The COVID-2019 Thread

[panama hat]

The latest Qanon rumour is that the Pfizer vaccine is a female sterilization chemical.

Has anyone told the 90-year old Brit lady who got the first shot? She must be horrified to know that Bill Gates now has a gps tracker inside her

[harrybarracuda]

Has anyone told the 90-year old Brit lady who got the first shot? She must be horrified to know that Bill Gates now has a gps tracker inside her

I'm afraid you're several days too late with that joke, which you'll find ages back if you scroll up.

[misskit]

Vietnam to Test Vaccine as Neighbors Weigh Coronavirus

Vietnam is set to begin tests this week on a domestically produced coronavirus vaccine, a government led-effort that marks a first in Southeast Asia, starting with 60 volunteers, state media said on Wednesday.


Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are all struggling with the economic fallout from the pandemic, despite having relatively low numbers of cases and deaths, with Vietnam reporting 1,405 confirmed cases and 0 deaths, Laos reporting 41 confirmed cases and 0 deaths, and Cambodia reporting 362 cases and 0 deaths.


Called Nanocovax, Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccine was produced by the country’s Nanogen Company and Vietnam’s Military Medical Academy under direction from the Ministry of Science and Technology.


Three other vaccines are now being developed by other companies, with human trials of the first scheduled for March pending government approval, media reports said.


Beginning Thursday, subjects aged 18 to 50 selected from a larger group will receive two intramuscular injections of the vaccine or of a placebo, with intervals of 28 days between each injection and volunteers observed for 56 days by health officials who evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccine.


Speaking to RFA, Vietnamese citizens welcomed the news of this week’s test, with some voicing pride in their country’s efforts to stop the pandemic’s spread and others saying they would still fear to try the vaccine for themselves until its safety is assured.


One resident in the capital Hanoi urged nationwide inoculations using the country’s vaccine “if it succeeds after the human trial phase,” adding though that Vietnam must still continue testing to find the best and most effective vaccine, “and not import vaccines from other countries.”


A resident of Ho Chi Minh City, formerly called Saigon, said he hoped tests of the vaccine would succeed. “Disadvantaged and low-income people should be offered special prices, though,” he said.


In the coastal city of Da Nang, two residents expressed doubt in the safety of Vietnam’s vaccine in its trial run, with one saying he “would not dare to join in the first phase of human trials,” and the other saying that though Vietnam has largely succeeded so far in controlling the spread of COVID-19, “I do not completely believe that Vietnam will succeed with its made-in-Vietnam COVID-19 vaccine.”


Laos looks to Russia


In neighboring Laos, authorities are considering providing a Russian-made COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, for country-wide inoculations once trials of the vaccine inside Russia are completed and the vaccine is certified as effective and safe, state media say.


Now being tested on 40,000 volunteers in 45 medical centers across Russia, the vaccine—if approved for use in Laos—will be produced inside the country and tested on local volunteers before being distributed more widely, media sources said.


The northwestern Lao province of Bokeo went on full lockdown this week amid renewed COVID scares following the arrival more than a week ago of two infected Chinese nationals who entered the province from Myanmar.


On Dec. 5, provincial authorities and the Lao Ministry of Health ordering the province to be locked down for at least 14 days from Dec. 14, a member of the province’s Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Control and Prevention told RFA’s Lao Service on Monday.


“All traditional events are suspended, and entertainment venues and restaurants are closed, and boats are not allowed to go across the Mekong River,” the task force member said, speaking on condition of anonymity.


“The authorities are patrolling the river 24/7 because our province is at high risk of getting COVID-19, which is now spreading in the town of Thakhilek in Myanmar.”


Schools, gyms, karaoke bars, night markets, beer bars, and spas in Bokeo’s Tonpeung district have now also been closed, the task force member said, adding, “If the COVID-19 situation doesn’t improve, the lockdown will be extended.”


One Tonpheung resident told RFA that all villages in the district are now separately locked down and cut off from each other, “and traveling between villages is prohibited.”


“People are too afraid to go out,” he said.


“My restaurant was shut down a week ago in compliance with the order, and all other entertainment venues like massage parlors are also closed,” a restaurant owner in Tonpheung said on Dec. 15. “Right now, the authorities are looking for people who were in contact with those two Chinese.”


