Covid-19 News & Updates

[handdrummer]

BB, your posts come through blank. Why?

[pharvey]

BB, your posts come through blank. Why?

I had the same problem yesterday, but all OK now - just a small delay before the video loads.

[handdrummer]

BB, your posts come through blank. Why?

I had the same problem yesterday, but all OK now - just a small delay before the video loads.

Thank you.

[PeteC]

We haven't shown this in a while, John Hopkins Covid-19 map.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

[Big Boy]

[HHTel]

So another net zero!

[pharvey]

OK, the "news" is coming from tabloids including the Mail on Sunday (UK), but another possible twist. Full article here: -

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... arket.html

'Coronavirus Did NOT Come From Animals in Wuhan Market'

"China’s claims that the pandemic emerged from a wild animal market in Wuhan last December have been challenged by a landmark scientific study.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that analysis of the coronavirus by specialist biologists suggests that all available data shows it was taken into the market by someone already carrying the disease.

They also say they were ‘surprised’ to find the virus was ‘already pre-adapted to human transmission’, contrasting it to another coronavirus that evolved rapidly as it spread around the planet in a previous epidemic.

The explosive claims come as Beijing thwarts global efforts to establish the source of the virus. The news will fuel concerns over the Communist regime’s cover-up since the disease emerged last year in the central Chinese city.

The new research is clear in its finding. ‘The publicly available genetic data does not point to cross-species transmission of the virus at the market,’ said Alina Chan, a molecular biologist, and Shing Zhan, an evolutionary biologist. Their paper insists all routes for ‘zoonotic’ (animal to human) transmission – in this case from bats – must be examined. It says: ‘The possibility that a non-genetically engineered precursor could have adapted to humans while being studied in a laboratory should be considered.’

The revelations add to the growing clamour for an international inquiry into the outbreak. ‘We need to get to the bottom of many things in relation to Covid-19,’ said Tory MP Bob Seely, a member of the Commons’ Foreign Affairs Select Committee. ‘We need to know where this virus began, why we were told at one time there was no human transmission, and what was the role of the Chinese Communist Party.’"

[hhinner]

^^

This is from a paper that has not yet been peer reviewed and as the website it's taken from states:

"bioRxiv is receiving many new papers on coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.   A reminder: these are preliminary reports that have not been peer-reviewed. They should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or be reported in news media as established information."

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 1.073262v1

[pharvey]

^^

This is from a paper that has not yet been peer reviewed and as the website it's taken from states:

"bioRxiv is receiving many new papers on coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.   A reminder: these are preliminary reports that have not been peer-reviewed. They should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or be reported in news media as established information."

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 1.073262v1

Yes, I also saw this at the link, but at the end of the day this is not exactly "outlandish" IMHO. Not everything should be so quickly dismissed (although there are certainly some "outlandish" theories out there).

[hhinner]

I agree it shouldn't be dismissed or accepted until satisfactorily shown either way. But the mail leads with: "Coronavirus did NOT come from animals in Wuhan market", which will be enough for many of its readers even though the study's authors don't say this.

Their conclusion in the study:

"The lack of definitive evidence to verify or rule out adaptation in an intermediate host species, humans, or a laboratory, means that we need to take precautions against each scenario to prevent re-emergence. We would like to advocate for measured and effective approaches to identify any lingering population(s) of SARS-CoV-2 progenitor virus, particularly if these are similarly adept at human transmission. The response to the first SARS-CoV outbreak deployed the following strategies that were key to detecting SARS-CoV adaptation to humans and cross-species transmission, and could be re-applied in today’s outbreak to swiftly eliminate progenitor pools: (i) Sampling animals from markets, farms, and wild populations for SARS-CoV-2-like viruses (38). (ii) Checking human samples banked months before late 2019 for SARS-CoV-2-like viruses or SARS-CoV-2-reactive antibodies to detect precursors circulating in humans (56). In addition, sequencing more SARS-CoV-2 isolates from Wuhan, particularly early isolates if they still exist, could identify branches originating from a less human-adapted progenitor as was seen in the 2003 SARS-CoV outbreak. It would be curious if no precursors or branches of SARS-CoV-2 evolution are discovered in humans or animals. (iii) Evaluating the over-or underrepresentation of food handlers and animal traders among the index cases to determine if SARS-CoV-2 precursors may have been circulating in the animal trading community (57). While these investigations are conducted, it would be safer to more extensively limit human activity that leads to frequent or prolonged contact with wild animals and their habitats."

Source: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101 ... 262v1.full

[buksida]

Government will consider ‘all options’ as malls overcrowd on the first day of reopening
Thailand’s government and emergency response centre will closely monitor the situation as pictures of overcrowded malls were widely shared on social media during the first day of the government’s easing of lockdown measures.

Thailand’s government reopened malls and restaurants on Sunday after weeks of low infection numbers but said that shoppers and mallgoers must maintain social distancing measures.

However, reports of overcrowded malls and jam-packed shopping centres were widely shared on social media raising worry that the second wave of coronavirus infections could be around the corner.

“The government is, of course, aware of the situation and we will be monitoring closely,” an official at the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration told Thai Enquirer on condition of anonymity.

“If it continues we will raise the issue with the relevant malls and authorities but we hope it is just a first-day aberration.”

The official said that “no option was off the table” when asked if the government would consider shutting down the country’s malls again.

The Thai government said on Sunday that it had discovered three new coronavirus cases bringing the total number of infected to 3,028 patients.

All three new patients were Thai students in state quarantine.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/13121/gove ... reopening/

[Big Boy]

[HHTel]

All three new patients were Thai students in state quarantine.

That was yesterday's 3. A different 3 today. Today, they were real cases. i.e. not in quarantine.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ths-monday

[Big Boy]

Yes, that's the way I picked it up. Worryingly, one was a sales assistant.

[sateeb]

Yes, that's the way I picked it up. Worryingly, one was a sales assistant.

Where does the information come from that one is a sales assistant?

Of the three new cases, government spokesman Dr Thaweesin Visanuyothin said that they were discovered in Bangkok including one transmission in an office.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/13137/thre ... -thailand/