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Discussion thread VI - COVID-19 (new coronavirus)
- Thread starter kiwibird
- Start date
Coronavirus Variant in South Africa Sparks Fear of Faster Spread, Possible Reinfection
Discovery of new variant coincided with a surge in South African Covid-19 cases past the one million mark
South African doctors and researchers battling a second wave of Covid-19 cases are racing to understand what role a new coronavirus variant might play in the new surge of infections.
<snip>
Richard Lessells, an infectious-disease specialist at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, or KRISP—the group of scientists who sequenced the South African variant—said its discovery has coincided with another worrying development: Doctors are reporting more patients, including health-care workers, who are testing positive for Covid-19 a second time, after having had it in the first wave.
“We are genuinely concerned, and that’s why we need to do the research to understand this variant as quickly as we can,” said Dr. Lessells.
Dr. Lessells and doctors treating Covid-19 patients in South Africa said they haven’t been able to prove whether these repeat positive tests are genuine reinfections—which many scientists have believed are exceedingly rare—or the resurgence of an earlier illness. South Africa’s public health-care system generally tests only people who have Covid-19 symptoms.
<snip>
At Tygerberg Hospital, the main public hospital treating coronavirus patients in Cape Town, doctors are seeing both patients and health-care workers testing positive again within three months of a previous infection, a spokeswoman said. What doctors don’t know, she said, is whether these repeat positives are due to true reinfections, or to some people carrying the virus for a longer time. Health officials are currently checking if they can isolate the new variant from the new testing samples, the spokeswoman said.
One intern doctor at another public hospital in Cape Town interviewed by The Wall Street Journal said four of her fellow interns had recently tested positive for a second time, after getting Covid-19 early in the first wave. Another doctor at a maternity hospital in another South African hot spot said she herself tested positive again this week after suffering Covid-19 symptoms for a second time since August.
<snip>
https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronav...on-11609358056
(Okieman Comment: This article is worth reading in whole. I recommend taking the time to do so.)
Discovery of new variant coincided with a surge in South African Covid-19 cases past the one million mark
South African doctors and researchers battling a second wave of Covid-19 cases are racing to understand what role a new coronavirus variant might play in the new surge of infections.
<snip>
Richard Lessells, an infectious-disease specialist at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, or KRISP—the group of scientists who sequenced the South African variant—said its discovery has coincided with another worrying development: Doctors are reporting more patients, including health-care workers, who are testing positive for Covid-19 a second time, after having had it in the first wave.
“We are genuinely concerned, and that’s why we need to do the research to understand this variant as quickly as we can,” said Dr. Lessells.
Dr. Lessells and doctors treating Covid-19 patients in South Africa said they haven’t been able to prove whether these repeat positive tests are genuine reinfections—which many scientists have believed are exceedingly rare—or the resurgence of an earlier illness. South Africa’s public health-care system generally tests only people who have Covid-19 symptoms.
<snip>
At Tygerberg Hospital, the main public hospital treating coronavirus patients in Cape Town, doctors are seeing both patients and health-care workers testing positive again within three months of a previous infection, a spokeswoman said. What doctors don’t know, she said, is whether these repeat positives are due to true reinfections, or to some people carrying the virus for a longer time. Health officials are currently checking if they can isolate the new variant from the new testing samples, the spokeswoman said.
One intern doctor at another public hospital in Cape Town interviewed by The Wall Street Journal said four of her fellow interns had recently tested positive for a second time, after getting Covid-19 early in the first wave. Another doctor at a maternity hospital in another South African hot spot said she herself tested positive again this week after suffering Covid-19 symptoms for a second time since August.
<snip>
https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronav...on-11609358056
(Okieman Comment: This article is worth reading in whole. I recommend taking the time to do so.)
Mary Wilson
Well-known member
Moderna Vaccine Shipments to Texas Delayed by Temperature Snag
By John Tozzi
December 30, 2020, 10:28 AM CST
At least three shipments of Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine arrived in Texas last week with signs that the shots had strayed from their required temperature range, prompting a delay in other deliveries, according to the state hospital association.
