COVID-19 Rant

[Rev. Powell]

I wouldn't be surprised if it were largely forgotten in a century, just like the 1918 Spanish flu was.

[Trevor]

I wouldn't be surprised if it were largely forgotten in a century, just like the 1918 Spanish flu was.

There's an episode of Law and Order called Fluency where one of the characters on trial (a counterfeiter) protests his innocence against making a real flu vaccine, saying "I mean, who dies from the flu?" Millions after World War 1, buddy, millions. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6sZH7e8JsE Around 00:43 in.

[Jim H]

I wouldn't be surprised if it were largely forgotten in a century, just like the 1918 Spanish flu was.

There's an episode of Law and Order called Fluency where one of the characters on trial (a counterfeiter) protests his innocence against making a real flu vaccine, saying "I mean, who dies from the flu?" Millions after World War 1, buddy, millions. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6sZH7e8JsE Around 00:43 in.

Heck, there's the Hong Kong Flu of 1968.  It killed millions too, and people often are totally unaware of it.

[ER]

People are so caught up in the present that the past rapidly falls away.

During Christmastime I was asking a high school girl if she knew who some famous figures from my younger days were, like Michael Jordan, Carl Sagan,  Pete Sampras, Spuds Mackenzie. I asked if she'd heard of Riverdance or The Celestine Prophecy, she didn't know any.

But that's OK I don't know relevant figures in her life, it just went to show how quickly one-time fame is displaced by something new.

[Trevor]

We were informed this morning that we're going back to work full time on Monday with 100% staff complement, the works.

This is going to be fun indeed: before you know it, we will be back in lock down, Level 5.  

[Alex]

The origins of the virus responsible for Covid-19 have been “unambiguously” traced to horseshoe bats, according to a new study.

However, scientists said that “dramatically more wildlife sampling” is needed to pinpoint the creature that ultimately passed the virus to humans and warned that there is “undoubtedly” a virus highly related to SARS-CoV-2 still present somewhere in the wild.

The study, led by the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, looked at the evolutionary history of bat coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19.

It also looked at the phenomenon of virus recombination – when a host bat is infected with two coronaviruses at once and the viruses swap bits of their genetic material inside host cells to create a new “recombinant: virus.

SARS-related coronaviruses, which include SARS-CoV-2, are dispersed over a large geographical area across China and South East Asia.

By tracing the recombinant sequence patterns, scientists concluded that there has been relatively recent geographic movement and co-circulation of these viruses’ ancestors, extending across their bat host ranges in China and South East Asia over the last 100 years.

The study stated that the origin of SARS-CoV-2 “can be unambiguously traced to horseshoe bats, genus Rhinolophus.”
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However, a “direct proximal ancestor” to SARS-CoV-2 has not yet been found, since the closest known relatives collected in Yunnan shared a common ancestor with SARS-CoV-2 around four decades ago.

Professor David L Robertson, senior author on the study, said: “Our analysis highlights the need for dramatically more wildlife sampling to pinpoint the exact origins of SARS-CoV-2 and understand more fully the risk of infection of humans by viruses like these across China and South East Asia.

“The finding of bat coronaviruses that can so readily use the human – and other mammals’ – ACE2 receptor without having to undergo any significant evolutionary change underscores the inevitability of future spillovers.”

The new research analysed a wide distribution of related viruses in bats, with shared markers of viral recombination (specific points in the virus’s genetic material) suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 ancestors were frequently transmitting amongst bats species, with the virus changing and recombining over time as host bats were infected with two coronaviruses at once.

Spyros Lytras, first author of the study said: “Recombination is a mechanism seen in many viruses, where related viruses can swap bits of their genetic material when they find themselves infecting the same cell, resulting in a new mosaic virus.

“It is clear that recombination is a defining feature of SARS-related coronaviruses and essential to account for when examining the viruses’ evolution.”

Scientists said that more research is needed to pinpoint the exact origins of SARS-CoV-2’s progenitor to help prepare for the future.

The research paper stated: “An urgent question relating to the prevention of another emergence, is where in China or South East Asia is the SARS-CoV-2 progenitor located (our analysis shows this is not necessarily Yunnan); which bat or other animal species are harbouring sarbecoviruses and linked to this what is the risk of future spillover events?

“There is undoubtedly a virus highly related to SARS-CoV-2 still present somewhere in the wild.

“The best we can do is maximise the probability that future sampling efforts will uncover that host species or sub-species.”

The study is published in Genome Biology and Evolution.

[pennywise37]

as of yesterday the number was 851 that's the lowest it's been in at least a year or so or almost a year i think? having said that i fully expect the numbers to go up again soon enough with the holiday's coming up we have the drunks for St. Patty's than their is Easter Sunday as well the numbers maybe down currently but they will go up again it's not me being negative about it just realistic cause we all know how stupid people are.

[Jim H]

as of yesterday the number was 851 that's the lowest it's been in at least a year or so or almost a year i think? having said that i fully expect the numbers to go up again soon enough with the holiday's coming up we have the drunks for St. Patty's than their is Easter Sunday as well the numbers maybe down currently but they will go up again it's not me being negative about it just realistic cause we all know how stupid people are.

Yeah, new cases have been in free fall for a couple weeks now.  Deaths will catch up soon, they always echo cases after.  In another 2-3 weeks deaths will be back down to 300-500 daily, probably going lower and lower as time goes by, unless a new variant crops up.

[Newt]

as of yesterday the number was 851 that's the lowest it's been in at least a year or so or almost a year i think? having said that i fully expect the numbers to go up again soon enough with the holiday's coming up we have the drunks for St. Patty's than their is Easter Sunday as well the numbers maybe down currently but they will go up again it's not me being negative about it just realistic cause we all know how stupid people are.

Since the announcement that precautions are to be lifted very soon, many people here (Ontario, Canada) are blithely plunging ahead as though it is all over.  I expect the same as you do.

[Rev. Powell]

I'm no epidemiologist, but I suspect we're in the middle of transitioning from pandemic to endemic at the moment.

[Newt]

I'm no epidemiologist, but I suspect we're in the middle of transitioning from pandemic to endemic at the moment.

That is what our experts are saying. 

[Trevor]

One of our government ministers - and the person behind regulating drinking, smoking and wearing a certain type of clothing during the pandemic  - has said that our national state of emergency will only disappear if and when Covid goes. That means never.

[Trevor]

It was announced yesterday that the President of SA will address the nation shortly- one of the feared "family meetings" - and it is rumored that many more restrictions will be lifted, including the wearing of masks in public.

[Alex]

South of the border, they've lifted all restrictions I believe. Up here, they are being kept in place until the 28th. I've not heard Coronavirus mentioned anytime I've checked the news, so I have no idea if now is the right time for that or not. Fits in with the normal periods between pandemic occurrences (approx every 100 years), and how long most pandemics last (2 to 3 years).

[El Misfit]

The city is lifting mask mandates again.  I'll continue to wear a mask since the education/propaganda about masks and muh freedumbs is bad in Louisiana.