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[littlebabyjesus]

That's 20th out of 20 countries, I believe.

Relegation certainties.

 

[weltweit]

Korea doesn't need to test much now, cos they've got so few people falling ill. Their testing has mostly shifted to making sure every person entering the country gets one. At the start, they were testing like fuck.

Interesting thought that their total testing as a % of their population is similar to the UK. Probably they focussed their testing in a more effective way than we did, well they certainly haven't had to test people coming into hospital in the way we have had to.

 

[The39thStep]

The figures look about right. The UK one is right because the govt proudly boasts about it every day. The German one is a little out of date - it will be a bit higher now. But from the various sources I've been spending way too much time looking at, the table looks mostly sound.

The debate on his post is a cracker 'you are just using figures to make the govt look bad'

 

[zahir]

Faroe Islands on 11% tested.

 

[LiamO]

probly posted everywhere already, but made me smile...

View attachment 207510

 

[weltweit]

..
One of my biggest disappointments in all of this has been the lack of international collaboration. This is the single biggest thing the human world needs to do right now. Resources should have been pooled and efforts coordinated ages ago.

I have made a point of watching the WHO press briefings every so often, they seem a beacon of international cooperation despite the row with Trump, they can only work with countries that co-operate which might explain how they weren't in China at the beginning. China didn't want them there at the start.

The pandemic has set country against country in some things like the international market of PPE and ventilators etc, notably the US bidding up to secure items for their domestic consumption including gazumping Canada on medical supplies.

I think within the EU there has been some collaboration, UK invited to join in but either declining or saying they didn't get the memo. Even within the EU there has been disagreement, particularly Italy and Spain hoping for more financial support than was eventually offered.

And I think the pharmaceutical industry is working across borders, no doubt if a vaccine is developed there will be a rush of nations to be the front of the queue for delivery.

Are those the sorts of collaborations you were thinking of?

 

[keybored]

This is good. Learning lessons. And putting much richer countries like France and the UK to shame. tbh I'm almost surprised the UK is as high as 20th. Useless twats.

According to worldometers, UK are in 59th place of the countries with available figures. But we're up to almost 0.68% of the population tested now. Yay.

 

[weltweit]

One World concert going on apparently - does anyone have a decent link?

might be here

 

[teqniq]

A little light relief:

 

[cupid_stunt]

A little light relief:

Can we please keep this stuff off the serious threads, and post it on the memes one?

Coronavirus meme/panic/fear mongering general thread

www.urban75.net

 

[HAL9000]

A Florida man encased himself in concrete outside the Governor’s Mansion in the state capital apparently to protest prison conditions related to the coronavirus.

A Tallahassee police spokesman says 28-year-old Jordan Mazurek put PVC pipes horizontally into two 55-gallon plastic drums filled with concrete, with some sort of mechanism that locked his arms in place.

Florida man encases self in concrete at governor's mansion

A Florida man encased himself in concrete outside the Governor’s Mansion in the state capital apparently to protest prison conditions related to the coronavirus.

www.abcactionnews.com

 

[teqniq]

But not here in the UK, according to Sunak, oh no.

Universal basic income is the answer to the inequalities exposed by COVID-19

As governments around the world look to kickstart their economies after the COVID-19 outbreak, they can't afford to ignore universal basic income if they want to fend off social unrest.

www.weforum.org

 

[weltweit]

Don’t bet on vaccine to protect us from Covid-19, says world health expert

Humanity will have to live with the threat of coronavirus “for the foreseeable future” and adapt accordingly because there is no guarantee that a vaccine can be successfully developed, one of the world’s leading experts on the disease has warned.

The stark message was delivered by David Nabarro, professor of global health at Imperial College, London, and an envoy for the World Health Organisation on Covid-19, as the number of UK hospital deaths from the virus passed 15,000.

..
In an interview with The Observer Nabarro said the public should not assume that a vaccine would definitely be developed soon – and would have to adapt to the ongoing threat.

“You don’t necessarily develop a vaccine that is safe and effective against every virus. Some viruses are very, very difficult when it comes to vaccine development - so for the foreseeable future, we are going to have to find ways to go about our lives with this virus as a constant threat.