Some Moderna vaccine shipments that were scheduled for delivery last week, before the Christmas holiday, were held back over the temperature problems, said Carrie Kroll, vice president of advocacy, quality and public health at the Texas Hospital Association. It was unclear how many doses were affected overall.
The affected shipments were replaced by the federal government and others were held back by U.S. officials because of a potential problem with their temperature sensors, Kroll said. Moderna’s vaccine must be kept frozen for shipment and storage.
The temperature problems underscore how the U.S. has faced obstacles in its effort to get 20 million Americans vaccinated by the end of the year, a goal that appears to be out of reach. As of Monday, only 2.13 million people had received shots, even though 11.45 million doses of the vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have been distributed.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ntent=business
By John Tozzi
December 30, 2020, 10:28 AM CST
At least three shipments of Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine arrived in Texas last week with signs that the shots had strayed from their required temperature range, prompting a delay in other deliveries, according to the state hospital association.
Some Moderna vaccine shipments that were scheduled for delivery last week, before the Christmas holiday, were held back over the temperature problems, said Carrie Kroll, vice president of advocacy, quality and public health at the Texas Hospital Association. It was unclear how many doses were affected overall.
The affected shipments were replaced by the federal government and others were held back by U.S. officials because of a potential problem with their temperature sensors, Kroll said. Moderna’s vaccine must be kept frozen for shipment and storage.
The temperature problems underscore how the U.S. has faced obstacles in its effort to get 20 million Americans vaccinated by the end of the year, a goal that appears to be out of reach. As of Monday, only 2.13 million people had received shots, even though 11.45 million doses of the vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have been distributed.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ntent=business
Mary Wilson
Well-known member
OMG...what next? And what is the punishment?
Employee 'intentionally' removed COVID-19 vaccine from refrigeration at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton WI
By: CBS 58 Newsroom
Posted: Dec 30, 2020 7:24 PM CST
GRAFTON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A now former employee at the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton "intentionally removed" 57 vials of a COVID-19 vaccine from refrigeration earlier this week, forcing the clinic to discard nearly 500 doses.
Aurora Medical Center officials made the announcement on Wednesday, Dec. 30, after the Moderna vaccines were removed from the pharmacy refrigerator by the individual on Dec. 26.
https://cbs58.com/news/employee-int...igeration-at-aurora-medical-center-in-grafton
Employee 'intentionally' removed COVID-19 vaccine from refrigeration at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton WI
By: CBS 58 Newsroom
Posted: Dec 30, 2020 7:24 PM CST
GRAFTON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A now former employee at the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton "intentionally removed" 57 vials of a COVID-19 vaccine from refrigeration earlier this week, forcing the clinic to discard nearly 500 doses.
Aurora Medical Center officials made the announcement on Wednesday, Dec. 30, after the Moderna vaccines were removed from the pharmacy refrigerator by the individual on Dec. 26.
https://cbs58.com/news/employee-int...igeration-at-aurora-medical-center-in-grafton
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Apparently only 1 person from a different address is allowed in each residence if your area is designated a red zone and you are single. If you are not single no households can mix. link
A house had 6 people inside and police tried to enforce the lockdown.
This is impossible to enforce.
See below.....
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...tion-1.5859782
6 police tried to enforce lockdown rules against 6 citizens - a lot of resultant mixing and completely counterproductive.
A house had 6 people inside and police tried to enforce the lockdown.
This is impossible to enforce.
See below.....
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...tion-1.5859782
6 police tried to enforce lockdown rules against 6 citizens - a lot of resultant mixing and completely counterproductive.
South Africa Covid variant is 'more infectious' than Kent strain, professor warns
Oxford University's Regius Professor of Medicine, Sir John Bell, said the South Africa Covid variant may already be in the UK but there's no evidence it's more dangerous, just that it's more infectious
By
Lucy Skoulding
Sir John Bell, said the South Africa variant is more concerning than the Kent strain "by some margin" because of how quickly it can spread.
<snip>
He said: "There's still the research to be done, but if you want my gut feeling, I think the vaccine will be effective against the Kent strain and I don't know about the South African strain. I think there's a big question mark above that.
<snip>
Scientists at Porton Down laboratories are carrying out urgent studies on the new strain - which South African authorities say appears to have a larger impact on young people. South Africa recorded more than 50,000 excess deaths in 2020.
