Coronavirus - International stories and thoughts

Not Funny: Coronavirus Gets Last Laugh In Spain

 

China down to 8 new infections yesterday as factories are re-opening. South Korea down to 100 new infections yesterday. This isn't the unstoppable plague everybody is making it out to be. The virus obviously has a limited reach.

 

Yes it does but it won’t slow down unless people take it relatively serious. Necessary precautions in order to stamp it out.

 

And South Korea ran orders of magnitude more tests than we have with a much larger country, got ahead of it, and slowed the community spread. China placed hundreds of millions into some form of isolation after initial mismanagement. Their exact numbers are also highly questionable (of course, so are our numbers given the lack of testing). No, it is not unstoppable but it requires big measures to stop it. We cant even get the testing stage correct.

 

We have an extended family member who works in manufacturing in Shanghai. He says that they are taking temperatures every time you go into a building. If you have a temperature you get turned away. In his daily work he is getting his temperature taken 8-10 times a day.

It isn't perfect, not every fever is covid19, not every infected person has a fever, but it has slowed the spread and is allowing them to go on with their lives.

We aren't doing this in the US.

 

I speak for life here in the Maldives which I am pretty confident that they do not have test kits to confirm. The term "presumptive" is used too much and with the education level as it is I also bet that the numbers are skewed elsewhere too.
Over the years I have learned that a paper cut must have 3 stitches so I promise you that a runny nose = confirmed. Something to keep in mind as some prepare for their doomsday scenario.

 

I like this nugget. I think it really gets to the circular conversations happening here:

 

‘Where was your patient zero?’ Chinese official speculates AMERICANS may have infected Wuhan at army games & calls to ‘come clean’

China govt spokespeople telling their people US military probably released this virus.

 

Yes because the army is notorious for using pangolin scales for stimulating lactation, help draining pus, and relieving skin diseases or palsy.

 

1) How did China get to where they are?
2) How did South Korea get to where they are? Was South Korea prepared for such a scenario (e.g. Did South Korea conduct a nationwide drill on how to prevent a coronavirus spread the month before the emergence of this strain?)
3) What has the US done that resembles what China and South Korea did?

 

China needs to come clean on all this. For some reason I think bat soup might not have caused this but it may have actually been a lab safety mistake which China has a history of.

 

Where did the new coronavirus come from? Past outbreaks provide hints
But scientists say the virus' similarities to known coronaviruses in animals — particularly bats — rule out the idea that it was created in a lab.
. . .
The virus' genome can't tell scientists everything about its source, but the string of DNA sequences functions almost like a blueprint for this type of detective work.

"The closest bat virus that we've seen is not able to infect human cells, so there had to be some intermediate animal," said Carolyn Machamer, a professor of cell biology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. "The bat virus can infect an intermediate animal, and during that replication, mutations arise that could promote infection in humans if they are in close contact."

Many coronaviruses are zoonotic diseases, which means they spread from animals to people. And there is precedent for coronavirus outbreaks that originate in bats and spill over into humans through an intermediate animal.

 

Hey it's right on Twitter from China. CNN and them don't like to mention it a lot because it doesn't go with the bash Trump for everything storyline.

 

scientists have thoroughly debunked this. spreading misinformation isn't helpful.

 

Total BS. It doesn't even come close to ruling out China had this stuff in their lab and it got loose and spread. Of course after staying secretive they would say it came from bat soup or something.

 

Scientists who are experts on viruses or guy who rants about the deep state on Too Hot? Tough choice.

P.S. The viral experts make clear it neither came from bat soup nor from a lab.