(06.04.2020)
Imagine that you are not carrying the virus, but you go in for testing and leave carrying the virus.
The Telegraph report stated that it is “not clear” how the tests were contaminated.
Archiv: contaminations / spreads
Coronavirus testing effort hampered by kits contaminated with Covid-19: Traces of the virus were detected in parts due for delivery from overseas in the coming day
(30.04.2020)
One of the suppliers – the Luxembourg-based firm Eurofins – sent an email on Monday morning to government laboratories in the UK warning that a delivery of key components called “probes and primers” had been contaminated with coronavirus and would be delayed.
The firm admitted there had been “an issue” and insisted other private providers had suffered the same problem.
Scoop: Lab for coronavirus test kits may have been contaminated
(01.03.2020)
A senior administration official added that the government also moved the manufacturing of the coronavirus tests out of the Atlanta laboratory of CDC.
The official said that the CDC engaged with a third party contractor on Feb. 20 to help manufacture the testing kits. The official added that the FDA regulator, Stenzel, visited the Atlanta laboratory on Feb. 22.
C.D.C. Virus Tests Were Contaminated and Poorly Designed, Agency Says
(15.12.2021)
In January 2020, the C.D.C. developed a polymerase chain reaction, or P.C.R., test for the virus. (…)
Problems emerged soon after the C.D.C. had begun shipping its test kits out to public health laboratories in early February. (…)
In mid-February, the agency acknowledged that the kits were flawed, and in April, officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that poor manufacturing practices had resulted in contamination of the test kits.
The new paper presents the results of the C.D.C.’s own internal investigation into the problems with the tests.
(…)
The investigation also confirmed that the test kits had been contaminated with synthetic fragments of the virus’s genetic material.
COVID-19: stigmatising the unvaccinated is not justified
(20.11.2021)
In the USA and Germany, high-level officials have used the term pandemic of the unvaccinated, suggesting that people who have been vaccinated are not relevant in the epidemiology of COVID-19. Officials’ use of this phrase might have encouraged one scientist to claim that “the unvaccinated threaten the vaccinated for COVID-19”.1
But this view is far too simple.
There is increasing evidence that vaccinated individuals continue to have a relevant role in transmission.
The epidemiological relevance of the COVID-19-vaccinated population is increasing
(19.11.2021)
High COVID-19 vaccination rates were expected to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in populations by reducing the number of possible sources for transmission and thereby to reduce the burden of COVID-19 disease. Recent data, however, indicate that the epidemiological relevance of COVID-19 vaccinated individuals is increasing. In the UK it was described that secondary attack rates among household contacts exposed to fully vaccinated index cases was similar to household contacts exposed to unvaccinated index cases (25% for vaccinated vs 23% for unvaccinated).
Exposed: CDC Rushed to Change Definition of ‚Vaccination‘ On Same Day Israel Study Touts Natural Immunity over Vaccine
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) quietly changed their definition of “Vaccination” on September 1st, exchanging the word “immunity” for “protection,” now that it appears that breakthrough cases can no longer be explained away as an anomaly.
The definition change occurred on the same day – September 1st – that a massive study was released demonstrating that those who had been vaccinated were “13 times more likely to be infected with the Delta variant (what has been called a “breakthrough” infection) than those with natural immunity,” as summarized at the American Conservative.
Covid-19 vaccine immunity may be waning. Here’s what that means—and doesn’t.
Explanations for Israel’s vaccine effectiveness data
When Israeli researchers announced last month that people vaccinated in the winter were more likely to contract Covid than those who had been vaccinated in the spring, many assumed this demonstrated waning vaccine effectiveness.
The data from Israel’s Ministry of Health suggested that vaccine effectiveness against both infection and symptomatic disease had decreased to around 40%, but this decline may have been due to other factors and not the vaccines, Wu writes
Japan detects more Moderna vaccine contamination
Japan’s Okinawa region suspended the use of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday after another contamination was spotted, the local government said.
It comes a day after the Japanese health ministry said it was investigating the death of two men who received shots from tainted Moderna batches — though the cause of their death is unknown.
Japan probes two deaths after jabs from tainted Moderna batch
Both men contracted fever after receiving their vaccinations and neither had underlying health conditions or allergic history, the ministry said.
The suspension affects 1.63 million doses of Moderna COVID vaccines, which have been reportedly shipped to over 800 vaccination centers across Japan.
Japan halts use of 1.63 mil Moderna vaccine doses over contamination
The foreign substances have been confirmed since Aug. 16 at eight vaccination sites in five prefectures — Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Gifu and Aichi. They were found in a total of 39 vials.
Takeda reported them to the ministry on Wednesday.
The composition of the foreign matter, a few millimeters in size, has not been determined.
The „small black materials“ reported to the ministry could be metallic fragments, one of its senior officials said.
C.D.C. Internal Report Calls Delta Variant as Contagious as Chickenpox
The Delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, according to the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.
The immediate next step for the agency is to “acknowledge the war has changed,” the document said. Its contents were first reported by The Washington Post on Thursday evening.