<snip>
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/south-africa-covid-variant-more-23255524
Oxford University's Regius Professor of Medicine, Sir John Bell, said the South Africa Covid variant may already be in the UK but there's no evidence it's more dangerous, just that it's more infectious
By
Lucy Skoulding
- 18:09, 3 JAN 2021
Sir John Bell, said the South Africa variant is more concerning than the Kent strain "by some margin" because of how quickly it can spread.
<snip>
He said: "There's still the research to be done, but if you want my gut feeling, I think the vaccine will be effective against the Kent strain and I don't know about the South African strain. I think there's a big question mark above that.
<snip>
Scientists at Porton Down laboratories are carrying out urgent studies on the new strain - which South African authorities say appears to have a larger impact on young people. South Africa recorded more than 50,000 excess deaths in 2020.
<snip>
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/south-africa-covid-variant-more-23255524
Harvard researcher weighs in on new COVID-19 variant
by Allison Walker
Saturday, January 2nd 2021
DAYTON, Ohio ((WKEF, WRGT))-- A new strain of covid-19 was found in Florida, Colorado, and California.
Harvard researcher, Geylani Can, has been anticipating covid-19 mutations since the start of this pandemic. He has a pending patent on a new covid-19 test that will detect new variants of the virus.
He explained that virus mutations happen rapidly, and while the new covid-19 vaccine protects against the new strain, it’s likely more mutations will continue to occur sooner than we think.
<snip>
Can says it’s still unknown if the new strain of covid-19 is more deadly, and while the virus mutates constantly, it's hard to know when a mutation will be bad for us. He predicts we have six months or a year to vaccinate the general public before the virus mutates into a strain the new vaccine won’t protect against.
<snip?
https://dayton247now.com/news/local/harvard-researcher-weighs-in-on-new-covid-19-variant
by Allison Walker
Saturday, January 2nd 2021
DAYTON, Ohio ((WKEF, WRGT))-- A new strain of covid-19 was found in Florida, Colorado, and California.
Harvard researcher, Geylani Can, has been anticipating covid-19 mutations since the start of this pandemic. He has a pending patent on a new covid-19 test that will detect new variants of the virus.
He explained that virus mutations happen rapidly, and while the new covid-19 vaccine protects against the new strain, it’s likely more mutations will continue to occur sooner than we think.
<snip>
Can says it’s still unknown if the new strain of covid-19 is more deadly, and while the virus mutates constantly, it's hard to know when a mutation will be bad for us. He predicts we have six months or a year to vaccinate the general public before the virus mutates into a strain the new vaccine won’t protect against.
<snip?
https://dayton247now.com/news/local/harvard-researcher-weighs-in-on-new-covid-19-variant
South African coronavirus mutation may BEAT current vaccines, expert on team behind the Oxford jab warns - but insists: 'Stay calm, everything is going to be fine'
By JEMMA CARR FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 19:21 EST, 3 January 2021 | UPDATED: 21:43 EST, 3 January 2021
Coronavirus vaccines could be ineffective against the highly-infectious South African mutation, a scientist who helped develop the Oxford jab has warned.
Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford, said the African strain is more concerning than the Kent one.
Vaccines are believed to be effective against the highly-infectious UK variant VUI-202012/01 currently causing a massive spike in cases across the country.
But he said the South African variant 501.V2 - detected in two locations in Britain - has 'really pretty substantial changes in the structure of the protein' meaning vaccines could fail to work.
<snip>
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ronavirus-mutation-BEAT-current-vaccines.html
By JEMMA CARR FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 19:21 EST, 3 January 2021 | UPDATED: 21:43 EST, 3 January 2021
Coronavirus vaccines could be ineffective against the highly-infectious South African mutation, a scientist who helped develop the Oxford jab has warned.
Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford, said the African strain is more concerning than the Kent one.
Vaccines are believed to be effective against the highly-infectious UK variant VUI-202012/01 currently causing a massive spike in cases across the country.
But he said the South African variant 501.V2 - detected in two locations in Britain - has 'really pretty substantial changes in the structure of the protein' meaning vaccines could fail to work.
