Coronavirus

[JRP3]

International experts investigating the origins of Covid-19 have all but dismissed a theory that the virus came from a laboratory in China.

Peter Ben Embarek, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) mission, said it was "extremely unlikely" that the virus leaked from a lab in the city of Wuhan.

Covid: WHO says 'extremely unlikely' virus leaked from lab in China

 

[TEG]

OK... So we are back to the "wet markets" again? Or it sounds like they want to say "maybe it came from frozen food imported from another country?" Convenient/expedient to be able to say "maybe it wasn't from China at all..."

I want to think the WHO will give us the best explanation, but will still have some doubts.

 

[rxlawdude]

OK... So we are back to the "wet markets" again? Or it sounds like they want to say "maybe it came from frozen food imported from another country?" Convenient/expedient to be able to say "maybe it wasn't from China at all..."

I want to think the WHO will give us the best explanation, but will still have some doubts.

While there is the possibility that the virus escaped the lab, there is no compelling evidence to prove that.

Proving a negative is logically impossible.

 

[TEG]

We are in "nothing to see, move along" mode.

They will keep looking, but I am not too hopeful they will be able to give much detail on the real origin story now.
Switching to "well we don't think it was this, and we don't think it was that."
No, it didn't land on earth in a meteor...

 

[TEG]

From last December:
China Floats Covid-19 Theories That Point to Foreign Origins, Frozen Food

With frozen food clampdown, China points overseas as source of coronavirus

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Covid: WHO says 'extremely unlikely' virus leaked from lab in China

I’m inclined to think it did not come from a lab either (the movie thing never works out in real life). However, the WHO is not equipped to investigate whether or not this occurred, neither are they in a position to do so. They are there with the approval of the Chinese government and don’t have access to the people and property to do a proper forensic exam.
It’s just relationship building, and they probably agreed to make this announcement in part to allow them to continue to have a presence there and continue to develop relationships with the government and local researchers.

Again, have to be clear I don’t think it came from a lab either, but determining this definitively in a couple weeks seems questionable, and it may be years before we determine where it DID come from (if ever). Will be a long and evolving story I suspect.

 

[alloverx]

Might not get the semi-truth until the WHO investigators are out of China.

On another note.
For a (UK/Kent) virus leak in Hotel Quarantine (Australia), they suspect a Nebulizer was the root cause. Basically infected air went out of the room when door opened. It affected 2 workers whom worked on that floor (who were wearing surgical mask & protective goggles), as well as folks in the room opposite. They are now thinking that they will go to N95s for all staff.

 

[wdolson]

There are a lot of teachers in this country.......but not THAT many.

Some of the more ornery parents and the teacher's unions are getting into it pretty good over when to reopen. How did we not jab all these teachers and staff already?

My brother is front line medical and double stabbed weeks ago. Girlfriend and sister are teachers and won't get their 2nd shots til next week. The bizarre thing is that neither of their schools(or any centralized state/county/school district body) coordinated their vaccinations. If they hadn't taken semi-shady measures on their own, neither would likely even have their first shot today. Other teachers are seeing they got a first shot and asking them how.

WFT is wrong with the US as a logistics managing entity? Is this purely because the orange fellow was running things for the first 10 months of the pandemic? How do school districts not get given the authority to round up and vaccinate all their staff in an orderly and expeditious manner?

This is in PA, both urban and suburban. Anyone seeing similar chaos with other school districts?

In Oregon governor Kate Brown was trying to get teachers vaccinated before the elderly. I don't know if she succeeded or not.

I don't pay much attention to what's going on with the schools. Without kids, I only hear snippets on the news. I have heard that in parts of Washington state the state got less than 40% of the vaccine promised in the first month and it's still trying to recover from the shortfall. I have heard of a number of people who are qualified to get the vaccine, but can't find it in stock anywhere.

As far as logistics go, to do something like roll out a large scale vaccine effort quickly takes multiple levels of coordination and many federal and state systems have been crippled. Not just from the last 4 years, but from the last 40. Grover Norquist wanted the federal government small enough to drown in a bathtub and there were a lot of politicians working towards that goal for many years. Or at least in areas they didn't like. Areas they did like sometimes got more resources than they wanted (like the military).

A lot of the agencies that were critical for rollout of a vaccine were shells of their former selves when the crisis came. The government is now scrambling to make up lost time and the right people are being slotted into management positions to make it happen as quickly as possible, but in many cases there just aren't enough people left in the agency to do what's required. With the right funding it will take years to get back to just where we were 4 years ago, which was already weakened. Without the right funding it may never happen.

One thing the government should have been doing, but wasn't, was looking ahead to potential bottlenecks and working to eliminate them before the vaccines were ready. With the defense authorization act, resources could have been thrown at any potential bottlenecks months ago. Some countries are having much smoother roll outs because they did plan it ahead of time.

 

[Jeff N]

Interesting new PBS Frontline documentary on China’s early response to their COVID outbreak:

China's COVID Secrets

 

[EVNow]

Might not get the semi-truth until the WHO investigators are out of China.

Reminds me of the lies told to kill a million people in Iraq.

Saying a virus is released by a lab is a serious accusation. Like any other conspiracy theory, the burden is on the proponents of this conspiracy theory to provide proof. No different from moon landing, 9/11, Sandy hook, birtherism and other "truthers".

