Fauci says “we want firm recommendations from the CDC, which I believe will be coming soon,” for interactions with “fully vaccinated people.” It’s “common sense” that you don’t have to be as stringent in public health measures if you’re vaccinated, he says on @CNN. pic.twitter.com/lieJ0GqLxL
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 23, 2021
Good news! COVID cases are all the way down to…
…the peak level of previous waves.
Guess it's time to open up indoor dining and take off those masks, right people? ???????? pic.twitter.com/uCRpO6Um71
— Noah Smith ?? (@Noahpinion) February 23, 2021
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease expert, said political divisiveness contributed significantly to the country's 'stunning' COVID-19 death toll https://t.co/fgBY5RnIM1 pic.twitter.com/K3Q7ywUDYf
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 23, 2021
#COVID19 vaccines currently authorized for use in the US do not use the live virus that causes COVID-19. Having symptoms like fever after you get a #vaccine is normal and a sign your immune system is learning to fight the virus. Learn more: https://t.co/4v4dsZPIa7
— Office of the U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) February 23, 2021
======
Of the various #Covid 1 year anniversaries (sequence posted, PHEIC declared, disease named) the point at which it became apparent transmission was rampant in northern Italy may resonate the most for me. Sh*t became really real fast. https://t.co/N7dPMeugbA
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) February 23, 2021
The Dutch government tries a coronavirus balancing act: Extending a nightly curfew but letting high school students partially return to class. Bars and restaurants remain shut. https://t.co/HzkhO7eWOb
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) February 24, 2021
Spain announces 11 billion euro package to help companies face the covid crisis https://t.co/h4oYHvNIes pic.twitter.com/renO02eSF2
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 24, 2021
South Korea hails arrival of virus vaccines as first step in 'return to normal' https://t.co/BboQR5pD8d pic.twitter.com/vpYxBoCs3s
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 24, 2021
"Don't worry, come forward": Many nations in the Asia-Pacific region are rolling out vaccinations for COVID-19 for the first time this week. https://t.co/2oaknH82xg
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 24, 2021
Thailand receives its first coronavirus vaccines https://t.co/2mXNbXroX5 pic.twitter.com/58KC8tzYs5
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 24, 2021
India warns states of worsening COVID-19 situation if rules ignored https://t.co/RRHU00MoSA pic.twitter.com/04fpHvy3wk
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 24, 2021
Singapore has created a safe-bubble business hotel, allowing short-term guests to have face-to-face meetings with their counterparts pic.twitter.com/6X3qv863W0
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 23, 2021
Some Australian states ease curbs on dancing after weeks of no COVID cases https://t.co/wCRefOoT8G pic.twitter.com/66iY53NG3o
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 24, 2021
Covid infection in Lagos 'may top Africa's official total' https://t.co/7OuZ8vNjHS
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 23, 2021
The 1st vaccine doses distributed by Covax have arrived in the West African nation of Ghana. The country received a delivery of 600k doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the global effort aimed at boosting vaccine access https://t.co/4Sm1DRK3D1
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 24, 2021
WHO agrees compensation fund for serious COVAX vaccine side effects https://t.co/AHHbJLPAAh pic.twitter.com/Eg7EQz2Mjv
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 23, 2021
======
The U.S. just might dodge a surge driven by the B.1.1.7 variant. Harvard epidemiologist Wm Hanage says falling COVID rates & rising vaccinations may hamper the variant's spread. B117 has been detected in 42 states & is thought to be ~45% more infectious https://t.co/v8lUKpLjKj pic.twitter.com/lZLl9vp0kg
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 23, 2021
A baby infected w/ SARSCoV2 is puzzling Washington DC doctors. The surprise came when they measured the infant’s viral load. It was 51,418 times the median of other pediatric patients. When the virus was sequenced, they found a variant never seen before https://t.co/B3J9yO3dpk pic.twitter.com/t4mbBe1iG7
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 24, 2021
Asthmatics are not at elevated risk of infection, hospitalization, ICU admission or dying from COVID, a review of studies involving 587,000 people shows https://t.co/sbenhGvOK4
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 23, 2021
Boston researchers develop a mathematical model to estimate the false-negative rate for COVID19 diagnostic tests. FDA has granted authorization for ~85 test kits—or assays—each w/ varying degrees of accuracy. Model allows an apples-to-apples comparison https://t.co/39DbHONcl7
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 24, 2021
A double-lung transplant recipient got covid-19 from her donor, report finds. She died two months later. https://t.co/s2YF3MyGts
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 23, 2021
An epidemic of anosmia — the loss of smell — in the wake of COVID-19 is proving to be agony for long-term sufferers, bringing ailments like depression and weight loss. @johnleicester reports from France, where researchers are providing help.
