# 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:** 67
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1352 "2021-05-12T22:17:03Z")
Could it be the media doesn’t want to give people an excuse for skipping vaccinations? The news doesn’t mind downplaying good news. (Conservative media will ignore it because it’s all a hoax anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1353 "2021-05-13T02:15:53Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Cite? I have seen nothing from the Australian authorities saying that the reason for this move is specifically because they believe vaccines are ineffective at reducing transmission. “Authorities”?? It’s a political decision, and has been justified in round terms, and all there are is media bytes: > Mr Morrison said there was not yet “considerable clinical evidence that tells us transmission is preventable” after the jab. > Prime Minister Scott Morrison says there would be at least 1000 coronavirus cases in Australia every week if the international borders were to open, even when vulnerable people are vaccinated I don’t think that the borders are remaining closed for a ‘specific’ reason: ScoMo isn’t a ‘specific’ kind of guy. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1354 "2021-05-13T02:25:37Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Mr Morrison said there was not yet “considerable clinical evidence that tells us transmission is preventable” after the jab. That’s _we don’t know yet_. So your post was another instance of the common misrepresentation that I noted in the other thread, in bold below. > [@Continuing to keep masking for your own reasons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuing-to-keep-masking-for-your-own-reasons/941850/20): > > This has consistently been very poorly reported in the press. > > It is (obviously, when you think about it) much more difficult to study relative rates of transmission _from_ people who have been vaccinated, than to study whether vaccinated people are getting sick themselves. So _we don’t know_ to what extent vaccination reduces transmission, especially with new strains circulating. But it is certainly _likely_ that a vaccine that is so successful at preventing disease will also reduce transmission significantly. > > **Careful scientists prudently saying _we don’t know if X is true_ is consistently poorly reported to imply that it means _we know X is false_ .** > > So your conclusion is right - it’s prudent for vaccinated people to keep wearing a mask for the time being. But that’s not because we have any reason to believe than vaccination is ineffective at reducing transmission. We just don’t have firm data yet. CDC: [Science Brief: Background Rationale and Evidence for Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/fully-vaccinated-people.html#:~:text=These%20findings%20suggest%20that%20any,vaccinated%20with%20an%20effective%20vaccine). > A growing body of evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection and potentially less likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others. However, further investigation is ongoing. The data we have are limited and mostly indirect at this point, but there are no data that I have seen to indicate the converse. It would be very much contrary to expectation that a vaccine that is highly effective at preventing disease would not also be effective at significantly reducing transmission. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1355 "2021-05-13T02:27:28Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > vaccination does not seem to prevent transmission. Any more specifics on that? I would expect it would reduce transmission because fewer people would get infected, so am I correct in assuming they mean “among those who still get the disease”? Or are we finding out that people who seem uninfected are actually just asymptomatic? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1356 "2021-05-13T02:30:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Any more specifics on that? The claim is not supported by any evidence that @Melbourne has cited, and the Australian authorities did not say that. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2021, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1357 "2021-05-13T02:31:11Z")
I mean, if Australia wants to keep all cases out, a vaccine that’s only 95% effective doesn’t cut it. That doesn’t mean the vaccine doesn’t greatly reduce spread. In fact, the plummeting case counts in places with high vaccination rates, even among groups with lower vaccination rates, makes a very strong case for that. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1358 "2021-05-13T02:32:35Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I mean, if Australia wants to keep all cases out, a vaccine that’s only 95% effective doesn’t cut it. That doesn’t mean the vaccine doesn’t greatly reduce spread. I can understand that. It was that specific line in his post that gave me pause. If the logic is “vaccination doesn’t reduce spread _by enough_,” then that makes total sense. > [@](#): > > In fact, the plummeting case counts in places with high vaccination rates, even among groups with lower vaccination rates, makes a very strong case for that. Thank you for that reminder. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1359 "2021-05-13T02:42:51Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Prime Minister Scott Morrison says there would be at least 1000 coronavirus cases in Australia every week 1000 cases a week sounds like heaven if the US were there. That would translate to 2 deaths/day rather the 700ish/day currently. Which is 2 too many, but still. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1360 "2021-05-13T03:01:36Z")
I haven’t cited any evidence about **vaccination**. I haven’t made any claims about **vaccination**. I’ve reported Australian Government policy. I’ve quoted statements made in the media purporting to be statements by the Prime Minister. If you have any problems with those statements, you should address your complaints to any of the media organisations that have made them, or to ScoMo, not to me. Anybody that confuses “Government Authorities” with “Scientific Authorities”, or thinks that _reports of government policy_ require some kind of “scientific” evidence, is either malicious or off on their own private vendetta. It’s a “breaking news” thread. Shooting the messenger won’t make you better informed. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1361 "2021-05-13T03:10:00Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I’ve reported Australian Government policy. I’ve quoted statements made in the media purporting to be statements by the Prime Minister. Yes, and as I pointed out, **you reported those statements incorrectly** when you said: > [@Melbourne](#): > > Australia has announced that border controls will not be relaxed, on the basis that vaccination does not seem to prevent transmission. Given your conversational style, I don’t expect you ever to concede that you made an error in that post, or ever, so I’m not going to continue to argue with you. But it would be huge and shocking news if we discovered that vaccines do not prevent transmission. So, to reiterate for the benefit of other readers: (1) Nobody in the Australian government said that the reason for the extended closure was based on affirmative knowledge that vaccination does not prevent transmission. (2) Indeed, there is no evidence that vaccination does not prevent transmission. The fact is simply that transmision _from_ vaccinated people is difficult to study directly, so cautious scientists (and the Australian authorities) have pointed out that _we don’t know for sure yet_ to what degree vaccination reduces transmission. But a growing body of evidence is building that vaccines that are highly effective at preventing disease do also reduce transmission significantly, in accord with all expectation. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1362 "2021-05-13T03:57:22Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I have seen nothing from the Australian authorities… > [@Melbourne](#): > > “Authorities”?? It’s a political decision > [@Melbourne](#): > > Anybody that confuses “Government Authorities” with “Scientific Authorities”, or thinks that _reports of government policy_ require some kind of “scientific” evidence, is either malicious or off on their own private vendetta. It’s a “breaking news” thread. Shooting the messenger won’t make you better informed. And I’m honestly mystified by this deflective apoplexy that seems to center on my use of the phrase “the Australian authorities”. In all English dialects I’m aware of, in this context “the Australian authorities” is unambiguously completely synonymous with “the Australian government”, and that’s exactly what I meant. My point was simply that you misreported what the government said. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1363 "2021-05-13T04:48:32Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Here’s a headline I was happy to see today: This is awesome to see and was becoming clear by looking at the daily numbers that you provide. Let’s hope we keep it up! ---
**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:** [May 13, 2021, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1364 "2021-05-13T04:53:09Z")
161,091,539 total cases 3,345,293 dead 138,880,158 recovered In the US: 33,586,136 total cases 597,785 dead 26,620,229 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 160,334,125 total cases > 3,331,400 dead > 138,098,126 recovered > > In the US: > > 33,550,115 total cases > 596,946 dead > 26,558,138 recovered ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1365 "2021-05-13T04:58:37Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I don’t think this has been mentioned yet: current studies indicate that contracting COVID gives lasting immunity. As noted multiple times, I’m not going to debate it in this thread, but that study is not as definitive as the headline makes it out to be. It’s definitely promising, but was based on a tiny dataset and far from conclusive. What the study actually claims is that the antibody levels don’t appear to decline rapidly (good news!), while also acknowledging that the number of antibodies from recovered individuals varies widely in the first place (not as good news). They also haven’t determined how this immunity compares to the various vaccines. I think it would be a bit premature for the press to make a statement that sounds more certain than the small study suggests. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1366 "2021-05-13T06:18:44Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Yes, and as I pointed out, **you reported those statements incorrectly** when you said: See you in the pit Riemann ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1367 "2021-05-13T15:01:14Z")
In other breaking news, a certain Prime Minister has relied on weasel words to make a politically convenient declaration. This hardly seems a sensible topic for a food-fight here. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1368 "2021-05-13T15:09:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > In other breaking news, a certain Prime Minister has relied on weasel words to make a politically convenient declaration. No, that’s not what happened. The PM made a correct cautious statement that _we don’t yet have definitive evidence_ about the extent to which vaccines reduce transmission. That’s very different from an affirmative claim that vaccines don’t prevent transmission, which would be shocking and unexpected news. I simply pointed out that the PM did not make such a claim. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1369 "2021-05-13T16:02:07Z")
Okay, there’s already a pit thread about this hijack. Please take any further discussion of it there. This is the breaking news thread. [Riemann is making up stuff in ‘The Quarantine Zone’ - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riemann-is-making-up-stuff-in-the-quarantine-zone/941965/4) ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1370 "2021-05-13T18:45:12Z")
> **[CDC says fully vaccinated people don't need to wear face masks indoors or...](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/13/cdc-says-fully-vaccinated-people-dont-need-to-wear-face-masks-indoors-or-outdoors-in-most-settings.html)** > > There are a handful of instances where people will still need to wear masks — in a health-care setting, at a business that mandates them or on public transportation. Good news for vaccinated people, but I imagine that this will mean everyone goes without masks now regardless of if they are vaccinated or not. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/1371 "2021-05-13T18:53:09Z")
This news is not quite as good: > **[Red Cross warns that coronavirus cases are exploding in Asia](https://apnews.com/article/asia-coronavirus-pandemic-health-3e1403faeeb456510cfc2d6ffc55e89f)** > > The International Federation of the Red Cross says coronavirus cases are exploding in Asia with over 5.9 million new confirmed infections over the past two weeks. > [@](#): > > Coronavirus cases are exploding in Asia and the Pacific with over 5.9 million new confirmed infections in the past two weeks, more than in all other regions combined, the International Federation of the Red Cross said Wednesday. > > It warned that the surge is pushing hospitals and health systems to the brink of collapse. > > Seven out of 10 countries globally that are doubling their infection numbers the fastest are in Asia and the Pacific, it said. Laos took just 12 days to see its cases double, and the number of confirmed infections in India has doubled in under two months to more than 23 million, the Red Cross said in a statement. > > It said Oxford University’s Our World in Data reported more than 5.9 million new COVID-19 infections in Asia and the Pacific during the two weeks. Official figures for much of the region are widely believed to be undercounts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428.md?page=66) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428.md?page=68)