Corona Virus

[Teenwolf]

https://www.metroweekly.com/2020/05/...d-19-exposure/

Absolutely criminal. Republicans are endangering Democrats lives while simultaneously spreading disinformation about the lack of cause for alarm, while quietly contact tracing within their own families. Utter scumbags. Should be charged.

Here's a video with 7 mins of the Dem lawmaker who was exposed explaining it all. The part where he explains donating a kidney is so brutal. Hope he doesn't get the virus. Seems like a good dude.

[nullnor]

ah the bird i was trying to save died. i fucked up. lesson learned but i'm kind of bummed. suddenly i realize it's very hard to pretend to be a wildlife rehabilitator.

[nullnor]

you guys read the story of the virologist that got covid thru his eye's on an airplane? that's a controlled environment, and i have bought safety goggles but i haven't used them yet. if a second wave hits in the fall might have too. but we really should be wearing eye goggles right now when shopping.

ferals post about catching the virus was really informative. it's is the amount of time you spend in the store and viral load. you can get the virus a little not get infected, but not like someone sneezing in your face. i still don't understand how that compares to touching your face and mouth and eye's and don't understand why that is more contagious even though i believe it.

on feb 1 when i started wading into this, 5-14 day incubation period! that's really all you had to know. yet i am really surprised there hasn't been more infections yet. at times life can seem so fragile, but at other times so resistant and enduring.

[heyelander]

ah the bird i was trying to save died. i fucked up. lesson learned but i'm kind of bummed. suddenly i realize it's very hard to pretend to be a wildlife rehabilitator.

sorry about the bird nully

[DMT]

Good article.

https://elemental.medium.com/coronavirus-may-be-a-blood-vessel-disease-which-explains-everything-2c4032481ab2

[rhd]

Another stats update as of 7:46 AM today. Last stats were from 5/25 at 7:46 AM, exactly 7 days ago:

- 1,837,578 cases in US, up from 1,686,436, This is an increase of 8.96% from last time but since it's the first update using the new weekly time frame it's hard to make an exact comparison w the increase from the last update, which was 4.0%. However, it is a slightly smaller increase. This week's increase gives a doubling rate of about every 57 days. At this rate, the US projects to hit 2,000,000 cases by about next week's update on June 8. The new cases for this period were 151,142. The combined new cases for the 6 days prior to the last update was 137,046, which would give an approximate 7-day total of 159,887 so a comparison w this period's new cases gives an approximate rate of 0.945, which is slightly higher than that of the last 3-day update (0.92) but still below 1.00. This continues to be encouraging.
- 106,198 deaths in US, up from 99,300, This is an increase of 6.95% from last time but since it's the first update using the new weekly time frame it's hard to make an exact comparison w the increase from the last update, which was 3.1%. However, it is a slightly smaller increase. This week's increase gives a doubling rate of about every 72.25 days. This is the last time I give the doubling rates, since they're so long now. The US mortality rate is now 5.78%, lower than last time (5.89%).
- 6,240,493 cases worldwide, up from 5,474,425. This is an increase of 13.99% from last time but since it's the first update using the new weekly time frame it's hard to make an exact comparison w the increase from the last update, which was 5.9%, However, this is a slightly smaller increase. At the current rate of increase, the world projects to hit 10,000,000 cases by about June 27. The new cases for this period were 766,068. The combined new cases for the 6 days prior to the last update was 567,497, which would give an approximate 7-day total of 662,080 so a comparison w this period's new cases gives an approximate rate of 1.157, which is about the same as that of the last 3-day update (1.15). This rate remains well above 1.00.
- 374,264 deaths worldwide, up from 346,971. This is an increase of 7.87% from last time but since it's the first update using the new weekly time frame it's hard to make an exact comparison w the increase from the last update, which was 3.6%. However, this is a smaller increase. At the current rate of increase, the world projects to hit 500,000 deaths by about June 29. The world mortality rate is 6.00%, which is lower than last time (6.34%).
- 218 countries/territories/etc. have confirmed cases w suspected cases in 2 others (North Korea, Turkmenistan). There are only 10 countries, all of which are South Pacific Island republics, that have neither reported nor have suspected cases: Kiribati, Marshall Is., Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Is., Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. The vast majority of countries have at least 1 death, w Uganda having the most cases w no reported deaths, 457.

