China imposes new curbs amid worst COVID outbreak in two years - "China has placed about 17 million residents under lockdown, as virus cases doubled nationwide to nearly 3,400 and anxiety mounted over the resilience of its ‘zero-Covid’ approach in the face of the worst outbreak in two years. The southern tech hub of Shenzhen – home to about 13 million people – told all residents to stay at home as it struggles to eradicate an Omicron flare-up linked to the neighbouring virus-ravaged city of Hong Kong... A nationwide surge in cases has seen authorities close schools in Shanghai, China’s biggest city, and lock down northeastern cities, as almost 18 provinces battle clusters of the Omicron and Delta variants... the strain is showing, with officials increasingly urging softer and more targeted measures to contain the virus, while economists warn tough clampdowns are hurting the economy. Shenzhen residents have been anxious over a renewed outbreak and angst at the swift, draconian measures to squash clusters. “It’s the worst since 2020,” a Shenzhen resident surnamed Zhang told the AFP news agency. “The closures are too sudden. My friend woke up in the morning to find her building was sealed overnight without warning. Her boss had to mail her laptop to her.”... As cases rise, the country’s National Health Commission announced on Friday that it would make rapid antigen tests available for citizens to buy online or from clinics for “self-testing”. Although nucleic acid tests will continue to be the main method of testing, the move suggests China may be anticipating that official efforts will not be able to contain the virus. Last week, a top Chinese scientist said the country should aim to co-exist with COVID, like other nations where Omicron has spread like wildfire."
I saw someone even in mid-March for blaming the PAP ("pappigs") for letting omicron into Singapore by welcoming an "uninterrupted foreign influx". Presumably if Singapore were still on covid zero all the rabid anti-PAP folks would be saying they weren't strict enough
'Stealth Omicron' forces China to lock down 50 million people - "China’s “zero-COVID policy” could be proving to be a double-edged sword, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC Monday. The BA.2 Omicron subvariant, also known as “stealth Omicron” is pushing cases up in the country, in part because of the population’s lack of widespread natural immunity... On March 15, China issued city-wide lockdowns in place in Shenzhen, affecting 12.5 million people, Dongguan (10.5 million), and Langfang (5.5 million), and locked down the whole province of Jilin, affecting 24 million. That’s 52.5 million people... In Shanghai, schools have returned to online classes and on Saturday city officials told residents not to leave unless absolutely necessary, meaning tens of millions more were in quasi-lockdown as well... When it comes to the West and the U.S., though, Gottlieb said they likely won’t share China’s fate. Although Western countries faced higher case numbers because they didn’t implement COVID restrictions as restrictive as China’s, they seem to be less vulnerable to this new subvariant. Gottlieb said that in the next couple weeks, COVID cases will likely rise in the rest of the world as restrictions are pulled back and the more contagious Omicron subvariant spreads among the population. Yet, unlike China, a combination of immunity due to previous COVID-19 spread in the U.S. and protection by vaccines could that increase to be brief. “It’s going to cause a lot of anxiety as you start to see cases tick up,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of people who are worried this is the beginning of another surge, but given how much infection we’ve had, given how vaccinated we are, I think that’s going to be a pretty good backstop against uncontrolled spread here.”"
Weird. We were told that natural immunity didn't exist and it was dangerous to believe in it
Five of Hong Kong’s best beaches unaffected by government closure, for surfing, picnics, camping and fascinating rock formations - "Hong Kong closed all public gazetted beaches on March 17 in a further tightening of social-distancing rules"
No surprise that an unscientific zero covid policy is accompanied by the shutting of parks
Hong Kong Changes the Core Covid Rules as Omicron Cases Snowball - Bloomberg - "One by one, Hong Kong’s government is being forced to move away from key pillars of its strict Covid Zero strategy as a surge in new cases overwhelms the under-prepared health-care system. Patients with mild cases are no longer sent to hospital or isolation facilities as there’s no space; instead they’re asked to stay home until they test negative with rapid antigen tests -- which people often need to buy themselves. Close contacts, no longer identified by the city’s elaborate contact tracing process, are moving around freely though they’re technically supposed to home quarantine for at least a week. The app used to flag locations with confirmed cases has suspended risk alerts. Gold-standard lab tests have been largely dropped, with at-home rapid tests taking their place. This rapid erosion of core Covid Zero practices shows the difficulty of maintaining an approach that seeks to wipe out the virus when faced with more infectious strains like omicron... In many ways, Hong Kong is living with the virus in the same way ex-Covid Zero adherents Singapore, Australia and now New Zealand are -- based on the case numbers and the way tracking methods are being relinquished. The difference is those places made a concerted and well-telegraphed pivot to the endemic path, one that Beijing has -- so far -- refused to do. "
Hong Kong’s covid death rate surpasses US’s worst day - "Apart from exceeding the worst single-day death rate of the US, Hong Kong now also finds itself with the highest death rate in the world"
So much for covid "success". Lockdown fanatics will just claim they were not strict enough
Hong Kong domestic helpers abandoned as Covid takes a toll - "some were fired or made homeless by their employers when they tested positive for coronavirus... Hong Kong's Labour Department has warned employers it is an offence to sack those infected. People who break the law could face a fine of up to HK$100,000... As the government grapples to contain the Covid outbreak, authorities have banned flights from nine countries, including the Philippines, and tightened entry restrictions, leading to a shortage of domestic helpers."
