Think of the vaccine as a very good raincoat. It keeps you dry in a drizzle. If there are constant thunderstorms, you may get wet. The problem isn’t the raincoat—it’s the weather. To best protect all of us, we need to reduce the storm of #covid19 by increasing vaccination rates. pic.twitter.com/KM5XchJtrC
— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) October 19, 2021
57% of ppl in the US are fully vaccinated against #COVID19— that’s 57% of ppl protected from severe COVID-19 illness, hospitalization & death. If you haven’t been vaccinated, please get vaccinated. It can keep you out of the hospital & w/ your loved ones. https://t.co/bfOV5VzBpq https://t.co/xTAmMDmEWm
— Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH (@CDCDirector) October 19, 2021
New survey shows most Americans continue to support vaccine mandates, and want more. The survey was conducted by a consortium of universities & shows a majority of people support vaccine mandates for kids in schools & colleges https://t.co/k5lEvzeVXn
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) October 20, 2021
Analysis: Conservatives hail Delta’s vaccination policy — even as it goes farther than Biden’s https://t.co/1rVC4dYCh8
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 19, 2021
Today is the 1st time in several weeks:
—Alaska has dropped below 100 cases/100,000 people
and
—No state is above that threshold
(Montana, on the rise, is getting close)https://t.co/Cze8bZxwXr pic.twitter.com/LIkBHKUA6H— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) October 19, 2021
======
Track the worldwide vaccination effort with our interactive toolhttps://t.co/6EP5X1oG4l
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 19, 2021
China's COVID-19 outbreak grows as cities race to trace infections https://t.co/03iRwOdWKa pic.twitter.com/oqCR9n2y07
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 20, 2021
Not much of an outbreak, by our debased standards:
… A total of 17 new local cases were reported for Oct. 19, up from nine a day earlier, data from the National Health Commission (NHC) showed on Wednesday.
The new cases were reported in eight cities and administrative divisions, more than four for Oct. 18, the bulk of which were in northern and northwestern China. Three separate cases were also reported in recent days in the south and southwest of China.
Among the cases was one in the capital city Beijing, which is busy gearing up for its hosting of the 2022 Winter Games in February, where officials vowed stringent efforts against the virus…
The city of Jiayuguan in northwestern Gansu province even launched its second round of city-wide testing after an initial round yielded no positive results, following reports that some of those with cases recently visited the city.
Officials have not disclosed how those with cases reported on Monday and Tuesday contracted the virus, but tentative signs indicated there might be multiple sources of the virus across China, which could complicate the country’s efforts to seek zero infections…
Singapore welcomes more travellers under quarantine-free programme https://t.co/Pa2y0WzQKQ pic.twitter.com/rt9Cdl6TP1
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 20, 2021
Australia overtakes the U.S. in vaccinating its population against Covid https://t.co/i2YCncsMmA
— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) October 20, 2021
Travel restrictions between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's largest cities, eased as Victoria opened its borders to fully vaccinated residents from New South Wales amid a rapid rise in immunization levels https://t.co/OOsZxpJfoU pic.twitter.com/LzxGWLeaip
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 20, 2021
Daily COVID-19 cases in New Zealand fell after a record jump the day before, with most infections still in Auckland as the Delta variant of the coronavirus continues to affect the country's biggest city https://t.co/Hqhuwc8OAK pic.twitter.com/4SB0Eg3lD1
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 20, 2021
The World Health Organization has reported a 7% rise in new coronavirus cases across Europe last week, the only region in the world where cases increased. Britain, Russia and Turkey accounted for the most cases. https://t.co/HmLnS0tX4N
— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) October 20, 2021
Coronavirus still the top story in Russia. One paper today: Covid’s “killing 1000 people a day [here]. Repeat: one thousand. Vaccination in Russia is failing because of us, ordinary citizens, who aren't getting the jabs.” #ReadingRussia @BBCNews @BBCWorld https://t.co/BqJHO2Vbwn pic.twitter.com/FjGkV2THtU
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) October 20, 2021
Also 30% are being told to work remotely. Covid is getting worse by the day in Russia w a majority not vaccinated
— Olga Lautman ??♀️? (@OlgaNYC1211) October 19, 2021
Russia is set to introduce a nationwide non-working week for non-essential workers starting Oct. 30 in a bid to slow swiftly rising cases, hospitalizations and deaths, with President Putin expected to approve the plans in the coming dayshttps://t.co/SFY63XpCmS
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) October 20, 2021
Bring back Covid rules amid rising UK cases, urge NHS chiefs https://t.co/QbtLGJ5M1D
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 20, 2021
The UK has a far higher incidence now of #COVID19 than Europe. Mistakes were made by Johnson govt. And a new variant may be playing a role.
