# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2021 Breaking News **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [January 1, 2021, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428 "2021-01-01T08:03:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 119
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2402 "2021-09-02T14:13:31Z")
I heard something on the radio about a million+ Moderna doses being recalled _in Japan_ due to steel particle contamination. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2403 "2021-09-02T14:19:50Z")
I went looking and found: > **[Moderna to recall COVID-19 doses in Japan after stainless steel contaminants...](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/japan-finds-stainless-steel-particles-suspended-doses-moderna-vaccine-2021-09-01/)** > > Moderna Inc and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (4502.T) on Wednesday said they are working with Japanese authorities to recall three batches of COVID-19 vaccine after an investigation found stainless steel contaminants in some vials. > **[Moderna finds stainless steel particles in shots pulled in Japan](https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/COVID-vaccines/Moderna-finds-stainless-steel-particles-in-shots-pulled-in-Japan)** > > US drugmaker and distributor Takeda say no undue risk to public > **[Moderna says COVID vaccines sent to Japan contained stainless steel particles](https://japantoday.com/category/national/moderna-says-tainted-covid-vaccines-sent-to-japan-contained-steel)** > > Moderna said Wednesday that tainted batches of its COVID-19 vaccine sent to Japan were contaminated with stainless steel particles, but the company did not expect it posed "an undue risk to patient safety." The U.S. biotech firm is facing major... ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2404 "2021-09-02T14:46:27Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#): > > Thank you for doing this for all of us. I hope the smoke clears soon. @Snowboarder_Bo, you thought this was a temporary job. Turns out, it’s a career. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Time has resumed its shape. It’s as if McCoy had never entered the Guardian of Forever. 🖖🏽 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2405 "2021-09-02T21:57:51Z")
Two more tourists arrested for using fake vaccination cards, a couple from Georgia. That makes seven total so arrested. Makes me wonder how many actually get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2406 "2021-09-03T04:13:51Z")
219,975,001 total cases 4,557,307 dead 196,632,018 recovered In the US: 40,513,018 total cases 662,853 dead 31,199,835 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 219,265,651 total cases > 4,545,159 dead > 196,041,211 recovered > > In the US: > > 40,330,712 total cases > 659,927 dead > 31,137,936 recovered ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2407 "2021-09-03T12:36:06Z")
Today every state is in the red again on the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus site, meaning that the seven day average reported covid cases are on the rise in all of them. Florida is actually not, but their stats are literally unbelievable, and they seem to be updating only once a week. And Puerto Rico isn’t (although technically, they’re not a state. But that’s a quibble.) New daily record highs are reported for **Georgia** (12942) **South Carolina** (7973) **North Carolina** (9877) **Tennessee** (10712) **Kentucky** (6198) **Texas** (technically no, but their number is 22777 as of yesterday, just shy of the record high of 23195, so I’ll give it to them) **Alaska** (827) **Mississippi** (3968) Two states just retreated from new record highs a couple of days ago Hawaii Alabama Other states have reported case numbers awfully close to previous record highs, with extremely rapid rises, which portends new record highs being hit in the next few days Oklahoma Virginia West Virginia Wyoming Indiana Idaho ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2408 "2021-09-03T13:09:35Z")
Yes, Florida is only reporting weekly. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2409 "2021-09-03T17:07:22Z")
Idaho: > **['Loss of hope': Idaho hospitals crushed by COVID-19 surge](https://apnews.com/article/business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-idaho-09941b507483a5c7b0183dcbf03a8254)** > > Intensive care beds are full of unvaccinated coronavirus patients at a hospital in Boise, Idaho. Doctors now are bracing to have to conserve scarce resources for those most likely to survive. > [@](#): > > Idaho hit a grim COVID-19 trifecta this week, reaching record numbers of emergency room visits, hospitalizations and ICU patients. Medical experts say the deeply conservative state will likely see 30,000 new infections a week by mid-September. > > With a [critical shortage of hospital beds and staff](https://apnews.com/article/business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-b6d58e41b209dd67ed0954f28b542baf) and one of the nation’s lowest vaccination rates, Idaho health providers are growing desperate and preparing to follow crisis standards of care, which call for giving scarce resources to patients most likely to survive. > > St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center invited The Associated Press into its restricted ICUs this week in hopes that sharing the dire reality would prompt people to change their behavior. > > “There is so much loss here, and so much of it is preventable. I’m not just talking about loss of life. Ultimately, it’s like loss of hope,” said Dr. Jim Souza, chief medical officer. “When the vaccines came out in December, those of us in health care were like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s like the cavalry coming over the hill.’ … To see now what’s playing out? It’s all so needless.” ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2410 "2021-09-03T18:34:18Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Idaho: Pretty sad when juxtaposed with the behavior of the Lt. Governor (who, surprise surprise, is challenging the governor in the next election). > For the public, [Gov. Brad] Little said one way to help would be getting a COVID-19 vaccine. “It is our ticket out of the pandemic,” Little said. > > Just minutes after Little made his plea, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin called his suggestion “shameful.” > **[Idaho governor asks people to get COVID-19 vaccine. Lt. Gov. calls that...](https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/coronavirus/article253895488.html)** > > Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin is running for governor — and she used social media to criticize the governor Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2411 "2021-09-03T18:41:04Z")
Personal anecdote from this area (well, not Boise…but further north): Someone I know, with covid, had a 5 hour wait in an ER filled with other sick covid people (was there because they fell and was too weak to get off the floor). That person was looked at briefly and sent back home. It’s sad. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2412 "2021-09-03T18:43:58Z")
[https://www.yahoo.com/news/lists-mu-variant-interest-121518838.html](https://www.yahoo.com/news/lists-mu-variant-interest-121518838.html) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2413 "2021-09-03T21:11:59Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yes, Florida is only reporting weekly. And weakly. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2414 "2021-09-03T21:23:48Z")
Initially, possibly only Pfizer recipients will be able to get boosters. > **[Hospitalization rate for unvaccinated teens 10 times the rate for those...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/03/covid-delta-variant-live-updates/#link-3T7FFAK76BB4TKFCZ6MYKMPA3M)** > > The findings show “that vaccines were highly effective at preventing serious COVID-19 illness" in kids ages 12 to 17, the only pediatric age group for whom a vaccine is approved, researchers said. The link is for a non-paywalled Washington Post coronavirus update. The boosters story is currently the second one, but not sure if it will remain in the same place using that link. This link is directly to the story, but might be paywalled: > **[Top federal health officials warn that booster shots initially may be limited...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/09/03/booster-shot-delay-pfizer-first/)** > > The acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a top White House official their agencies may not be able to approve a more expansive booster plan. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2415 "2021-09-04T03:47:19Z")
Yeah, and I say f\*ck the FDA and CDC brass for their egotistical attitudes. I understand that they don’t like Biden’s attempts to push along booster because their specific agencies haven’t had enough time to implement the usual procedures to collect data. What these morons at FDA and CDC don’t understand - maybe don’t want to admit b/c it has their fingerprints on it - is that their usual best practices aren’t gonna cut it in a pandemic, a time in which we need real-time data collection. FDA Commissioner Woodcock: let’s get this straight - you just recently approved vaccines that were long-ago proven efficacious. And you still haven’t approved the vaccine for even a single use for children under the age of 12, where the vaccine is spreading like wildfire and inflicting damage. So maybe just shut the hell up. And Dr. Walensky, let’s be even clearer: the CDC under your watch decided that COVID was mostly done and your agency, under your watch, decided that it didn’t need to collect data on breakthrough infections. That was an unmitigated disaster. Worse, your agency, under your watch, issued very misleading guidance on masking that, to this day, give a majority of Americans a false sense of security, to the point where even though we have the absolute worst numbers of the entire pandemic, many Americans are behaving as though the pandemic is behind us. Dr. Walensky, you should resign. You, of all people, should not be having an ego trip over the fact that any idiot in the Biden administration can just look at the data from Israel and England and conclude that the CDC isn’t keeping up. And President Biden, if Dr. Walensky doesn’t resign, then it’s on you to fire her. And if you don’t, then you will own the political repercussions of the delta wave. [Health officials warn White House they might not recommend COVID vaccine booster shots for general public as expected this month: report (msn.com)](https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/health-officials-warn-white-house-they-might-not-recommend-covid-vaccine-booster-shots-for-general-public-as-expected-this-month-report/ar-AAO4rtR?ocidctx=hvs%3A1%2Cfdwt%3A171%2Chb%3Afalse%2Ctb%3Afalse%2Cpb%3Afalse%2Ccvc%3A52&ocid=winp1taskbar) Biden needs to be prepared to clean house. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2416 "2021-09-04T04:04:13Z")