Auf Wiedersehen BRIT! Germany BANS Britons from midnight TOMORROW after branding UK a Covid variant hotspot… while Spain lifts restrictions to welcome tourists
Britons will soon be barred from entering Germany after the country’s Public Health Institute designated the UK as a virus variant area of concern.
From midnight on Sunday people travelling there from the UK may only enter the country if they are a German citizen or resident.
Just 15 people out of 60,000 tested positive for covid after mass gathering trial
The pilot events included 21,000 people at the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, plus two other matches at the venue.
There was a rave with 3,000 clubbers at the Circus nightclub in Liverpool, which saw partygoers not having to wear a mask.
Others included the Brit Awards, which hosted 4,000 people at London’s 02 Arena, and the snooker world championships at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre
UK records seven Covid deaths – down 75% in a week – while cases drop seven per cent to 1,907 as UK shows no sign of post-lockdown surge
It comes after Office for National Statistics data suggested the total number of infections is lower than at any point since early September and infections have been falling constantly for five weeks.
Experts said the data ’should be celebrated‘ and were the first proof that, despite the reopening of outdoor hospitality and allowing the rule of six earlier this month, there was still ’no evidence of an increased transmission risk‘.
Worrying new clues about the origins of Covid: How scientists at Wuhan lab helped Chinese army in secret project to find animal viruses, writes IAN BIRRELL
An update in 2018 said that the scientific teams – who published many of their findings in international journals – had found four new pathogens and ten new bacteria while ‚more than 1,640 new viruses were discovered using metagenomics technology‘. Such research is based on extraction of genetic material from samples such as those collected by Prof Shi from bat faeces and blood in the cave networks of southern China.
Such extensive sampling led to Prof Shi’s rapid revelation last year of RaTG13, the closest known relative to the new strain of coronavirus that causes Covid.
It was stored at the Wuhan lab, the biggest repository of bat coronaviruses in Asia.
Medical certification, ICD mortality coding, and reporting mortality associated with COVID-19, Technical note, 7 June 2020
New ICD-10 codes for COVID-19
– U07.1 COVID-19, virus identified
– U07.2 Clinically or epidemiologically diagnosed COVID-19
– Probable COVID-19
– Suspected COVID-19
Details of the updates to ICD-10 are available online at: https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/icd10updates/en/.
ICD-10 cause of death coding of COVID-19
Though “COVID-19” is the standard recommended terminology, certifiers may use a range of terms to describe COVID-19 as a cause of death. A list of potential terms can be found in the annex of this document. Although both categories, U07.1 (COVID-19, virus identified) and U07.2 (COVID-19, virus not identified) are suitable for cause of death coding, it is recognized that in many countries detail as to the laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 will NOT be reported on the death certificate. In the absence of this detail, it is recommended, for mortality purposes only, to code COVID-19 provisionally to U07.1 unless it is stated as “probable” or “suspected”.
Reported Cases and Deaths by Country or Territory
(today)
Israel:
Total Cases: 812,823
New Cases: +1,331
Total Deaths: 5,955
New Deaths: +5
Total Recovered: 770,156
Active Cases: 36,712
Serious, Critical: 645
Israel Coronavirus Cases:
Newly Infected vs. Newly Recovered in Israel
Pfizer, BioNTech say Israeli data suggests vaccine greatly reduces asymptomatic infections
Findings not yet peer-reviewed, interaction of vaccine with B1351 variant unclear due to limited data
With rise in infections, health officials weigh slowing down Israel’s COVID lockdown exit plan
(01.03.2021)
Israel celebrates 5 millionth coronavirus vaccination
(08.03.2021)
Israel has administered over 8.7 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to its population of 9.3 million. Over 3.7 million Israelis — more than 40% — have received both of the doses required for maximum immunity.
Israel Is the World’s Most Vaccinated Country. Why Are Cases Rising?
(07.02.2021)
While Israel races ahead on putting shots in arms, the country is also seeing a spike in cases, with almost 74 out of every 100,000 Israelis testing positive for the virus, compared to about 40 out of every 100,000 Americans. On Thursday, the death toll in Israel crossed 5,000.
When asked about the seemingly contradictory puzzle, Galia Rahav, the head of the infectious-disease unit at Tel Aviv’s Sheba Medical Center, sighed, chuckled, and said: “This is Israel. We have to be extreme in everything.”
Infections rise in Israel despite one in three people being vaccinated
(04.02.2021)
INFECTIONS are rising in Israel despite a third of the population having already received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine
Medical certification, ICD mortality coding, and reporting mortality associated with COVID-19, Technical note, 7 June 2020
New ICD-10 codes for COVID-19
– U07.1 COVID-19, virus identified
– U07.2 Clinically or epidemiologically diagnosed COVID-19
– Probable COVID-19
– Suspected COVID-19
Details of the updates to ICD-10 are available online at: https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/icd10updates/en/.
