news Covid19-Coronavirus updates and news

[Mister Funsky]

Having relatives and friends scattered all over the globe, I am getting an overload of input (some on the record and some off the record).

My intention for this thread is for community members from around the world to post first hand stories and/or links to information sources that, for the most part, should be reliable.

In my community, just outside a major southeastern city, 'assets' have been placed. Only because I have friends in both high and low places have I heard about some of this. At this point it is only some basic medical supplies that should be equally distributed anyway in preparation for a natural emergency (hurricane/wildfire/etc.).

I will start with posting a link to a site with current data that seems to come from an aggregate of sources and hope others will do the same as they come across similar sites/pages.

Because of the 'typhoid Mary' spread-ability of this disease, I feel we may be in for a really large spread globally which will impact the global economy and through extension, retail domain prices.

One thing is for sure...things will get worse before they get better.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa-coronavirus/

 

[J Sokol]

Tough restrictions implemented by federal and state governments in Australia to stem the coronavirus outbreak have had a “dramatic effect” on how COVID-19 infection numbers will grow over the next 10 days, one expert has said.

US: 42,518
UK: 16,509
France: 20,265
Spain: 21,282
AU: 71
Italy: 24,114

Australia's aggressive approach to the virus has certainly paid off. Maybe the rest of us will learn from that.

 

[J Sokol]

This happens with every country of the World, not only at the UK.
So the real number would be adding a minimum of a 40% more deaths, to the total number reported.

That's what scares me.

 

[The Durfer]

yea i thought something looked different with the death toll and the figures. Its almost 50% death rate with real death count. scary.

 

[Sutruk]

yea i thought something looked different with the death toll and the figures. Its almost 50% death rate with real death count. scary.

Most of the countries don't count deaths at home or at nursing homes, they only count deaths at Hospitals and previously tested as positive in coronavirus.
And those deaths add around a 50% to 60% to the real death toll number.

 

[J Sokol]

Also, a lot of deaths that are corona related haven't been reported as such. I heard an EMT interviewed who said she had about 35 cardiac arrests in one week -- that's the number she usually gets in a year.

It's hard to get accurate numbers since only 1% of the U.S. population has been tested.

 

[enlytend]

More deaths, no benefit from malaria drug in VA virus study
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/more-deaths-no-benefit-from-malaria-drug-in-va-virus-study.html

This study still needs to be peer reviewed, but it was a statistically significant number of participants and the preliminary results aren’t looking good (in one segment there was more than twice the mortality rate among those taking the drug as compared to the control group.). Other studies are underway.

Link to the full study text, for the geeky types who like to read those things
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.16.20065920v1.full.pdf

 

[J Sokol]

Here are some sobering predictions that underline the need for continuing vigilance:

"Infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm, who has been warning for a decade and a half about the possibility of a global pandemic, said the coronavirus we're fighting is at least as infectious as the one that killed an estimated 50 million people in the 1918 flu worldwide outbreak.

He said we're only in the second inning of a nine-inning contest, with the possibility of as many as 800,000 deaths or more in the US over the next 18 months."

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/21/opinions/bergen-osterholm-interview-two-opinion/index.html

 

[Sutruk]

Thanks...interesting read. Hopefully someone will put up the funds to to a lab based test of the process...should not be that expensive (low to mid xx,xxx) to do a quick initial controlled study.

To fight the coronavirus pandemic we need widespread testing to find out who has the disease.
It’s especially critical for finding those people who may be spreading the virus without showing symptoms.

The following could be the solution, to a widespread and mass testing of the population:

UCSF, Mammoth Bio Develop Rapid Coronavirus Diagnostic Using CRISPR-Cas12 Method

https://www.genomeweb.com/gene-sile...pid-coronavirus-diagnostic-using-crispr-cas12

Researchers led by the University of California, San Francisco's Charles Chiu and Mammoth Biosciences Chief Technology Officer Janice Chen have developed a molecular diagnostic assay for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that can be run in 30 to 45 minutes with the same sensitivity and specificity as qRT-PCR tests.

It delivers results on lateral flow strips, similar to at-home pregnancy tests. The SARS-CoV-2 DETECTR test can be performed with portable heat blocks, readily available reagents, and disposable lateral flow strips, the researchers added.