Hong Kong retail chains ration staples to curb COVID-19 panic buying - "Supermarket chain ParknShop announced limits of five items per customer on staples such as rice, canned food and toilet paper, while pharmacy Watsons put the same limits on medication for pain, fever and colds... ParknShop announced shorter opening hours, with some of its 200 branches shutting at 3pm - by which time many shops across the Asian financial hub have been stripped of fresh and frozen meat and vegetables in recent days. Mall operator HKTV said in an exchange filing on Friday that 20 per cent of its "frontline manpower" was in quarantine."
Hong Kong Official Says It Can Still Achieve Covid Zero, Official Says - "Hong Kong can reverse the trend of rising coronavirus cases and achieve Covid Zero as it increases isolation facilities and testing, Chief Secretary for Administration John Lee said. Nine projects constructed with the help of China will provide about 50,000 beds and will significantly enhance Hong Kong’s isolation capabilities... Hong Kong’s financial markets will remain open in the event of restrictions being imposed on residents, including stocks, derivatives, bonds, currencies and foreign exchange"
Looks like China is killing Hong Kong more effectively with zero covid than with national security repression
Hong Kong expats flee city's COVID quarantine camps, rumored lockdowns - "The Hong Kong International Airport was once one of the world’s busiest hubs. Now it features vacant ticketing counters, boarded-up coffee shops, and the faint hum of sanitation robots as the Chinese territory remains sealed off from the rest of the globe. But on Thursday, there were pockets of frenzied activity in the airport’s departure hall as travelers who snagged coveted seats on flights to Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand hoisted their suitcases and duffels onto baggage belts. “[For us], it is get out [of Hong Kong] no matter what,” says John, a mid-thirties professional in the airline industry who wished to remain anonymous owing to potential backlash from his employer. Waiting in line for a flight to Dubai, John said that after seven years of living in Hong Kong, he and his wife had decided to book a ticket back home to South Africa last week after seeing reports that the Hong Kong government separated a mother from her 11-month-old baby after the child tested positive for COVID... Naavid Khan, a 42-year-old banker, was preparing to board a flight to Dubai en route to Pakistan. He and his wife decided to leave Hong Kong shortly after the city closed schools, and they realized their elementary-school–age children would be stuck at home indefinitely. “There’s nothing that we’re achieving here by being locked in our house”... On Friday, Hong Kong reported 52,523 new COVID infections, putting the city’s daily case count above that of the entire United States. Hong Kong’s Omicron outbreak is also growing more deadly owing in large part to the city’s low elderly vaccination rate... departing residents say the city’s increasingly draconian—yet seemingly futile—tactics to contain COVID have made Hong Kong nearly unlivable. Some of them have no plans to come back since they have little hope that conditions in the city will improve anytime soon... after first emerging in Hong Kong late last year, the highly contagious Omicron variant overwhelmed the city’s defenses. Hong Kong instituted new restrictions; it closed schools, gyms, bars, and other venues, imposed an indoor and outdoor mask mandate, and banned gatherings with more than two households. The measures did not blunt the spread. Hong Kong’s outbreak has grown exponentially since early January, with cases doubling every two to three days... Amid the outbreak, some public health experts have urged the city to give up on trying to track down and isolate every single case. Instead, experts say, Hong Kong should focus on protecting the city’s most vulnerable residents and learn to “live with COVID” in a bid to safely reopen to the world. But Chinese President Xi Jinping has publicly pressured Hong Kong to maintain its “dynamic COVID zero” strategy to isolate and eradicate every case of COVID. Mainland China has repeatedly used intense lockdowns and mass testing measures to quell its own outbreaks, and Beijing’s growing influence in Hong Kong means the city will likely adhere to a similar strategy, says Nicholas Thomas, a professor of global health governance at the City University of Hong Kong... a Facebook user created a group called “Expatriating out of Hong Kong support group,” dedicated to people leaving Hong Kong because of the new COVID measures. In the group that now has nearly 4,000 members, people share tips about