<snip>
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ronavirus-mutation-BEAT-current-vaccines.html
bertrand789
Well-known member
Le silence , en ce lieu sur ceci m'?tonne :
Le protocole de traitement hospitalier MATH+ contre le COVID-19 (intra-hospitalier) comporte de nombreuses lignes th?rapeutiques efficaces, dont:
1. La corticoth?rapie aux doses adapt?es ? la gravit? de la maladie inflammatoire,
2. La vitamine C (acide ascorbique), ?galement adapt?e ? la gravit? de la maladie,
3. La thiamine ou vitamine B1,
4. Une anticoagulation efficace (h?parine non fractionn?e ou de bas poids mol?culaire),
5. L’ivermectine,
6. La vitamine D3 (essentielle avec des ?tudes qui montrent une relation entre carence en vitamine D et survenue de formes graves du COVID-19),
7. La m?latonine,
8. Le zinc,
9. La querc?tine.
https://www.aimsib.org/2021/01/03/covid-19-un-simple-changement-de-methode-et-cest-fini/
https://covid19criticalcare.com/i-mask-prophylaxis-treatment-protocol/i-mask-protocol-translations/
https://covid19criticalcare.com/wp-...CCC-I-MASK-Protocol-v7-2020-12-27-ENGLISH.pdf
Le protocole de traitement hospitalier MATH+ contre le COVID-19 (intra-hospitalier) comporte de nombreuses lignes th?rapeutiques efficaces, dont:
1. La corticoth?rapie aux doses adapt?es ? la gravit? de la maladie inflammatoire,
2. La vitamine C (acide ascorbique), ?galement adapt?e ? la gravit? de la maladie,
3. La thiamine ou vitamine B1,
4. Une anticoagulation efficace (h?parine non fractionn?e ou de bas poids mol?culaire),
5. L’ivermectine,
6. La vitamine D3 (essentielle avec des ?tudes qui montrent une relation entre carence en vitamine D et survenue de formes graves du COVID-19),
7. La m?latonine,
8. Le zinc,
9. La querc?tine.
https://www.aimsib.org/2021/01/03/covid-19-un-simple-changement-de-methode-et-cest-fini/
https://covid19criticalcare.com/i-mask-prophylaxis-treatment-protocol/i-mask-protocol-translations/
https://covid19criticalcare.com/wp-...CCC-I-MASK-Protocol-v7-2020-12-27-ENGLISH.pdf
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Matt Hancock is the UK health secretary....
snip
But Matt Hancock told Today he was "incredibly worried" about the South African variant, saying: "This is a very, very significant problem."
"We have shown that we are prepared to move incredibly quickly, within 24 hours if we think that is necessary, and we keep these things under review all the time," added the health secretary.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-55529640
snip
But Matt Hancock told Today he was "incredibly worried" about the South African variant, saying: "This is a very, very significant problem."
"We have shown that we are prepared to move incredibly quickly, within 24 hours if we think that is necessary, and we keep these things under review all the time," added the health secretary.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-55529640
Doctors warn intensive care units are filling up with younger, fitter patients as new Covid-19 variant spreads
Almost 6,000 more Covid patients were admitted to hospitals in England in the eight days from Christmas Day to January 2, latest official figures show.
By Paul Gallagher
January 3, 2021 4:43 pm
Updated January 3, 2021 4:45 pm
Intensive care doctors are warning the public their units are filling up with younger patients than during the first wave of coronavirus cases amid the surge in hospital admissions.
Rupert Pearse, an intensive care consultant at the Royal London Hospital, said: “The situation in London is now much worse than the first wave and still deteriorating. Sad to see long queues of ambulances outside the hospital where I work. Almost all my patients are less than 60 years old and previously fit. If you think this disease can’t touch you, then think again.”
<snip>
https://inews.co.uk/nhs/doctors-inte...variant-815898
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‘They’re coming in younger and coming in sicker’: One hospital’s war with coronavirus
By RUBEN VIVES, Photography by IRFAN KHAN
JAN. 4, 2021
5 AM
UPDATED7 AM
As Dr. Louis Tran walked through the field hospital outside Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, he passed weary casualties of a COVID-19 surge with no peak yet in sight. Young and old, they slept on cots while receiving oxygen through nasal tubes.
