The COVID-2019 Thread

[kmart]

We are all just speculating.

Try and a get a handle on the pandemic - how many different countries and their administrations, how many different testing methods, how many different criteria for testing, etc., etc., etc.

It'll be many months before any real valid data to assess the problem is available, and, even then, the data will be subject to method of presentation and individual interpretation. How can you possibly "standardize" Covid testing protocol worldwide? Then, how do you standardize interpretation of the test results?

Covid testing has been plagued by inconsistencies - false positives and false negatives along with non-repeatable results. A few articles provided include doctors with a patient who has ALL the symptoms (so the docs know its Covid) yet the tests come back negative.

If you can't trust the test results how can you possibly trust the statistics presented?

Exactly. Everyone has "coronavirus" traces, anti-bodies, pathogens in their blood, lungs, and DNA, right from infancy and previous colds, flu's and viral infections. Not sure if this "Covid-19" is actually a new virus, or it's just a new 'test' only. It doesn't even measure 'viral-load", or how much of this virus you actually have.
Yet, half the world is under house-arrest, and millions will lose their jobs, houses and means of independent livelihoods. It's basically a coup d'etat on the human race.

[Latindancer]

Yeah, and now Tim Brooke-Taylor has carked it from the virus, which the Chinese "authorities" tried to hush up, till it got so far out of hand that it couldn't be.

[Klondyke]

REVEALED: U.S. government gave $3.7million grant to Wuhan lab at center of coronavirus leak scrutiny that was performing experiments on bats from the caves where the disease is believed to have originated

The US National Institutes of Health, a government agency, awarded a $3.7million research grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology

The lab is the center of several conspiracy theories that suggest it is the original source of the coronavirus outbreak

The institute experimented on bats from the source of the coronavirus

They were captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan

Sequencing of the Covid-19 genome has traced it to bats to Yunnan's caves

The U.S. government funded research on coronavirus transmission in the lab over the past decade

Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID

The Chinese laboratory at the center of scrutiny over a potential coronavirus leak has been using U.S. government money to carry out research on bats from the caves which scientists believe are the original source of the deadly outbreak.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology undertook coronavirus experiments on mammals captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan which were funded by a $3.7 million grant from the US government.

Sequencing of the COVID-19 genome has traced it back to bats found in Yunnan caves but it was first thought to have transferred to humans at an animal market in Wuhan.

The revelation that the Wuhan Institute was experimenting on bats from the area already known to be the source of COVID-19 - and doing so with American money - has sparked further fears that the lab, and not the market, is the original outbreak source.

Lawmakers and pressure groups were quick to hit out at U.S. funding being provided for the 'dangerous and cruel animal experiments at the Wuhan Institute'.

US Congressman Matt Gaetz said: 'I'm disgusted to learn that for years the US government has been funding dangerous and cruel animal experiments at the Wuhan Institute, which may have contributed to the global spread of coronavirus, and research at other labs in China that have virtually no oversight from US authorities.'

On Saturday, Anthony Bellotti, president of the US pressure group White Coat Waste, condemned his government for spending tax dollars in China, adding: 'Animals infected with viruses or otherwise sickened and abused in Chinese labs reportedly may be sold to wet markets for consumption once experiments are done.'

The $37million Wuhan Institute of Virology, the most advanced laboratory of its type on the Chinese mainland, is based twenty miles from the now infamous wildlife market that was thought to be the location of the original transfer of the virus from animals to humans.

According to documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday, scientists there experimented on bats as part of a project funded by the US National Institutes of Health, which continues to licence the Wuhan laboratory to receive American money for experiments.

Read more
U.S. government gave $3.7million grant to Wuhan lab that experimented on coronavirus source bats | Daily Mail Online

[jabir]

As with every other historical event this virus will trigger conspiracy theories by the ton. This does not imply that all such followers are nuts, just the types that would naturally subscribe to those that are a bit weird and disproven (eg flat earth, moon landing).