 

[TEG]

Interesting new PBS Frontline documentary on China’s early response to their COVID outbreak:
China's COVID Secrets

In case of TLDR... (TLDW)... Chinese politicians and bureaucrats acted to downplay and hide information with the idea to prevent panic and to maintain stability by not "rocking the boat' .
Also "passing the buck" down the chain to tell local leaders "don't talk about this, but get it under control."
To some degree, the US government (version we had at the time) did some form of the same thing...

Some reasons why some people thought this approach was OK:
#1: Misconception that it doesn't spread easily.
#2: Thought that so many people being asymptomatic means it isn't a bad illness.

Also looks like W.H.O. had to "toe the line" from China to get any semblance of cooperation.

The story focuses on the long period of time when it was still being said that humans could only catch this from exposure to animals. The news of "human to human transmission" was really held back for way too long.

 

[TEG]

Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC

...Updated quarantine recommendations for vaccinated persons. Fully vaccinated persons who meet criteria will no longer be required to quarantine following an exposure to someone with COVID-19. Additional considerations for patients and residents in healthcare settings are provided....

Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC

...Vaccinated persons with an exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not required to quarantine if they meet all of the following criteria†:

• Are fully vaccinated (i.e., ≥2 weeks following receipt of the second dose in a 2-dose series, or ≥2 weeks following receipt of one dose of a single-dose vaccine)
• Are within 3 months following receipt of the last dose in the series
• Have remained asymptomatic since the current COVID-19 exposure

Persons who do not meet all 3 of the above criteria should continue to follow current quarantine guidance after exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19...

 

[TEG]

Yes . . . but us doctors and nurses are also . . . vampires . . . and hemodiluters.
More specifically, we LOVE to draw blood, and we LOVE to give IV fluids.
My point, that substantial (hematocrit) drop is probably multi-factoral, not all attributable to COVID-19.

So the plot thickens (or thins as it were) since my wife has now volunteered for some follow-up studies post COVID.
She went back to the hospital to get scans and blood draws so they can study the recovery process, with possibly extra interest if she got newer monoclonal antibodies (still a blind study, so maybe blood tests on placebo effects...)
Anyways, she got home feeling "drained" after the vampires were done with her again.

 

[MC3OZ]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/10/coronavirus-covid-live-updates-us/

The first known cases of the variant discovered in South Africa have been detected in California, one in Santa Clara Country and one in Alameda County, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Wednesday.

Not good. That’s the variant that emerging evidence suggests the Astrazeneca vaccine is ineffective against.

I now retreat to the CV thread ......

Edit: and I apologize for allowing my participle to dangle

What I have heard for the OZ/UK media is the Astrazeneca vaccine doesn't prevent mild cases, but does offer some protection.
They can offer a booster shot down the track to handle it better and if the vaccine is a 2-shot regime anyway, that may work out.

Regardless, Tesla should review their COVID-19 protocols, and ensure everything that needs to be done is being done.

 

[EVCollies]

So the plot thickens (or thins as it were) since my wife has now volunteered for some follow-up studies post COVID.
She went back to the hospital to get scans and blood draws so they can study the recovery process, with possibly extra interest if she got newer monoclonal antibodies (still a blind study, so maybe blood tests on placebo effects...)
Anyways, she got home feeling "drained" after the vampires were done with her again.

Please, thank your wife for participating in a clinical trial that helps mankind...

 

[dhanson865]

 

[madodel]

Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30 Million That It Can’t Sell.

I really don't understand this. It's a year into this and we can't buy US made N95 masks yet there are millions of N95 masks made by US companies that are sitting in warehouses because they have no way to distribute them for sale. This is nuts.

 

[jerry33]

Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30 Million That It Can’t Sell.

I really don't understand this. It's a year into this and we can't buy US made N95 masks yet there are millions of N95 masks made by US companies that are sitting in warehouses because they have no way to distribute them for sale. This is nuts.

You can buy them, you can even see how many are available from this supplier. However, at $5+ a pop it's a bit expensive.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Costco sells N95 rated masks. Pack of 50.

 

[dhanson865]

975 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine accidentally discarded, note this is in an area where the criteria are still 1a1, 1a2, 70 yrs and older. As in it's very hard to get the vaccine here still.

Buchanan said, based on GPS data, it appears the doses were accidentally discarded. She said different types of insulated boxes arrive for the Pfizer vaccine -- one containing vaccine doses preserved with dry ice inside a thermal container, and another that typically arrives a day later containing just dry ice in case the doses aren't put in on-site cold storage and need to be kept in the shipping container for longer. She said the boxes look nearly identical, saying they are "kind of generic."

Buchanan said KCHD orders vaccine every week and it has received doses and dry ice shipments on regular intervals. Two weeks ago, KCHD said it received two shipments -- a group of first-dose vaccine on Thursday, and another shipment on Friday that a team member believed was a dry ice-only shipment.

Based on the timing of the shipment and the similarities in the boxes, Buchanan said the team member discarded the box they thought contained just dry ice. However, once the second-dose vaccine shipment was reported missing, the team member reported what they feared happened.

"That's when the team member said, 'Oh goodness, maybe there was a second-dose shipment that I thought was dry ice," Buchanan explained.

Pfizer uses GPS-enabled thermal sensors to track the location and temperature of each vaccine shipment, so it is unclear how an error like this could occur. No misconduct is suspected, officials said.

"There are still a lot of questions to answer," Buchanan said. "Why didn't the GPS tracker work? Why didn't the temperature tracker work?"

from 'It was a kick in the gut': KCHD says 975 COVID-19 vaccines are believed to have been accidentally discarded | wbir.com