ICD-10 cause of death coding of COVID-19
Though “COVID-19” is the standard recommended terminology, certifiers may use a range of terms to describe COVID-19 as a cause of death. A list of potential terms can be found in the annex of this document. Although both categories, U07.1 (COVID-19, virus identified) and U07.2 (COVID-19, virus not identified) are suitable for cause of death coding, it is recognized that in many countries detail as to the laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 will NOT be reported on the death certificate. In the absence of this detail, it is recommended, for mortality purposes only, to code COVID-19 provisionally to U07.1 unless it is stated as “probable” or “suspected”.
Global surveillance for COVID-19 caused by human infection with COVID-19 virus – Interim guidance, 20 March 2020
Case and contact definitions are based on the current available information and are regularly revised as new information accumulates. Countries may need to adapt case definitions depending on their local epidemiological situation and other factors. All countries are encouraged to publish definitions used online and in regular situation reports, and to document periodic updates to definitions which may affect the interpretation of surveillance data.
Suspect case
A. A patient with acute respiratory illness (fever and at least one sign/symptom of respiratory disease, e.g., cough, shortness of breath), AND a history of travel to or residence in a location reporting community transmission of COVID-19 disease during the 14 days prior to symptom onset;
OR
B. A patient with any acute respiratory illness AND having been in contact with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case (see definition of contact) in the last 14 days prior to symptom onset;
OR
C. A patient with severe acute respiratory illness (fever and at least one sign/symptom of respiratory disease, e.g., cough, shortness of breath; AND requiring hospitalization) AND in the absence of an alternative diagnosis that fully explains the clinical presentation.
Probable case
A. A suspect case for whom testing for the COVID-19 virus is inconclusive.
OR
B. A suspect case for whom testing could not be performed for any reason.
Confirmed case:
A person with laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 infection, irrespective of clinical signs and symptoms.
Israel’s COVID Infection Rates Are Rising – but It May Not Matter That Much Now
(02.03.2021)
Health experts say most at-risk Israelis are now vaccinated, and they expect the number of seriously ill coronavirus patients to drop
Oxford and Pfizer Covid vaccine has significant effect from one shot as hospital cases fall rapidly
(01.03.2021)
“In fact, the detailed data show that the protection that you get from catching Covid 35 days after a first jab is even slightly better for the Oxford jab than for Pfizer, albeit both results are clearly very strong.”
Thanks @kakape for the opportunity to clarify our findings. One of the misunderstanding has been about the nature of our work in the past month. It was a joint @WHO – #China mission to review the July agreed phase 1 studies and plan a series of new studies. Work in progress.
This was NOT my experience on @WHO mission. As lead of animal/environment working group I found trust & openness w/ my China counterparts. We DID get access to critical new data throughout. We DID increase our understanding of likely spillover pathways.
(13.02.2021)
LIVE from Wuhan : Media briefing on #COVID19 origin mission
Did the Covid-19 virus really escape from a Wuhan lab?
Chan and her colleague Dr Shing Hei Zhan scrutinised the evolutions of SARS-CoV-1 (the cause of the 2003 SARS epidemic) and SARS-CoV-2 (the cause of the current pandemic) in the early months of their respective outbreaks and found that while the former mutated rapidly in early human cases, as the virus adapted to its new host, the latter did not. This implies that the virus causing Covid-19 was already well adapted to infecting human beings, a point that was also suggested by the World Health Organization in its global study on the origins of Covid-19, published in November.
There are three possible explanations for this. The first is that the virus had circulated, undetected, in people for months. The second is that the virus was already highly adept at human-to-human transmission, even while it was still in bats or other animals. The third is that it had become adapted in human cells, or humanised animals, in a laboratory.
So you got the vaccine. Can you still infect people? Pfizer is trying to find out.
(02.02.2021)
Whether or not the vaccines stop “onward transmission” of the virus is likely to be a critical variable in determining how the pandemic plays out and how soon life goes back to normal. Right now, researchers say, their best guess is that vaccines will reduce transmission but may not prevent it entirely.
TV: Several vaccinated elderly tested positive for COVID, but had no symptoms
Pfizer and Moderna, which produce the vaccines used in Israel, have said their shots appear to be slightly less effective in preventing the so-called South African strain of the virus, though the companies say they remain quite potent.
Juneau nursing home outbreak could be a model for what COVID-19 looks like after vaccine
(07.02.2021)
Staff and outside experts attribute the health of these people in the face of their COVID-19 infections primarily to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Nearly 80% of the people who live and work in the facility have received at least one of the shots in the two-shot series.
Oxford coronavirus vaccine shows sustained protection of 76% during the 3-month interval until the second dose
(02.02.2021)
The authors also report further on the potential for the vaccine to reduce transmission of the virus, based on swabs obtained from volunteers in the UK arms of the trial with a 67% reduction after the first dose of the vaccine.
The flu abruptly disappeared in March of 2020. It disappeared at about the exact same time covid-19 testing and detection ramped up. See the timing overlay below
UK Covid cases fall by a THIRD in a week and deaths down almost 20% piling pressure on Boris to show way out of lockdown
Mark Harper — chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of lockdown sceptics, with 70 Tory MPs — said: “Back-of-the-envelope calculations I did based on two million doses a week mean you could get the top nine priority groups, first doses, and the top four groups, second doses, all done by the end of May.