Full story: https://t.co/tOORS2F43m pic.twitter.com/MTvtUk7SOE
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) February 23, 2021
Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna pledge massive boost to U.S. supply after sluggish rollout https://t.co/TxxeIOwmbL
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 23, 2021
In Baltimore, a virus-ravaged city, nearly 400 million vaccine doses are being made — and shipped elsewhere. Little help will come for the city from local Emergent BioSolutions, manufacturer of the yet-to-be approved Johnson&Johnson & AstraZeneca vaccines https://t.co/szr2RMSNBX
— delthia ricks ?? (@DelthiaRicks) February 23, 2021
Flu numbers are way, way down. But rhinoviruses (a main cause of the common cold) seem to be able to evade #Covid defenses. And protracted time out of school may set kids up for a surge in colds when schools go back into session. https://t.co/a07GPEDgk9
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) February 23, 2021
======
California's coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: 'The devil is already here' https://t.co/wQIo0vNy6r
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 23, 2021
Can covid herd immunity be reached without vaccinating kids? It’s complicated. https://t.co/eDieMyDg5m
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 22, 2021
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY yesterday:
New cases = 126. Reported deaths now at 1126, up from 1108. Positivity at 2.1%
218 cases in the hospital, 63 in the ICU
41% hospital beds available, 38% ICU beds available. The number of male and female cases yesterday is about even.
YY_Sima Qian
On 2/23 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Hebei Province
Hebei Provincial Health Commission reported that 4 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 134 domestic confirmed cases (117 moderate and 17 mild) & 9 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province:
Heilongjiang Province
Heilongjiang Provincial Health Commission reported that 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 6 domestic confirmed (all moderate) & 14 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.:
Jilin Province
Jilin Provincial Heath Commission reported that 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 25 domestic confirmed (1 critical, 16 moderate and 8 mild) & 4 domestic asymptomatic cases:
Imported Cases
On 2/23 China reported 12 new imported confirmed cases, 9 imported asymptomatic cases, 3 imported suspect cases:
Overall in China, 16 confirmed cases recovered, 18 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation & 2 were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 196 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 370 active confirmed cases in the country (181 imported), 1 is in critical/serious condition (none imported), 291 asymptomatic cases (261 imported), 3 suspect case (all imported). 8,183 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
On 2/24 Hong Kong reported 17 new cases, 1 imported & 16 domestic (6 of whom do not yet have source of infection identified). There are another 10+ cases preliminarily positive, awaiting retesting for confirmation.
Mary G
The OC’s numbers continue to improve – only 250 new cases today and zero deaths. The 7-day averages dropped precipitously – 11.9 new cases per 100,000 residents, test positivity 5.4%, down from almost 20% last month, hospitalizations dropping fast. Really good news.
There has been some Twitter pushback on the LA Times article about the dangerous California variant, but from journalists and political people and not epidemiologists, who as far as I can tell think that it’s too early to tell anything and we should not panic until real research has had a chance to get real numbers. I plan to get less adventurous than I wanted to, and will keep my mask routine of two fabric layers with a HEPA filter in a pocket between, over a surgical mask, and my goggles over my glasses. I did manage to score some disinfectant hand wipes in packages of 10 that I can use if I do go somewhere and don’t have access to soap and water.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 3,545 new cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 291,774 cases. He also reports 12 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 1,088 deaths — 0.37% of the cumulative reported total, 0.42% of resolved cases.
There are currently 30,677 active and contagious cases; 189 are in ICU, 88 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 3,331 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 260,009 patients recovered – 89.1% of the cumulative reported total.
