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[elbows]

One more thing about the mutation stuff. Despite all the routine cliched scary stuff about deadly viruses mutating in even more deadly ways, the main implication of continual virus evolution that we will face multiple times in our lives is something else entirely.

Immunity. There is more than one reason why our immunity to a virus may fade over time. It could be our own immune systems becoming less primed to deal with that particular virus again as the years go by, for reasons to do with our own biology. But the other reason this happens is down to viruses that mutate gradually over time, or recombine parts of themselves with other strains when the opportunity arises. With those, when such events happen it means they are sufficiently different from what our immune system has dealt with before, that they are less likely to evoke the best immune response, and our bodies have to fight them using more generic immune responses until our immune system 'learns' about the new variety.

This description contains numerous oversimplifications, hopefully none of them are too misleading.

 

[weltweit]

..
This description contains numerous oversimplifications, hopefully none of them are too misleading.

No worries. These strains are what people refer to casually as "mutation" though? ..

 

[elbows]

No worries. These strains are what people refer to casually as "mutation" though? ..

Yes but always look for the detail because the terms dont reveal much. For example someone could be talking about 2 strains of a virus, but that doesnt imply whether the two strains are actually related, or in which way. The two strains could have common ancestors, but that might have been a very long time ago, or one strain may have emerged from the other, or they may have little in common on that front at all. I'm not sure of all of the language that the people who actually work in this field would use, but I've seen clade and subclade used and these might be much more appropriate terms for some things, not sure.

 

[Marty1]

New report recommends U.K. govt pursue China for damages.

China owes us £531 billion: Britain should pursue Beijing through international courts for coronavirus compensation, major study claims as 15 top Tories urge 'reset' in UK relations with country

 

[Aladdin]

Coronavirus: Varadkar returns to practising medicine to help during crisis

Taoiseach rejoined medical register in March and is set to work one shift a week with HSE

www.irishtimes.com

Fair play to an Taoiseach Leo Veradkar.
He is back on the medical register and doing one medical shift a week.
Hats off to him. Really.

 

[editor]

Noooo

Marianne Faithfull Hospitalized After Testing Positive for Coronavirus

“She is stable and responding to treatment,” singer’s management company says

www.rollingstone.com

 

[little_legs]

 

[weltweit]

An exercise in self infection, but they will waste medical resources!

And they will infect others

Perhaps they just are stupid? :-/

 

[Doodler]

An exercise in self infection, but they will waste medical resources!

And they will infect others

Perhaps they just are stupid? :-/

Fortunately such people often congregate in spacious and distinctive-looking buildings. This would make enforced quarantining easier.

 

[weltweit]

Fortunately such people often congregate in spacious and distinctive-looking buildings. This would make enforced quarantining easier.

I think their politicians are just terrified of their voters ..

 

[little_legs]

 

[Anju]

Bit more religious madness. The figures should be an eye opener for anyone not trying their best to socially distance. Ultra Orthodox make up 10% to the population but account for 50% of cases, though that's reported as being reported in local media.
Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jews in fight over virus rules - France 24

 

[teqniq]

Have we had this yet? If so, apologies. the Financial Times ffs. Strange times.



from the article:

 

[shifting gears]

 

[2hats]

Six other lions and tigers at the same zoo too.

There is some research (DOI:10.1101/2020.03.30.015347 ; note preprint yet to undergo peer review) that suggests that felines and ferrets are particularly prone to transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Cats, Ferrets Susceptible to SARS-CoV-2: Study

Researchers report that dogs, pigs, chickens, and ducks did not easily become infected.

www.the-scientist.com

 

[TopCat]

What the fuck. So cats can get this. Can it pass it on?

 

[TopCat]

Boris has it.

 

[two sheds]

(((No. 10 cat)))

 

[elbows]

Have we had this yet? If so, apologies. the Financial Times ffs. Strange times.

View attachment 205116

from the article:
View attachment 205117

No I dont think we have, thanks very much for bringing it to my attention!

I was wondering if I had gotten a bit carried away with my vague predictions about how old friends not seen since the 'death of the post-war consensus' were back and likely to be part of a new post-pandemic consensus. Or about big government, tax and spend suddenly being fashionable again. But if the FT are going on about such things in their own way then I probably didnt get too carried away after all.

 

[zahir]

Faroe Islands

Sunday


Today

 

[Thora]

Spoke to a friend of mine yesterday who has just left her flat in Berlin and gone to her summer home with her family in Sweden I did suggest that is wasn't a great idea... She says she felt bad at first but once they got to Sweden the cafes were full of people and you could still go to Ikea so now she's not bothered. What's going on in Sweden?