Scientists are still in the dark, though most experts believe the virus jumped to humans from bats and possibly through some third party such as the pangolin. Meanwhile, a Pew study found that nearly 30% of Americans believe it was created in a laboratory, with around 7% believing it was created intentionally; similar numbers would probably be found in Europe. While unproven beliefs could be tagged as nutty conspiracy theories by those that believe something else, any of the above could be true since we don't know enough about the virus or its origins.

But for anyone starting this virus with a deep mistrust of leaders, academics and media (or China as humanity's one stop dead end), it's easy to feel cheated and savaged by an hysterical establishment obsessed with some ulterior motive in destroying the global economy. So here we have scope for most conspiracy theories that will appear over the coming months.

As of now we have 5G, probably spawned by anti-technocrats, US military and Italy, both packaged by the CPC no doubt with a stream of other propaganda packages at various stages of preparation for launch, a bio weapon that was deliberately or accidentally released by the CPC, and close by a scientific creation by gov or group unknown.

Then we have the aliens done it sad fcuks, like Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, and some distressed guy that believes it was created by Greta Thunberg as a warning shot to galvanise the world into saving itself. Seriously, even these could gain traction, leaving one to question whether we are worth saving.

[bowie]

^^

REVEALED: U.S. government gave $3.7million grant to Wuhan lab

hmm... sure ya got the correct thread?

[Klondyke]

New signs suggest coronavirus was in California far earlier than anyone knew

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A man found dead in his house in early March. A woman who fell sick in mid-February and later died.

These early COVID-19 deaths in the San Francisco Bay Area suggest that the novel coronavirus had established itself in the community long before health officials started looking for it. The lag time has had dire consequences, allowing the virus to spread unchecked before social distancing rules went into effect.

“The virus was freewheeling in our community and probably has been here for quite some time,” Dr. Jeff Smith, a physician who is the chief executive of Santa Clara County government, told county leaders in a recent briefing.

How long? A study out of Stanford suggests a dramatic viral surge in February.

But Smith on Friday said data collected by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, local health departments and others suggest it was “a lot longer than we first believed” — most likely since “back in December.”

“This wasn’t recognized because we were having a severe flu season,” Smith said in an interview. “Symptoms are very much like the flu. If you got a mild case of COVID, you didn’t really notice. You didn’t even go to the doctor. The doctor maybe didn’t even do it because they presumed it was the flu.”

Just as New York has strong ties to travelers from Europe, who are believed to have brought the coronavirus there from Italy, the Bay Area is a natural hub for those traveling to and from China. Santa Clara County had its first two cases of COVID-19 almost a week before federal approval of emergency testing for the disease Feb. 4. Both were in travelers returning from Wuhan, China, where the virus was rampant.

In January and most of February, there was little, if any, community testing in California.

The CDC provided testing materials to only some health departments, with restrictions that confined testing and thus the tracking of the novel coronavirus to those who were sick or exposed to someone already known to have COVID-19. The federal agency’s focus was on cruise ships, with Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess carrying the largest known cluster of COVID-19 cases outside of China. The first passenger tested positive for COVID-19 five days after the ship’s Jan. 20 departure from Japan. Eventually, 712 passengers and crew tested positive, and nine of them died.

COVID-19 did not reappear in the Bay Area until Feb. 27, when doctors finally decided to test a hospitalized woman who had been ill for weeks. She became the region’s first case of community-spread coronavirus.

But from there, almost every positive test pointed toward local spread. “When public health (officials) tried to track down the start of the disease … we weren’t able to find, specifically, a contact,” Smith told county supervisors. “That means the virus is in the community already — not, as was suspected by the CDC, as only in China and being spread from contact with China.”

Researchers still unsure how long the virus lurked are now turning to blood banks and other repositories to see if lingering antibodies can show them what was missed. A study funded by the National Institutes of Health is looking for virus antibodies in samples from blood banks in Los Angeles, San Francisco and four other cities across the country.