Eight new clusters were reported today: Perindustrian Lukut, Jalan Ulu Choh, and Jalan Dato Yunus in Johor; Lorong Bakau and Vista Hilir in Penang; Jalan Enam in Selangor; Pasar Bidor in Perak; and Sinsingon in Sabah.
Sinsingon is a community cluster. The rest are all workplace clusters.
3,544 new cases today are local infections. Negeri Sembilan reports a whopping 1,392 cases: 1,358 in existing clusters, including 1,338 found in targeted screening in Industri Sungai Gadot cluster alone; 16 close-contact screenings; and 18 other screenings. Selangor reports 580 local cases: 211 in older clusters, five in Jalan Enam cluster, 223 close-contact screenings, and 141 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 381 cases: 255 in existing clusters, 46 close-contact screenings, and 80 other screenings. Sarawak reports 353 cases: 116 in existing clusters, 47 close-contact screenings, and 190 other screenings. Johor reports 318 cases: 121 in older clusters; 67 in Perindustrian Lukut, Jalan Ulu Choh, and Jalan Dato Yunus clusters; 72 close-contact screenings; and 58 other screenings.
Perak reports 188 cases: 178 in older clusters, one in Pasar Bidor cluster, two close-contact screenings, and seven other screenings. Sabah reports 105 cases: 12 in older clusters, 15 in Sinsingon cluster, 60 close-contact screenings, and 18 other screenings.
Penang reports 95 cases: 16 in older clusters, 52 in Lorong Bakau and Vista Hilir clusters, six close-contact screenings, and 21 other screenings. Kelantan reports 53 cases: 16 in existing clusters, 24 close-contact screenings, and 13 other screenings. Melaka reports 26 cases: 20 in existing clusters, two close-contact screenings, and four other screenings. Terengganu reports 22 cases: six in existing clusters, nine close-contact screenings, and seven other screenings.
Kedah reports 17 cases: four in existing clusters, four close-contact screenings, and nine other screenings. Pahang reports eight cases: two in existing clusters, and six close-contact screenings. Labuan reports five cases: four close-contact screenings, and one other screening. And Putrajaya reports one case, in an existing cluster.
Perlis reports no new cases today.
One new case today is imported, in Selangor.
The deaths reported today are a 72-year-old woman in Sabah with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and gout; a 69-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes, hypertension, and stroke; a 64-year-old woman in Terengganu with diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and stroke; a 74-year-old man in Selangor, DOA with hypertension; a 72-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and heart disease; a 62-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with no co-morbidities listed; an 84-year-old man in Penang with stroke; a 98-year-old woman in Kuala Lumpur with no co-morbidities listed; a 90-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with no co-morbidities listed; a 75-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes and hypertension; a 68-year-old woman in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease; and a 52-year-old non-Malaysian man in Kuala Lumpur with no co-morbidities listed.
SFAW
Please allow me to be the approximately millionth person to say that the Massachusetts “system” for scheduling a vaccination is a royal clusterfuck. It’s not the clusterfuck-iest of clusterfucks, but it’s not far from it. Whoever “designed” the “system” had as much of a clue about proper design (from a 30,000-foot perspective) as I have about the mating habits of tapeworms. Instead of creating a central registry/database/scheduling function (“but mah FREEDUMBZ” was the watchword, I guess), they make an unvaccinated person go to multiple providers/sites and hope they can get their info entered before the website either times out, or the open slot is gone (because 100,000 others are all trying for that same slot). [Yes, I know about auto-fill. That’s not the point.]
The extremely helpful assist from Olivia Adams’s website (MAcovidvaccines.com) — done in her spare time while on maternity leave — still only gets us to the various site(s) where one goes through the same rigmarole.
I had heard stories from various persons regarding how fucked-up it was, and did not doubt them (neither the people nor the stories), but am still pretty appalled by what the Commonwealth — led by Business Executive Charlie Baker — has foisted on the public
ETA: And some of the linked-to sites — e.g., “Color,” which then allegedly will schedule you at the Natick Mall, for example — are pretty bad.
