The Biden-Harris Administration is working with state and local partners across the country to scale up vaccination efforts and get more shots into arms. This week, President Biden and Vice President Harris virtually toured one of those partnership sites in Arizona. Take a look: pic.twitter.com/oWImhubNEY
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 12, 2021
U.S. #Covid19 deaths appear to have declined a bit of late, but the toll is almost impossible to fathom.
Nearly 480,000 Americans have died from Covid, according to official records (an underestimate). Nearly 135,000 of those deaths have occurred in the past 7 weeks. pic.twitter.com/5eGiu91gct— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) February 12, 2021
In other news, COVID case growth has dropped to about 100,000 per day, down from 255,000 at the peak.
Good Americans! Stay home! Stay home til you get vaccinated!
— Noah Smith ? (@Noahpinion) February 13, 2021
The US administered 2.0 million vaccine shots today, bringing the total to 50.1 million, or 15.2 doses per 100 people. The 7-day moving average rose to 1.66 million shots per day. 11.2% of Americans have had at least one shot; 3.9% are fully vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/cAxtyMpjMh
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) February 13, 2021
The US had +100,288 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total to over 28.1 million. The 7-day moving average fell to under 99,000 new cases per day, its lowest level since November 5. pic.twitter.com/YM3ehtZF9R
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) February 13, 2021
JUST IN: The Pentagon assigns 20 additional teams to help FEMA with vaccination administration https://t.co/vDJBRI05XP pic.twitter.com/7dKjmSKtjk
— The Hill (@thehill) February 12, 2021
Thread:
The fundamental question is whether we’ll have a 4th surge. If we do it will cost lives and also increase the risk of more dangerous variants spreading widely. But first good news: dramatically fast decline in cases and positivity. Steeper decline than in either prior surge. 2/ pic.twitter.com/AFmGnLYM1F
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) February 13, 2021
The math is harsh. 70M doses sent to states. 364M doses needed for groups 1A,B + those w/ underlying conditions in 1C. And that would leave out people age 50-64 who are high risk, including those not aware of their underlying conditions. Two more months of scarcity, at least. 10/
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) February 13, 2021
Hang in there. The pandemic won’t go on forever. By the fall, we'll be in a much better situation. Mask up and limit time indoors with people not in your household. Vaccines are coming and we're learning more every day about Covid and how to prevent and treat it. 16/
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) February 13, 2021
======
Despite a new World Health Organization report, we still don’t know why the pandemic started in Wuhan
The BBC's Ros Atkins has been looking at the search for Covid-19's origin, China's role, and why we don't know morehttps://t.co/yomKM3ynI5 pic.twitter.com/MpOPT7ypnT
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 12, 2021
China is doing everything wrong, if the goal is to prove nothing was amiss in the emergence of #COVID19 in Wuhan more than a year ago. Do yourself a favor, #XiJinping — open the books, stop the obfuscations. https://t.co/9IRIijNoH5
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) February 12, 2021
Railway journeys in China during the usually frenetic Lunar New Year holiday travel rush are down by almost 70% amid calls for people to stay where they are to avoid a new outbreak of COVID-19. https://t.co/hJwuhA7GIR
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 13, 2021
How is the vaccine rollout going where you live?