..
Nabarro’s message is the second grim warning to come from senior ranks of the WHO in the last three days. On Friday, Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, warned that there was no evidence that antibody tests now being developed would show if a person has immunity or is no longer at risk of becoming reinfected by the Covid-19 virus.

from 18/04/2020 Don’t bet on vaccine to protect us from Covid-19, says world health expert

 

[weltweit]

Why is Germany’s Covid-19 death rate so low compared to other countries?

While the UK was only managing to test around 7,000 people a week for coronavirus at the beginning of April, Germany was averaging around 500,000 tests carried out over the same time period.

from 18/04/2020 Why is Germany's Covid-19 death rate so low compared to other countries?

 

[weltweit]

Viruses, I thought some articles on what they are and where they come from.

Viruses are the smallest of all the microbes. They are said to be so small that 500 million rhinoviruses (which cause the common cold) could fit on to the head of a pin. They are unique because they are only alive and able to multiply inside the cells of other living things. The cell they multiply in is called the host cell.
.. etc

Measles, Rabies, Polio, Hepatitis C are viruses.

Viruses | What is microbiology?

Smallest of all the microbes, but are they alive?

microbiologysociety.org

Origin of Viruses

The evolutionary history of viruses remains unclear. Some researchers hypothesize that viruses evolved from mobile genetic elements that gained the ability to move between cells. Other researchers postulate that viruses evolved from more complex organisms that lost the ability to replicate...

www.nature.com

For something so small, viruses have a huge impact on the world. They are easily the most abundant organisms on Earth (though the use of the word “organisms” is controversial), found in every environment in vast, mind-numbingly large numbers. They are very ancient, probably played a pivotal role in the origin of life, and continue to be an important driver of evolution.

The vast majority of viruses are little more than strands of genetic material packaged up in a protein container called a capsid. Around a quarter are also surrounding by an envelope, which is usually made of a lipid membrane stolen from its host plus some virus-encoded proteins. A single virus is called a virion; most are around 100 nanometres across. Their sole aim in (quasi-)life is to invade the cells of their host, release their genetic material and hijack the cell’s biochemistry to make more copies of themselves. The new virions then burst out of the cell, killing it, and begin the cycle anew. Viruses are genetic parasites.

They are hugely varied. Some are so simple and formulaic that they can be described using a chemical formula – a polio virion, for example, consists of a short piece of RNA wrapped in a single-protein capsid and has the chemical formula C332,652 H492,388 N98,245 O131,196 P7501 S2340. Others are as large and complex as a bacterium, with hundreds of genes and a complex capsid and envelope. These giant viruses were discovered quite recently and shook up the world of virology, challenging the idea that viruses are merely non-living bags of chemicals. Some even have pathogenic viruses themselves.

from Viruses

 

[teqniq]

Corruption:

Trump plan for coronavirus supplies yields payoff for favored companies

In the rush for coronavirus supplies, major medical companies get a special deal from the Trump administration

www.latimes.com

 

[spring-peeper]

You have to let them do it though. As long as they don't go breathe on the rest of the people, if they want to express their liberty then fair play to them. Just don't look for a bed in intensive care when the time comes. Or when it comes to vote.

 

[quimcunx]

Covid-19 in NZ - Friday's numbers charted

How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening.

www.newsroom.co.nz

Some nice bar charts from New Zealand.

 

[Azrael]

Don’t bet on vaccine to protect us from Covid-19, says world health expert

from 18/04/2020 Don’t bet on vaccine to protect us from Covid-19, says world health expert

Many working on vaccines don't share his pessimism (the Oxford team sound particularly optimistic, and have put their reputations on the line over it), but even if he's right, live with the virus? The hell with that. We'll just have to contact trace the thing into oblivion one country at a time if needs be, as we annihilated its unlamented predecessor in the SARS clan.

The fact he hasn't even suggested this possibility doen't make me inclined to buy his claims about the likelihood of a vaccine. Are they based on anything but generalized nihilism?

 

[zahir]

but even if he's right, live with the virus? The hell with that. We'll just have to contact trace the thing into oblivion one country at a time if needs be, as we annihilated its unlamented predecessor in the SARS clan.

I’m starting to think that this is correct and there will have to be an effort to eliminate the virus, vaccine or not, however long it takes. I can see a fault line developing here between those who recognise this and those who don’t see it as a possibility.

