Coronavirus thread

[MusicTurner]

I don't really know why, but testing in DK is still 200,000 - 250,000 PCRs + 200,000 quick tests, totally about 7-8% of the population per day, catching a lot of cases. The share of patients hospitalized with other diseases and a 'secondary', less important omicron is going up everywhere, it's at least 27% here. ICU corona numbers are dropping quite a lot, in spite of the many identified cases (33,000 yesterday) and hospitals say that they are less strained. A lot of the ICUs tend to be 'old' Delta cases. So the talk here in DK is about loosening restrictions further; but some people are warning against too much haste. The earlier guarantee of 30 days maximum for treatment of any disease has now also been re-introduced, due to less strain on the system, but it's going to take time to implement.


EDIT: and 38,800 today ... but hospitalizations still not on the level of the 2020-2021 winter, people are there for a shorter time, and ICUs about 1/3 of that winter.

[Que]

It is a little odd that Denmark is still growing in cases and hospital admissions when they started same time as UK and are more boosted as well...

https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1483752123775041540

Just a hunch: more testing and less prior infections?

[Florestan]

News from Israel

Finance minister calls for cancellation of COVID vaccine 'Green Pass'

Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman calls for an end to the widespread usage of the "Green Pass" proof of COVID vaccination to enter certain locations.

"There is no medical or epidemiological logic in the Green Pass, many experts agree," says Liberman. "There is, however, direct harm to the economy, to daily operations and a not insignificant contribution to daily panic among the public."

Liberman says he is working with "all the authorities" in order to get rid of the Green Pass and "maintain a normal life routine for all of us."

Currently, admittance to many public and private facilities requires a Green Pass vaccination card, which is only valid following a booster shot or within six months of a second vaccine dose.

Initial data shows that the current widespread Omicron variant is able to bypass the vaccine in many cases.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Some recent news re China:

"About 2000 hamsters will be killed after traces of COVID-19 were found on 11 linked to the Little Boss pet shop. Hong Kong authorities claim the imported hamsters could have led to the infection of two employees of the store. All the other animals in the shop will also be euthanised as a precaution."

Article from The Age (Australia):  https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/pets-the-latest-sacrifice-in-china-s-attempt-to-hold-fortress-covid-zero-20220119-p59pg2.html

PD

[Que]

News from the Doom & Gloom Department:

WHO says omicron won't be last Covid variant as global cases surge by 20% in a week

Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior WHO official, warned high levels of transmission give the virus more opportunity to replicate and mutate, raising the risk that a new variant will emerge.


Buckle up for another ride in the coming year...

[Florestan]

News from the Doom & Gloom Department:

WHO says omicron won't be last Covid variant as global cases surge by 20% in a week

Buckle up for another ride in the coming year...

In the last two years WHO made lots of contradictory statements from the very beginning. They have zero credibility in my book.

[MusicTurner]

Apparently at least 12 European nations reporting record-breaking numbers of infections today

(Denmark, Croatia, Switzerland, Slovenia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Germany, Italy, France).

https://twitter.com/TWMCLtd/status/1483789813396516868
https://twitter.com/TWMCLtd

[Que]

In the last two years WHO made lots of contradictory statements from the very beginning. They have zero credibility in my book.

I think another real risk now is "Covid fatigue", which will lead to dismissing caution and ignoring bad news. There seems already be a downturn in the number of people that follow the rules and turn up for another shot.

Worst case scenario would be if a new variant strikes when most have decided that they dont give a sh%t anymore.

[Florestan]

I think another real risk now is "Covid fatigue", which will lead to dismissing caution and ignoring bad news. There seems already be a downturn in the number of people that follow the rules and turn up for another shot.

Worst case scenario would be if a new variant strikes when most have decided that they dont give a sh%t anymore.

Well, the world can't live the remainder of the century from lockdown to lockdown and from booster to booster. You can't condemn people for being fed up with all that.

There are obvious signals that some countries are considering, even preparing, the transition from pandemic to endemic and the return to normalcy. The more of them and the quicker the transition, the better.