"The delta subtype, known formally as AY.4.2, is 10-15% more transmissible than the standard delta variant…"https://t.co/3xlyNRHQr7— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 19, 2021
Irish cautious as day to lift Covid restrictions approaches https://t.co/wrNz9GrDhM
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 19, 2021
The senator leading a congressional probe into Brazil's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has recommended that President Jair Bolsonaro be charged with homicide for alleged government errors that led to the deaths of thousands https://t.co/BXXg1FFO5I pic.twitter.com/LZSUqpxCuN
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 20, 2021
Update: A panel said Jair Bolsonaro should be charged with crimes against humanity over Brazil's pandemic response. It dropped the recommended homicide charge. https://t.co/Ky28d7lmzb
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 20, 2021
======
New @CDCgov study, @pfizer #vaccine 12-18 yrs old kids, 2 doses:
"In this analysis, in which all case-patients were hospitalized, #vaccination reduced the risk for #COVID19 hospitalization…by 93%."
100% of kids on life supp in 19 hosps were unvax'ed.https://t.co/FF5UdIhoEp— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 19, 2021
If you can find them, generic forms of the @Merck anti-#COVID19 drug #molnupiravir will cost you less than $20 for a 5-day treatment.
But Merck wants $700.https://t.co/GVT1iGw8LD— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 19, 2021
One step forward, one step back: The world needs antiviral drugs that can prevent Covid infections from becoming serious. Merck's looks very promising, but we need more, for both resistance reasons & for competitive pricing. So this isn't good news. https://t.co/RGGha4rBJg
— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) October 19, 2021
======
Know what? If it happens one reason will be @GovPritzker didn’t screw around. He issued possibly the broadest set of vax mandates in the country. This is especially good given that most of the surrounding state governments treat the virus like their best campaign contributors https://t.co/0Wtx5zPKgE
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) October 19, 2021
99% compliance by fire. 93% compliance by police. 99% compliance by city workers.
These outliers are making a mistake, perhaps sold a lie. But they are adults with responsibility to protect. They are also paid by taxpayers. They are now “free” not to be paid by us. https://t.co/zvKBq7lx4T
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) October 20, 2021
It wasn't all that long ago that COVID took an entire aircraft carrier out of commission. But memories are short, I guess. https://t.co/Bv8eY95jJi
— Michael “In A Move Likely To Anger China” Mazza (@mike_mazza) October 19, 2021
BREAKING: WSU football coach Nick Rolovich has reportedly been terminated for cause after refusing to take COVID-19 vaccine. The coach was 11 games into his tenure with the Cougars. https://t.co/cxFKSmIHGH
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) October 18, 2021
The Supreme Court has declined to block a vaccine requirement imposed on Maine health care workers, the latest defeat for opponents of vaccine mandates. https://t.co/NUT5nYL6Xv
— ABC News (@ABC) October 19, 2021
This is a story about how 98.5% of students in San Diego attended school today. https://t.co/NZYm6rym4d
— Andy Kopp (@andykoppsd) October 19, 2021
This could’ve been really serious — it might’ve affected ME!
—@JohnKingCNN: "I'm going to share a secret I've never shared before: I am immunocompromised. I have multiple sclerosis. So I'm grateful you're all vaccinated…." pic.twitter.com/7vOk2CxXRP
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) October 19, 2021
NeenerNeener
Monroe County, NY:
Monroe County web site says 136 new cases yesterday.
In very small print on a different web page it says the 68.1% fully vaccinated are eligible Monroe County residents ages 12 and up.
NYSDOH says 122 new cases yesterday.
I’m not going to assume that we’ve turned the corner on Delta; we’ve had drops like this before and then had the new cases spike back up around 250+ again.
Baud
People who oppose liberal policies can never be portrayed as outliers, much less cranks.
germy
germy
Betty Cracker
@Baud: Oliver Willis made that point on Twitter the other day using the lack of coverage of anti-Iraq War protests as an example. He noted that most people supported the war, but opposition to it was exponentially higher than opposition to vaccine mandates. And yet the cranks get wall-to-wall coverage.
debbie
@germy:
So much for law and order.
