic confirmed cases (including the 3 I mentioned in yesterday’s post), all at Huangpu District. 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 other 4 cases are traced close contacts. 1 of the cases is a service staff at a hotel, and 1 of the guest (a student returning from overseas) is among the newly confirmed cases. We will see if the student turns out to be the index case. As of noon on 1/22, 112 F1 (all have tested negative so far) & 234 F2 close contacts (205 have tested negative, other pending), and 15,918 connected individuals (15,907 have tested negative, other pending) have been traced. 1,167 environmental sample have been tested, 12 have tested positive, all at residences or workplaces of positive cases. 1 residential area is at Medium Risk.
Imported Cases:
On 1/21, China reported 9 new imported confirmed cases, 20 imported asymptomatic cases:
Overall in China, 27 confirmed cases recovered, 15 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation and 20 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 3,103 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 1,674 active confirmed cases in the country (286 imported), 80 are in critical/serious condition (2 imported), 819 asymptomatic cases (266 imported), 5 suspect cases (all imported). 35,752 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
On 1/22, Hong Kong reported 61 new cases, 6 imported and 55 domestic (26 of whom do not have sources of infection identified).
Evap
The president of my university held a town hall about vaccines yesterday. He is trying to see if the state is going to let university faculty be classified as educators. If so, I would be in Phase 2 and would likely get the vaccine sooner than I thought. Fingers crossed! I’m a few years away from the Phase 1 cutoff of 65 years old.
rikyrah
@Evap:
Fingers crossed for you
sab
Over 65 in Ohio so I am in tier 1b. Shortage of vaccine so who knows when I will actually get it. My stepkids are mostly essential workers. One of them has already had mild covid, which he passed on to his fiancee. The other has been exposed from a fellow worker positive. His fiance is a frontline worker (convenience store clerk) but not deemed essential. They both smoke, so more at risk of serious symptoms than the stepson who actually had it. I really wish we could give our place in line to these kids who are at much more risk than we are.
Procopius
Boy the first few comments on that thread are awful, but to be expected. I’m actually glad to see Biden openly admitting what’s really happening, as a result of what was not done before he took office. I am not a logistician, but I think we would be better off if they just stopped distribution of the vaccines for a couple of days and sat down and made a plan. A couple days further delay would probably not have a directly observable effect on total deaths, but taking time to make a plan would probably allow distribution of lots more doses and make the doses currently being wasted available for use. One of the biggest problems now is that the states don’t know how many doses they will get next week, so they can’t plan where they can set up vaccination stations, how many people to assign to them, where to set up the super-cold refrigeration units (no, ordinary freezers don’t work; no, your local pharmacy doesn’t have one; no, the university teaching hospital probably doesn’t have one, either, although it might). Making rushed decisions because of panic, doing something just so you can say you did something, never produces good results. The people in charge need to take a few days to think things through, get advice from people who know (the general in charge does not seem to know, although this is one of the basic duties of every general — he should be cashiered), and ask some outsiders to look at their new plan for flaws. Maybe take as much as a week. Get lots of sleep during the process. Sleep-deprived people make mistakes. Maybe force them to take a nap in the afternoon.
Mai Naem mobile
I saw a blurb on Twitter about a fire in the ‘largest vaccine manufacturer in the world’ in India. It didn’t mention if it was a COVID vaccine manufacturer. If it is,I know this doesn’t affect US supply, but its got to be hitting the supply in Asia, Asia and possibly South America.
gkoutnik
And there was writing on every single page!
terben
In Australia today there were 7 new cases reported, all in hotel quarantine. Today was the 5th day in a row with no local cases. Total cases, 28,755. Total deaths, 909. Total tests, 12.6M
Numbers for the last 7 days are 86 new cases, 81 in hotel quarantine, 5 local cases. This makes the local case daily average 0.7/day over the last 7 days. This figure is lower than the 14 day average of 1.6/day.
The last Covid death in Australia was 25 days ago in NSW. There have been deaths in 7 of 8 states/territories in Australia. In my state, SA, the last death was 285 days ago.
The number of hospitalised cases in Australia is 34. Both Queensland (23 cases) and Northern Territory (8 cases) are reporting equal numbers of active cases and hospital cases. It seems that all positive cases are being hospitalised. There are no patients in ICU.
Currently, no vaccines have been authorised for use in Australia. It is expected that immunisations will begin here no sooner than mid February.
debbie
@Evap:
Here, the goal is to get all teachers their first shot by the time schools open back up next month. The unions are demanding the schools not reopen until teachers receive both shots. I’m not confident this half-vaccination plan will work out well for anyone.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mai Naem mobile: The laws of supply and demand say it will affect things in the US. A shortage of one type in Asia will increase the demand for the other vaccines. There is no telling how much of an effect it will have here, but there will be some.
