Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[celedhring]

We need a vaccine tsar, preferably someone who is friends with several tory ministers and of no discernible talent. That way we can guarantee a world-beating vaccination program cockup 

I keep waiting for you or the US to appoint a high level official in charge of all things related with managing the relationship with Moscow. Aka, a Russia tsar.

[Richard Hakluyt]

The pfizer vaccine does last for 5 days at ordinary fridge temperatures and is being transported in fairly low-tech insulated boxes. The problem is going to be organisational rather than the technical problems which are not really a problem for a developed country.

[Richard Hakluyt]

We need a vaccine tsar, preferably someone who is friends with several tory ministers and of no discernible talent. That way we can guarantee a world-beating vaccination program cockup 

I keep waiting for you or the US to appoint a high level official in charge of all things related with managing the relationship with Moscow. Aka, a Russia tsar.

I guess the Russians hold the trump (ha-ha!) card here ;in that they could always acknowledge reality and make Putin the Tsar 

[Tamas]

To try and be fair, maybe GPs can't be involved until we get a vaccine that does not need -70C storage temperature?

How the tables have turned

Well if I am right the GPs should still be told.

[Syt]

Chancellor Kurz went on Austrian TV news to say that the majority of cases in late summer were "imported" by people with Turkish and Balkans roots. The newscaster pointed out that this claim is not supported by evidence, leading to this exchange:

Kurz: "Could I please just finish what I was saying?"
Wolf: "Please don't, because what you're currently saying is not true."

For context, Armin Wolf has a strong reputation here of not letting people get away with bullshit (regardless of party affiliation of the interviewee) and journalistic integrity.

[Maladict]

For context, Armin Wolf has a strong reputation here of not letting people get away with bullshit (regardless of party affiliation of the interviewee) and journalistic integrity.

So, an endangered species then.

[Barrister]

Alberta hits yet another record high with 1854 new cases reported in the last 24 hours.  Our old record was 1733 all the way back on Monday.

[The Brain]

For context, Armin Wolf has a strong reputation here of not letting people get away with bullshit (regardless of party affiliation of the interviewee) and journalistic integrity.

So, an endangered species then.

I don't think they ever evolved in Sweden.

[jimmy olsen]

Michigan became the 11th state to pass the 1 in a thousand dead mark.

Worldmeter +218,576  new cases, +2,918  new deaths on December 3rd

Both new records

8,460 dead so far this month

For reference, the number of Americans killed in three days at  Gettysburg was about 7800~7900

[The Minsky Moment]

And just like Lee, Trump sacrificed all those lives in vain and still failed to win Pennsylvania.

[Caliga]

And just like Lee, Trump sacrificed all those lives in vain and still failed to win Pennsylvania.

Don't insult Lee by comparing him to Donald Trump.

He may also have been on the wrong side of history, but at least he was talented at something other than conning people.

[jimmy olsen]

+235,272    new cases according to worldmeter (record)
+2,718    dead

11,181 dead in December
The seven day average passed 2,000 for the first time since April 29th

Total of 285,550 dead

[Tamas]

So that you can better appreciate if your country is reporting proper numbers, here is a tale from Hungary:

The only readily available public official statistic regarding case numbers is the total number of confirmed cases per county (counted since 8 months ago), on this wonderful, non-interactive map in all its pixelated glory:



Every day they replace this jpeg and provide no history of them. No statistic on changes per day, nothing.

But, some people do save them daily and follow the numbers to try and keep track. This is why they discovered something odd this morning: the total number of confirmed cases seemingly decreased in all counties overnight. 3475 cases disappeared.

The only logical explanation is that per-county numbers are derived by dividing the country-wide number provided by the central government, and when somebody made a typo on the latter, it cascaded down the chain to mess up the so called county data. Why? Quite easy:

The central number of country-wide total cases was published as 243 581. But, if you add up the numbers provided per county, the total comes up as 234 581.

So, it is either a case of all county-level officials making a mistake on the same day and the aggregate effect of all these mistakes was that the total number they provided is almost the same as the central one except the "4" and "3" switched places OR these numbers have little or no relation to reality and when whoever divided up the central made-up number for the county map, they made a typo.

[Syt]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wyoming-health-official-says-so-called-pandemic-communist-plot-n1250096

Wyoming health official says 'so-called pandemic' a communist plot

Efforts to develop a vaccine is a plot by Russia and China to spread communism worldwide, said department readiness and countermeasures manager Igor Shepherd.

By The Associated Press

CASPER, Wyo. — A Wyoming Department of Health official involved in the state's response to the coronavirus questioned the legitimacy of the pandemic and described a forthcoming vaccine as a biological weapon at a recent event.

The "so-called pandemic" and efforts to develop a vaccine are plots by Russia and China to spread communism worldwide, department readiness and countermeasures manager Igor Shepherd said at the Nov. 10 event held by the group Keep Colorado Free and Open.

Shepherd was introduced as and talked about being a Wyoming Department of Health employee in the hour-plus presentation in Loveland, Colorado.

Shepherd's baseless and unsubstantiated claims undermined Wyoming's public health measures — and public exhortations — to limit the spread of the virus, as well as its plans to distribute Covid-19 vaccines in the months ahead.

Even so, Wyoming officials including Gov. Mark Gordon, who at a recent news conference called people not taking the virus seriously "knuckleheads," declined to comment.

Department Director Mike Ceballos and State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist did not answer questions Friday, including when they became aware of Shepherd's talk and what if anything they have done in response.

Phone and social media messages left for Shepherd on Friday weren't returned.

Shepherd has worked for the health department since 2013 and has been a part of the state's team responding to Covid-19, though not in a leadership role, department spokeswoman Kim Deti said.

"All of the things we've said for months and the thousands of hours of dedicated work from our staff and our local partners on this response effort and our excitement for the hope the vaccine offers make our overall department position on the pandemic clear," Deti said in identical statements Thursday to the Casper Star-Tribune, which first reported Shepherd's presentation, and the AP on Friday.

Researchers have worried for months that politicized skepticism of COVID-19 vaccines could hurt their efficacy. Vaccines are more effective if most of the population is inoculated.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Texas State University wrote a paper in July stressing that concern, the Star-Tribune reported.

"If poorly designed and executed, a Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the U.S. could undermine the increasingly tenuous belief in vaccines and the public health authorities that recommend them — especially among people most at risk of Covid-19 impacts," the researchers wrote.

[PDH]

And people ask why I left...