Baud
@debbie:
On the contrary, these people quitting is a great example of law and order.
MagdaInBlack
Here in Chicago we have the head of the police union telling police to defy the mandate. I haven’t checked this mornings news on that feud.
debbie
@Baud:
An example of what lousy citizens they are.
Baud
@debbie:
Lousy people are the appropriate targets of a genuine law and order policy.
Amir Khalid
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reports 5,516 new Covid-19 cases today in its media statement, tfor a cumulative reported total of 2,407,382 cases. It also reports 69 deaths as of midnight, for an adjusted cumulative total of 28,062 deaths – 1.17% of the cumulative reported total, 1.21% of resolved cases.
Based on cases reported yesterday, Malaysia’s nationwide Rt is at 0.88.
609 confirmed cases are in ICU, 280 of them on ventilators. Meanwhile, 9,401 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 2,297,289 patients recovered – 95.4% of the cumulative reported total.
Four new clusters were reported today, for a cumulative total of 5,699 clusters. 614 clusters are currently active; 5,085 clusters are now inactive.
5,502 new cases today are local infections. 14 new cases today are imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 134,684 doses of vaccine on 19th October: 14,744 first doses, 118,575 second doses, and 1,365 booster doses. As of midnight yesterday, the cumulative total is 48,181,111 doses administered: 25,256,025 first doses, 23,052,952 second doses, and 32,121 booster doses. 77.3% of the population have received their first dose, while 70.6% are now fully vaccinated.
rikyrah
@MagdaInBlack:
Fire them all
Ken
“It’s that element of punishment that we find attractive.”
debbie
NPR just ran a piece where they asked a bunch of schoolchildren (maybe first or second grade) what they thought about masks. None liked them (foggy glasses, dad doesn’t like them, can’t see faces, etc.), but not one of them was refusing to wear them. Imagine! //
lowtechcyclist
And if Bolsonaro, why not Trump?
Baud
@debbie:
“I may be 6 years old, but I’m not an idiot.”
lowtechcyclist
@MagdaInBlack:
The police unions’ behavior are the tell that our problems with the police go way beyond ‘a few bad apples.’
MagdaInBlack
@rikyrah: Right there with ya.
lowtechcyclist
Don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.
MomSense
@MagdaInBlack:
Compliance for thee but not for me.
Motherfuckers.
MomSense
@debbie:
I keep thinking back to the days when parents forced their kids to wear headgear. That was 1000% worse than a cloth or paper mask.
New Deal democrat
The Columbus Day weekend anomalies won’t be completely out of the weekly averages until tomorrow, but today for the first time the US as a whole had fewer than 50% of the cases at Delta’s peak – but still over 80,000, a horrific number. Of all places, only VT is still on the increase, joined by TX and ID. Many other States are flat.
Worth noting that one year ago, the winter wave had already begun. If present trends continue, we will be lower YoY in two weeks.
It’s worth paying particular attention to tiny Rhoda Island. It has 70% fully vaccinated, another 7% partially vaccinated, and probably about 37.5% already infected (assuming 2.2x confirmed cases). That probably amounts to over 75% of the population largely immune, and another 10% with some resistance. There’s a very good chance, especially after age 5-12 vaccinations start, that it arrives at what endemic COVID looks like first.
Baud
@New Deal democrat:
That might the first time anyone has uttered that sentence.
debbie
@MomSense:
And before that, children were forced to button up their winter coats! ??♀️
MomSense
@debbie:
And wear coats so heavy and thick you could barely move your limbs. Heaven help you if you fell down!
Mousebumples
I’m pretty sure all of the NBA on TNT crew is vaccinated, given that they’re in close proximity to each other and unmasked, but it was nice to hear them speak positively about why everyone should get the vaccine
Eta – Go Bucks!
Ken
@debbie: And the whole “only pee in the toilet” thing. Someday historians will identify that as the day freedom died.
debbie
@MomSense:
That mean old woman stealing our line: “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: It’s where they exiled Valerie Harper after the Hundred Days in which she temporarily reconquered the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
germy
@Ken:
There’s been billions of micro-rebellions against that, from the day the first toilet was invented.
germy
@debbie:
Matt McIrvin
@New Deal democrat: Cases are flat or rising in many parts of Massachusetts, though statewide numbers still don’t show a rise. Looks to me like the big wave in VT and NH has been spilling southward. There was a spike up in weekly averages yesterday that I think was just another delayed reporting effect of a long weekend, but the trends aren’t that comforting.