220,644,410 total cases 4,567,352 dead 197,141,184 recovered In the US: 40,703,674 total cases 664,935 dead 31,265,847 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 219,975,001 total cases > 4,557,307 dead > 196,632,018 recovered > > In the US: > > 40,513,018 total cases > 662,853 dead > 31,199,835 recovered ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2417 "2021-09-04T14:57:05Z")
Something simple and cheap that doesn’t require being poked with a needle. And it works! > **[The Masks Were Working All Along](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/masks-were-working-all-along/619989/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%2BTheAtlantic%2B%28The%2BAtlantic%2B-%2BMaster%2BFeed%29)** > > Now we have definitive proof that masks really are effective. > … > This week, a group of scientists from Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and other institutions published the final results of a randomized study of community-wide masking behavior in Bangladesh. The study encompassed roughly 350,000 people in 600 villages. The researchers randomly selected certain villages for an intervention that included giving out free masks, paying villagers to remind people to cover their face, and having village leaders and religious figures such as imams emphasize the importance of masks. The researchers also paid villagers to count properly worn masks in public places, including markets and mosques. To gather data on coronavirus transmission, the team asked about symptoms and conducted blood tests to determine who came down with COVID-19 over the course of the study. > > Their conclusion? **Masks work, period.** Surgical masks are particularly effective at preventing coronavirus transmission. And community-wide mask wearing is excellent at protecting older people, who are at much higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. > > … > > But the Bangladesh study is still perhaps the most important research done during the pandemic outside of the vaccine clinical trials, because it gives us randomized-trial data to bolster the flimsier assumptions and conclusions of observational research. We finally have a sense of not just _whether_ masks work but _how much_ universal masking could reduce transmission. The answer is: quite a lot. > … My bold. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2418 "2021-09-04T15:38:30Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Yeah, and I say f\*ck the FDA and CDC brass for their egotistical attitudes… This doesn’t belong in the breaking news thread. Please post this kind of rant in one of the many other covid threads. Or start a new one if you don’t find one that feels right. But please keep this thread on-topic, and don’t disrupt it with rants, political comments, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2419 "2021-09-04T19:16:49Z")
[New Zealand:](https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-business-health-seoul-coronavirus-pandemic-b55ab05208c3eeb0f88d8d2fb79b92a9) > [@](#): > > New Zealand reported its first coronavirus death in more than six months on Saturday, while the number of new cases continued to trend downward. > > Health authorities said the woman who died was in her 90s and had underlying health problems. > > Authorities reported 20 new community cases, all in the largest city of Auckland. > > New Zealand remains in lockdown as it tries to eliminate an outbreak of the delta variant that began last month. > > New cases in the outbreak have steadily fallen from a peak of more than 80 each day. New Zealand has so far escaped the worst of the pandemic and has reported just 27 coronavirus deaths since it began. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2420 "2021-09-04T23:13:04Z")
Hawaii’s governor is literally begging people not to gather in large groups this holiday weekend. A tall order, seeing how popular large holiday beach get-togethers are over here. Still, new measures implemented recently limit outdoor gathering to 25 people and indoor gatherings to 10. Police patrols are being stepped up through Monday, and I expect a lot of citations will be handed out. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/2421 "2021-09-04T23:25:40Z")
My home county has reinstated indoor masking in public buildings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428.md?page=118) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428.md?page=120)