<snip>
Around the corner, a 41-year-old man lay intubated. He arrived Dec. 12, and four days later his condition worsened. He recently was placed on dialysis after his kidneys began to fail, another complication brought on by the disease.
“That’s our average age that we’re getting,” Mann said. “They’re coming in younger and coming in sicker.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/...ardino-county-hospital-slammed-covid-19-cases
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Okieman Comment: I have posted both of these articles together because they both mention younger people being admitted to the ICU. One is in the UK and the other is in LA County, USA. Recent news like this and that concerning the South African variant has initiated an adjustment reaction in me. Retrench, adjust, adapt and endure.)
Almost 6,000 more Covid patients were admitted to hospitals in England in the eight days from Christmas Day to January 2, latest official figures show.
By Paul Gallagher
January 3, 2021 4:43 pm
Updated January 3, 2021 4:45 pm
Intensive care doctors are warning the public their units are filling up with younger patients than during the first wave of coronavirus cases amid the surge in hospital admissions.
Rupert Pearse, an intensive care consultant at the Royal London Hospital, said: “The situation in London is now much worse than the first wave and still deteriorating. Sad to see long queues of ambulances outside the hospital where I work. Almost all my patients are less than 60 years old and previously fit. If you think this disease can’t touch you, then think again.”
<snip>
https://inews.co.uk/nhs/doctors-inte...variant-815898
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‘They’re coming in younger and coming in sicker’: One hospital’s war with coronavirus
By RUBEN VIVES, Photography by IRFAN KHAN
JAN. 4, 2021
5 AM
UPDATED7 AM
As Dr. Louis Tran walked through the field hospital outside Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, he passed weary casualties of a COVID-19 surge with no peak yet in sight. Young and old, they slept on cots while receiving oxygen through nasal tubes.
<snip>
Around the corner, a 41-year-old man lay intubated. He arrived Dec. 12, and four days later his condition worsened. He recently was placed on dialysis after his kidneys began to fail, another complication brought on by the disease.
“That’s our average age that we’re getting,” Mann said. “They’re coming in younger and coming in sicker.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/...ardino-county-hospital-slammed-covid-19-cases
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Okieman Comment: I have posted both of these articles together because they both mention younger people being admitted to the ICU. One is in the UK and the other is in LA County, USA. Recent news like this and that concerning the South African variant has initiated an adjustment reaction in me. Retrench, adjust, adapt and endure.)
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Thanks....and also....groan....
sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Some good news possibly....not sure how the variants apply since the data was probably pre-variants emergence...
Preprint for Journal of Infection: Prior SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with protection against symptomatic reinfection
---------------------------------
and then there is always this....
Lancet Infect Dis . Genomic evidence for reinfection with SARS-CoV-2: a case study
so...I guess time will tell....
Preprint for Journal of Infection: Prior SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with protection against symptomatic reinfection
---------------------------------
and then there is always this....
Lancet Infect Dis . Genomic evidence for reinfection with SARS-CoV-2: a case study
so...I guess time will tell....
Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/coronavirus-lab-escape-theory.html
investigations 6:00 A.M.
The Lab-Leak Hypothesis For decades, scientists have been hot-wiring viruses in hopes of preventing a pandemic, not causing one. But what if …?
By Nicholson Baker
I.
Flask Monsters
What happened was fairly simple, I’ve come to believe. It was an accident. A virus spent some time in a laboratory, and eventually it got out. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, began its existence inside a bat, then it learned how to infect people in a claustrophobic mine shaft, and then it was made more infectious in one or more laboratories, perhaps as part of a scientist’s well-intentioned but risky effort to create a broad-spectrum vaccine. SARS-2 was not designed as a biological weapon. But it was, I think, designed. Many thoughtful people dismiss this notion, and they may be right. They sincerely believe that the coronavirus arose naturally, “zoonotically,” from animals, without having been previously studied, or hybridized, or sluiced through cell cultures, or otherwise worked on by trained professionals. They hold that a bat, carrying a coronavirus, infected some other creature, perhaps a pangolin, and that the pangolin may have already been sick with a different coronavirus disease, and out of the conjunction and commingling of those two diseases within the pangolin, a new disease, highly infectious to humans, evolved. Or they hypothesize that two coronaviruses recombined in a bat, and this new virus spread to other bats, and then the bats infected a person directly — in a rural setting, perhaps — and that this person caused a simmering undetected outbreak of respiratory disease, which over a period of months or years evolved to become virulent and highly transmissible but was not noticed until it appeared in Wuhan.