Use our tool to see how your country compares to others around the world ?https://t.co/OZ64NW37Pe pic.twitter.com/AwiyaWNuXz
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 12, 2021
Thailand reports 126 new coronavirus cases https://t.co/IOndawVCqn pic.twitter.com/cmKEMz4jtO
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 13, 2021
Russia confirmed 15,089 new coronavirus cases Friday, bringing the total caseload to 4,042,837https://t.co/39OBDKsU4c
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) February 12, 2021
Levels of coronavirus are going down in all four nations of the UK, latest figures showhttps://t.co/sofSgwlbLB
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 12, 2021
Portugal was for a while last month the country in the world worst hit by COVID-19. Some relief is at hand as cases fall, but hospitals remain full and doctors fear new variants could keep them under severe pressure. https://t.co/OqFRB4i9D3
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) February 12, 2021
Germany has vaccinated way fewer people than the U.S. or the U.K. so far due to constrained vaccine supply. However, ~50% of Germany's care home residents have already received their 2nd dose. It will be worthwhile to compare the mortality impacts of the different vaccine paths. https://t.co/P3RQBMXL95
— Andreas Backhaus (@AndreasShrugged) February 12, 2021
Germany to halt travel from Covid "mutation areas" of Czech Republic and Austria's Tyrol region https://t.co/5CtYiSF4fm
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 12, 2021
France says just one Covid jab needed for previously infected https://t.co/QjGq2xsSIT
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 12, 2021
Senegal pays $3.7 million for 200,000 doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine https://t.co/OXJ2zYIZNO pic.twitter.com/naFSKflSS4
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 13, 2021
Why Canada is lagging in Covid vaccinations https://t.co/jhLiqJ4bfk
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 12, 2021
======
More vaccines soon, so which one is the best?
All of them.
They're ALL safe. They ALL protect against severe COVID-19 & death. When it's my turn, I'll take any of them.
?? @celinegounder, @llborio, @ZekeEmanuel, @RickABright, @Atul_Gawande, @mtosterholmhttps://t.co/bt7tVPtzI7
— Dr. Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen) February 12, 2021
The coronavirus will probably continue circulating long-term despite the roll-out of vaccines, according to an EU public health expert. "It seems very well adapted to humans," says Andrea Ammon head of Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention https://t.co/sIWAVR8cKl pic.twitter.com/q2GX1n6de8
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 12, 2021
Oxford University to test COVID-19 vaccine response among children for first time https://t.co/vQ8zNfrzXN pic.twitter.com/onWDjdwiGz
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 13, 2021
Blood thinning drugs are now linked to a reduced risk of death for COVID19 patients. Those given preventive blood thinners (prophylactic anticoagulants) within 24 hours of hospital admission for Covid were less likely to die. New report in the BMJ https://t.co/KQqQ3Zoj8B pic.twitter.com/6wJj8mEucw
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 12, 2021
======
The CDC provided a roadmap for reopening schools during the pandemic, emphasizing mask wearing and social distancing. Vaccination of teachers is important but not a prerequisite. The CDC said there's strong evidence in-person schooling can be done safely. https://t.co/svIbATNegn
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 12, 2021
Cherokee Nation on vaccine prioritization: “We put Cherokee-fluent speakers at the front of the line … Saving the language is in our national interest.” This and other lessons from Indian Country on efficient vax distribution. https://t.co/jjgRkG6VJ9 @dailyyonder
— Adam Minter (@AdamMinter) February 12, 2021
Police in the San Francisco Bay Area are stepping up patrols and volunteers are increasing their presence after several violent attacks on older Asian Americans. Officials are vowing to fight a problem simmering since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. https://t.co/lyCVSOW2Ph
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 12, 2021
New York Gov. Cuomo’s top aide has told Democratic lawmakers that his administration took months to release data on the coronavirus death toll in nursing homes because officials “froze” over worries that information was “going to be used against" them. https://t.co/pWFLF5nn2a
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 12, 2021
The toll of the coronavirus is reshaping Las Vegas almost a year after the pandemic took hold. The tourist destination is a much quieter place these days. Nevada had its deadliest virus month ever after New Year's revelers crowded on the Las Vegas Strip. https://t.co/0wEqY5vaK0
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 12, 2021
Amazon sues top New York prosecutor over probe into the company's Covid-19 safety measures https://t.co/r3JZ8tgdIB
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 12, 2021
YY_Sima Qian
On 2/12 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Hebei Province
Hebei Provincial Health Commission reported that 16 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 159 domestic confirmed cases (134 moderate and 25 mild) & 10 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province:
Heilongjiang Province
Heilongjiang Provincial Health Commission reported that 31 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 18 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 183 domestic confirmed (126 moderate and 57 mild) & 163 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.:
Jilin Province
Jilin Provincial Heath Commission reported that 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 124 domestic confirmed (2 critical, 7 serious, 82 moderate and 33 mild) & 5 domestic asymptomatic cases:
Imported Cases:
On 2/12 China reported 8 new imported confirmed cases, 12 imported asymptomatic cases:
Overall in China, 65 confirmed cases recovered, 30 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation and 1 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 2,045 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 763 active confirmed cases in the country (244 imported), 12 are in critical/serious condition (3 imported), 470 asymptomatic cases (285 imported), 1 suspect case (imported). 11,929 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
On 2/13 Hong Kong reported 12 new cases, 2 imported & 10 domestic.