Raven
@Procopius: Do you thin they just started thinking about this huh?
rikyrah
@debbie:
I agree with the union. Every working adult in schools should be completely vaccinated before they open
debbie
@rikyrah:
It’s been surprising how many parents around here just want their kids out of their hair and back in school. They get interviewed on the local news fairly frequently, and I’ve noticed they really have no response when asked whether they’re worried about their kids’ health. It was so wrong to minimize the consequences of getting COVID. Even now, the state includes a statistic labeled “presumed recovered.” Seriously? As if there are no long-term consequences of the virus? Just maddening.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 3,631 new cases today in his media statement, for a total of 176,180 cases. He also reports a record 18 new deaths today, for a total of 642 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.49% of resolved cases.
There are currently 42,814 active and contagious cases; 251 are in ICU, 102 of them on respirators. Meanwhile, 2,554 patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 132,706 patients recovered – 75.3% of the cumulative reported total.
12 new clusters were reported today: Jalan Indah Gemilang, Jalan Perwira, Selasih Perindu, Tembok Renggam and Jalan Skudai in Johor; Jalan Sungai Chandong in Selangor; Jalan Kinabenua in Labuan; Ladang Desa Jerocco in Sabah; Kampung Paya Siput and Tanjung Lumpur in Pahang; Serkam Tengah in Melaka; and Putra Tujuh in Putrajaya and Selangor.
3,625 new cases today are local infections. Selangor has 782 cases: 129 in older clusters, 24 in Jalan Sungai Chandong and Putra Tujuh clusters, 421 close-contact screenings, and 208 other screenings. Johor has 466 cases: 167 in older clusters; 63 in Jalan Indah Gemilang, Jalan Perwira, Selasih Perindu, Tembok Renggam and Jalan Skudai clusters; 144 close-contact screenings; and 90 other screenings. Sabah has 453 cases: 20 in older clusters, 34 in Ladang Desa Jerocco cluster, 292 close-contact screenings, and 107 other screenings. KL has 429 local cases: 49 in existing clusters, 211 close-contact screenings, and 169 other screenings. Sarawak has 229 cases: 122 in existing clusters, and 107 other screenings. Penang has 202 cases: 61 in existing clusters, 42 close-contact screenings, and 99 other screenings.
Negeri Sembilan has 197 cases: 64 in existing clusters, 97 close-contact screenings, and 36 other screenings. Terengganu has 178 cases: 24 in existing clusters, 124 close-contact screenings, and 30 other screenings. Kedah has 166 cases: 10 in existing clusters, 67 close-contact screenings, and 89 other screenings. Kelantan has 161 cases: 10 in existing clusters, 113 close-contact screenings, and 38 other screenings. Perak has 138 cases: 19 in existing clusters, 79 close-contact screenings, and 40 other screenings.
Melaka has 82 cases: 25 in older clusters, one in Serkam Tengah cluster, 32 close-contact screenings, and 24 other screenings. Pahang has 61 cases: 16 in older clusters, six in Kampung Paya Siput and Tanjung Lumpur clusters, 29 close-contact screenings, and 10 other screenings. Putrajaya has 39 cases: six in older clusters, nine in Putra Tujuh cluster, 11 close-contact screenings, and 13 other screenings. Labuan has 29 cases: seven in older clusters, five in Jalan Kinabenua cluster, 12 close-contact screenings, and five other screenings. And Perlis has 13 cases: seven close-contact screenings, and six other screenings.
Six new cases are imported. All were reported in KL.
The 18 deaths today are a 79-year-old woman in Johor with diabetes and hypertension; an 85-year-old man in Sabah, DOA with diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and chronic obstructive airway disease; an 83-year-old man in Sabah with stage 4 cancer and spondylolisthesis; a 66-year-old woman in Selangor with diabetes and stroke; a 59-year-old woman in penang with hypertension and dementia; a 93-year-old man in Sarawak with diabetes, hypertension, asthma, gout, osteoarthritis, and tuberculosis; a 66-year-old woman in Sabh with hypertension and heart disease; an 85-year-old woman in Selangor with diabetes and hypertension; an 88-year-old man in Selangor; an 88-year-old man in KL with diabetes and hypertension; a 78-year-old woman in Selangor with diabetes; a 46-year-old woman in Selangor with diabetes and asthma; a 32-year-old man in Selangor, DOA with diabetes and hypertension; an 82-year-old man in Selangor, DOA with no listed co-morbidities; a 45-year-old man in KL with no listed co-morbidities; a 68-year-old man in KL with diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease; a 58-year-old man in Sarawak with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, chronic kidney disease, anaemia, and peripheral vascular disease; and a 40-year-old man in Selangor, DOA with diabetes.