[Florestan]

Pfizer CEO: Virus will be here for years but this may be last wave with restrictions

Pfizer boss Albert Bourla said Monday that although the "most likely scenario" is that coronavirus will be circulating for many years to come, he believes the current wave of infections will be the final one that requires restrictions.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I think another real risk now is "Covid fatigue", which will lead to dismissing caution and ignoring bad news. There seems already be a downturn in the number of people that follow the rules and turn up for another shot.

Worst case scenario would be if a new variant strikes when most have decided that they dont give a sh%t anymore.

Also a class divide. White collar workers/upper middle class people can work at home or have a paid/non-paid leave. Wage earners must go out and work to make a living.

[Que]

Well, the world can't live the remainder of the century from lockdown to lockdown and from booster to booster.

I don't think it will come to that. But realistically, it seems the advent of one or two more "problematic" variants cannot be ruled out. At least the WHO does not. This would keep us occupied for at least another year or so - but not the rest of the century.

You can't condemn people for being fed up with all that.

I'm not. Who isn't fed up? Hell, I was fed up with all of this a long time ago! 

There are obvious signals that some countries are considering, even preparing, the transition from pandemic to endemic and the return to normalcy. The more of them and the quicker the transition, the better.

Well, it all depends on whether Omicron will be the last problematic variant or not.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Czech singer dies after catching Covid intentionally.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60050996

[Karl Henning]

Also a class divide. White collar workers/upper middle class people can work at home or have a paid/non-paid leave. Wage earners must go out and work to make a living.

Aye, a new variety of white privilege.

[Karl Henning]

Czech singer dies after catching Covid intentionally.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60050996

Give that singer a Darwin award.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Aye, a new variety of white privilege.

Also a class divide. White collar workers/upper middle class people can work at home or have a paid/non-paid leave. Wage earners must go out and work to make a living.

I heard a story earlier (on good ole NPR) about families struggling with childcare costs; some of the poorer families (when the childcare clinics close due to a Covid infection there) are then having to bring their exposed kids to work with them because they can't afford to pay more for childcare.

PD

[Karl Henning]

Interesting

Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch issue statement rebuking report over masks

By Kimberly Robinson and Greg Stohr Bloomberg, Updated January 19, 2022, 47 minutes ago

(Bloomberg) — Two Supreme Court justices issued a rare statement Wednesday over what is for many Americans a common refrain -- whether their coworkers should wear a mask.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 67, who has been taking part in U.S. Supreme Court arguments remotely amid the Covid surge, said she did not ask Justice Neil Gorsuch to wear a mask during arguments.

National Public Radio reported on Tuesday that Chief Justice John Roberts had asked all justices to wear masks but that Gorsuch refused. CNN also reported Sotomayor, who is diabetic and may face more health risks from Covid, is absent from the courtroom because she's uncomfortable with unmasked colleagues. CNN said that she expressed concerns to Roberts but didn't ask Gorsuch directly to mask.

When asked whether Roberts pressed the other justices to wear masks, a court spokeswoman said that she had no additional information beyond the statement from Sotomayor and Gorsuch.

The two justices said Wednesday that "while we may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends."

The public statement was rare from a branch of the federal government that operates in a culture of secrecy, in which leaks to the media are infrequent even as the court has become ideologically more one sided with a 6-3 conservative majority. The justices argue fervently in the courtroom on such divisive issues as abortion rights and gun control but lunch together weekly and frequently profess that they remain cordial.

The court has increasingly become a focal point in U.S. politics as divisiveness has increased and that is true of the coverage of the court as well.

Fox News early Wednesday said it debunked the claim from the more liberal NPR, citing its own sources and a former Gorsuch law clerk as saying neither Roberts nor Sotomayor had asked colleagues to wear masks.

"Fact Check: 100% False. The Chief never asked his colleagues to mask up, for any reason," tweeted Mike Davis, a former Gorsuch law clerk.

The court's jurists remained mum about the situation during arguments Wednesday in a case involving federal election law and loans a senator gave his campaign. No one said a word about masks. Gorsuch was the only justice without a mask although others took them off occasionally during the arguments.

Reporters in the courtroom and lawyers arguing before the court are required to wear the face coverings.

The situation is all the more odd because Gorsuch and Sotomayor sit next to each other on the Supreme Court bench, and bantered in a friendly manner while Sotomayor was the only justice masked up until the recent omicron surge. Even though Gorsuch is more conservative on issues and Sotomayor is now regarded as the most liberal on the court, the two have previously attended the same virtual events and joined together in calling for a return to civil discourse.