"The use of existing qRT–PCR-based assays is hindered by the need for expensive laboratory instrumentation and availability is currently restricted to public health laboratories," the authors concluded. "The time taken to develop and validate this SARS-CoV-2 DETECTR assay (less than two weeks for SARS-CoV-2) shows that this technology can be quickly mobilized to diagnose infections from emerging zoonotic viruses."

Here is a resume:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32300245

An article at Forbes:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johncumbers/2020/03/14/with-its-coronavirus-rapid-paper-test-strip-this-crispr-startup-wants-to-help-halt-a-pandemic/

Here is the study published at Nature.com:

CRISPR–Cas12-based detection of SARS-CoV-2

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-020-0513-4

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

My childhood dr, Japanese man in his 90’s now. POW held in Midway BC, during WW2
Says only way to stop or combat this virus is for everyone to wear a mask.
Make masks mandatory, stop the spread

 

[ak1985]

Australia's aggressive approach to the virus has certainly paid off. Maybe the rest of us will learn from that.

Also need to consider Australia's population.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

 

[Cannuck]

Interestingly, since the outbreak of the virus and subsequent shutdown of major industrial polluters, researcher findings show reduced pollution in China has saved 75,000 lives. Interventions to contain the COVID-19 outbreak led to air quality improvements that brought health benefits which outnumbered the confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 in China.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.23.20039842v1

 

[koolishman]

Recovered, almost: China's early patients unable to shed coronavirus

Chinese doctors in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December, say a growing number of cases in which people recover from the virus, but continue to test positive without showing symptoms, is one of their biggest challenges as the country moves into a new phase of its containment battle.

Those patients all tested negative for the virus at some point after recovering, but then tested positive again, some up to 70 days later, the doctors said. Many have done so over 50-60 days.

The prospect of people remaining positive for the virus, and therefore potentially infectious, is of international concern, as many countries seek to end lockdowns and resume economic activity as the spread of the virus slows. Currently, the globally recommended isolation period after exposure is 14 days.

 

[koolishman]

Autopsies find first U.S. coronavirus death occurred in early February, weeks earlier than previously thought

At least two people who died in early and mid-February had contracted the novel coronavirus, health officials in California said Tuesday, signaling that the virus may have spread — and claimed lives — in the United States weeks earlier than previously thought.

Tissue samples taken during autopsies of two individuals who died at home in Santa Clara County, Calif., tested positive for the virus, local health officials said in a statement. The victims died on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, respectively.

 

[koolishman]

There's One Country Where Herd Immunity Could Actually Work, Scientists Say

A team of researchers at Princeton University and the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, a public health advocacy group based in New Delhi and Washington, has identified India as a place where this strategy could be successful because its disproportionately young population would face less risk of hospitalization and death.

 

[Mister Funsky]

Current Covid19 death numbers as of 9:00 am EST are below, primarily from the source in the original post (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus). Please copy and place the list to correct any wrong numbers and/or to add your country of origin.

Total: 179,047
US: 45,343
UK: 17,337
France: 20,796
Spain: 21,717
AU: 74
Italy: 24,648
Canada: 1,834
Brazil: 2,769
Indonesia: 635
India: 652
Japan: 281
Mexico: 857
Netherlands: 4,054

Please note that I have added the Netherlands.

 

[Mister Funsky]

Make no mistakes or miscalculations...the government of Russia is still our number one enemy followed closely by the one in China. The next major global conflict will likely pit democratic and free countries against these two (and a few of their proxies). Hopefully this will be many years in the future but the economic isolation of China (due to the virus) that is coming may force them into making moves that will expedite the situation.

U.S. Adversaries Are Accelerating, Coordinating Coronavirus Disinformation, Report Says

"WASHINGTON—The State Department has assessed that Russia, China and Iran are mounting increasingly intense and coordinated disinformation campaigns against the U.S. relating to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, according to an internal report"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-ad...avirus-disinformation-report-says-11587514724

"The three countries are pushing campaigns that suggest the virus came from U.S. troops and that it’s an American bio-weapon being used for political purposes. The campaigns also claim that the three countries are managing the pandemic better than the United States, which has more reported cases than all three combined."

https://thehill.com/policy/internat...ng-similar-themes-in-disinformation-campaigns

UPDATE ADD: Looks like a proxy state has been duly warned.

Trump says he's instructed Navy to 'destroy' any Iranian gunboats harassing US ships

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tr...stroy-any-iranian-gunboats-harassing-us-ships

 

[J Sokol]

Also need to consider Australia's population.