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY yesterday:
New cases = 133. Deaths now up to 1069 from 1034
Positivity at 2.3%
340 in the hospital, 81 in the ICU
40% hospital beds available, 33% ICU beds available
I have a dentist appointment today and I’m nervous. The last time I went was in the summer and we only had 20 cases a day.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 3,499 new cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 261,805 cases. He also reports five new deaths today for a cumulative total of 958 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.46% of resolved cases.
There are currently 51,558 active and contagious cases; 263 are in ICU, 118 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 3,515 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 209,289 patients recovered – 79.9% of the cumulative reported total.
10 new clusters were reported today: Persiaran Synergi Utama, Jalan i-Park Satu, and Jalan Lengkok Satu in Johor; Lebuh Keluli and Industri Selesa in Selangor; Lorong Peel building site, Jalil Utama building site, and Jalan Tun Razak in KL; Persiaran Bunga Tanjung in Negeri Sembilan; and Bukit Tengah in Terengganu.
Jalan Tun Razak is a high-risk group cluster. The rest are all workplace clusters.
3,498 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 1,344 local cases: 433 in older clusters, 38 in Lebuh Keluli and Industri Selesa clusters, 581 close-contact screenings, and 292 other screenings. Johor reports 802 clusters: 50 in older clusters; 361 in Persiaran Synergi Utama, Jalan i-Park Satu, and Jalan Lengkok Satu clusters; 183 close-contact screenings; and 208 other screenings. KL reports 511 cases: 23 in older clusters; 312 in Lorong Peel building site, Jalil Utama building site, and Jalan Tun Razak clusters; 91 close-contact screenings; and 85 other screenings.
Sarawak reports 152 cases: 79 in existing clusters, 42 close-contact screenings, and 31 other screenings. Penang reports 138 cases: 47 in existing clusters, 26 close-contact screenings, and 65 other screenings. Perak reports 121 cases: 62 in existing clusters, 51 close-contact screenings, and eight other screenings. Kedah reports 111 cases: 46 in existing clusters, 26 close-contact screenings, and 39 other screenings. Sabah reports 101 cases: seven in existing clusters, 68 close-contact screenings, and 26 other screenings.
Negeri Sembilan reports 58 cases: four in older clusters, 27 in Persiaran Bunga Tanjung cluster, 15 close-contact screenings, and 12 other screenings. Melaka reports 50 cases: 27 in existing clusters, 15 close-contact screenings, and eight other screenings. Terengganu reports 46 cases: 12 in older clusters, seven in Bukit Tengah cluster, 21 close-contact screenings, and six other screenings. Kelantan reports 44 cases: two in existing clusters, 21 close-contact screenings, and 21 other screenings.
Pahang reports 13 cases: five in existing clusters, seven close-contact screenings, and one other screening. Putrajaya reports three cases: one close-contact screening, and two other screenings. Labuan reports two cases: one close-contact screening, and one other screening. And Perlis repirts two cases, both found in other screening.
One new case is imported: it is in Selangor.