Rates of increase were smaller than last time. New cases rates were about the same as last time for the US and the World. Cases continue to surge in Russia, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Mexico, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and South Africa.

[rhd]

Here's another video investigating the possibility that the CV-19 virus came from a lab, either from an animal in which it arose naturally or thru genetic engineering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H84xilIeHxc

The video was done by Sky News Australia. I knew nothing much about them but because of concerns raised by some in this forum about the political leanings of certain media sources, I decided to do a brief "credibility-check" of them. They evidently are an outlet of a larger company called SKy News which is a British company formerly owned by Rupert Murdoch but no longer. Their Wikipedia article characterizes their reporting as right-leaning and conservative and likens them to Fox News in the US. I picked the first "fact-checker" site that appeared in the Google search results, which was "mediabiasfactcheck.com", another site that I've never heard of. Their report is from 2016 but it was updated in 2020. They rate Sky News' factual reporting as "high" and positions them in the center between left-leaning and right-leaning. So, maybe right-leaning but their reporting is credible.

The video doesnt really provide anything conclusive or earthshaking. But it does provide more testimony from researchers and scientists around the world that there is at least a reasonable possibility that the CV-19 virus came from a lab in China and it provides more evidence and argument that the Chinese are covering up what happened. I've seen and read opinions of lots of different people reaching different conclusions on whether it came from a lab or not. It's difficult to know what to think. But one thing that is clear in my mind is that sources that claim that it could not have possibly come from a lab are just not credible. I'll have more to say on the virus' origins and coverup in a later post.

[Ken]

I knew nothing much about them but because of concerns raised by some in this forum about the political leanings of certain media sources, I decided to do a brief "credibility-check" of them

That's a strange note in my opinion. You are only checking credibility because of concerns of others? Aren't you interested yourself in whether it is credible? Of note, like you said, Sky News has been compared to Fox News, I'd want to see this on a more reliable format before even giving it the light of day.

one thing that is clear in my mind is that sources that claim that it could not have possibly come from a lab are just not credible.

Wait, why is that? There have been numerous experts come out confirming that based on the virus itself it came from nature and not a lab. Why is it clear that they are not credible exactly?

[nullnor]

https://www.independentsciencenews.o...-a-lab-origin/ The Case Is Building That COVID-19 Had a Lab Origin

I found that from googling "furin cleavage in bats" and went to this blog that is sort of interesting
https://www.virology.ws/2020/05/14/s...ite-revisited/ and then from reading comments went to Bret Weinstein twitter (never heard of him)

how the furin cleavage got in there is probably the key. I cited that 2010 paper earlier where I am pretty sure it said...anyways.

[Sour Masher]

https://www.independentsciencenews.o...-a-lab-origin/ The Case Is Building That COVID-19 Had a Lab Origin

I found that from googling "furin cleavage in bats" and went to this blog that is sort of interesting
https://www.virology.ws/2020/05/14/s...ite-revisited/ and then from reading comments went to Bret Weinstein twitter (never heard of him)

how the furin cleavage got in there is probably the key. I cited that 2010 paper earlier where I am pretty sure it said...anyways.

I still don't think we have enough of a consensus to know anything for sure on this, but the overwhelming majority of credible sources I've found say that COVID-19 very likely was NOT created in a lab and crossed naturally. Again, we don't know enough yet to say for certain, but that is my default position until credible sources show evidence of the contrary. This source isn't horrible compared to most I've seen making this claim, but it still seems to rely on pseudoscience and conjecture. While an interesting read, and to its credit, doesn't make definitive, bombastic claims, it still does not rise to the level where I can trust it. It it is not peer reviewed to ensure the sources it cites are not being misconstrued or misused. I'm not discounting the importance of exploring the question, and continuing to ask this question, but I have yet to read anything convincing yet that suggests COVID-19 was more likely manufactured than naturally occurring.