The transport of food and other necessities by cargo boat or truck is also now restricted, with special permission from provincial authorities required before anything can be moved, a shipment worker in Bokeo said.


Cambodia looks to WHO


In Cambodia, jailed opposition party members and other prisoners are petitioning the authorities for release from confinement, citing crowded and unhealthy conditions in the country’s prisons and concerns over the possible spread of the COVID virus.


Rong Vichea, nephew of jailed rights and border activist Rong Chhun, said his uncle and other prisoners are living in tightly closed spaces in violation of orders from the Ministry of Health for proper distancing and monitoring for disease.


“The prison doesn’t conduct tests for COVID-19, and the cells are unhygienic,” Rong Vichea said following his first visit to Rong Chhun since the outbreak of the virus earlier this year. “He has asked for his release on bail,” he added.


Around 40 Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) members now held in jail are also asking to be freed amid concerns over infection, Sok Polyma—the wife of one of those detained—told RFA.


“We know there has been a COVID-19 outbreak in the community, so they should be released because they are also Cambodians,” she said. “I urge the courts to let the political prisoners go, because they are innocent. I am very concerned about COVID-19.”


Cambodian prison authorities closely monitor prisoners for signs of infection in order to stop the spread of the disease, though, Prison Department spokesman Nuth Savna told RFA.


“When we suspect anyone of having symptoms, we test them. We are working on this every day. But so far we have had no issue with this,” he said, adding that in the colder weather prisoners are catching the flu but not COVID-19.


Ny Sokha, a worker with the Cambodian rights group ADHOC and former prisoner in Cambodia’s Prey Sar Prison, said however that confinement in closed spaces will make it impossible to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 in the country’s jails, where diseases can spread very quickly.


“In the past, when someone had the flu or a cough, everyone got infected,” he said. “This was my experience while I was detained.”


Minister of Health Man Bunheng refused comment on why Cambodia has not asked China for its COVID-19 vaccine, now being tested on volunteers, but government spokesman Phay Siphan said on Wednesday that Cambodia cares only that vaccines given to its citizens are approved by the World Health Organization.


“Cambodia will not allow any country, including China, to conduct experiments [on Cambodians] as if they were rabbits or rats. [Prime Minister] Hun Sen does not want Cambodians to be used for medical experiments,” he said.


Political commentator Meas Nee said that Hun Sen will be buying vaccines instead from the U.N.-backed COVAX facility, which provides subsidized vaccines for many poorer countries.


“I’m not sure how many countries, including Cambodia, have confidence in Chinese vaccines. We don’t have any evidence to say their vaccine won’t be effective, but I see that Cambodia will be buying vaccines [approved by] the World Health Organization, and these will be discounted.”


“So Cambodia will be able to afford to get all its people vaccinated,” he said.




Vietnam to Test Vaccine as Neighbors Weigh Coronavirus — Radio Free Asia

[harrybarracuda]

Vietnam has actually got an excellent hacking team called OceanLotus Group. I wonder if they nicked the plans for the chinky vaccine or a Western one?

[Cujo]

All the kids at my sons high school are getting vaccinated tomorrow.

[harrybarracuda]

All the kids at my sons high school are getting vaccinated tomorrow.

With what?

[harrybarracuda]

Merde.

France's Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for Covid-19, forcing several European leaders to self-isolate after coming into contact with him.

The 42-year-old president was tested after developing symptoms and will now self-isolate for seven days, the Elysée Palace said in a statement.

He "is still in charge" of running the country and will work remotely.

European Council chief Charles Michel and Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez are among the leaders having to self-isolate.

Emmanuel Macron: French president tests positive for Covid - BBC News

[TheMadBaron]

Is anyone running a book on which European leaders are going to die next? I reckon Charles Michel and Pedro Sánchez will be ok; they're younger than me, and I'm not that old. The oldest European heads of state are Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Francis, so if they die, that could get interesting....

[Cujo]

With what?

Turns out China has a vaccine.
I just signed up to get it next week.

[Cujo]

Jesus Christ, this is interesting.
A must see

[Shutree]

Jesus Christ, this is interesting.

Interesting and credible perspective.

[harrybarracuda]

Turns out China has a vaccine.
I just signed up to get it next week.

Have you lost your marbles?

There is absolutely no overalll Phase III data on this virus and the chinkies will have covered up any bad news.

[Cujo]

I'll let you know how it goes.