“So it seems to me by the time you get to the end of May, no later than that, you should be in a position to get rid of restrictions completely.
Single dose administration, and the influence of the timing of the booster dose on immunogenicity and efficacy of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine
If there was no impact of a vaccine on asymptomatic infection, it would be expected that an efficacious vaccine would simply convert severe cases to mild cases and mild cases to asymptomatic, with overall PCR positivity unchanged. A measure of overall PCR positivity is appropriate to assess whether there is a reduction in the burden of infection. Analyses presented here show that a single standard dose of the vaccine reduced PCR positivity by 67%, and that, after the second dose, the SD/SD schedule reduced PCR positivity by 49.5% overall. These data indicate that ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, used in the authorised schedules, may have a substantial impact on transmission by reducing the number of infected individuals in the population.
Single shot of Oxford University’s Covid jab ‚is 76% effective for 12 weeks and may block seven in 10 people from spreading the disease‘
Meanwhile, analysis of PCR positive swabs carried out on nearly 7,000 patients in the UK arm of Oxford’s trial suggests the vaccine may reduce transmission by 67 per cent.
Sterilizing Immunity and COVID-19 Vaccines
As game-changing as the Pfizer vaccine (and Moderna’s equally effective mRNA-1273 vaccine) may be in affording protection against the COVID-19 illness, the results do not reflect complete „sterilizing immunity.“
This is the type of immunity that completely prevents a disease-causing pathogen like COVID-19 from establishing an infection. Sterilizing immunity differs from effective immunity in that the latter can prevent illness but still lead to asymptomatic infection.
Rep. Stephen Lynch Contracts COVID After Two Pfizer Vaccine Doses
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) announced late Friday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after receiving his second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.
Pfizer chairman: We’re not sure if someone can transmit virus after vaccination
(DEc 3, 2020)
Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla told Dateline host Lester Holt that the pharmaceutical company was “not certain” if the vaccine prevented the coronavirus from being transmitted, saying, “This is something that needs to be examined.”
Your Coronavirus Test Is Positive. Maybe It Shouldn’t Be.
(29.08.2020)
Most tests set the limit at 40, a few at 37. This means that you are positive for the coronavirus if the test process required up to 40 cycles, or 37, to detect the virus.
Tests with thresholds so high may detect not just live virus but also genetic fragments, leftovers from infection that pose no particular risk — akin to finding a hair in a room long after a person has left, Dr. Mina said.
Any test with a cycle threshold above 35 is too sensitive, agreed Juliet Morrison, a virologist at the University of California, Riverside. “I’m shocked that people would think that 40 could represent a positive,” she said.
WHO Information Notice for IVD Users 2020/05
Description of the problem: WHO requests users to follow the instructions for use (IFU) when interpreting results for specimens tested using PCR methodology.
Users of IVDs must read and follow the IFU carefully to determine if manual adjustment of the PCR positivity threshold is recommended by the manufacturer.
WHO guidance Diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 states that careful interpretation of weak positive results is needed (1). The cycle threshold (Ct) needed to detect virus is inversely proportional to the patient’s viral load. Where test results do not correspond with the clinical presentation, a new specimen should be taken and retested using the same or different NAT technology.
Oxford scientists preparing new vaccine versions to combat emerging Covid strains
A laboratory study found that the 501Y.V2 variant achieved „complete escape“ from monoclonal antibodies, the man-made proteins that act like the antibodies produced by jabs.
Boris Johnson said he was holding „intensive talks“ with scientists about the new variants. The Prime Minister told MPs he was confident that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was capable of approving new vaccine modifications as quickly as necessary.
Derbyshire health chiefs warn that vaccines alone will not mean an end to restrictions
“We don’t know yet whether an individual can, although not becoming ill from the virus because they have been vaccinated, still catch it and spread it on to others.
Vaccinated Brits told not to hug kids amid fears millions will ignore Covid rules once they have jab
Asked whether people who had received the jab could hug their children, Janet Lord, director of Birmingham University’s Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, said: “I would certainly advise not to do that at the moment because as you probably know with the vaccines they take several weeks before they are maximally effective.“
The COVID Vaccine May Not Protect You From This One Thing, Experts Warn
(05.12.2020)
In order to halt the spread of coronavirus completely, a vaccine would need to produce antibodies that stop the virus from replicating. „To prevent asymptomatic infection and transmission, you need what’s called sterilizing immunity,“ Greg Poland, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, explained to USA Today. While it’s possible that one or more of the vaccines could produce sterilizing immunity, it currently remains unproven.
COVID Lockdowns May Have No Clear Benefit vs Other Voluntary Measures, International Study Shows
(14.01.2021)
The peer reviewed study was published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation on January 5, and analyzed coronavirus case growth in 10 countries in early 2020.