FWIW, here is what mediabiasfactcheck says about the source:

In review, Independent Science News is a food, agriculture, and biotechnology science website that does not support the consensus of science on GMOs. In fact, recently they published a misleading article regarding the nutritional value of Golden Rice. The article claims “GMO Golden Rice Offers No Nutritional Benefits Says FDA.” While that may be true based on the amount of rice Americans consume, it is not accurate for developing nations where rice is a staple food. The FDA responded to this misleading claim when Marriana Naum wrote the following statement: “It is unfortunate that the statement you reference in our letter responding to BNF 158 has been misconstrued to suggest that there would be no value of the pro-vitamin A in golden rice for its use in the countries where it is intended for distribution.”

Independent Science News also has a news feed that delivers science news from a wide variety of sources. Most of the information comes from credible sources, however, some do not. For example, they use known pseudoscience websites such as Sustainable Pulse and gmfreeze.org to name a few.

Overall, we rate Independent Science News a moderate Pseudoscience source as they publish occasional scientific misinformation.

[Sour Masher]

Here is a pretty definitive statement that the scientific consensus is that it is not lab-made from a source that media fact checkers rate highly, citing published and noted university affiliated professors : https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-...n-a-lab-rumour

Here is an excerpt:

Discussions around this subject have become even more pertinent since US government intelligence officials are reportedly investigating the potential source of the pandemic, focusing on theories that it may have originated in a laboratory, despite all evidence pointing to SARS-CoV-2 not being human-made.

"All evidence so far points to the fact the COVID-19 virus is naturally derived and not man-made," explains immunologist Nigel McMillan from the Menzies Health Institute Queensland.

"If you were going to design it in a lab the sequence changes make no sense as all previous evidence would tell you it would make the virus worse. No system exists in the lab to make some of the changes found."

Back in late March, we covered a study published in Nature Medicine, in which the researchers investigated the genomic data of SARS-CoV-2 - particularly the receptor-binding domain (RBD) sections of the virus - to try and discover how it mutated into the virulent and deadly version we're currently struggling to contain.

As a by-product of their research, they were able to determine that SARS-CoV-2 was not genetically manipulated.

"By comparing the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, we can firmly determine that SARS-CoV-2 originated through natural processes," one of the researchers, Scripps Research immunologist Kristian Andersen, said at the time.

"Two features of the virus, the mutations in the RBD portion of the spike protein and its distinct backbone, rules out laboratory manipulation as a potential origin for SARS-CoV-2."

[Sour Masher]

And here is one of the university sources cited in the article above, with a team of professors from several prestigious universities with strong immunology programs: https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...ronavirus.html

FWIW, the 2017 Nature Innovation Index ranked Scripps Research is the #1 most influential research institution in the world (LENS score of 18.1), and my general understanding is that is is a very highly regarded non-profit, staffed with highly regarded researchers, so, to me, it carries a lot of weight.

[nullnor]

i checked out the site and saw their opinions. it has a lot of links, so it has some link information in one place if someone has trouble finding more opinions. there's a difference between saying genetically manipulated and no system exists in place to make changes found. the latter is just flat out wrong. they use the argument that the sequences aren't perfect thus indicating a natural recombination event, it's called passaging. this would accelerate it's evolution and look natural with errors but fully functional. also, there's a difference between saying no published backbone vs an unpublished one. and there are plenty of examples of published potential backbones it's just missing the final steps.

but for a lot of researchers to come out and say definitively there's no lab origin is suspect. I hate go there but you have to ask what's in it for them. probably at least 90% of this research is tied to drug companies or even partially funded or working with China. the journal nature medicine removed 1000 papers at their request. ..and yeah, I know I sound like a conspiracy.

lets make a comparison, if you were a physicist and you said you believed in God or you were applying for a job or funds vs someone that says they are an atheist. who do you think has a better chance at getting the job. the guy in charge of hiring will think the first guy is potentially influenced by religion because they see it as bad optics. now apply this to biomedical. everyone is almost connected to this type of invasive and risky research. you start going around promoting what is seen as conspiracy or harmful to the industry or even the simplest research and you'll find yourself ostracized in your field of work. hence the denial. thus the people that would tell don't know, and the ones that know won't tell.

for the layperson it's a complicated subject and it takes effort to educate so as to even have a rudimentary understanding of the conversation. when they say two mutations in the RBD they are talking about the HIV like furin cleavage site on the S1,S2 not being perfect. but when a passage system is employed that's expected to happen.

anyone can play this game. try this site the article is 4 months old. https://harvardtothebighouse.com/202...mpression=true