The deaths reported today are a 32-year-old man in Sabah with hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and chronic kidney disease; a 56-yer-old man in Selangor, DOA with no co-morbidities listed; a 68-year-old man in Johor with hypertension and chronic kidney disease; a 60-year-old woman in Terengganu with diabetes, hypertension, cirrhosis of the liver, and primary aldosteronism; and a 20-year-old man in Selangor with lymphoma.
In other news, Minister of Science Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaludin has announced five ways to sign up for a Covid-19 vaccination. He said in a TV interview that these are an update to the MySejahtera phone app with a signup button; a website to be lauched next week by PM Muhyiddin Yassin; a phone hotline, number to be anounced soon; in-person signup at hospitals, public clinics, and private clinics; and house-to-house vaccination in specific remote areas with emphasis on senior citizens.
YY_Sima Qian
Not surprised at the continued obfuscation by Chinese authorities regarding the early dynamics of the outbreak at Wuhan. More than anything, the CCP regime does not want anything that distracts from the triumphant narrative it has built for the overall COVID-19 experience in China, or remind people in China (particularly Wuhan) that things were much worse than the official data suggested back at late Dec. and especially mid-Jan. Test results of sewage samples from Wuhan in Oct. – Dec. 2020, or seroprevalence surveys of blood donors in the same period, would have been fodder for much discussion, argument, recrimination and conspiracy mongering, domestically and internationally, whatever the results showed. Both types of studies can be very problematic (see positive result from Mar. 2020 sewage samples in Barcelona or the 1+% seropositive rate from blood donors in the US in Q3 – Q4 2020, neither make much sense). However, I would be shocked if Chinese health authorities have not collected such data, as they claim, and the proclaimed concerns about privacy is ludicrous.
The obfuscations absolutely reflects poorly on the CCP regime internationally, but the regime doesn’t care much about international opinion when managing domestic discourse is far more important.
On the other hand, after months of delay, the China National Health Commission did quietly publish the seroprevalence survey results conducted in Wuhan in May, though 7 months later. It showed that 400 – 500K people had been infected, almost 10x the official recorded total. Such surveys have their own problems with false positives, not sure how the Wuhan survey corrected for this issue. Nevertheless, I had thought they would never share the results. Therefore, the Chinese authorities might share the results of sewage samples and blood donors with the WHO (or in scientific journal) later, when there is not the intense international focus.
raven
1
2
3
FREAKOUT
Cheer competition to bring 40,000+ people to metro Atlanta this weekend
Gvg
@YY_Sima Qian: there is a downside to both avoiding answers and being open. There is definitely a human tendency to scapegoat. Right now a lot of people and many governments want to not blame themselves, so they would jump on any reason to blame China.
People are silly sometimes.
I hope we get the info at some point, scientist get the info I mean. The general population will misunderstand. Mainly what they don’t understand is that it can happen anywhere, and luck decides. Then government manages how bad it gets. China started badly with total surprise but then got it under control. The US seemed to not even try except for a few stupid expressions of prejudice that were ineffective for real control. We aren’t the only country that did this.
I don’t know how China can balance the information issue.
MagdaInBlack
@raven: WTF??
raven
@MagdaInBlack: The kids are going back to school here in a “measured” approach. My buddy was telling me how he has watched his former straight A daughter crash and burn in online middle school and he thinks it’s worth the risk. She’s not my kid so I have no argument.
Baud
@raven:
Gimme a C!
Gimme an O!
etc.
Baud
@raven:
CDC issued guidelines yesterday on school reopenings.
raven
@Baud: And teacher vaccinations were not one of them.
Baud
@raven:
Right.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@NeenerNeener: Does your dentist do the thing where you wait in your car until they call you in, etc.? That should help. But I can see why you’re nervous. If it’s just a cleaning, maybe you could postpone until vaccines are more widely available. I was due for that in December but cancelled. I’ll go next month after I’ve had my second shot.
mrmoshpotato
@NeenerNeener: What safety measures is your dentist’s office taking?