breaking their leases and donating furniture, getting PCR tests before flying out, and booking flights that are least likely to get canceled. Justin Chung, a 42-year-old e-commerce entrepreneur, joined the group shortly after it launched. He and his family decided to leave the city after seeing pictures of the makeshift isolation facilities, which are shipping container–size rooms with three beds and one toilet... Experts in Hong Kong say that the mass testing program at the height of Hong Kong’s outbreak may uncover hundreds of thousands of cases, overwhelming the city’s ability to isolate and quarantine every case, which would make it a futile attempt to halt transmission... In February, 94,035 people left Hong Kong, and 22,681 people arrived, creating a net loss of 71,354 people, according to Hong Kong immigration statistics compiled by independent researcher David Webb. The figure marked the highest net exodus of Hong Kong residents in a single month since the beginning of the pandemic, and Webb suggests that it is likely the largest outflow of residents the city has experienced in decades. The figure is more than double the 38,568 residents who left Hong Kong in July 2021, the month the city implemented a sweeping National Security Law that city authorities have used to crack down on dissent. Hong Kong has also made it hard to reenter the city. Hong Kong has banned all flights from nine countries including the U.S., Canada, and Australia. From everywhere else, travelers must complete 14-day mandatory hotel quarantines at their own expense even as infectious disease experts question the tactic. Thomas and other public health experts say there’s little point in arrivals serving mandatory quarantines when the virus is spreading so rapidly in the city. Many of the quarantine hotels are being turned into isolation facilities, making it increasingly difficult for arrivals to book their mandatory stays. The harsh travel restrictions have ground activity at Hong Kong’s airport to a halt. In 2018, Hong Kong International Airport handled 74.5 million passengers making it the world’s eighth busiest airport. Last year, it saw 1.4 million passengers... “When you see the rest of the world, they’ve completely opened up, or they’ve at least got a road map as to opening up and getting back to normal,” he says. “Hong Kong does not have any of that…there’s just a lack of clarity and direction.”... In January, the European Chamber of Commerce predicted that Hong Kong would not open up its borders until late 2023 or early 2024. “We anticipate an exodus of foreigners, probably the largest that Hong Kong has ever seen, and one of the largest in absolute terms from any city in the region,” the chamber said in its report, according to Bloomberg. That month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce published a survey taken before the recent outbreak that said 53% of its members were already considering leaving the city owing to onerous travel restrictions... When Chung moved to Hong Kong 10 years ago, he said it truly lived up to its moniker as “Asia’s world city.” He enjoyed the city’s diverse expat community and the ease of traveling around Asia. Now, he says, the city has become unrecognizable from what once made it special. “It was an international city, it was a vibrant place…That’s why we moved here,” he says. “Now, Hong Kong can no longer call itself a world city at all.”"
Someone claimed Hong Kong's elderly were unvaccinated for the same reasons as Singapore's elderly - stupidity. Apparently the elderly in Hong Kong are more stupid than in Singapore
Hong Kong braces for lockdown, mass testing as daily Covid-19 cases breach 55,000 - "Local media reports have differed on the details of the upcoming lockdown, sowing confusion. HK01 reported on Wednesday that there would be a four-day limited lockdown at the end of March, and Cable TV said the city will set a time limit for residents to buy groceries. Stories from Sing Tao Daily and the South China Morning Post a day earlier triggered panic-buying with details of a proposed nine-day Covid-19 compulsory testing blitz later this month... In a bear case – where the Covid-19 outbreak peaks late in the second quarter – Bank of America analysts estimate 2 per cent to 3 per cent of Hong Kong’s population could depart every month."
Hong Kong lifts flight bans, other covid restrictions - The Washington Post - "Hong Kong will lift flight bans in place for nine countries including the United States and reduce mandatory quarantine for returning residents to seven days, in the first easing of the city’s draconian coronavirus restrictions in many months as the financial hub buckles under the weight of its “zero-covid” policy."