[harrybarracuda]

I'll let you know how it goes.

You may not find out until someone coughs on you.

[misskit]

Australian states impose border curbs as Sydney COVID-19 cluster grows


SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian states and territories on Friday begun imposing border restrictions after 28 COVID-19 cases were detected from a cluster on Sydney’s northern beaches, with fears the number of infections will rise.


“Everyone in greater Sydney needs to be on high alert,” New South Wales (NSW) state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told a news conference on Friday in announcing 10 new cases.


Health authorities fear the cluster may have spread to other areas of Sydney as they have yet to determine the source of the infections.


NSW has urged about a quarter of a million residents in the affected suburbs in Sydney to stay home for three days.


“My anxiety is we have not found the direct transmission route and we cannot be sure we have blocked the transmission line,” said NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant.


Christmas travel plans for thousands of people were thrown into chaos due to the border restrictions, with many people flocking to Sydney airport to try and fly out of the state.


The island state of Tasmania shut its border to anyone who has been in Sydney’s northern beaches on or since Dec 11, Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory demand people who have been on the northern beaches to quarantine for 14 days. While Western Australia state imposed this on anyone from NSW.


“My message very clearly is that if people are from the northern beaches of NSW it would be well advised for them to stay in the northern beaches and not travel to Queensland,” said Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.


The curbs are a blow to Australia’s hopes for an unchecked economic recovery and domestic tourism operators such as Virgin Australia and Qantas Airways.


Australia on Thursday projected its economy will recover from its first recession in three decades faster than previously anticipated after containing the spread of COVID-19.


Australia has reported just over 28,000 coronavirus cases and 908 deaths since the pandemic began and estimates most active cases in the country are returned overseas travelers in hotel quarantine.


Australian states impose border curbs as Sydney COVID-19 cluster grows | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

[thailazer]

^ Shows all it takes is one infected person to start the cycle all over again. Vaccinations will help except in undeveloped countries. The coronavirus is going to be around for years as it is so pervasive.

Australian states impose border curbs as Sydney COVID-19 cluster grows

[Klondyke]

One positive factor with this Covid: we do not hear about any flu, do we?

[Cujo]

One positive factor with this Covid: we do not hear about any flu, do we?

Do we ever?

[panama hat]

Do we ever?

Not really, but Loondyke is trying to make a point . . . and failing as usual

Luckily because of covid-19 we never hear about the three-toed Abyssinian tree-sloth.

[harrybarracuda]

Excellent.

American student sentenced to 4 months in prison for violating quarantine rules in the Cayman Islands.

With her semester at Mercer University in Georgia complete, Skylar Mack, 18, flew down to the Cayman Islands in late November to watch her boyfriend compete in the islands’ jet ski racing national championship.
When she arrived, however, there was a problem.
She got there on a Friday; the championship was on Sunday. And per the country’s laws, she was required to remain in her hotel room for 14 days before going anywhere on the islands.
To elude the restrictions, Ms. Mack, after receiving a negative coronavirus test, slipped off an electronic monitoring bracelet from her wrist and escaped to a beach on Grand Cayman’s South Sound, where she saw her boyfriend, Vanjae Ramgeet, 24, win first place.
But the authorities found out and Ms. Mack and Mr. Ramgeet were sentenced this week to four months in prison for the quarantine breach.

Covid-19: F.D.A. Authorizes Moderna Vaccine for Emergency Use, Adding Millions of Doses to U.S. Arsenal - The New York Times

[harrybarracuda]

I think him and baldy orange loser came from the same egg.

COVID-19 Vaccine Can Turn People Into "Crocodiles": Brazilian President

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro: COVID-19 Vaccine Can Turn People Into Crocodiles

[Troy]

^ Nothing like taking someone's quote out of context and making it look silly.

[harrybarracuda]

^ Nothing like taking someone's quote out of context and making it look silly.

Everything he has ever said about the virus has been silly.

[Buckaroo Banzai]

Turns out China has a vaccine.
I just signed up to get it next week.

In the mean time. back here in the Good 'ol USA all the Republican politicians are getting vaccinated for a virus that don't exist, by a vaccine that is dangerous, and poor old me , with a heart condition ,could not get vaccinated to save my life.
I often wonder if I will ever see my Thai home ever again.

[Cujo]

Meanwhile the Trump admin are holding back the vaccine distribution