The study compared cases in England, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the U.S. – all countries that implemented mandatory lockdown orders and business closures – to South Korea and Sweden, which instituted less severe, voluntary responses. It aimed to analyze the effect that less restrictive or more restrictive measures had on changing individual behavior and curbing the transmission of the virus.
Coronavirus: Fishermen test positive despite spending 35 days at sea and testing negative before they left
(16.07.2020)
Ms Alfaro added that the outbreak may have been exacerbated by the fishermen’s hardiness and acclimatisation to rough conditions, in that they may have spent significant time in discomfort without recognising or acknowledging symptoms.
Coronavirus D614G mutation found in 99.9% of cases at US hospital
(02.11.2020)
The finding adds credence to the theory the mutation, which accounts for 85 per cent of global cases, is more contagious than the original strain.
D614G is by far the most common strain of coronavirus affecting humans worldwide and first appeared in February in Europe.
The World Needs a Real Investigation Into the Origins of Covid-19
The world needs an inquiry that considers not just natural origins but the possibility that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, escaped from a laboratory. The WHO team, however, plans to build on reports by Chinese scientists rather than mount an independent investigation. Given that Chinese authorities have been slow to release information, penalized scientists and doctors who shared clinical and genomic details of the novel coronavirus, and have since demonstrated a keen interest in controlling the narrative of how the virus emerged, this is not a promising foundation for WHO’s investigation.
ASSESSING MANDATORY STAY-AT-HOME AND BUSINESS CLOSURE EFFECTS ON THE SPREAD OF COVID-19
(released 05.01.2021)
Conclusions: While small benefits cannot be excluded, we do not find significant benefits on case growth of more restrictive NPIs. Similar reductions in case growth may be achievable with less restrictive interventions.
Lockdowns Do Not Control The Coronavirus: The Evidence
(21.12.2020)
Much of the following list has been put together by data engineer Ivor Cummins, who has waged a year-long educational effort to upend intellectual support for lockdowns. AIER has added its own and the summaries. The upshot is that the virus is going to do as viruses do, same as always in the history of infectious disease. We have extremely limited control over them, and that which we do have is bound up with time and place. Fear, panic, and coercion are not ideal strategies for managing viruses. Intelligence and medical therapeutics fare much better.
(These studies are focused only on lockdown and their relationship to virus control. They do not get into the myriad associated issues that have vexed the world such as mask mandates, PCR-testing issues, death misclassification problem, or any particular issues associated with travel restrictions, restaurant closures, and hundreds of other particulars about which whole libraries will be written in the future.)
החיסון האמיתי ניתן עכשיו בבלפור:
Peter Doshi: Pfizer and Moderna’s “95% effective” vaccines—let’s be cautious and first see the full data
(26.11.2020)
Let’s put this in perspective. First, a relative risk reduction is being reported, not absolute risk reduction, which appears to be less than 1%. Second, these results refer to the trials’ primary endpoint of covid-19 of essentially any severity, and importantly not the vaccine’s ability to save lives, nor the ability to prevent infection, nor the efficacy in important subgroups (e.g. frail elderly). Those still remain unknown.
What is sterilizing immunity and do we need it for the coronavirus?
(08.06.2020)
Neutralizing antibodies prevent the virus from replicating.
How a Covid-19 Vaccine Could End Up Helping the Virus Spread
(11.11.2020)
A vaccine that protects against symptoms of Covid-19 could contribute to the spread of the disease if — and this is still just an if — the people who get vaccinated remain capable of carrying and transmitting the virus. That’s a risk that’s gotten little attention amid the deserved jubilation over a Nov. 9 report from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE that their vaccine candidate appears to be highly effective.
Researchers looking at new coronavirus strain, says health minister
Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, told a press conference that London was being moved to more stringent Tier 3 restrictions because cases were surging in and around the capital — and not directly in response to the discovery of the new variant.
Spread of a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant across Europe in summer 2020
(29.10.2020)
Currently, 20A.EU1 accounts for 90% of sequences from the UK, 60% of sequences from Ireland, and between 30 and 40% of sequences in Switzerland and the Netherlands. This makes this variant currently one of the most prevalent in Europe. It has also been identified in France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway, and Sweden.
90% of UK Covid cases came from Spanish strain, study shows
(30.10.2020)
Research showed that the Spanish strain accounted for 90 percent of sequences from the UK, 60 percent from Ireland, 40 percent from the Netherlands, 30 percent from Switzerland and has been identified in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway, and Sweden.
Coronavirus D614G mutation found in 99.9% of cases at US hospital
(02.11.2020)
The finding adds credence to the theory the mutation, which accounts for 85 per cent of global cases, is more contagious than the original strain.
D614G is by far the most common strain of coronavirus affecting humans worldwide and first appeared in February in Europe.
What is ‚VUI – 202012/01‘? Matt Hancock reveals new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus could be behind surging cases in London and the South East – but it has ‚only been found in 1,000 people and isn’t more deadly‘
However, there have been three that have caught scientists‘ attention:
D614G
D614G is by far the most common strain of coronavirus affecting humans worldwide and first appeared in February in Germany.