Exclusive: China gene firm providing worldwide COVID tests worked with Chinese military - "top U.S. security officials have warned American labs against using Chinese tests because of concern China was seeking to gather foreign genetic data for its own research... The U.S. government has recently been warned by an expert panel that adversary countries and non-state actors might find and target genetic weaknesses in the U.S. population and a competitor such as China could use genetics to augment the strength of its own military personnel. BGI has worked on PLA projects seeking to make members of the ethnic Han Chinese majority less susceptible to altitude sickness, Reuters found, genetic research that would benefit soldiers in some border areas."
Someone said it was a conspiracy theory to think that China was using mass testing as a way to gather DNA
Addendum: They're also linked to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Singapore to simplify COVID-19 rules; safe distancing no longer required when wearing masks - "With the new rules, practices that “actually do not make a material difference” to the pandemic are no longer forbidden, said Mr Ong."
This is retarded. We know that social distancing is more effective than masking (which has poor or even contrary evidence for it). But people oh so love their useless security blankets. And of course Singapore is still ignoring the science on outdoor transmission and mandating outdoor masking
Covid-19 measures in Singapore should ease once Omicron peaks, some curbs no longer effective: Experts - "Singapore should be able to ease restrictions further once the current Omicron surge peaks, said several experts. This is likely to be in about a month's time. The streamlining of some measures suggested by the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19, such as allowing multiple groups of five people to visit each day, is unlikely to impact overall numbers, they said. Some also suggested that there is little reason today to cap the number of vaccinated travellers entering the country... the majority of deaths have been reported among people above 80 years of age. If they have other serious medical conditions, there is always a risk of death, even if they are fully vaccinated... Professor Dale Fisher, a senior infectious disease consultant at the National University Hospital (NUH), said: "The current measures are left over from when we needed broad community level interventions to limit transmission." But Singapore now has "a very immune population" on account of high vaccination rates as well as through infection, he added. "I see little role for keeping the broad, blunt restrictions. The social and economic price is too high for the interventions, which may not even have health benefits, although certainly, they have been important previously through the pandemic"... With the way Omicron is spreading, limiting the size of gatherings is not slowing transmission or saving lives. Instead, the measures were exacting a toll, he added. Agreeing, Prof Ooi said: "I do not think any of the physical distancing measures are at all effective in preventing transmission of a virus as infectious as Omicron"... Dr Asok Kurup, an infectious diseases expert in private practice, said some measures should be reviewed to see if they were still effective. "I certainly don't think that TraceTogether is useful any more, certainly not in low-risk settings"... Prof Fisher said he does not understand the role of vaccinated travel lanes today as travellers are not driving the surge in cases in Singapore. Most countries now just need to see proof of vaccination and, for some, a recent test, he said. Prof Cook said restricting travel into Singapore made sense when the incidence of Covid-19 here was substantially lower than in countries the travellers were coming from. But now, Singapore itself has more than 10,000 cases daily, so a few hundred more would not make much of a difference... He also said priority should be given to removing restrictions on children "since they have been the biggest losers in this pandemic: They got next to no benefits from all the restrictions to their lives, since their risk of severe outcomes is so low in the first place"."
Kiasuism, kiaseeism and political incentives means they may not be listened to
Level of satisfaction with Govt’s handling of Covid-19 closely tied to daily case numbers: IPS study - "The proportion of Singaporeans satisfied with the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic see-sawed in tandem with infection case numbers. It reached as high as 82 per cent when daily cases in the community fell to under 100 in August this year and as low as 59 per cent when the figure spiked in October. When it came to vaccination, nearly seven in 10 people felt that the Government should make the jab compulsory for all Singaporeans and long-term residents. About 68 per cent wanted a lockdown or tighter restrictions when cases shot up, especially in September and October this year... On the best approach to reopening, at least 80 per cent of the respondents believed that Singapore should have a slower reopening with fewer deaths, as opposed to opening quickly but with a higher death count."
Singaporeans polled expect current virus curbs to last till end of year - "More than half of Singaporeans polled in an online survey believe that the current level of Covid-19 restrictions will persist through this year, as the country navigates its way towards an endemic state. In all, 54 per cent of the 1,000 respondents felt developments in the Covid-19 situation this year will result in the same level of restrictions. Another 21 per cent said there are likely to be more restrictions than last year... Survey respondents were also asked how they felt about domestic restrictions in place as at last December, given the emergence of Omicron. Fifty-six per cent felt the curbs were just right, while another three in 10 felt they were too relaxed. Only 15 per cent felt the restrictions were too strict. Asked which local Covid-19 restriction they hope will be eased this year, 26 per cent of respondents said the curbs should either remain in place or be tightened. Next was limits to group sizes for non-mass events (21 per cent), mask-wearing (17 per cent) and mandatory TraceTogether check-ins (12 per cent)... Asked what might happen if Singapore adopts an endemic approach before the global Omicron situation stabilises, Professor Teo Yik Ying, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, felt the cost would be "very low", given the country's strong vaccination response and its resilient and prepared healthcare sector."
