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Gun nuts on the streets in Michigan demanding to go to the shops and have their hair done.

America has more than it's fair share of crazies. What with the people protesting opening shops that I posted on the previous page and yours. Also this first got posted yesterday.

 
State of Emergency was just extended to include all of Japan. In effect until May 6th (at least). Searching for English link atm....

I don`t know how to link :oops:
 
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Looks like No.10 is positioning to take advantage of the situation to allow the EU negotiation period to lapse. Which means we depart EU rules on WTO (No deal) terms.
Just like they always wanted.

Downing St spokesperson said today
We will not ask to extend the transition. And, if the EU asks, we will say no. Extending the transition would simply prolong the negotiations, prolong business uncertainty, and delay the moment of control of our borders. It would also keep us bound by EU legislation at a point when we need legislative and economic flexibility to manage the UK response to the coronavirus pandemic.
 
Bats as food source have been around for (quite literally) millions of years. Quite sure that in hard times and famine, bats would have yielded a nourishing soup for the starved and the starving. Surely any harmful zoonotic co-relations would have been thoroughly identified, condemned and outlawed by now..

Modern humans haven't though, nor has modern medicine. Even a couple of hundred years ago it wouldn't have been easy to identify someone eating a bat a few villages away as a source of a coronavirus epidemic. Nowadays we do know that bats are natural reservoirs for a host of nasty viruses.
 
kavenism said:
Looks like No.10 is positioning to take advantage of the situation to allow the EU negotiation period to lapse. Which means we depart EU rules on WTO (No deal) terms.
Just like they always wanted.
Downing St spokesperson said today

Wow that is shameless. And a total fantasy.

To anyone half-way pragmatic or even half-way sane, postponing negotiations to allow at least some chance of a semi-sensible deal, would be the best way forward at the moment.
 
Modern humans haven't though, nor has modern medicine. Even a couple of hundred years ago it wouldn't have been easy to identify someone eating a bat a few villages away as a source of a coronavirus epidemic. Nowadays we do know that bats are natural reservoirs for a host of nasty viruses.

Bats are also interesting in that they have incredibly vigorous rapidly adapting immune systems, which means that the coronaviruses that co-evolve along with them are “forced” to evolve rapidly as well, so entirely new strains, some of which can jump species, are coming into existence all the time.
 
William Hague: China must cooperate over source of Covid-19 outbreak
“The whole world wants the scientific truth about this. However that happens, we want that scientific consensus, including Chinese scientists, about where it arose and how it probably arose in terms of the ‘wet markets’ in Wuhan,” Hague said.

“There are alternative theories, but I have not seen a credible alternative theory that does not have it coming out of China somehow. The world is hungry for the truth – on that we are on all on the same page.”
from 14/04/2020 William Hague: China must cooperate over source of Covid-19 outbreak

China reports no Covid-19 deaths for first time
China is concerned a second wave of infections could be brought in by foreign arrivals.

It has already shut its border to foreigners including those with visas or residence permits.

International flights have been reduced with both Chinese and foreign airlines only allowed to operate one international flight a week. Flights must not be more than 75% full.
..
On Wednesday, Wuhan is set to allow people to leave the city for the first time since the lockdown began in January.

Officials say anyone who has a "green" code on a widely used smartphone health app will be allowed to leave the city.
from 07/04/2020 China records no new virus deaths for first time
 
Germany

Why have the UK and Germany taken different approaches to Covid-19 testing?
In February, the UK and Germany were taking a similar approach to testing for coronavirus. But over the subsequent weeks, the two countries began to go in very different directions.
..
Last Friday the UK daily coronavirus death toll reached 980, surpassing the deadliest days of Spain and Italy. It is too soon to understand the reasons why, but one criticism of the UK’s response to the outbreak is the lack of testing, while Germany, which has a much lower death rate, has been hailed as an example for carrying out hundreds of thousands of tests every week.
from (audio) Why have the UK and Germany taken different approaches to Covid-19 testing? – podcast

Half of refugees at German camp test Covid-19 positive
Nearly half of the roughly 600 people at a refugee camp in Germany have tested positive for Covid-19, but are being forced to share facilities with everyone else.
..
District authorities at Ostalbkreis, where Ellwangen is located, announced they will eventually retest everyone "in order to determine which persons have become additionally infected."

The entire camp has been placed in lockdown since the start of April, with police guarding the entrance to make sure no one leaves or enters.
from 16/04/2020 [Coronavirus] Half of refugees at German camp test Covid-19 positive
 
And Germany are starting to relax some of their measures. Apparently some schools will open and some smaller shops although pubs cafes etc will remain closed.
 
Portuguese State of Emergency renewed but CP voted against calling for the protection of health and of workers rights, Left Bloc voted for but said this would be the last .
After the debate the Socialist Party PM said :
1st - "Our task at home needs some more time"
2nd - "We are the fourth country in Europe that tests the most per million people. But it is necessary to continue to stabilize the number of hospitalizations to ensure the response of the NHS"
3rd - To give "time and space to the Government to define criteria, study and prepare for the end of April the gradual opening of the economy. With the concern to create confidence and security for the Portuguese".


The debate now will focus on health protection for those industries and businesses that are allowed to open and when alongside transport , enclosed spaces , public services such as schools and crèches. It looks like what ever relaxations might be considered next month they are going to be gradual. Strong hint that opening of non essential shops and bars is going to start with a localised approach .
 
Interesting article from the NYT - also features an amazing picture of coronavirus attacking a cell.

What I find most interesting in that article, yes that many NY infections originated in Europe rather than China .. but the really interesting bit is:
Maciej Boni of Penn State University and his colleagues recently used this method to see where the coronavirus, designated SARS-CoV-2, came from in the first place. While conspiracy theories might falsely claim the virus was concocted in a lab, the virus’s genome makes clear that it arose in bats.

There are many kinds of coronaviruses, which infect both humans and animals. Dr. Boni and his colleagues found that the genome of the new virus contains a number of mutations in common with strains of coronaviruses that infect bats.
 
  1. Wuhan, where the virus emerged, revises its death toll up by 1,290 to 3,869 - an increase of 50%
  2. Chinese foreign ministry says statistics have been reviewed and denies any cover-up
  3. Meanwhile, Chinese economy shrinks for first time in decades due to virus impact
from live https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-52319956

China adds nearly 1,300 coronavirus deaths to official Wuhan toll, blaming reporting delays
Authorities in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, have revised up the number of people killed by 1,290, a rise of 50 per cent.
..
China’s move is likely to fuel speculation about the accuracy of its data, which has been questioned by President Donald Trump. American intelligence officials have concluded that China concealed the extent of its outbreak and under-reported the number of cases and deaths.
..
Wuhan has suffered the vast majority of China's fatalities from the coronavirus. The revision brings the nationwide death toll to 4,636.
from 17/04/2020 China adds nearly 1,300 coronavirus deaths to official Wuhan toll, blaming reporting delays
 
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