It is thought to account for 85 per cent of global cases.
The D614G mutation sprung up at one specific location, position 614, on the spike protein of the virus, in a European patient.
This viral spike hijacks the human receptor ACE2 and this is how it infects human cells.
Your Coronavirus Test Is Positive. Maybe It Shouldn’t Be.
(29.08.2020)
Most tests set the limit at 40, a few at 37. This means that you are positive for the coronavirus if the test process required up to 40 cycles, or 37, to detect the virus.
Tests with thresholds so high may detect not just live virus but also genetic fragments, leftovers from infection that pose no particular risk — akin to finding a hair in a room long after a person has left, Dr. Mina said.
Any test with a cycle threshold above 35 is too sensitive, agreed Juliet Morrison, a virologist at the University of California, Riverside. “I’m shocked that people would think that 40 could represent a positive,” she said.
There’s NO evidence that Covid candidate vaccines prevent infection, prevent/reduce transmission, reduce hosps or reduce mortality. Nor are clinical trials designed to determine these endpoints. Longterm efficacy/safety also unknowns All we know—may reduce “common cold symptoms”
Peter Doshi: Pfizer and Moderna’s “95% effective” vaccines—let’s be cautious and first see the full data
(26.11.2020)
Let’s put this in perspective. First, a relative risk reduction is being reported, not absolute risk reduction, which appears to be less than 1%. Second, these results refer to the trials’ primary endpoint of covid-19 of essentially any severity, and importantly not the vaccine’s ability to save lives, nor the ability to prevent infection, nor the efficacy in important subgroups (e.g. frail elderly). Those still remain unknown. Third, these results reflect a time point relatively soon after vaccination, and we know nothing about vaccine performance at 3, 6, or 12 months, so cannot compare these efficacy numbers against other vaccines like influenza vaccines (which are judged over a season). Fourth, children, adolescents, and immunocompromised individuals were largely excluded from the trials, so we still lack any data on these important populations.
I previously argued that the trials are studying the wrong endpoint, and for an urgent need to correct course and study more important endpoints like prevention of severe disease and transmission in high risk people. Yet, despite the existence of regulatory mechanisms for ensuring vaccine access while keeping the authorization bar high (which would allow placebo-controlled trials to continue long enough to answer the important question), it’s hard to avoid the impression that sponsors are claiming victory and wrapping up their trials (Pfizer has already sent trial participants a letter discussing “crossing over” from placebo to vaccine), and the FDA will now be under enormous pressure to rapidly authorize the vaccines.
Challenges in Assessing the Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines
Determining whether a vaccine can protect against severe disease and death from COVID-19 may not be possible in phase 3 clinical trials and will often require long-term, ongoing studies after widespread deployment of a vaccine.
To ensure ongoing evaluation of vaccine safety, well-supported pharmacovigilance studies after licensure will be necessary.
Pfizer chairman: We’re not sure if someone can transmit virus after vaccination
Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla told Dateline host Lester Holt that the pharmaceutical company was “not certain” if the vaccine prevented the coronavirus from being transmitted, saying, “This is something that needs to be examined.”
Revealed: Up to a QUARTER of official Covid-19 ‚admissions‘ may be patients who caught the virus IN HOSPITAL, data shows
– Government data shows there were 1,230 coronavirus patients needing NHS treatment every day in England
– But only 938 of these were from ‚the community‘, meaning they definitely caught the virus in day-to-day life
Scientists from the Wuhan virus lab have ‚defected‘ to the West, reveals senior Trump ally Steve Bannon – as FBI gathers evidence that coronavirus pandemic was caused by an accidental leak
He said: ‘The thing was built with French help, so don’t think that there aren’t some monitoring devices in there. I think what you are going to find out is that these guys were doing experiments which they weren’t fully authorised [for] or knew what they were doing and that somehow, either through an inadvertent mistake, or on a lab technician, one of these things got out.
‘It’s not that hard for these viruses to get out. That is why these labs are so dangerous.
‘You essentially had a biological Chernobyl in Wuhan, but the centre of gravity, the Ground Zero, was round the Wuhan lab, in terms of the casualty rates. And like Chernobyl, you also had the cover-up – the state apparatus reports to itself and just protects itself.’
6 Trump campaign members in Tulsa test positive for the coronavirus ahead of rally
(20.06.2020)
Of the six, at least two of them are Secret Service agents, according to a law enforcement official.
Medical experts say protests violate social distancing guidelines. Why is there no spike in cases 2 weeks later?
While more than two weeks have passed, one health district director thinks it’s still too soon to draw conclusions on the effect large protests have on the number of coronavirus cases in Virginia.
Nurse documents chilling experiences at NY Hospital
Olzewski also noted:
„Ventilators are likely to be the leading cause of death in the pandemic. Sedatives and paralytics combined with barro-trauma from pressurized air kill 90 percent of those vented at Elmhurst (and by extension, much of the world).