Read more
New signs suggest coronavirus was in California far earlier than anyone knew

[bowie]

These early COVID-19 deaths in the San Francisco Bay Area suggest that the novel coronavirus had established itself in the community long before health officials started looking for it.

We can go deeper than that. The symptoms mimic so many existing maladies the initial cases (God only knows how many) were misdiagnosed. The fact that 80% of those infected show little or no symptoms means this virus could infect populations stealthily and remain unidentified/undetected as an individual.

The Chinese doctor who raised the alarm was suppressed. This could be categorized as a blatant cover-up but probably was just a matter of course for the Chinese - gotta ask permission before you open your mouth over there.

Back to the problem at hand - people are dying of/from this. And, now the the infection has infiltrated a great many - the numbers of the dead are mounting and when added up it seems calamitous. However - the fatalities are, in a word, "old" with a second subset being the immune system compromised with underlying medical conditions.

Yes, there is humanitarian medical situation to remedy - but, shutting down countries is not the solution. A case of the cure being worse than the disease. The economic damage being inflicted on the young and healthy working class folk is not justified by saving the elderly. Maybe securing an additional 3, 5 or 10 years of life in an old, poor quality of life existence.


Now, that being said - each number in the statistics can have a face attached to it. Each face has a family that is devastated by the passing of a loved one. We magnify the pain by not allowing the survivors access to their loved ones during their final days and significantly curtailing funeral rites.

[Seekingasylum]

The imperatives remain clear, no matter the rhetoric: a vaccine needs to be developed in at least half the time, or less, it normally takes, and a valid antibody test that actually works and not the Chnese shite currently being peddled must be 'in theatre' in a month. It is only with the latter can we free thousands from a redundant quarantine.

[Iceman123]

^
At least the virus has taken your attention away from Brexit, thank God for small mercies

[thailazer]

The corona virus cases in the USA have now far exceeded the testing capacity, so the data being provided is positive tests only. The actual corona cases are growing at a hidden rate at the moment in most states. The vaccine is indeed the only thing that will start to free us.

[Iceman123]

8

The vaccine is indeed the only thing that will start to free us.

And what if the vaccine does not come along, we must have a better contingency in place than hope.

[bowie]

Develop the vaccine, test the vaccine, manufacture the vaccine, inoculate the world's population - anybody care to venture an educated guess as to just when we can expect to have, say 50% of the world's population inoculated?, how about 75%?

And, just what percentage is needed to "stop" the spread of the virus and the fatalities associated with it?

[Seekingasylum]

A viable vaccine generally takes between 14 and 20 months before it enters the global market.

The optimists are saying that a viable vaccine identified, say, in May could be available in October/November but the reality is nearer Jan/Feb 2021. 60% of a population needs to acquire immunity before the virus is considered to be beaten.

BoJo the Clown had a narrow escape, but it is clear his bastard broken down Brexit in still in ICU for another year.

Every cloud, eh.

[harrybarracuda]

We can go deeper than that. The symptoms mimic so many existing maladies the initial cases (God only knows how many) were misdiagnosed. The fact that 80% of those infected show little or no symptoms means this virus could infect populations stealthily and remain unidentified/undetected as an individual.

The Chinese doctor who raised the alarm was suppressed. This could be categorized as a blatant cover-up but probably was just a matter of course for the Chinese - gotta ask permission before you open your mouth over there.

Back to the problem at hand - people are dying of/from this. And, now the the infection has infiltrated a great many - the numbers of the dead are mounting and when added up it seems calamitous. However - the fatalities are, in a word, "old" with a second subset being the immune system compromised with underlying medical conditions.

Yes, there is humanitarian medical situation to remedy - but, shutting down countries is not the solution. A case of the cure being worse than the disease. The economic damage being inflicted on the young and healthy working class folk is not justified by saving the elderly. Maybe securing an additional 3, 5 or 10 years of life in an old, poor quality of life existence.