Last April, they lamented at an event about the nation's collective inability to listen to one another, calling it a national security threat in a politically fractious time.

"This is the scariest of times, and the most exciting of times," Sotomayor said in the recorded video conversation. "We had one of highest turnouts in voting the last election. Yet at the same time we see some of the cracks in our system."

Gorsuch said that democracy is "not an automatic thing" and could crumble if Americans don't tend to it.

"Our enemies know this, even if we don't," he said. "And it is no surprise that a lot of the false information spread on social media is deliberately spread by our enemies to sow disagreement internally in the country."

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Give that singer a Darwin award.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Interesting

Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch issue statement rebuking report over masks

By Kimberly Robinson and Greg Stohr Bloomberg, Updated January 19, 2022, 47 minutes ago

(Bloomberg) — Two Supreme Court justices issued a rare statement Wednesday over what is for many Americans a common refrain -- whether their coworkers should wear a mask.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 67, who has been taking part in U.S. Supreme Court arguments remotely amid the Covid surge, said she did not ask Justice Neil Gorsuch to wear a mask during arguments.

National Public Radio reported on Tuesday that Chief Justice John Roberts had asked all justices to wear masks but that Gorsuch refused. CNN also reported Sotomayor, who is diabetic and may face more health risks from Covid, is absent from the courtroom because she's uncomfortable with unmasked colleagues. CNN said that she expressed concerns to Roberts but didn't ask Gorsuch directly to mask.

When asked whether Roberts pressed the other justices to wear masks, a court spokeswoman said that she had no additional information beyond the statement from Sotomayor and Gorsuch.

The two justices said Wednesday that "while we may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends."

The public statement was rare from a branch of the federal government that operates in a culture of secrecy, in which leaks to the media are infrequent even as the court has become ideologically more one sided with a 6-3 conservative majority. The justices argue fervently in the courtroom on such divisive issues as abortion rights and gun control but lunch together weekly and frequently profess that they remain cordial.

The court has increasingly become a focal point in U.S. politics as divisiveness has increased and that is true of the coverage of the court as well.

Fox News early Wednesday said it debunked the claim from the more liberal NPR, citing its own sources and a former Gorsuch law clerk as saying neither Roberts nor Sotomayor had asked colleagues to wear masks.

"Fact Check: 100% False. The Chief never asked his colleagues to mask up, for any reason," tweeted Mike Davis, a former Gorsuch law clerk.

The court's jurists remained mum about the situation during arguments Wednesday in a case involving federal election law and loans a senator gave his campaign. No one said a word about masks. Gorsuch was the only justice without a mask although others took them off occasionally during the arguments.

Reporters in the courtroom and lawyers arguing before the court are required to wear the face coverings.

The situation is all the more odd because Gorsuch and Sotomayor sit next to each other on the Supreme Court bench, and bantered in a friendly manner while Sotomayor was the only justice masked up until the recent omicron surge. Even though Gorsuch is more conservative on issues and Sotomayor is now regarded as the most liberal on the court, the two have previously attended the same virtual events and joined together in calling for a return to civil discourse.

Last April, they lamented at an event about the nation's collective inability to listen to one another, calling it a national security threat in a politically fractious time.

"This is the scariest of times, and the most exciting of times," Sotomayor said in the recorded video conversation. "We had one of highest turnouts in voting the last election. Yet at the same time we see some of the cracks in our system."

Gorsuch said that democracy is "not an automatic thing" and could crumble if Americans don't tend to it.

"Our enemies know this, even if we don't," he said. "And it is no surprise that a lot of the false information spread on social media is deliberately spread by our enemies to sow disagreement internally in the country."

Regardless of whether or not Roberts formerly requested them to wear mask, why does Gorsuch refrain from wearing mask at a Fed building? Is it even legal? You are right to call him assxxxx.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I heard a story earlier (on good ole NPR) about families struggling with childcare costs; some of the poorer families (when the childcare clinics close due to a Covid infection there) are then having to bring their exposed kids to work with them because they can't afford to pay more for childcare.

PD

I heard a lot of similar stories. Sad.