Streamlining of COVID-19 measures to be postponed as local case numbers remain high: MOH
Not like this streamlining was much (it was even framed, eventually, as not a relaxation
Most Singaporeans want a slow reopening. So Singapore will be in "transition" forever, since new variants are always going to come along
Some Singapore expats head for exit as patience for coronavirus rules wears thin | South China Morning Post - "“It’s been like this for so long. And it doesn’t feel like anything’s going to change here,” said Sandler. “Life is very, very easy here. [But] is it worth it to live such a convenient life without being able to see family, friends, without being able to travel?”... Some compare its strict Covid rules with more freedom back home or bemoan the inability to travel freely to visit family, while others joined the “great resignation” wave seen around the world. For Sandler, it was “devastating” that giving birth to her daughter in the middle of the outbreak meant her family did not meet her second child for a year... Chris Anderson, who moved to Singapore in 2019 from Hong Kong, has returned home to the US to join a tech start-up. He was perturbed by rules last year that restricted foreigners from returning to the city state despite being residents. “You leave the country, you’re not a priority to get back in … that’s always at the back of your mind”... There has been a “trickle” of movement from Hong Kong into Singapore, said Lee Quane, regional director at relocation firm ECA International. He expects expatriate outflows from Singapore to outpace inflows through 2022, citing tighter foreign worker policies and wariness over potential curbs due to virus variants."
Meme - "You're the ones getting tested. You're the ones going to a doctor with zero symptoms. You're the ones going to hospital with mild symptoms. You're the ones booking up jab appointments. You're the ones delaying other treatments. I'm not a burden on the healthcare system. You are."
Singapore's experience, where the worried well are overwhelming the health system, is another example
Sabrina Maddeaux: Ridiculous and extreme COVID isolation rules will have us all tuning out - "A single symptom, such as a runny nose, is a near daily thing for many allergy sufferers, perpetually grubby children, and basically anyone who goes for a walk in the cold... medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches announced that if anyone in a household has a single COVID-19 symptom –– just one! –– that the entire household must self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of vaccination status. If another person develops a single symptom during that time frame, the clock starts all over again in an absurd loop that could see families isolating for weeks on end"
'Worse than prison': Woman with mom in Newmarket seniors' home describes pandemic isolation
Chris Selley: What if the vaccine miracle never happened? - "“Our species evolved to be adaptable and resilient in the face of danger,” McGill University psychiatry professor Samuel Veissière recently told the National Post’s Sharon Kirkey. “(We) thrived in the wake of actual catastrophes that were much, much worse than COVID.” Indeed. And this utterly exasperates those Canadians who are still willing to hunker down just as they did a year ago. They see selfishness, motivated reasoning and outright misanthropy, and clearly there is some of that in play. But perhaps it’s worth considering a counterfactual scenario that we were being softened up for not so long ago: What if the vaccine effort had failed? Even British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, an optimist well past the point of a fault, warned in May last year that a safe and effective vaccine was “by no means guaranteed.” It took 75 years to develop a Dengue fever vaccine, a very long article in the Guardian noted, and there’s still no AIDS vaccine — in part because it keeps mutating. When then President Donald Trump declared vaccines would be available by the end of 2020, smart people queued up to pour cold water on the idea. “Experts say that the development, testing and production of a vaccine for the public is still at least 12 to 18 months off, and that anything less would be a medical miracle,” NBC News reported. “The grim truth behind this rosy forecast is that a vaccine probably won’t arrive any time soon,” the New York Times reported on April 30 last year. “Clinical trials almost never succeed. We’ve never released a coronavirus vaccine for humans before. Our record for developing an entirely new vaccine is at least four years.” The Times quoted a medical school dean to the effect that biotech firms were likely overselling their chances in order to boost share prices... what if it hadn’t? For one thing, I suspect Canadians would have had a much more enjoyable summer of 2021. Even understanding Canadians’ preternaturally cautious nature, I was astonished how many people I knew were still laying low even when case counts had tanked and the weather was begging for outdoor socialization. In a way, though, the vaccine miracle made that quite logical: If we just hold on for a bit longer, we can avoid any unnecessary risk and emerge smiling into the status quo ante. Omicron reminds us how unlikely that is — COVID will be with us for the long haul — and maybe offers us a lesson: Make the most of the good times. Absent mass vaccination, I also suspect Canadian governments would be under extreme public pressure to rapidly and permanently increase their health-care systems’ capacity, flexibility and efficiency. Even considering the vaccine miracle, it’s remarkable how little we’re talking about this. To pick one example at random: Austria went back into full lockdown on Nov. 19 when it was seeing 1,459 daily cases per million population on a seven-day average. By contrast, Quebec closed schools, bars, cinemas and gyms on Monday at 378 daily cases per million. Effective Sunday, Ontario capped venue and restaurant and private-gathering capacities, among other restrictions, at just 130 daily cases per million. No doubt those numbers bespeak very different societal risk tolerances, but it’s also true that Austria has almost three times as many hospital beds per capita as Canada — also more than twice as many doctors and two-and-a-half times as many specialist surgical workers. Austria only spends slightly more on health care than Canada does."