Geminid
I wonder how anti-vaccers are treated in Russia. I’m not implying that we should emulate Putin. But I’m curious.
Matt McIrvin
@Geminid: I think they give them jobs posting to Twitter under American names.
germy
Geminid
@Matt McIrvin: Making chicken salad out of chickenshit.
Chief Oshkosh
NYPD cops being aggressively anti-mask. I guess there’s just a certain lawless element that needs to be put down like dogs, amirite? /s…?
NotMax
@Matt McIrvin
Hm. “Ivan Smallberries.”
Nope, not suspicious at all.
//
Matt McIrvin
@Chief Oshkosh: If you think about it, police claim the right to shoot anyone they want in public places for any reason–why not claim the right to do the same thing with viruses?
lowtechcyclist
@Matt McIrvin:
Well played. :-)
New Deal democrat
@Matt McIrvin:
“the trends aren’t that comforting.”
Agreed. 80,000 cases and 1700 deaths a day, and not declining very much in the last couple of weeks, is not good. OTOH, at least it’s not rising.
Betty
Merck once again demonstrating why having Medicare negotiate drug prices is good politics.
Spanky
@NotMax: Should I be suspicious of one “Ivan Bigbooté”?
Scout211
On Monday, California bragged that we were the only US state in the moderate tier (yellow), along with Puerto Rico. By Tuesday, we were back with a few other states in the substantial tier (orange).
California has done extremely well lately, but mainly because the areas of high population have established strong mask and vaccine mandates. It seems sometimes that the fact that strong mask mandates and vaccine mandates and passports reduce the spread is lost on the freedom loving crowd.
One fast food restaurant in San Francisco, IN-N-Out Burger, refused to comply with the local rule that vaccine cards were required for indoor dining. The health department warned them that they were not in compliance and on Thursday, shut them down.
Big talk for a fast food chain in a city with one of the lowest rates of COVID in the nation for the very reason you are taking this ridiculous stand, In-N-Out Burger. But the drive-through is still doing well, I am sure.
Cameron
@Geminid: “Sputnik V or Novichok. Your choice.”
Kay
Shoe memorials :
The exaggerated drama these people enagage in is just insufferable. Me, me, me. All day, every day.
Baud
@Kay:
We cancelled antivaxxers, Kay. That’s just as bad is being slaughtered or disappeared.
Soprano2
I heard a story on NPR this morning about school boards and a school board election. One of the anti-mask candidates said she was running because the school board didn’t listen to them. No, lady, they listened but you lost! Their definition of “listening” is “we get our way”. *rolleyes* They had on a Republican pollster who said Republican women in the suburbs were upset by all the division and yelling, which doesn’t seem to bode well for the anti-mask assholes.
matt
Correcting John King a little bit: he means, “I have MS and I’m immunocompromised because I’m taking immunosuppressant drugs.” Here’s hoping for better targeted treatments.
Sloane Ranger
Tuesday in the UK we had 43,738 new cases. The rolling 7-day average has risen by 16.1%. Some experts are claiming we might be seeing the number of new cases plateauing, but say we will need a few more days data before they can say for sure. New cases by nation,
England – 36,712 (down 2761)
Northern Ireland – 1367 (up 276)
Scotland – 2459 (up 265)
Wales – 3200 (down 3198 (but Monday’s figures would have been artificially inflated by Wales not reporting on Saturday’s and Sunday office closures)).
Deaths – There were 223 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. The rolling 7-day average is up by 14.6%. This is a big increase and can be explained, at least in part, by catching up after the weekend office closures. 189 deaths were in England, 8 in Northern Ireland, 24 in Scotland and 2 in Wales.
Testing – 911,550 tests took place on Monday, 18 October. The rolling 7-day average was up by 0.1%. The PCR testing capacity reported by labs on that date was 866,613.
Hospitalisations – There were 7749 people in hospital and 823 on ventilators on Monday, 18 October. The rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions was up by 10% as of 15 October.
Vaccinations – As of Monday, 18 October, 49,462,425 people had received 1 shot of a vaccine and 45,400,990 had had 2. In percentage terms, this means that 86% of all UK residents aged 12+ had had 1 shot by that date and 78.9% had had 2.