TS (the original)
@terben:
Queensland has a policy that all people in quarantine who test positive are taken to hospital for both care and isolation. There have only been 2 (or perhaps 4) cases in the past month that were not in hotel quarantine (and for that we had a 3 day lockdown & 11 days of other restrictions) and because they were the UK variant – they were probably isolated in hospital as well. The NT probably has a similar rule as all of their cases have come from returning travellers in quarantine.
Anne Laurie
Nope, I saw a brief clip about that fire. It was in a building still under construction (‘largest vaccine manufacturer’ is a BIG property) and the head of the company said it did not affect COVID vaccine production.
Yesterday, there was another brief news clip — a factory in Wales producing vaccine for the UK was ‘threatened by flooding’, but again, the report said that the threat did not materialize.
The amount of COVID-19 ‘breaking news’ ebbs & flows, but we’ve established by stress-testing that our WordPress system can’t handle more than 32 twitter embeds in a single post. Some days it’s harder to pick *just* 32 stories, but it’s very seldom that I find fewer than 25 worth sharing!
Laura Too
@terben: If you are still around, I’m curious why they decided to go on with the Australian Open? Doesn’t seem like a very good idea when you have such a good handle on Covid to bring in a bunch of potential carriers, especially when quarantine can be such a crap shoot.
Amir Khalid
@Anne Laurie:
It’s Pfizer that’s worrying. They have been delaying Covid-19 vaccine shipments because of upgrades to a production facility. This has resulted in reduced shipments, and consequently to fewer people getting vaccinated than medical authorities had targeted. Malaysia is only scheduled to get its first vaccine shipment in a month’s time, and the supplier is Pfizer — so the Ministry of Health may face a delay in kicking off its vaccination programme in early March.
Amir Khalid
@Laura Too:
Money. The Australian Open is one of the world’s biggest sporting events. Cancel it, and the TV people will want their money back to the tune of hundreds of millions — money that’s already been spent on preparing for the tournament. It’s the same reason the Japanese organisers are insisting the already-postponed Summer Olympics will be on this year, and why the big-money European football tournaments for national and club teams haven’t been cancelled.
Laura Too
@Amir Khalid: Thank you. I was guessing as much but hadn’t seen anything to break it down so neatly. I guess the $$$ it will cost to clean up doesn’t get factored in or can be papered over. So sad.
Sloane Ranger
Yesterday in the UK we had 37,892 new cases. This is down by about 1000 from the day before and a reduction of 23.6% in the rolling 7-day average. New cases by nation,
England – 34,371 (down @700)
Northern Ireland – 732 (down @200)
Scotland – 1636 (down 20)
Wales – 1153 (down @120).
Deaths – There were 1290 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. An increase in the rolling 7-day average of 14.1%. Deaths by nation, England – 1134, Northern Ireland – 21, Scotland – 89 and Wales – 46.
Testing – 640,856 tests were processed on Wednesday, 20 January out of a capacity of 815,638.This is actually a reduction in the rolling 7-day average of 3.1%.
Hospitalisations – As of Tuesday, 19 January, there were 38,676 people in hospital and 3953 people were on ventilators as of Wednesday, 20th. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions is down a little, to 1.1%.
Vaccinations – As of Wednesday, 20th, 4,973,248 people had received the 1st dose of a vaccine and 464,036 had received their 2nd dose. I posted a few days ago that I was worried that numbers vaccinated per day seemed to be going down but this now seems to either be a weekend lull or a delay in processing data. The numbers vaccinated per day now show a slow but steady increase.
General – Some government advisor has just been on the news saying that, from the figures they’re getting, the lockdown seems to be working in reducing infections but the UK mutation seems to be becoming the dominant strain, which is a cause for worry. I must admit I am not surprised. It was what I expected as it’s more contagious.
In other news, police in London broke up a 400 person wedding reception in the Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School school hall in Stamford Hill. According to reports the hall windows were covered when they arrived, which seems to show knowledge of guilt. The school has pleaded ignorance, saying the hall had been hired to a private organisation, but raises the question of why they didn’t ask searching questions, since I can’t think of any reason to hire a large hall that would be legal during lockdown. It seems British Orthodox Jews are as science denying as their US counterparts.