There is no direct evidence for these zoonotic possibilities, just as there is no direct evidence for an experimental mishap — no written confession, no incriminating notebook, no official accident report. Certainty craves detail, and detail requires an investigation. It has been a full year, 80 million people have been infected, and, surprisingly, no public investigation has taken place. We still know very little about the origins of this disease.
Nevertheless, I think it’s worth offering some historical context for our yearlong medical nightmare. We need to hear from the people who for years have contended that certain types of virus experimentation might lead to a disastrous pandemic like this one. And we need to stop hunting for new exotic diseases in the wild, shipping them back to laboratories, and hot-wiring their genomes to prove how dangerous to human life they might become.
Over the past few decades, scientists have developed ingenious methods of evolutionary acceleration and recombination, and they’ve learned how to trick viruses, coronaviruses in particular, those spiky hairballs of protein we now know so well, into moving quickly from one species of animal to another or from one type of cell culture to another. They’ve made machines that mix and mingle the viral code for bat diseases with the code for human diseases — diseases like SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, for example, which arose in China in 2003, and MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome, which broke out a decade later and has to do with bats and camels. Some of the experiments — “gain of function” experiments — aimed to create new, more virulent, or more infectious strains of diseases in an effort to predict and therefore defend against threats that might conceivably arise in nature. The term gain of function is itself a euphemism; the Obama White House more accurately described this work as “experiments that may be reasonably anticipated to confer attributes to influenza, MERS, or SARS viruses such that the virus would have enhanced pathogenicity and/or transmissibility in mammals via the respiratory route.” The virologists who carried out these experiments have accomplished amazing feats of genetic transmutation, no question, and there have been very few publicized accidents over the years. But there have been some...
investigations 6:00 A.M.
The Lab-Leak Hypothesis For decades, scientists have been hot-wiring viruses in hopes of preventing a pandemic, not causing one. But what if …?
By Nicholson Baker
I.
Flask Monsters
What happened was fairly simple, I’ve come to believe. It was an accident. A virus spent some time in a laboratory, and eventually it got out. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, began its existence inside a bat, then it learned how to infect people in a claustrophobic mine shaft, and then it was made more infectious in one or more laboratories, perhaps as part of a scientist’s well-intentioned but risky effort to create a broad-spectrum vaccine. SARS-2 was not designed as a biological weapon. But it was, I think, designed. Many thoughtful people dismiss this notion, and they may be right. They sincerely believe that the coronavirus arose naturally, “zoonotically,” from animals, without having been previously studied, or hybridized, or sluiced through cell cultures, or otherwise worked on by trained professionals. They hold that a bat, carrying a coronavirus, infected some other creature, perhaps a pangolin, and that the pangolin may have already been sick with a different coronavirus disease, and out of the conjunction and commingling of those two diseases within the pangolin, a new disease, highly infectious to humans, evolved. Or they hypothesize that two coronaviruses recombined in a bat, and this new virus spread to other bats, and then the bats infected a person directly — in a rural setting, perhaps — and that this person caused a simmering undetected outbreak of respiratory disease, which over a period of months or years evolved to become virulent and highly transmissible but was not noticed until it appeared in Wuhan.
There is no direct evidence for these zoonotic possibilities, just as there is no direct evidence for an experimental mishap — no written confession, no incriminating notebook, no official accident report. Certainty craves detail, and detail requires an investigation. It has been a full year, 80 million people have been infected, and, surprisingly, no public investigation has taken place. We still know very little about the origins of this disease.
Nevertheless, I think it’s worth offering some historical context for our yearlong medical nightmare. We need to hear from the people who for years have contended that certain types of virus experimentation might lead to a disastrous pandemic like this one. And we need to stop hunting for new exotic diseases in the wild, shipping them back to laboratories, and hot-wiring their genomes to prove how dangerous to human life they might become.