General – Kwasi Kwarteng, the Cabinet member responsible for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, has said that there are no plans to re-introduce anti-COVID precautions at this time, despite the plea from the NHS. He did, however, urge everyone to get the booster shot. Apparently the Tory strategy of waiting for until the horse has bolted before closing the stable door is still in place. The NHS is under pressure during the winter at the best of times due to flu, pneumonia etc. What will happen with fewer staff and those that remain exhausted after the last 18 months is anyone’s guess – but I doubt it will be pleasant.
I suspect that, once crisis point is reached, Boris et al will bestir themselves and will be forced to have a lockdown. I said at the time, we should have kept mandatory mask wearing indoors and on public transport at the very least, but that would have spoilt the feelgood feeling that Boris wanted.
stinger
Got my Pfizer booster yesterday — I’m all boosted up! Mildly sore arm this morning, just as was the case with the first two shots. Henry sticker, s’il vous plait. ?
YY_Sima Qian
On 10/19 China reported 17 new domestic confirmed (1 previously asymptomatic) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases.
Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 8 new domestic confirmed cases. There currently are 12 active domestic confirmed cases in the region.
Xi’an in Shaanxi Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (previously asymptomatic). There currently are 8 active domestic confirmed cases in the city, all members of the tour group that had recently traveled through Gansu & Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia.
Ningxia “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic confirmed case. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases in the region.
Lanzhou in Gansu Province reported 4 new domestic confirmed (1 mild & 3 moderate) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 5 are members of a tour group that had traveled through Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia & parts of Gansu, & had eaten at the restaurant in Ejina Banner w/ the cluster (at the same time as the group that tested positive at Xi’an in Shaanxi), the other case is a traced close contact. 2 residential compounds are at Medium Risk.
Zunyi in Guizhou Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed case (moderate), a person who had returned from travel across Gansu & Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia.
Beijing Municipality reported 1 new domestic confirmed case, a person who had slept in adjacent bunk as the confirmed case reported by Yinchuan in Ningxia.
Changsha in Hunan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the city, a person who had recently returned from travel across Gansu & Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia.
Dehong Prefecture in Yunnan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (at Ruili, found via screening of persons under centralized quarantine) & 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases (at Mangshi, both found via screening of persons under lockdown or quarantine. 1 domestic asymptomatic case was released from isolation. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 11 active domestic asymptomatic cases at the prefecture.
At Fujian Province 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 29 active domestic confirmed cases remaining (2 at Putian & 27 at Xiamen) in the province.
At Heilongjiang Province 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed (all at Harbin) & 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases (both at Suihua) remaining.
At Ürumqi in Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case remaining.
At Henan Province there currently are 5 active domestic confirmed cases remaining, all at Shangqiu.
Imported Cases
On 10/19, China reported 13 new imported confirmed cases (3 previously asymptomatic), 18 imported asymptomatic cases:
Overall in China, 39 confirmed cases recovered (33 imported), 18 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (17 imported) & 4 was reclassified as confirmed case (3 imported), & 1,994 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 505 active confirmed cases in the country (437 imported), 1 in serious condition (imported), 356 active asymptomatic cases (339 imported), 2 suspect cases (both imported). 21,291 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 10/19, 2,236.226M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 2.13M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 10/20 Hong Kong reported 4 new positive cases, both imported (from Indonesia, the Philippines & Singapore, all had been fully vaccinated).
O. Felix Culpa
White House unveils vaccination plan for children ages 5-11 (WaPo)
This is pending FDA approval, which should happen in the next few weeks.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Speaking of disease, we just had something tear threw work. One person after another got ill for a few days and the COVID tests came back negative. This is with most of us with 20ft of distance from each other, mask on all the time, everyone fully vaccinated and the rest of the stuff.
mrmoshpotato
Now do the US!
mrmoshpotato
Jim needs a snowball right between the eyes – hard.
mrmoshpotato
@debbie: “But what about freedumb, kids?!”
“The freedom to not get sick, you assclown?”
YY_Sima Qian
So far on 10/20 a few more positive cases have been reported by various jurisdictions in China:
Yinchuan in Ningxia “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic positive case, found at screening during hospital intake, epidemiological investigation determined that person had shared the same space the same time w/ the domestic confirmed case reported there on 10/18
Wuzhong in Ningxia “Autonomous” Region reported 2 new domestic positive cases, both close contacts of the domestic confirmed case reported there on 10/19, & all 3 had traveled to Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia. In fact, they had eaten at the same restaurant w/ the outbreak, as had the tour groups that tested positive at Xi’an in Shaanxi & Lanzhou in Gansu.