Now, that being said - each number in the statistics can have a face attached to it. Each face has a family that is devastated by the passing of a loved one. We magnify the pain by not allowing the survivors access to their loved ones during their final days and significantly curtailing funeral rites.

The theory that this was present in the US in late 2019 has already been debunked, it's just more chinky efforts to try and take the heat off themselves by amplifying some idiot that had a cough in November and was quoted as saying "I wonder if I had coronavirus".

As for the origin, whether it leaked from some sloppy standards in a lab in Wuhan or someone munching bats round the corner, there still remain concerns about other coronaviruses lurking in the bat population.

The recent emergence of bat-borne zoonotic viruses warrants vigilant surveillance in their natural hosts. Of particular concern is the family of coronaviruses, which includes the causative agents of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and most recently, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), an epidemic of acute respiratory illness originating from Wuhan, China in December 2019. Viral detection, discovery, and surveillance activities were undertaken in Myanmar to identify viruses in animals at high risk contact interfaces with people. Free-ranging bats were captured, and rectal and oral swabs and guano samples collected for coronaviral screening using broadly reactive consensus conventional polymerase chain reaction. Sequences from positives were compared to known coronaviruses. Three novel alphacoronaviruses, three novel betacoronaviruses, and one known alphacoronavirus previously identified in other southeast Asian countries were detected for the first time in bats in Myanmar. Ongoing land use change remains a prominent driver of zoonotic disease emergence in Myanmar, bringing humans into ever closer contact with wildlife, and justifying continued surveillance and vigilance at broad scales.

Detection of novel coronaviruses in bats in Myanmar

Sticking Q-Tips up bats arses. That sounds like a job even Klondyke could do.

[russellsimpson]

Coronavirus pandemic

[russellsimpson]

Coronavirus pandemic

[russellsimpson]

Great site. Hit the globe and you get live numbers from each and every country.

I like it.

[David48atTD]

A viable vaccine generally takes between 14 and 20 months before it enters the global market.

We may never get a "viable vaccine".

---

Sydney University professor of infectious diseases David Isaacs said a human vaccine had never been successfully developed against a coronavirus, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), two of this century's first epidemics.

"It's possible we will never get a coronavirus vaccine," he said

[Warwick]

You may wanna listen to Bill Gates:

Bill Gates: Few countries will get 'A-grade' for coronavirus response - BBC News

From his talk:-


"When I and other health experts" - since when was Bill Gates a 'health expert'?


"So that we could quickly have all the diagnostics, drugs and vaccines." He thinks that a vaccine can be knocked up in a few weeks?


"We didn't simulate this, we didn't practice." Take a look at Exercise Cygnus

Have a listen to George W in 2005

or Obama in 2014

And I am sure there have been others. But governments are pretty much the same the world over, they want to cut taxes and get re-elected. And money spent on guns that they need now, is easier to justify than money spent on a hypothetical health crisis that a future government might get the benefit from.

[David48atTD]

Credit

[Takeovers]

This seems genuine.




The company Melitta produces not only coffe filters but also filter materials for virus face masks. This is what they came up with to produce very large numbers of face masks with existing production facilities.

[David48atTD]

Apart from having the clips on the wrong way round (pressing into her cheeks) ... would this work?

Not in a surgical sence, of course.

[Takeovers]

would this work?

I have my doubts. Does it close well enough while inhaling?

It was in a number of local publications of the area where Melitta have their factories. So probably not a hoax in the sense of fake news. It may be better than nothing.

[harrybarracuda]

The silly chinkies are trying to hide their incompetence at handling the Wuhan virus outbreak again.

Hong Kong (CNN)China has imposed restrictions on the publication of academic research on the origins of the novel coronavirus, according to a central government directive and online notices published by two Chinese universities, that have since been removed from the web.