My last two check-ups had everyone in face masks and the hygienist as well as the dentist also had face shields. We also got our forehead temperature taken and had to use hand sanitizer.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud:
Rah rah sis boom COVID!
TS (the original)
@raven:
My part of the world – 13 new cases of covid – and they ban ALL spectators at the Australian Tennis Open. The players were lucky they didn’t stop the competition.
It becomes impossible from my perspective to understand why so many in the US think covid-19 is an illusion that won’t impact them in any way.
germy
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Blaming others is easy, fixing things is hard and people are lazy.
I would note that after working at a Chines run company I can see how the mess in Wuhan happened. The Chines seem to have this cultural expectation that if anything goes wrong the subordinates let down the leader. So there is a tendency to want to hide bad news to boss and hope it is fixed out of sight. It seems to me with the Chines good leadership is a leader who makes a conscious effort not come across as punishing those who speak up about some issue.
That being said, attacking Chines retirees over the failings of CCP corporate culture is just pathetic.
germy
@TS (the original):
Because they watch TV:
Thank Rupert Murdoch.
NeenerNeener
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
They protect themselves at the dentist office. All employees are double masked and then face shields over that. They aren’t using any electric equipment that could spread the stuff in my mouth around the room. But that doesn’t mean some covid-denier wasn’t in the room, unmasked, before I was, including the hygienists and cleaning crew. I have to go because I need a new mouth guard. Four years of grinding my teeth through the tRump maladministration has messed up my jaw on the left side. I had the not-so-bright idea of soaking my current mouth guard in mouthwash, and the alcohol in the mouthwash made it separate into two parts. So…off I go.
MagdaInBlack
@raven: I know. I just keep my mouth shut and shake my head. I don’t have kids, it’s not my place.
Geminid
@YY_Sima Qian: Thank you for this analysis. It’s good to be reminded that the Chinese government prioritizes internal public opinion over external opinion, even that of the Western scientific community. In any event, no amount of transparency will ever shake the belief on the part of the Western paranoid Right that this epidemic was deliberately engineered by the Chinese Communist Party. There, the only question is, how exactly did the CCP coordinate this with Bill Gates and the Freemasons?
Mary G
The OC Dept. of Health took the day off from reporting for the holiday, but numbers have been going in the right direction. Test positivity rate below 10%, hospitalizations below 1,000, ICU beds 298 from the high of 500+, yet they still say 0% beds available? Vaccinations going faster; thanks President Biden.
My AutoCorrect offered “Obama” after President, lol.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: It’s hard. My eldest granddaughter has a tendency to slack off and then gets behind. My son has figured out that the way to keep her on track is to take away the things she loves until she gets caught up. Not being able to ride her horse or go rock climbing etc gets her attention.
NotMax
FYI.
debbie
Yesterday, the state of Ohio “found” close to 4,000 deaths from COVID that hadn’t been reported previously. The employees charged with documenting and reconciling the numbers were overwhelmed and chose not to let their supervisors know. One has resigned, the other has been reassigned.
I’m sure the overwhelmed hospitals are pleased with this news. //
Facebones
It was barely 3 weeks ago when Biden’s goal of 1 million vaccine shots a day seemed wildly unrealistic, thanks to the utter shambles Trump left things in. Now, we’re exceeding the revised goal of 1.5 million a day.
It’s just amazing having competent people in charge again.
J R in WV
@NeenerNeener:
Wife and I have kept our regularly scheduled dental appointments during the progress of the plague in Charleston WV. I will say, our dentist practices with his brother and nephew, and they are very professional.
The techs all wear masks and gloves all the time, they space patients out and sanitize everything normally, and more so lately. So far so good here. If things don’t look and feel extra sanitary, just leave before you take your mask off.