 

[cupid_stunt]

Spoke to a friend of mine yesterday who has just left her flat in Berlin and gone to her summer home with her family in Sweden I did suggest that is wasn't a great idea... She says she felt bad at first but once they got to Sweden the cafes were full of people and you could still go to Ikea so now she's not bothered. What's going on in Sweden?

There's a specific thread on Sweden, which is worth following.

Sweden and coronavirus

That is true, but they have achieved what they have achieved without a lockdown / have tested some 270,000 people, at 20,000 a day. I am just trying to see what Germany have done right now, at first glance their health service does seem more prepared and better resourced than many other EU...

www.urban75.net

 

[Aladdin]

Spoke to a friend of mine yesterday who has just left her flat in Berlin and gone to her summer home with her family in Sweden I did suggest that is wasn't a great idea... She says she felt bad at first but once they got to Sweden the cafes were full of people and you could still go to Ikea so now she's not bothered. What's going on in Sweden?

That is about to change.

Sweden prepares for possible tighter coronavirus measures as deaths rise

Country has taken soft approach and its death rate is higher than its Nordic neighbours’

www.google.com

Sweden’s government is drawing up new legislation to allow it to take “extraordinary steps” to combat Covid-19, local media have reported, amid concern that its relatively soft approach may be leading to a higher death rate than in other Nordic countries.

 

[weltweit]

(COVID-19) confirmed, recovered, and test cases in South Korea as of April 6, 2020

As of April 6, 2020, South Korea confirmed 10,284 cases of infection including 186 deaths after the first case of coronavirus in the country on January 20. As of the same date, 6,598 patients were released from quarantine after making a full recovery from the virus. In total, over 466 thousand people have been tested until now.

from 06/04/2020 South Korea: coronavirus infections, recoveries, and test cases 2020 | Statista

Impressive is that 466,000 people have been tested.

 

[weltweit]

North Korea claims to be 'totally free' of virus

North Korea's claim that "not a single person" in the country has been infected with the coronavirus is facing growing scepticism.

It has credited strict containment measures and the shutting down of its borders for this success.

But the top US military commander in South Korea has said this is "untrue", calling it an "impossible claim".

A North Korean expert told the BBC it was likely there were cases but unlikely a mass outbreak had happened.

from 03/04/2020 Scepticism over N Korea's claim to be virus free

 

[weltweit]

South Korea's return to normal interrupted by uptick in coronavirus cases

South Korea has been held up as a paragon for containing the coronavirus, lauded by the world for flattening its curve, but it is now bracing for a possible second wave.
..
Despite methods like early testing and digital tracing, South Korea is bracing for a second wave of infection. The government recently pushed back the new school year. Despite efforts to protect children from being infected with the coronavirus
..

The first wave of the coronavirus struck South Korea in mid-February after a "superspreader" from the Shincheonji Church in Daegu, a major city southeast of Seoul, infected worshippers during a service — a single case that infected more than 6,000 people.
..
With the slight upticks, it's clear that South Korea hasn't fully contained the virus yet. But local clusters aren't the only problem.

South Korea is simultaneously coping with an influx of travelers from Europe and the U.S., which has resulted in more than 518 imported cases.

from 05/04/2020 South Korea's return to normal interrupted by uptick in coronavirus cases

 

[littlebabyjesus]

South Korea's return to normal interrupted by uptick in coronavirus cases

from 05/04/2020 South Korea's return to normal interrupted by uptick in coronavirus cases

Longer term, I think the last point there is pertinent for all of us. The same is happening in China - most new cases now are people coming from abroad. There is going to be a hell of a lot of twitchiness about international travel for a long time, I think.

 

[weltweit]

Longer term, I think the last point there is pertinent for all of us. The same is happening in China - most new cases now are people coming from abroad. There is going to be a hell of a lot of twitchiness about international travel for a long time, I think.

Yes, I agree, and not just international travel - within the UK people are finding they can manage without face to face meetings, this feeling could persist as we come out of this crisis.

 

[Aladdin]

Doctors are sending out ‘do-not-resuscitate’ forms telling people like my disabled daughter to sign them, I find that chilling

I get that Covid-19 means difficult medical decisions have to be made about who gets treatment and who doesn’t. But telling the disabled and already sick to sign away their rights in advance is asking them to volunteer for death.

www.rt.com

Is this real?
DNR letters being sent to disabled people to sign in case they get ill with c19.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Doctors are sending out ‘do-not-resuscitate’ forms telling people like my disabled daughter to sign them, I find that chilling

I get that Covid-19 means difficult medical decisions have to be made about who gets treatment and who doesn’t. But telling the disabled and already sick to sign away their rights in advance is asking them to volunteer for death.

www.rt.com

Is this real?
DNR letters being sent to disabled people to sign in case they get ill with c19.

I wouldn’t take rt as a credible source, but