Betty Cracker
Curious about how many people y’all know in real life who have or had the virus. I know two people who had severe enough cases that they were hospitalized, and both recovered: one is my kid’s childhood friend, who is 22, and the other is my husband’s cousin, who’s in his late 50s. My brother (age 40) and his daughter (age 15) were tested and had antibodies, so they apparently had asymptomatic cases.
A few of the people who work for the same company as my husband have tested positive. I believe only one had a bad enough case to warrant hospitalization, and none died, thankfully. Luckily, my husband’s job is naturally socially distanced, and he’s careful about contact, so he’s dodged it so far even though he’s worked through the pandemic, mostly with dumbasses who bought into the Former Guy’s appalling politicization of safety measures.
Just wondering how typical our experience is.
Geo Wilcox
That thing with the loss of sense of smell is really a pain in the ass. My neighbor’s son had Covid and he had this symptom as well as a very marked decrease in sexual attraction (at least that came back, lucky guy). However he only got back about 10% of his sense of smell. The worst part wasn’t the loss but the fact that things that are shampoo smells like gasoline and cheese smells like sewage.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: The number of my friends and family who’ve gotten it are about a dozen. Most were mild cases and none were hospitalized, including my long time running buddy who knew he was going to die and by god it was going to be at home.
Nelle
We are to get our second shot of Moderna from our county health department on Friday but they didn’t schedule the second appointment when we got our first shot. They said to sign up on the 19th. But we couldn’t. They said, second shots only and we’d be contacted by email. Yesterday, they announced that they hadn’t reserved any Moderna for second shots and are only getting Pfizer now so it might take a couple more weeks to resupply Moderna.
I think we’re going to be calling counties that are bright red, anti-mask, vaccine resistant to see if they have any Moderna but then they’ll want six people before they thaw a vial. A friend in the Twin Cities got a tip for a small town two hours away, having trouble coming up with six people at once so she made the appt and drove in bitter cold to get it and has her appt for her next shot.
My husband has the logistical experience for handling complex situations. I bet there are a lot of retired, especially from the military, who would make sense of this as volunteers, just because the tailgating clusterfucks keep ending up like these 100 car pileups on ice.
In Britain, they say they are going to mix vaccines, that it is more important to get the timing than get a match in vaccines. We’re wondering if we are going to have to start over. (Husband is now classified as a first responder, as a mission pilot for Civil Air Patrol.)
R-Jud
@Betty Cracker:
I had it at the very beginning of the pandemic; at least 10 friends I know here have had it since then. One person still has no sense of smell after getting it in June 2020. One person was hospitalized for supplemental oxygen/treatment of a secondary bacterial infection and released after a week.
Another friend’s mother passed away from it.
Nelle
One cousin died of Covid, niece and her husband quite ill with it, but not hospitalized.at least three neighbors, but everyone has been hibernating in the neighborhood with the cold and snow. This is a visit outside neighborhood; we’ll find out more when it warms up.
Lyrebird
@Betty Cracker:
I know several students & a few colleagues who have had cases without thus far having major symptoms. I have lost a friend, and among my high school friends they have lost a mom and a brother. My cousin in Fla lost an employee to covid this summer.
WereBear
Me and partner are waiting because we’re too young (heh heh) and we need a doctor’s note for the latest round, which is an hour away, and local is still in the previous category, so we are just sitting tight and waiting.
And since we can, unlike others who are in more danger, I think that’s a good plan.
raven
@Betty Cracker: A similar experience here. My cousin is 77, Marine with Agent Orange issues and fully recovered. My brother is 61, same experience. We probably have six friends here who have had it and all recovered.
RIP Lawrence Ferlinghetti
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty Cracker: I don’t know anyone that’s had it, but I live in a cave and don’t socialize much except with other photographers even in normal times. The kid says she knows a number of folk who’ve had it.
Matt McIrvin
@Betty Cracker: I don’t have a huge network of IRL friends, but one of my best friends almost certainly got a moderate case of COVID back during the initial wave in March 2020, rode it out at home and never got tested–at the time, the system was so overwhelmed that that was about the best he could do. Several others had COVID-like symptoms and tested negative but it’s entirely possible they had it anyway.