 

[Azrael]

I’m starting to think that this is correct and there will have to be an effort to eliminate the virus, vaccine or not, however long it takes. I can see a fault line developing here between those who recognise this and those who don’t see it as a possibility.

Can't see any other way. Even the best antivirals and immunosuppressants will leave an unbearable toll. New Zealand may've been the only country to declare it policy, but it's been the tacit policy of China from the start and looks like they're nearly there, South Korea's achingly close, as is Taiwan, and Singapore will hopefully control the outbreak among migrant workers.

Smallpox. SARS. Rinderpest. SARS-CoV-2. Let's throw all we have into sending the wannabe where we sent its predecessor.

 

[weltweit]

Covid-19 in NZ - Friday's numbers charted

How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening.

www.newsroom.co.nz

Some nice bar charts from New Zealand.

Yes, I particularly like this one:


Because it shows just how easily the virus can be spread in settings like a wedding, a rest home etc .. not to be messed with this virus.

 

[Yu_Gi_Oh]

I’m starting to think that this is correct and there will have to be an effort to eliminate the virus, vaccine or not, however long it takes. I can see a fault line developing here between those who recognise this and those who don’t see it as a possibility.

I'm very worried about this happening.

 

[zahir]

Can't see any other way. Even the best antivirals and immunosuppressants will leave an unbearable toll. New Zealand may've been the only country to declare it policy, but it's been the tacit policy of China from the start and looks like they're nearly there, South Korea's achingly close, as is Taiwan, and Singapore will hopefully control the outbreak among migrant workers.

The Faroes must be almost there.

 

[planetgeli]

The Faroes must be almost there.

Honourable but barely significant. Less than 50,000 population.

 

[planetgeli]

One of my biggest disappointments in all of this has been the lack of international collaboration. This is the single biggest thing the human world needs to do right now. Resources should have been pooled and efforts coordinated ages ago.

It’s a global world eh?

Eh?

Yeah, posted when pissed but I think my point here is that this shows up Globalism and it's accelerator neoliberalism for the BS they are in all this. It's a small world now when you want to order cheaply manufactured (for profit) goods from the other side of the world, not so much when you are in dire need of international cooperation for the benefit of the world's health.

I have made a point of watching the WHO press briefings every so often, they seem a beacon of international cooperation despite the row with Trump, they can only work with countries that co-operate which might explain how they weren't in China at the beginning. China didn't want them there at the start.

The pandemic has set country against country in some things like the international market of PPE and ventilators etc, notably the US bidding up to secure items for their domestic consumption including gazumping Canada on medical supplies.

I think within the EU there has been some collaboration, UK invited to join in but either declining or saying they didn't get the memo. Even within the EU there has been disagreement, particularly Italy and Spain hoping for more financial support than was eventually offered.

And I think the pharmaceutical industry is working across borders, no doubt if a vaccine is developed there will be a rush of nations to be the front of the queue for delivery.

Are those the sorts of collaborations you were thinking of?

With WHO, the clue is in the 'W'.

The US, well Trump, is showing itself up in all sorts of ways, not least the bungs being given to favoured companies who can produce shit that's needed for health, not profit.

The EU showed itself up when it came to helping out Italy, for which an apology saved zero lives.

And I don't see much evidence of the pharma industry being particularly internationalist in this. You can bet your bottom dollar, or even their bottom dollar, that when and if a vaccine comes there will be profiteering and massive queues with the least able to pay at the back.

Pardon my cynicism.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

I'm very worried about this happening.

Even if the rest of the world is on board with the idea of eliminating the virus entirely by all means necessary, the Muricans will resist because it’s communism and they have the right to die of the virus. So if Trump wins the next election (he will) any and all global efforts will be hampered by America refusing to comply. Plus there’s bound to be other despots who insist that vodka is the cure so let’s all play football, or god is the cure so let’s all go to church.

And how the fuck do we isolate test and treat everyone in Dharavi?

 

[Supine]

Global eradication isn't an option so the focus needs to be on controlled spread and a big fingers crossed on built up immunity over time.

 

[zahir]

Why isn’t it an option?

 

[Yu_Gi_Oh]

Global eradication isn't an option so the focus needs to be on controlled spread and a big fingers crossed on built up immunity over time.

You sound like Boris at the start of March.