Xingtai in Hebei Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed cases, found via contact tracing. Both had recently traveled from Beijing, & are relatives of the domestic confirmed case reported there on 10/19.
Bayanhot Township in Alxa Left Banner, Alxa League, Inner Mongolia “Autonomous” Region reported 1 new domestic positive case, found via mass screening of all residents, a truck driver who has been hauling freight to and from Ejina Banner.
Lanzhou in Gansu Province reported 3 new domestic positive cases, all traced close contacts of the tour group reported there on 10/19.
Zhangye in Gansu Province reported 1 new domestic positive case, a traced close contact of the tour group reported at Lanzhou on 10/19.
All of the cases will be included in tomorrow’s data dump, & classified as confirmed or asymptomatic.
I disagree w/ Reuters’ analysis. The vast majority of the recent cases in China are part of transmission chains that appear to have emanated from Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia, most of whom have been established as close contacts of other cases, w/ 22 directly connected to one restaurant at Ejina Banner. It is unknown whether the small cluster at Erenhot in Inner Mongolia is connected to Ejina Banner (Xilingol League is adjacent to Alxa League, though both are very large & relatively sparsely populated). Ejina Banner borders Mongolia, & the Populus euphratica forest scenic area in particular is 1.5 hrs driving from the border. It is conceivable that the outbreak originated from some kind of breach at the border. It is a pretty remote area, so border controls & COVID-19 management may have been less well managed. Fortunately, Ejina Banner sees much less tourist flow, even during peak Autumn season, than Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province (which accelerated the outbreak that spanned most of China in Jul. & Aug., originating from a breach at Nanjing Airpot).
The only other ongoing outbreak in China is at land border crossings w/ Myanmar in Yunnan Province. There has been a relatively large number of imported positive cases at these border crossings over the past several months. Apparently 10s of thousands of Chinese nationals had been working across the border in Myanmar, engaged in nefarious endeavors such as tele-fraud, smuggling & narcotics trafficking. Many had smuggled themselves into Myanmar 1 – 2 yrs ago. Jurisdictions across China issued edicts requiring these Chinese nationals to return & turn themselves in, or have their residential permits (hukous) revoked. This precipitated a mass migration back to China through these land border crossings, having to stay in poorly managed quarantine hotels on the Myanmar side for 14 days before they can cross. Now that Yunnan is reporting very few imported positive cases now, most who would return perhaps have done so.
Regular screening of all residents at the border crossing areas, workers at quarantine facilities & people who otherwise work in close proximity to the border and/or arrivals from Myanmar, has been uncovering a small trickle of domestic positive cases. There has been no indication that COVID-19 has spread outside of the border crossings.
The outbreak at Fujian & Heilongjiang are well on the way to be eliminated, & the cluster at Horgos in Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region has already been eliminated.
Robert Sneddon
Scotland — 2,768 new COVID-19 cases reported today. The test positivity rate is 7.1%. There were 26 new deaths reported (noting that Register Offices are now generally closed at weekends). ICU bed occupancy numbers are 51, up five from yesterday while hospitalisations are 890, up 21.
There were approximately 4,500 vaccinations carried out in Scotland yesterday (Tuesday) with about 60% of these being first vaccinations. 91.8% of 16+ adults are now vaccinated with their first dose and 85.4% are fully vaccinated. 74.2% of 16 and 17-year-olds have now received their first vaccination, up 0.1% from yesterday. 48.8% of 12-15 year olds have now received their first vaccination, up 0.6% from yesterday.
There were about 27,000 booster vaccinations carried out yesterday with a total of just under 371,000 boosters to date.
topclimber
@mrmoshpotato: Being as ole Jim is from OK, maybe he can compromise on just a mandate for the Navy?
J R in WV
@MomSense:
But what is “headgear” please? Baseball caps? Foul weather gear? I am Lost here….
Bill Arnold
Does anyone know of a airline tracker, that tracks anti-SARS-CoV-2-spread measures taken by the various airlines? E.g.
Gravenstone
@J R in WV: I think she means the external harnesses used to hold some dental braces in place.
Jay
@J R in WV:
“headgear” is the corrective braces for teeth with an external support harness, worn over the head,…
Barney
1 in 12 British schoolchildren aged 11 to 15 currently test positive for Covid: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/covid-1-in-12-secondary-school-pupils-test-positive/
At the moment, England and Wales have no general rule that masks should be worn in schools (Scotland and Northern Ireland do). Because the galaxy brains in charge think we need to keep that for if things get bad.