Nosocomial (in-hospital) infection is the main vector of transmission. At Elmhurst, “Covid Rule-Out” and “Covid Confirmed” are housed in the same rooms. PPE is not changed between patients. Rooms are not properly or even marginally cleaned after Covid deaths.
Isolated from family, patients at Elmhurst who do not have “Do Not Resuscitate” orders are being treated as though they did. Nurses were told not to perform CPR on at least one “full code” patient, in violation of their oaths and licenses.
Delayed treatment due to the government mandate to stay inside, and the government recommendation to not seek early outpatient help, combined with the restriction in New York and elsewhere on promising, even proven therapies during the early stages of illness, massively compounds the death rate.
Much of which points to what may be the real reason black and brown Americans seem to be disproportionately affected by COVID-19. They are likely not dying because of some alleged genetic predisposition or a peculiar array of Covi-combustible comorbidities. But they are certainly dying from an underlying condition: a defunded, criminally negligent, and corrupt hospital system, which during this crisis seems to take extra pains to do them in, and which may be financially incentivized to do so.“
„It’s all sedation and paralytics.“ Patients negative for covid were placed in the same room with positive patients.
„HIgher ups“ were overriding a patient’s full code status! Erin Marie RN exposes the malfeasance and callous disregard for human life in this fiasco.
Erin Marie Olszewski is a Nurse-turned-investigative journalist, who has spent the last few months on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, on the inside in two radically different settings.
Perspectives on the Pandemic | The (Undercover) Epicenter Nurse | Episode Nine
(09.06.2020)
Erin Marie Olszewski is a Nurse-turned-investigative journalist, who has spent the last few months on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, on the inside in two radically different settings. Two hospitals. One private, the other public. One in Florida, the other in New York.
And not just any New York public hospital, but the „epicenter of the epicenter“ itself, the infamous Elmhurst in Donald Trump’s Queens. As a result of these diametrically opposed experiences, she has the ultimate „perspective on the pandemic“. She has been where there have been the most deaths attributed to Covid-19 and where there have been the least.
What Happened at Elmhurst Hospital? Nurse/Journalist Tells all In Shocking Interview
(11.06.2020)
Erin enlisted in the Army when she was 17. She deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Part of her duties involved overseeing aid disbursement and improvements to hospital facilities. While in country she received the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service, and was wounded in combat. Erin eventually retired as a sergeant, and became a civilian nurse in 2012.
Grim blame game over COVID deaths in besieged nursing homes
(today)
Nationwide, more than 45,500 residents and staff have died from coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, according to a running count by The Associated Press. That’s about 40% of more than 115,000 total deaths. Nursing home residents are less than 1% of the U.S. population.
UPDATE: Study Finds Just 1.8% of US Population is in Nursing Homes But Tallied Over 42% of All US COVID-19 Deaths — or Over 40,000 Deaths!
(26.05.2020)
At least 4,900 seniors have died in New York State nursing homes from the coronavirus so far this year.
Around 20 percent of all New York state deaths were in nursing homes.
WHO seeks to clarify widely criticized statement on asymptomatic spread
Van Kerkhove’s answer on Monday had provoked a flurry of criticism and worry from public health experts on Twitter who worried that the WHO was giving the public the wrong impression.
Coronavirus Israel Live: Knesset Shuttered After Lawmaker Diagnosed With COVID-19
The Knesset announced on Thursday morning that all committee meetings scheduled for the day were postponed and that workers were instructed not to come to in unless it was essential to do so.
FDA commissioner and CDC director will testify remotely in Senate hearing
Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, will testify by video conference at a Senate hearing about the coronavirus next week.
The crazy thing about all of these cases of COVID in prison is that they’re happening to people who are IN PRISON someone has to be in there intentionally spreading the virus.
Reports: 11 US Secret Service members currently positive for COVID-19
A spokesperson for DHS reportedly declined to comment on the number of cases.
Fauci to enter ‚modified quarantine‘: report
He will be staying at home and teleworking while wearing a mask continually for 14 days.
U.S. CDC, FDA chiefs in self-quarantine following COVID-19 exposure -statement, report
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn is in self-quarantine for a couple of weeks after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, an FDA spokesman told Reuters late on Friday.
CDC director self-quarantining after COVID-19 exposure at White House
Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will self-quarantine for two weeks after he was exposed to a person at the White House who tested positive for Covid-19, a CDC spokesperson confirmed to CNN.
Trump sought a reopening but found the virus in the White House instead
President Donald Trump hoped this would be the week he emerged into a nation recovering from pandemic. Instead the pandemic came to him.
Positive coronavirus cases shake White House
Miller’s positive test prompted the vice president to delay his takeoff for a trip to Iowa. Six staffers who may have had contact with her deplaned, and all six later tested negative for the virus.
The positive tests reflect the dangers of the virus spreading inside the White House complex, and it further called into question what measures are being taken to try and limit the exposure of the top two elected officials in American government.
Pence press secretary Katie Miller tests positive for coronavirus
Miller is one of Pence’s closest aides and is married to Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s senior advisers.