My parents have had several friends die of COVID.
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
I know 9 people who have had it .
The only person who was hospitalized, did it on his second time getting COVID.
Know a child who got it.
Nobody has passed because of it that I know.
One got it going to a funeral..
One got it in the first wave, when we didn’t know anything.
NeenerNeener
One of my nephews had it, as did two of my co-workers and one of my neighbors. All got better. One of my late father’s friends died of it a few months back, though.
satby
I’ve known of several people who’ve gotten it, most with mild symptoms (Indiana doesn’t even attempt contact tracing so only people with symptoms have gotten tests), two long haulers who are much younger (30ish), several church members died, all elderly people with comorbidities. My high school in IL alumni FB page had a death a week for quite a while, but it’s an all classes one so several were older than me and a surprising number were younger. Added up, probably 40-50 people I know. My friend’s daughter’s entire family had it, and though the kids (3 & 5) weren’t tested the 3 year old was in the hospital last week with what may have been the inflammatory syndrome that younger kids can develop afterward. She was admitted with fever, vomiting, and a blood O2 of 88, all symptoms. They’re waiting for the results of antibody tests, fortunately she responded well to treatment and is home now.
I should say that except for the high school alumni, pretty much everyone was pretty careful with masking, isolating, etc. The high school folks probably not so much, it’s a hard core Republican area.
Sloane Ranger
Yesterday in the UK we had 8489 new cases. This is a decrease of around 2200 from the day before and a reduction of 11.8% in the rolling 7-day average. New cases by nation,
England – 7292 (down @2200)
Northern Ireland – 225 (up 38)
Scotland – 655 (down 60)
Wales – 317 (down 2).
Deaths – Yesterday, there were 548 deaths within 28 days of a positive test. This is a decrease of 28.4% in the rolling 7-day average. Deaths by nation, England – 483, Northern Ireland – 5, Scotland – 56 and Wales – 4. During the week ending 12 February, 6113 people had COVID mentioned as a cause of death on their Death Certificate.
Testing – On Monday, 22 February 670,560 tests were conducted out of a capacity of 782,199. This is a decrease in the rolling 7-day average of 3.6%.
Hospitalisations – There were 16,797 people in hospital on Sunday, 21 February and 2273 on ventilators Monday, 22nd. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions has reduced by 20.7%.
Vaccinations – On 22 February, a total of 17,916,181 people had received the 1st shot of a vaccine and 642,788 had received both doses.
General – Nicola Sturgeon has announced the Scottish Government’s roadmap out of lockdown. It is more cautious than the English government’s. There was no announcement about when she expected to be able to lift all restrictions. Each stage will be reviewed before moving to the next. See below for best case scenario,
15 March – Return to school for Years 4-7 (Years 1-3 are already back), blended learning for some secondary school pupils. Phrased return for University and College students, Non-contact sport for those aged 12-17 and outdoor meetings for up to 4 people from 2 households allowed.
5 April – Stay at home restrictions lifted. Schools reopened completely. Some communal worship allowed. Resumption of Click and Collect. Up to 6 people from 2 households can meet outdoors.
26 April – Return to restriction levels system. Aim is for all of Scotland to be in Level 3. Shops, pubs and restaurants to reopen. Leisure facilities to re-open.
No mention about hotels and self catering facilities. Presumably these will be included in a review at some point.
rikyrah
My sister got her second shot yesterday.
She says that she feels soreness.
Fair Economist
@Mary G: It’s pretty solid that the Cali variant is more transmissible, but it isn’t *that* much more transmissible. I predicted such a variant from our abrupt increase in cases starting in November, but it seems to have been a secondary factor in our wave. So it was probably mostly holiday get-togethers after all.
In spite of some unforced errors in policy and our insane overcrowding, making us possibly the most vulnerable metros in the country, CA is still well below the national average in deaths. So, errors notwithstanding, our policies haven’t been that bad.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: My circle of friends and close relatives is pretty small. One friend who is a retired nurse is fairly certain she had a bout with Covid subsequent to visiting relatives in Massachusetts last February. Her daughter went along, got sick also. The friend plans to get her vaccination, and may give blood after being told that she’ll be tested and antibodies might be detected.
