Economy
Inside the Dystopian, Post-Lockdown World of Wuhan (thc0655)
Presiding over all these measures one Sunday in mid-April was Qi Yue, head of Wuhan operations for Beijing-based Lenovo Group Ltd. Qi, who’s 48, with closely cropped hair and a sturdy frame, had been visiting his hometown of Tianjin, in China’s north, when the government sealed off Wuhan from the rest of the country on Jan. 23. It had taken him until Feb. 9 to get home—and he was only able to make it by buying a train ticket to Changsha, farther down the line, and begging the crew to let him get off in Wuhan. His job was now to bring the factory slowly back to life while emphasizing vigilance. Compared with keeping the virus out of the plant, he said, “how much production we can deliver comes second.”
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic could have been prevented (Roger B.)
What could have been done? To start, we should have made antiviral drugs that inhibit a broad range of bat SARS-like CoVs. One protein encoded in the genome of these viruses – the RNA dependent RNA polymerase, essential for the synthesis of all viral RNAs – is the most highly conserved protein among all of these viruses. It would have been straightforward to take a sample of these RdRps from bat CoVs, produce them in cell culture, and find small molecule compounds that inhibit all of them. A pan-CoV antiviral drug could have been developed through human phase I trials, and stockpiled for the next pandemic. But there was no money to support such work – neither in the halls of big Pharma or forthcoming from the under-funded NIH.
Germany flips to Apple-Google approach on smartphone contact tracing (Jon M.)
But they have disagreed about whether to log such contacts on individual devices or on a central server – which would be more directly useful to existing contact tracing teams that work phones and knock on doors to warn those who may be at risk.
Under the decentralised approach, users could opt to share their phone number or details of their symptoms – making it easier for health authorities to get in touch and give advice on the best course of action in the event they are found to be at risk.
She Predicted the Coronavirus. What Does She Foresee Next? (jdargis)
Despite the stock market’s swoon for it, remdesivir probably isn’t our ticket out, she told me. “It’s not curative,” she said, pointing out that the strongest claims so far are that it merely shortens the recovery of Covid-19 patients. “We need either a cure or a vaccine.”
But she can’t envision that vaccine anytime in the next year, while Covid-19 will remain a crisis much longer than that.
What the Proponents of ‘Natural’ Herd Immunity Don’t Say (jdargis)
Vaccination levels must stay above a threshold that depends upon the transmissibility of the pathogen. We don’t yet know exactly how transmissible the coronavirus is, but say each person infects an average of three others. That would mean nearly two-thirds of the population would need to be immune to confer herd immunity.
In the absence of a vaccine, developing immunity to a disease like Covid-19 requires actually being infected with the coronavirus. For this to work, prior infection has to confer immunity against future infection. While hopeful, scientists are not yet certain that this is the case, nor do they know how long this immunity might last. The virus was discovered only a few months ago.
Iran reports success with repurposing Hep C drugs for COVID-19 (James F.)
Keeping in mind that both Hepatitis C (HCV) and SARS-CoV-2 are +ve sense RNA viruses (which means quite similar, in plain English) it would be reasonable to assume that nucleotide analogues (NUCs) proven to work for HCV might work on SARS-CoV-2. In simple terms, NUCs are fake letters in the RNA genetic alphabet CGAU.
“If we didn’t make the decision quickly then we could potentially lose 15 to 20% of the residents which was not an option,” said the Doctor.
Armstrong’s approach was to begin administering Hydroxychloroquine a Zpac and Zinc just as soon as a resident first started showing symptoms.
Trump Moves To Replace Watchdog Who Reported Medical Shortages (Deborah W.)
“Hospitals reported that they were unable to keep up with COVID-19 testing demands because they lacked complete kits and/or the individual components and supplies needed to complete tests,” the survey of 323 hospitals found. “When patient stays were extended while awaiting test results, this strained bed availability, personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies, and staffing.”
The report also recalled how one hospital had even resorted to making its own disinfectant.
Bats, Gene Editing and Bioweapons: Recent DARPA Experiments Raise Concerns Amid Coronavirus Outbreak (Jon M.)
For instance, the first outlet to report on this claim was Radio Free Asia, the U.S.-government funded media outlet targeting Asian audiences that used to be run covertly by the CIA and named by the New York Times as a key part in the agency’s “worldwide propaganda network.” Though it is no longer run directly by the CIA, it is now managed by the government-funded Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which answers directly to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was CIA director immediately prior to his current post at the head of the State Department.
Did this virus come from a lab? Maybe not — but it exposes the threat of a biowarfare arms race (Jon M.)
The current dynamics of the biological arms race have been driven by U.S. government decisions that extend back decades. In December 2009, Reuters reported that the Obama administration was refusing even to negotiate the possible monitoring of biological weapons.
Trump administration terminates funding of coronavirus bat research in China (Linda D.)
The Trump administration has cut funding for U.S. nonprofit research into coronaviruses in bats. The renowned EcoHealth Alliance saw its $3.7 grant revoked over their ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused of engineering the novel coronavirus in one of its labs. Professor Robert Garry of the University of Tulane joins CBSN to talk funding cuts, conspiracy theories, and the importance of cataloging the hundreds of different coronaviruses found in Chinese bats.
Sprott Insights: A New Era (hail)
This bubble was popped when lockdowns were required to protect the population, and the vastly under-funded and unprepared healthcare systems, from the COVID-19 pandemic. Neither consumers, businesses, nor governments had the wherewithal to withstand an extended furlough, and the economic shockwaves quickly required emergency actions. The markets did not have enough liquidity to meet the sudden increase in volatility and corresponding de-leveraging, or the need for U.S. dollars for repayment and margin.
One Meat Plant. One Thousand Infections. (tmn)
“I came to America thinking I could never go through hell.” After surviving civil war in Sudan, one of America’s most vulnerable workers faces the coronavirus.
The world is on lockdown. So where are all the carbon emissions coming from? (tmn)
A 5.5-percent drop in carbon dioxide emissions would still be the largest yearly change on record, beating out the financial crisis of 2008 and World War II. But it’s worth wondering: Where do all of those emissions come from? And if stopping most travel and transport isn’t enough to slow down climate change, what will be?
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