True, but with a population of roughly 25.5 million, the incidence in Australia is just .0003%. This compares to a .014% incidence in the U.S.

 

[Sutruk]

...

There's One Country Where Herd Immunity Could Actually Work, Scientists Say

A team of researchers at Princeton University and the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, a public health advocacy group based in New Delhi and Washington, has identified India as a place where this strategy could be successful because its disproportionately young population would face less risk of hospitalization and death.

Too risky, and sure not good for the millions of elders of that country... in my opinion.

 

[Sutruk]

More deaths, no benefit from malaria drug in VA virus study
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/more-deaths-no-benefit-from-malaria-drug-in-va-virus-study.html

This study still needs to be peer reviewed, but it was a statistically significant number of participants and the preliminary results aren’t looking good (in one segment there was more than twice the mortality rate among those taking the drug as compared to the control group.). Other studies are underway.

Link to the full study text, for the geeky types who like to read those things
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.16.20065920v1.full.pdf

The following sounds promising and could be a very interesting treatment:

Anti-Coronavirus Hyperimmune Globulin

This video explains how convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients can be used to develop an anti-coronavirus hyperimmune globulin.

Basically they create Anti-coronavirus Anti-bodies from plasma donated by coronavirus survivors.

In this video they explain it very well:

 

[Sutruk]

Make no mistakes or miscalculations...the government of Russia is still our number one enemy followed closely by the one in China. The next major global conflict will likely pit democratic and free countries against these two (and a few of their proxies). Hopefully this will be many years in the future but the economic isolation of China (due to the virus) that is coming may force them into making moves that will expedite the situation.

U.S. Adversaries Are Accelerating, Coordinating Coronavirus Disinformation, Report Says

"WASHINGTON—The State Department has assessed that Russia, China and Iran are mounting increasingly intense and coordinated disinformation campaigns against the U.S. relating to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, according to an internal report"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-ad...avirus-disinformation-report-says-11587514724

"The three countries are pushing campaigns that suggest the virus came from U.S. troops and that it’s an American bio-weapon being used for political purposes. The campaigns also claim that the three countries are managing the pandemic better than the United States, which has more reported cases than all three combined."

https://thehill.com/policy/internat...ng-similar-themes-in-disinformation-campaigns

There will be always conspiracy theories. Ones saying it was China, the others saying it was the US. But the true is that this virus comes from mother nature.
Every year hundreds if not thousands of people living near bat caves at China develop coronavirus antibodies, and this is because they enter the caves and are exposed to the bats. No need to eat one...

 

[ak1985]

This British joker can't be taken seriously. Makes ridiculous videos without doing any research. Recently made a video on Indian PM Modi and painted him the biggest villain. The same PM which got democratically elected with majority two times in a row. Maybe he got paid by someone to say what he said in that video.

 

[Cannuck]

Rapid Covid-19 test now available, "A Canadian company is ready to release its new COVID-19 test which it says is more accurate and could see tens of thousands of samples tested in one day."

https://globalnews.ca/news/6855767/canadian-company-coronavirus-test-screening/

Spartan Cube rapid test uses a coffee-cup-sized portable DNA analyzer - most useful in remote locations.

https://globalnews.ca/news/6810934/rapid-covid19-test-approved-health-canada/

 

[Mister Funsky]

Current Covid19 death numbers as of 9:00 am EST are below, primarily from the source in the original post (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus). Please copy and place the list to correct any wrong numbers and/or to add your country of origin.

Total: 185,504
US: 47,684
UK: 18,100
France: 21,340
Spain: 22,157
AU: 75
Italy: 25,085
Canada: 1,974
Brazil: 2,934
Indonesia: 647
India: 686
Japan: 299
Mexico: 970
Netherlands: 4,177

 

[Cannuck]

Coronavirus Australia: Restrictions had dramatic effect on virus growth
Tough restrictions implemented by federal and state governments in Australia to stem the coronavirus outbreak have had a “dramatic effect” on how COVID-19 infection numbers will grow over the next 10 days, one expert has said.

Australia's aggressive approach to the virus has certainly paid off. Maybe the rest of us will learn from that.

Demonstrates another factor that may have been influential in Australia’s response - that of PUBLIC TRUST - trust in the competency of Australian governments, and trust between individuals in Australian society.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/how-well-has-australia-managed-covid-19/