Fair Economist
@Geo Wilcox:
COVID can damage the connections between the olfactory bulb and the frontal lobes, probably by direct infection. The smelling version of damage to the optic nerves.
I got a little of that in my first few days – I didn’t lose my sense of smell, but a lot of things smelled “off”. Then I did lose my sense of smell, which gradually came back over two months. It was really strange because different smells came back at different times. Coffee came back very late – for a while most smells seemed normal but I couldn’t smell coffee. For a while foods tasted different – not generally bad per se, but I could taste only some components, and that altered the overall flavor.
BRyan
@Betty Cracker: I hadn’t kept count of covid cases in my (geographically scattered) circle, but your question caused me to run through the list: brother’s mother-in-law (in nursing home, with alzheimer’s), died; nephew’s stepfather, 80s, died; niece, mild case at college early on, fully recovered; 2-yr-old niece, hospitalized for three days, fully recovered; sister’s coworker, hospitalized five weeks, ventilator and ECMO, died; brother-in-law’s best friend, very early on, died. Seems like a lot, to me, and yet I know any number of people who have taken (and continue to take) no precautions, leading their lives as normal, traveling, socializing, etc, without effect. One doesn’t wish anyone ill, but those folks are maddening to people who have put their lives on hold for the last year.
Fair EconomistI
@Betty Cracker: The people I know who’ve had it: me, my brother, our spouses, his two kids (not sure about mine); my mom’s housekeeper, and her husband. One death; the housekeeper’s husband. Everybody else has largely recovered but I’m still hoarse and coughing 2 months out, and my husband has developed an allergy to our rabbit (which we got specifically because neither of us was allergic to him.) I haven’t been keeping up with friends, so there are probably some more I’ll learn about when we come out of hibernation.
I know *of* 3 more deaths among people known by friends, but I didn’t know them personally.
Amir Khalid
Minister of ScienceTechnology and Innovation Khairy Jamaludin reports that 465,000 Malaysians have already registered for Covid-19 vaccinations via MySejahtera since the phone app was updated yesterday to accept registration. My own plan is to register at U of Malaya Medical Centre where I am an outpatient.
gvg
People I know
Guy at work, moderate. Fathers cousin and husband both in late 70’s in poor health serious but lived even though husband is dying of cancer. They couldn’t be together while sick and husband is in hospice and will never make it home. Mothers brother and wife, medium serious in their 60’s but recovered. He is a retired minister and couldn’t say no to attending a funeral which is where they got it. I think that is all.
Ben Cisco
A close friend of mine had it (albeit not determined until antibodies were detected). Aunt and uncle also infected, and both were hospitalized multiple time b/c dumbasses. Children of several of my co-workers, two of which were also hospitalized. No deaths among them, and all recovered.
arrieve
@Betty Cracker: I know many people who’ve had Covid — one entire family alone was seven cases. Three deaths.
One of those deaths was the day before Christmas, and I haven’t heard of anyone else getting sick in the past two months, so I do hope things are actually getting better. On the other hand, in NY we’re still getting ~6000 cases a day, whereas during the summer it was under 1000. So why we’re opening anything up is a mystery to me.
arrieve
@Fair Economist: I lost my sense of smell for a couple of months many years ago, and the smell of coffee was also one of the last things to come back.
What drove me crazy was trying to identify common smells that were completely off. I kept smelling something like old dusty spices and it turned out to be onions.
Anyway
I got the second dose on Monday and was slammed with a range of flu-like symptoms yesterday. Chills, body-ache, soreness etc but much better today. Just my body mounting a full defense against the antigen, I guess.
I’ve gone in to work (low-density site) since July or so. We get tested every week and there have been very few cases of the virus so far. Two friends got it from day-care/ baby-sitter situations. I know of FOAFs who have passed from the virus but I seem to have been shielded. I too wonder how typical this is,
TomatoQueen
My father, who turned 90 in October, tested positive shortly after his birthday. He’s in a large long-term care facility that has been on lockdown since December 2019 due to an outbreak of giardia, so there were no non-employee visitors to the place through all of 2020. Daddy was moved to an isolation floor and eventually recovered, after having mild symptoms, but loss of smell/taste caused him to lose 50 pounds and get dehydrated and exhausted, so his recovery has been slow. But yesterday’s report (much more lucid than in previous weeks, eating and drinking 90 to 95 percent of everything) was most encouraging.