Sloane Ranger
Yesterday in the UK we had 15,144 new cases. This is an increase of around 1700 from the day before but a decrease in the rolling 7-day average of 26.3%. The number of cases since the start of the pandemic has now exceeded 4 million, standing at 4,013,799. As of 12th February, the R number stood at 0.7 – 0.9. New cases by nation,
England – 13,299 (up @1200)
Northern Ireland – 407 (up @150)
Scotland – 830 (same as day before)
Wales – 608 (up @200).
Although the rolling 7-day average continues to show a consistent decrease, I have noticed that case numbers in England have been slowly increasing over the last 4 days. When I made by fortnightly dash to the shops the other day I noticed that far fewer people were wearing masks (or not wearing them over their nose) than the last time I was there. It’s as if the recent lower case numbers have lulled people into a false sense of security, even though my county is well above average for case numbers.
Deaths – There were 758 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday, a decrease of 27.1% in the rolling 7-day average. 657 deaths were in England, 9 in Northern Ireland, 67 in Scotland and 25 in Wales.
Testing – 730,223 tests were conducted on Thursday, 11 February out of a capacity of 783,533. This is a decrease in the rolling 7-day average of 2.5%.
Hospitalisations – On Wednesday, 10 February, 24,352 people were in hospital and 3036 people were on ventilators on Thursday, 11th. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions has decreased by 24.7%.
Vaccinations – As of 11th February, 14,012,224 people had received their 1st dose of a vaccine and 530,094, their 2nd. The government is pushing to reach their target of 15 million people getting their 1st shot by 14th February.
General – A lot of Tory backbenchers are publicly calling for an end to the lockdown or at least for an end date to be announced. Public health professionals are pushing back, pointing out that case numbers remain high. After consulting the tea leaves, the media is saying that BoJo has finally got the message about what happens if you re-open too early and will be cautious this time. We’ll see.
YY_Sima Qian
@Gvg:
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
@Geminid:
The CCP regime’s modus operandi is opacity and an obsession with controlling the narrative in internal (with Party rank and file) and external (with the Chinese population and foreign entities) communication. Nothing can be allowed to remotely threaten the viability of its rule. The regime has simultaneously recognized and learned from its policies mistakes and made necessary adjustments to address them, as well as resolutely refused to acknowledge and apologize for them (going so far as harshly cracking down on its critics). Failing to do the former would jeopardize its performance legitimacy, accommodation/concessions in the latter would lead to a slippery slope that saw off a wide range of authoritarian regimes (from the Communist Eastern Bloc at the end of the Cold War to the Fascist/Junta right wing governments of East/Southeast Asia and Latin America). That was apparently the conclusion from a deep dive that the CCP leadership conducted into the fall of the USSR at the dawn of Xi Jinping’s administration: the Party has to stay relevant down to the grassroots level, in position to supervise (though not necessarily actively intervening) every aspect of society and business; it’s rule has to be effective and be seen as effective; corruption has to be curbed; and collective style leadership of the Jiang Zemin/Hu Jintao era was no longer suitable/sustainable, having given room to rampant corruption and been prone to policy paralysis in face of emergencies. It’s policies can be quietly criticized, its rule cannot (and those who take to polemics have been quickly silenced). Civil society are highly constrained, and political liberalism severely suppressed.
So you have these seeming contradictions where the administrative state is becoming increasingly efficient and effective (relative to the past), and many of the issues that have been causing deep dissatisfaction among most of the population (rampant petty corruption, environmental degradation, wealth inequality, regional disparity in development, low value added/low innovation/low indigenous content in manufacturing, inadequate infrastructure, injustices during rapid urbanization) are being addressed, to varying degrees of success. On the other hand, people targeted by the regime, be they members of ethnic minorities suspected of (basis of which can often be flimsy) separatism/religious extremism/militancy, political dissidents, legal/labor activists, or simply people who had hoped to work within the system to reform it toward a more liberal direction, have all been relentlessly and ruthlessly oppressed, suppressed or purged. To the CCP regime under Xi, these are not contradictions at all, but 2 sides of the same coin.