Soprano2
I read a story the other day about why we still have to have restrictions even if we’re vaccinated, and it made me understand why some people still feel so much despair. It said that even if everyone in your family has had two vaccinations and you’d waited long enough to be sure it was effective, you still should wear masks and social distance because there was a 5% chance the vaccine wasn’t effective, and you might get it and give it to others! I think the 5% thing is bullshit, because there will always be that 5% chance – I don’t know of any vaccine that’s 100% effective. What if we can only get 60% of our population to get the vaccine? Are they really saying “Nope, can’t go back to normal life at all, no theaters, no concerts, no church, no nothing” if we don’t get to 70%, or 80% or 90%, whatever they decide the “magic number” is (there seems to be some disagreement about this)? Most people are not going to go along with that. It made me feel really depressed for awhile, implying that if we aren’t absolutely perfect there’s no way to go back to anything like normal life. Honestly I’ll be surprised if you can get most people in the U.S. to go along with continuing precautions into the summer, especially considering how much rebellion against them there has already been even with COVID exploding everywhere. My big hope is that the Biden people can get things ramped up quickly, and another vaccine or two get approved and onto the market, and by next September we can go back to many things in “normal” life with relative safety because we’ve reached the vaccine tipping point. If people require a 100% guarantee that they can’t get COVID, they’re going to be living confined to their house forever, because there will never be a 100% certainty that you can’t catch it. Ok, depressed rant over.
VOR
The issue needs to be re-phrased for them. It’s not their kid’s health they need to be worried about. Kids, while NOT immune, generally have lower death rates. But if your kids get COVID, then YOU, the parent, are also going to get COVID. And parents, being older, have worse odds. If the kids go back to school they will spread COVID.
The MAGAts spread the myth kids were immune to COVID, making it much harder to sell parents on precautions. So much damage due to the misinformation.
terben
@Laura Too: Amir Khalid is correct. More than 1000 people have been brought into Australia, athletes and hangers-on, so that the tennis Open can go ahead. Because the hotel quarantine system is finite, it means that Australians who are overseas and desperate to return home have been displaced.
YY_Sima Qian
@terben:
How would the quality of the tournament be impacted, given that more and more of the players are testing positive, and all of the them are stuck in hotel rooms for 2 weeks.
Then again, the US played baseball and football although some of the worst waves, despite COVID-19 playing havoc on the schedule and affecting the quality of the teams fielded. I am a little surprised that Australia would would try roll the dice with tennis, given the competent, aggressive and science based COVID-19 response in most other aspects.
Platonicspoof
First, thanks again to all for the post and the comments.
Via MedicalXpress, mathematical model, not yet peer reviewed, but released for rapid response.
More infectious new variants in UK may make herd immunity much harder to achieve;
Very difficult to get the best vaccines to the entire planet before millions more infected and more infectious variants occur.
Platonicspoof
@Soprano2:
Very optimistically, I expect to be masking for at least another year here in the U.S., even if I didn’t have extra risk factors.
Too many unknowns so far, but as one example:
In a perfectly uniform population, the R number has to be below 0 for the virus to die out.
Since populations vary wildly, it will require the U.S. to vaccinate, mask, space, wash, test, track people and check Covid DNA before local areas open up one by one, or live with thousands more dead.
Another Scott
@Platonicspoof: My feeling is that reminders like that are very important. Too many, like Rand Paul, think that if they had it, or if they had their final shot a month ago, then everything is fine and no more precautions are needed.
Not so. The virus is still everywhere, still evolving, there’s still few if any generally applicable treatment, there’s still too little hospital space and medical equipment and staff, etc.,etc.
The vaccines are great and necessary. But until community spread is knocked way, way down, we won’t get back to near normal. New Zealand is back to normal because they have no community spread, not because of vaccines. Masking, vaccines, distance, quarantines, tracing, financial assistance, all of it remains important until we crush the spread.
Hang in there, everyone.
Cheers,
Scott.
Platonicspoof
Hope my mistake was obvious at comment 28, but R below 1.0.
Explainer on more definitive ‘R’.
mrmoshpotato
@Sloane Ranger: These wedding stories are infuriating.
I simply cannot fathom why a wedding cannot be delayed when a deadly disease is ravaging the land!
Miss Bianca
Is it my imagination, or does Dr. Fauci suddenly look…younger?
Maybe it’s because for the first time he’s actually smiling under that mask.
Mai Naem mobile
@Anne Laurie: I am glad. That makes me feel better. I also saw a piece that said the Israelis figure the first Pfizer shot is only providing ~31 percent efficacy not the ~52 percent that Pfizer said. I am not sure how they figured that out since they’ve only got 25 % of their population vaccinated and its kind of early on.
evap
@debbie: Yes, I think they are hoping to do the same here. Honestly, I want to get the vaccine, but I would not want to get in line in front of teachers of elementary, middle, and high schools.
Arclite
Wait, what is all this stuff Biden is doing? Having a plan, making executive orders, being organized, fighting the virus. Is this what you call “governing?” I can’t remember the last time…