OTOH, my best friend’s cousin, Robert Goolrick, author of A Reliable Wife, is in intensive care on a ventilator, so a thought for him; I’ve never met him, but have been hearing about him for nearly 50 years. My friend is devoted to him and is so frustrated now as she can’t get to him.
Yutsano
@Betty Cracker: My co-worker’s father died from it. Her brother went to ICU but I didn’t hear anything beyond that. This shit is real as hell for me.
Another Scott
J&J vaccine is looking good. STATNews:
Much more at the link.
Cheers,
Scott.
The Moar You Know
@Betty Cracker: Nine so far. One died. One’s been in the hospital for a month. Two have lost their sense of smell/taste for over three months. The others are fine.
The survivors have all said it was the worst illness they’ve ever had. I assume the deceased would say so as well
None of them are people I have direct personal contact with, although one of them was the neighbor kid.
YY_Sima Qian
It’s pretty chilling reading these comments…
Here in Wuhan, my wife and I are aware of several families who were either confirmed or highly suspected to be COVID-19 cases, with a couple of deaths (1 of whom never got the chance to be confirmed). My mother in-law know a retiree and his son who passed way from COVID-19. The residential compound where my in-laws live (in which we hunkered down during the lock down) had 11 confirmed and 9 suspect cases, out of ~ 3K residents, though only a couple that my in-laws were acquainted with. The residential compound we currently live in had a couple of confirmed cases and a couple of suspect cases, we do not know them.
I am sure there were more infections, as seroprevalence survey conducted in Wuhan in May indicated 400 – 500K infections (4.7% positive), versus 50K officially confirmed count. Of course, that is the case everywhere. China also was not publicly reporting the asymptomatic cases until 4/1/20. When the university my wife works at screened all faculty and admin staff, before returning to work in June, there were 12 people positive for antibodies out of a couple of thousands. Outside of Wuhan, however, we are not aware of anyone who caught it, neither do any of our large number of families, friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
In the county of ~ 100K people in Upstate NY where my employer is located and my parents currently live, there were 60 – 70 reported cases a day throughout the latest wave, and my employer was reporting 15 – 20 infections per week among the employees (though we were screening all employees on a weekly basis). The facilities in other states had outbreaks that affected operations. A couple of colleagues I had worked closely with in the past caught it, as well as their families, all mild or moderate. I am sure there were more, as I no long kept close touch with a lot of my US based colleagues since being posted to China.
grandmaBear
@Betty Cracker: exhusband in nursing facility died in October. College housemate, a virologist specializing in AIDS died in January in Zimbabwe. Former office mate currently recovering. Family friends- husband & 2 daughters recently infected by asymptomatic nanny, but nurse wife already had vaccine and is fine.
Chris T.
@Betty Cracker: In my extended family (not immediate family), many have had it. One has Long Covid with recurring fever and exhaustion, which comes and goes. The others we don’t hear from much (for which we’re grateful as they’re Trumpish) so I don’t know of any long term effects on them.
(Most of my own friends are computer types who have been able to keep themselves safe. Fortunately none of them have school-aged children at this point, as we’re all too old for that now.)
Ruckus
@Geo Wilcox:
That is actually worse than a total loss of smell.
I’ve been about 5-6 yrs now with no sense of smell whatsoever, so nothing to do with Covid, but will agree with you that not having one sucks something, something I can no longer describe the smell of.
I do understand that it does most often come back after a while.
@Anyway:
Commented about my fun after second shot on last Friday – Pfizer.
Friday night arm kept me awake most of the night, was damn sore. All day Sat, felt like crap. No fever, just overall felt extremely listless and yet if I actually got up and walked around that was OK, no pain, no actual difference in feeling, it was weird. On Sun felt better but still felt like I couldn’t do anything, which wasn’t true it just felt that way, more mental than physical. Monday woke up feeling fine.