Under the increasing paternalistic and patronizing rule of the CCP regime, the lived experiences of 99% of the people in China have been improving rapidly, whether standard of living, interactions with the administrative apparatus, and even quality of life. For the other 1%, it has been substantially worse in the past decade (process started before Xi). The regime has survived because it has a very rational (though amoral and certainly not liberal) sense of self interest, and it fears popular dissatisfaction and unrest. The regime is not entirely self-serving, in the sense that it is guided by a strong sense of mission to restore China to prosperity and strength (or wealth and power), to realize a China Dream that has been the unifying mission from the late Qing Dunasty reformers, through to the Republican Sun Yat-Sen, the quasi-Fascist/Leninist Chiang Kai-Shek, the Communist-Utopian Mao Zedong, and the pragmatic Deng Xiaoping (and his successors). When it loses that fear and really drinks its own kool aid, and becomes entirely self-serving, that’s when the regime will be heading toward downfall, with tumultuous change to follow, and not necessarily for the better…
Ohio Mom
I had to go to the dentist last fall. There were many Covid precautions in place, including waiting in car until called in, and no more spitting into the sink — liquids suctioned out of mouth by the hygienist.
But back then, although we didn’t/couldn’t appreciate it, the Covid numbers were low. Still, if I had a dental issue right now, I think I’d go. Maybe not for a routine cleaning though.
Ask me again in March when I am due back at the Periodontist to talk about more $urgery.
Burnspbesq
CVS is making state and local governments in Texas look inept by comparison. A website that actually works. I actually got an appointment for today (which I had to cancel because I wasn’t up to a six-hour round trip drive on three hours sleep).
Interesting that the last places to sell out every day are Lubbock, Amarillo, and Midland/Odessa.
the pollyanna from hell
@NeenerNeener:
Cheap walgreens do-it-yourself mouth-guard can do the job.
Bill Arnold
@raven:
Some of those young people will get infected, suffer long-term lung damage, and lose their chance to be competitive athletes forever more. Some older members of their entourage will get sick and die or suffer from severe long-term COVID-19 caused morbidities.
There’s a lot of wingnut in competitive cheerleading; I suppose it’s possible that strict masking and distancing rules will be in place and enforced, but probably not, and probably not in social settings. Does anyone here know the current state of that scene in the US re COVID?
Bill Arnold
@raven:
Scout211
@Burnspbesq:
Here in California, that is the case as well, but depending on the county. Some counties are vaccinating so many seniors they are ready for the next group (teachers, etc.) within the next week. In my county by contrast, we are stuck. The registration is awful and there isn’t even an online sign-up. You have to call and if you miraculously get a real person, you might get an appointment. But most of the 30,000+ seniors just get a voicemail and you have to list your contact information on a voicemail. They might call you back, or not. There is only one CVS in my county and they are listed as fully booked right now. The neighboring county is also fully booked. But there are still appointments available in many different cities across California.
Here is the link for CVS available appointments anywhere in the country that CVS is making COVID vaccine appointments.
https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine
We are extremely lucky in that our healthcare providers are in a neighboring county and they are giving vaccines to their established patients. We were able to get our first vaccination last week and have appointments for the second one. It is unclear if and when we would ever get a call-back from our county.
Rite-Aid is also starting to make appointments:
Rite-Aid vaccine
Bill Arnold
@Geminid:
The right wing conspiracy theorist spaces are generally quite stunted creatively. e.g. they have a big list of bogeymen with obvious motives, such as environmentalists concerned about global heating, globalists, etc, and yet they spin up obvious but flawed stuff like a Wuhan lab escape (or release).
Ruckus
@Facebones:
It isn’t just competency, it’s that shitforbrains was trying to kill a large part of the country. Sure he may have been using incompetency to help with that, but the idea that he’d like to see large groups of people dead didn’t help.