Over the past few decades, scientists have developed ingenious methods of evolutionary acceleration and recombination, and they’ve learned how to trick viruses, coronaviruses in particular, those spiky hairballs of protein we now know so well, into moving quickly from one species of animal to another or from one type of cell culture to another. They’ve made machines that mix and mingle the viral code for bat diseases with the code for human diseases — diseases like SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, for example, which arose in China in 2003, and MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome, which broke out a decade later and has to do with bats and camels. Some of the experiments — “gain of function” experiments — aimed to create new, more virulent, or more infectious strains of diseases in an effort to predict and therefore defend against threats that might conceivably arise in nature. The term gain of function is itself a euphemism; the Obama White House more accurately described this work as “experiments that may be reasonably anticipated to confer attributes to influenza, MERS, or SARS viruses such that the virus would have enhanced pathogenicity and/or transmissibility in mammals via the respiratory route.” The virologists who carried out these experiments have accomplished amazing feats of genetic transmutation, no question, and there have been very few publicized accidents over the years. But there have been some...
"A response is awaited from the drugs company Pfizer to a suggestion from the chief epidemiologist and the head of deCODE genetics to use Iceland for a study into herd immunity by providing the country with enough COVID-19 vaccines for the whole population right away. Pfizer has now received all the information and data requested."
"Under their proposal, Iceland would provide Phase-four research into the effectiveness of the vaccination by inoculating a large proportion of the population in a short period of time in order to monitor how quickly herd immunity forms. A small island nation is considered a good location for such research."
https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/01/04...and-herd-immunity-plan?itm_source=parsely-api
That being written, three elderly persons (priority groups) with underlying illnesses in care homes, that were inoculated last week have now died - it's under investigation if there is any link between the inoculation and those deaths.
"Under their proposal, Iceland would provide Phase-four research into the effectiveness of the vaccination by inoculating a large proportion of the population in a short period of time in order to monitor how quickly herd immunity forms. A small island nation is considered a good location for such research."
https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/01/04...and-herd-immunity-plan?itm_source=parsely-api
That being written, three elderly persons (priority groups) with underlying illnesses in care homes, that were inoculated last week have now died - it's under investigation if there is any link between the inoculation and those deaths.
bertrand789
Well-known member
Vision simpliste:
que les scientifiques soient des humains , donc des individus faisant des conneries, c'est VRAI
mais les militaires ,
comme les paysans
comme les politiques
en font aussi ...
Donc ,
il faut attendre la fin du mois pour pourvoir enfin parler dans le calme ?
que les scientifiques soient des humains , donc des individus faisant des conneries, c'est VRAI
mais les militaires ,
comme les paysans
comme les politiques
en font aussi ...
Donc ,
il faut attendre la fin du mois pour pourvoir enfin parler dans le calme ?
gsgs
Registered User
something is going on in Ireland, this steep increase is not normal
https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/pages/hospitals-icu--testing
https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/pages/hospitals-icu--testing
Mary Wilson
Well-known member
Coronavirus: 7,836 new cases and 17 further deaths
‘Evidence of an increasing presence of the UK variant in Ireland,’ says chief medical officer
about 13 hours ago Updated: 59 minutes ago
Mark Hilliard, Sarah Burns, Vivienne Clarke
“There is evidence of an increasing presence of the UK variant in Ireland. All counties have an upward trajectory of the disease. There is concerning escalation of admissions to hospital and ICU. We are very likely to see escalating mortality and ICU admissions in the coming days and weeks.”
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/coronavirus-7-836-new-cases-and-17-further-deaths-1.4451388
‘Evidence of an increasing presence of the UK variant in Ireland,’ says chief medical officer
about 13 hours ago Updated: 59 minutes ago
Mark Hilliard, Sarah Burns, Vivienne Clarke
“There is evidence of an increasing presence of the UK variant in Ireland. All counties have an upward trajectory of the disease. There is concerning escalation of admissions to hospital and ICU. We are very likely to see escalating mortality and ICU admissions in the coming days and weeks.”
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/coronavirus-7-836-new-cases-and-17-further-deaths-1.4451388