– Another Chinese virologist, Xing-Yi Ge, appears as an author on the 2016 UNC paper and is also attached to the lab in Wuhan. Previously in 2013, he’d been the very first scientist to successfully isolated a SARS-like coronavirus from bats which targets the ACE2 receptor, just like our present virus, the Wuhan Coronavirus COVID-19 uses. And it turns out that sections of the Wuhan Strain’s ACE2 receptor’s genes are unique: they’re almost identical to SARS’s spike-protein genes – despite the fact that almost none of the two coronavirus’s genomes are similar anywhere else at all. Beyond that, although the Wuhan Strain’s spike-protein genome differs from SARS in four out of the five most important genomic spots that determine binding to the ACE2 receptor, they surprisingly don’t effect the protein-spike’s shape. And in an even bigger coincidence, these four spots also code for the outside region of the spike that allows entry into cells, and do not effect it either – allowing the Wuhan Strain to still use the ACE2 receptor to unlock cells while possibly gaining additional capabilities. The odds that this concordance was bio-engineered into the virus are several orders of magnitude more likely than for this to randomly have evolved in nature, and is exactly the sort of process used to make the H5N1 Bird Flu airborne and highly pathogenic.

the question you have to ask is, which side is willing to talk and provide more detailed information. the denying researchers seem to be waving their hand dismissively while the while the researchers saying it's too early to tell are willing to try to be open.

you could take 4 researchers from the same place and three of them will say impossible, while one will say it can't be ruled out. and to tell the truth, I don't really care one way or the other. I don't have an agenda. I am making an observation. it's not really worth the effort to try to convince people my point of view for now reason. I guess I am just curious about the origins and am asking for due diligence help. but I understand it's a very technical scientific subject.

there's nothing really to be gained from discovering it's a laboratory escaped virus except personal enlightenment. but in contrast, there's a lot to lose.

[nullnor]

I would say this to anyone trying to understand if it's possible it's lab escaped to ask themselves if is it really worth the effort. no-one is going to believe you anyway. there's so much evidence of cover up, destroying samples, imprisoning whistle blowers and doctors in China, refusing investigations or origins, panic, first infections not where they were first presumed, bats not even really being near Wuhan, exact type of experiments performed in close proximity, curious structures of virus, the fact this virus is finely tuned or at the end stage of it's evolution when making it's presumed first human to human jump. there's 2 dozen reasons.

but you'll just sound crazy. I was the first one to say just because a lab is down the street is conspiracy stuff. I was the first one to say even if it's true, it's more important to pay attention to potential future natural spillover events. which are likely to happen. and that focusing on saying it's lab engineered takes away from where our focus should be; in the wild.

but i am a man of fairness. when i see something i think is unfair, i like to go with underdogs as long as it's true. see, i understand where everyone is coming from. if you believe one conspiracy then we are afraid it will lead us to believing more. like if you say 1984 'Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.' for example if you believe in one conspiracy you will become infected and lose your ability to think rationally, and need to arm yourself with fact-checkers.

i'd rather not know the information about the virus i want, than be labeled or feel like i am acting conspiratorial- betraying a scientific oath.

[nullnor]

opening up the economy will actually work now because the people 50 and under have low mortality rates. the world has established that 50 and older are the people that need to be careful. in Massachusetts 50 have 3.6 mortality rate and probably lower to do testing challenges. 60+ you start getting in 10% plus SARS mortality rate territory. but that's still pretty high for 50 and over. and we have healthcare. although i personally don't.

it'll be like Sweden sort of before they realized they had to do more for older citizens. ..i'll make a prediction, the virus isn't really going to go away until a vaccine, and the battlegrounds will be nursing homes and care facilities.

i'll give you a word of caution, George Floyd had been previously diagnosed with C-19 and after recovering still had it in his system 18 days when he died. they say it's just viral fragments still clearing your system, but there is a very small chance it stays at low levels and since it's new we can't be sure how long, even if it is asymptomatic. even if it does clear it can have long lasting health effects, especially for people needing to be hospitalized. loss of kidney function, lung capacity, cardiovascular disease. etc..

this is the future we are embarking on. we still need to social distance and be careful around people over 60.

the people in their 50's will just have to hope 3.6 mortality isn't themselves. because we're fucked. heh