Vaccines and Omicron mean Covid now less deadly than flu in England | Financial Times - "A combination of high levels of immunity and the reduced severity of the Omicron variant has rendered Covid-19 less lethal than influenza for the vast majority of people in England, according to a Financial Times analysis of official data. But the speed with which Omicron infects people still pushed the total number of deaths this winter whose underlying cause was a main respiratory disease to 9,641 since the first week of January, 50 per cent higher than in a typical flu season despite lower levels of social mixing, the Office for National Statistics figures revealed... The proportion of people infected with Covid-19 in England who go on to die has dipped below that of seasonal flu, which has an infection fatality rate of 0.04 per cent, for the first time during the pandemic... Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said the government’s strategy of treating Covid-19 similarly to flu by relying on public health messaging and targeted testing, instead of bigger interventions, was “risky” but so far “had gone according to plan”... After falling for the past two months since the peak of the Omicron wave, Covid-19-related hospital admissions are on the rise again across the UK... However, more than two-fifths of Covid-19 patients in England’s hospitals are being treated primarily for something else, having incidentally tested positive upon admission."
The covid hystericist cope is that covid spreads much faster than flu, so we still can't afford to be complacent. Clearly life can never get back to normal since we must always be ready for a new variant or waning immunity
I'm sure 2 years of lockdowns have nothing to do with why respiratory disease deaths are higher than in a typical flu season
Covid could be spread through flatulence, say ministers - "Ministers have privately pointed to evidence that Covid could be spread by people breaking wind in confined spaces such as lavatories. One said they had read "credible-looking stuff on it" from other countries, although government scientists are yet to produce a paper on the matter. The source said there had been evidence of a "genomical-linked tracing connection between two individuals from a [lavatory] cubicle in Australia." There were also "well-documented cases of diseases spreading through waste pipes during lockdowns in Hong Kong when the U-bend had dried out". The science is not definitive, however, and another minister told The Telegraph that as Covid is "a respiratory disease, transmission and shedding is mostly taking place through the mouth and actually mainly the nose". A spokesman for Boris Johnson said he was not aware of claims that the virus can be spread by flatulence. The spokesman added: "We keep the latest scientific evidence under review." Healthy people tend to break wind between five to 25 times a day, and testing has found that SARS-CoV-2 can be present in faecal material."
Chris Hayes on Twitter - "Trump's obsession/focus on a vaccine is nuts. It is totally immaterial to the short-term challenges, which are substantial."
Chris Hayes Rips 'Vaccine Public Enemy Number 1' Tucker Carlson
Philippe Lemoine on Twitter - "I just had to argue that *smallpox*, one of the most lethal pathogens in human history, is more dangerous than SARS-CoV-2. The #ZeroCovid folks really have lost touch with reality..."
Holly, maths elf. on Twitter - "BREAKING: Austria's Salzburg and Upper Austria expanding lockdown to include vaccinated people"
"What? Allowing one group in society to be treated as vermin doesn’t save you from the same fate, only provides a slight delay? It’s almost like history is a thing. 🤔🤔🤔"
Naturally, vaxholes just double down and blame the unvaccinated
Meme - "DELTA VARIANT AIR LINES *Democrats fleeing Texas unmasked in plane*"
Meme - Joe Biden @JoeBiden: "Where are the tests, Mr. President?"
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: "President Biden under pressure as U.S. hits 1 million Covid cases in a day amid testing shortage."