White House Rattled by a Military Aide’s Positive Coronavirus Test
(07.05.2020)
President Trump said he and Vice President Mike Pence, as well as the White House staff, would now be tested on a daily basis.
Intelligence Community Statement on Origins of COVID-19
“The entire Intelligence Community has been consistently providing critical support to U.S. policymakers and those responding to the COVID-19 virus, which originated in China. The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified.
“As we do in all crises, the Community’s experts respond by surging resources and producing critical intelligence on issues vital to U.S. national security. The IC will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.”
In Rare Move, U.S. Intelligence Agencies Confirm Investigating if Coronavirus Emerged From Lab Accident
In an unusual public statement, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, also said that U.S. intelligence agencies concur with the broad scientific consensus that “the Covid-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified.”
Chinese lab conducted extensive research on deadly bat viruses, but there is no evidence of accidental release
“It’s far more likely that Mother Nature is just a step ahead of us and has created a novel pathogen, now able to move quite effectively from human to human,” said Jason Rao, a biosecurity specialist, former senior policy adviser to President Barack Obama and executive director of Health Security Partners, a D.C.-based nonprofit organization focused on global biological threat reduction.
Bill Bryan, the DHS science and technology directorate, discusses a federal study indicating that coronavirus is weakened by exposure to sunlight, heat and humidity
Homeland Security official who detailed effect of temperature on coronavirus has long military background
The New York Times reported in 2018 that American and Ukranian government officials expressed concern about whether Bryan was being co-opted by a Ukranian company seen as aligned with an oligarch …
Coronavirus dies in SUNLIGHT in just minutes, groundbreaking Homeland Security study claims
The game-changing findings of the joint effort between the DHS’s Science and Technology directorate and Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force was revealed at Thursday’s White House press briefing.
The virus dies quickest in the presence of direct sunlight, and it survives best in indoor conditions, the study found.
US DHS study report shows that #Covid_19 does not survive heat, sunlight and humidity. In Humidity of 80%, 30c+ temp & sunlight, #coronavirus may survive about 1 min versus 1 day. DHS suggested that people should do outside activities because sunlight impedes the virus spread.
C.D.C. Labs Were Contaminated, Delaying Coronavirus Testing, Officials Say
(18.04.2020)
Those practices made the tests sent to public health labs unusable because they were contaminated with the coronavirus, and produced some inconclusive results.
Could Contaminated COVID-19 Tests Help Spread the Virus?
(06.04.2020)
Imagine that you are not carrying the virus, but you go in for testing and leave carrying the virus.
The Telegraph report stated that it is “not clear” how the tests were contaminated.
Coronavirus testing effort hampered by kits contaminated with Covid-19: Traces of the virus were detected in parts due for delivery from overseas in the coming day
(30.04.2020)
One of the suppliers – the Luxembourg-based firm Eurofins – sent an email on Monday morning to government laboratories in the UK warning that a delivery of key components called “probes and primers” had been contaminated with coronavirus and would be delayed.
The firm admitted there had been “an issue” and insisted other private providers had suffered the same problem.
CDC blocked top FDA scientist dispatched to expedite coronavirus response at critical moment
(05.03.2020)
The FDA’s director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health, Timothy Stenzel, flew to CDC headquarters in Atlanta on the weekend of Feb. 22, but he was immediately forced to wait overnight as health department officials lobbied the CDC to give him access to the agency’s campus, according to Politico. Stenzel was there specifically to work out issues with the CDC’s coronavirus test that had already hobbled more expansive screening for weeks.
Scoop: Lab for coronavirus test kits may have been contaminated
(01.03.2020)
A senior administration official added that the government also moved the manufacturing of the coronavirus tests out of the Atlanta laboratory of CDC.
The official said that the CDC engaged with a third party contractor on Feb. 20 to help manufacture the testing kits. The official added that the FDA regulator, Stenzel, visited the Atlanta laboratory on Feb. 22.
The Exploitation of Pascua Lama Is One Example of Chile’s Neoliberal Exploitation
In 2006, Barrick Gold had proposed moving the glacier ice from the Toro 1, Toro 2 and the Esperanza glaciers to facilitate their exploitation of the region’s resources.
Los Angeles County sues Bayer’s Monsanto over PCB contamination
The case is County of Los Angeles et al v Monsanto Co et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 19-04694.
World Magnetic Model (WMM)
The World Magnetic Model (WMM) is a standard model of the core and large-scale crustal magnetic field. It is used extensively for navigation and in attitude and heading referencing systems by the UK Ministry of Defence, the US Department of Defense, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the International Hydrographic Organization.
(…)
The WMM is a model of the core and large-scale crustal fields only. However the satellite data contain unwanted signals such as small-scale crustal, external ionospheric and magnetospheric and their induced counterparts. These fields would have added noise to the WMM2015 SV model and could have biased its estimates.
BGS employed two techniques to avoid the contamination caused by external magnetic fields. Firstly we rejected those data most contaminated by these sources, as identified by a combination of local time, geomagnetic indices and solar wind data. ……..