Under the new policy, all academic papers on Covid-19 will be subject to extra vetting before being submitted for publication. Studies on the origin of the virus will receive extra scrutiny and must be approved by central government officials, according to the now-deleted posts.
A medical expert in Hong Kong who collaborated with mainland researchers to publish a clinical analysis of Covid-19 cases in an international medical journal said his work did not undergo such vetting in February.


The increased scrutiny appears to be the latest effort by the Chinese government to control the narrative on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 100,000 lives and sickened 1.7 million people worldwide since it first broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.
Since late January, Chinese researchers have published a series of Covid-19 studies in influential international medical journals. Some findings about early coronavirus cases -- such as when human-to-human transition first appeared -- have raised questions over the official government account of the outbreak and sparked controversy on Chinese social media.
And now, Chinese authorities appear to be tightening their grip on the publication of Covid-19 research.
A Chinese researcher who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation said the move was a worrying development that would likely obstruct important scientific research.
"I think it is a coordinated effort from (the) Chinese government to control (the) narrative, and paint it as if the outbreak did not originate in China," the researcher told CNN. "And I don't think they will really tolerate any objective study to investigate the origination of this disease."
CNN has reached out to China's Foreign Ministry for comment.

Beijing tightens grip over coronavirus research amid US-China row on virus origin - CNN

[harrybarracuda]

Apart from having the clips on the wrong way round (pressing into her cheeks) ... would this work?

Not in a surgical sence, of course.

Sounds like Melitta did not come up with it.

"We all want to slow down the spread of the new coronavirus. In order to do this, it is essential to keep social contacts to a minimum, to keep sufficient distance from other people and to wash our hands thoroughly.

In order to provide additional protection for themselves and others, many private individuals want to use protective masks. Contrary to the increasing number of tips on the Internet, we at the Melitta Group cannot recommend using Melitta® coffee filters or Swirl® vacuum cleaner bags as homemade face masks to protect the mouth and nose."

They are, however, making face masks.

The Melitta Group is switching parts of its production operations in a contribution to the supply of urgently needed face masks. In the production facility for Melitta® coffee filters in Minden, face masks are now being manufactured in large quantities.
“With our production capacities, we are able to manufacture considerable quantities of face masks in a very short time,” explained Jero Bentz, member of the Melitta Group's Chief Corporate Management and general partner. “For decades, our company has specialised in the development and production of filter materials such as coffee filters, vacuum cleaner bags and other industrial specialty papers such as non-woven wallpaper and raw materials for air filters - including for the medical sector.”
This expertise, in conjunction with our production facilities for coffee filters, which are geared towards the manufacture of large quantities, has now been brought together by the company at short notice to give the highest priority to producing much needed face masks. The result is a face mask, shaped like our coffee filters, with very good filtration, breathing and wearing characteristics. It consists of a three-layer non-woven material and includes a melt-blown layer that meets the standard for surgical masks according to EN14683 with a Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE) > 95%. In the first stage, these masks are fastened with a clip or elastic bands. It is planned to further develop the masks in the next stages - the production of FFP2 and FFP3 masks is also in development.
Melitta produced the first million masks this week. The existing capacities should be capable of producing up to one million masks each day in the near future. These quantities can be considerably increased step by step, as long as sufficient raw materials are available. In addition to Germany, the Melitta Group also plans to use existing production capacities in the USA and Brazil to manufacture face masks for countries in North and South America.
“We are convinced that in terms of quality and quantity together with quick availability, we can make a significant contribution to people's health and to alleviating the restrictions caused by the corona epidemic,” commented Jero Bentz.
Melitta will distribute the masks produced in the first week to its own employees and donate one million masks to health care facilities. The recipients are currently being determined in consultation with the relevant political authorities and the masks will be distributed shortly.

Melitta starts production of millions of face masks - Melitta Corporate Site