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[2hats]

Dutch rolling out a COVID-19 breath testing programme which uses an electronic nose - the SpiroNose - that provides a result within a couple of minutes. High reliability for negative results claimed, with positives being confirmed with a subsequent PCR test.

Dutch to roll out rapid breath tests for COVID-19

The Netherlands is to introduce rapid COVID-19 breath tests to sites across the country to speed up the testing process and make it less intrusive.

www.reuters.com

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

Dutch rolling out a COVID-19 breath testing programme which uses an electronic nose - the SpiroNose - that provides a result within a couple of minutes. High reliability for negative results claimed, with positives being confirmed with a subsequent PCR test.

Dutch to roll out rapid breath tests for COVID-19

The Netherlands is to introduce rapid COVID-19 breath tests to sites across the country to speed up the testing process and make it less intrusive.

www.reuters.com

is this in any way related to the Covid sniffer dogs?

 

[cupid_stunt]

is this in any way related to the Covid sniffer dogs?

Finland started using dogs back in September, but not sure the dog studies are related to the machines mentioned.

COVID-19: Scientists have trained sniffer dogs to detect coronavirus with 94% accuracy

The dogs are conditioned to pick up the "corona odour" that comes from cells in infected people.

news.sky.com

 

[Espresso]

is this in any way related to the Covid sniffer dogs?

Yup, in that they will be to detect what the dog can.

That sort of "smell-o-meter" technology has been around for a while. In the trade they are called Electronic Noses, so the idea is that they detect the presence and amount of whatever volatile compounds you're looking for. They are used in all sorts of different industries.

 

[kabbes]

Yup, in that they will be to detect what the dog can.

That sort of "smell-o-meter" technology has been around for a while. In the trade they are called Electronic Noses, so the idea is that they detect the presence and amount of whatever volatile compounds you're looking for. They are used in all sorts of different industries.

They’re still light years behind what a dog can do, though

 

[ice-is-forming]

Fair enough. My colleagues in Darwin love it though.

My team leader was wearing one at a Teams meeting with our colleagues in Darwin yesterday I guess you had to be there... we're in Qld and we get on well with the Darwin mob. We've muddled through the last year together.

And our Head office is in Melbourne & our managers and other colleagues are in WA. So it's been interesting watching how everyone has reacted to lockdowns. We haven't had any where I live, although we were impacted by the recent one in Brisbane. Just the general semi panic it induced, it was in the new year and school holidays so heaps of people had been there recently, or were still there. They gave everyone about 12 hours notice to be locked down. Subsequently a lot of visitors in Brisbane dashed home, and a lot of Brisbanites ran south to the Gold coast or north to the sunny coast for a long weekend. With quite a few driving that couple of extra hours and making it to my town.

I feel so removed from what's happening in Europe though, and completely ill-equiped to interact with people there/ here/u75 about it.

Yes I've been impacted, at the start before anyone knew what was going to happen there was that high level of personal anxiety ( in part because I have a son on immunosuppressants) and the whole panic buy experience. I have family here who had employment uncertainty etc. I'm an essential worker, I have friends who haven't seen their family both in Aus and internationally because of travel restrictions. My family in London were shielding/working etc and had covid over Xmas, including my immortal 93 yr old dad.
But that's about it other than the worldwide vicarious trauma.

So yeah, I'm witnessing it from afar really, and feeling sad and angry for everyone .

I hope you get your hard lockdown lifted this evening Chairman Meow I think perhaps people in Europe imagine a vastly different Urban Aus to the reality. But the pavements and shops and transport get just as rammed in Perth and Brisbane as they do in London or Manchester. So how we keep getting away with these quarantine hotels in city centres i don't know, gotta be the outdoor living and sunshine ...

Actually you know what the biggest impact on me atm has been.. pandemic migration from other states. Many of the houses where I live, which has a cheap property market, are owned as investment homes by people in the southern states. Now with pandemic migration a lot of them are moving into them, or as demand grows for houses here and prices rise they're selling them. So there is an unprecedented lack of rentals and now a small tent city happening. I rent so that's stressing me the most ( that & the immunocompromised son continuing to compete at a state level in his chosen sport.. which is full on hot and sweaty contact). I don't have enough $ for a deposit to buy. Too much of a misspent youth, so that's a bit scary and uncertain. I have a lease until Nov, but my landlords a retirement age wanker who does live in melbourne so I've been planning a plan b & c. Maybe get a something or other to live in and put it on son 1s land, or move further up the coast away from it all...but i suppose that then makes me a covid migrant too..

Housing in regional Queensland scarce due to interstate migration, remote work and returning Aussies - ABC News

amp.abc.net.au

 

[Chairman Meow]

So we got our fifth doughnut (zero case) day in a row, so tonight we come out of lockdown! We have to wear masks and have a few more restrictions for another week in the Perth metro area, but we expect to go back as we were if we are all clear for another week, as regional Perth will do straight away. So fingers crossed for all that, but looks like we did it!

 

[Chairman Meow]

Ice-is-forming, I'm in WA, but our other offices are Darwin and Cairns, so we've all been pretty unaffected, apart from no interstate travel. Our friends in Vic have had it pretty tough, although absolutely nothing like as bad as the UK. I do feel guilty sometimes, especially when I see friends and family struggling so much. My mum keeps asking me what fun stuff I am getting up to, she says he is bored out of her mind as she has barely left the house in a year. I have no idea how they are coping at all!. As for personal consequences, I do wonder when I will see my folks again. Its worse for my husband, his little brother was diagnosed with MND last January, so we are worried we might not see him again, which is pretty rough.

As for house prices, we struck lucky there. We finally bought a house at the end of Jan last year, after renting all our lives. So it was reassuring to be settled in when Covid hit, although a bit scary financially! As Perth houses prices have apparently gone up by quite a bit this year and the rental market is a nightmare now, it was good timing! Lots of our friends have taken advantage of the housing stimulus packages to build too, the government will give out $55k to them, which isn't bad! Could you do that? My friends didnt have any money! I'm glad I don't have to go through the stress of a build, though worth it in the end! Good luck with getting sorted though, it can be stressy renting I know (I did it for long enough!)

 

[ice-is-forming]

I really need to start adulting and go and see my bank manager :/

 

[Badgers]

Interesting read this

When will life return to normal? In 7 years at today's vaccine rates

In Canada it's going to take more than 10 years at this rate

financialpost.com

The Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker:

More Than 12.7 Billion Shots Given: Covid-19 Tracker

Bloomberg counted up the shots administered in 184 countries and 59 US states and territories

www.bloomberg.com

 

[William of Walworth]

I don't see any kind of clear definition of normality on that Bloomberg article

So I'll leave that (crucial) question hanging in the air for now .....

But my gut reaction, and I did read the piece, is to think that you'd have to be the most ultra-pessimistic person in the world to think that it's going to take seven years before we can live similarly-ish to how things were in 2019?

 

[StoneRoad]

It's not April the oneth, is it ?

I really can't believe this report ...
Coronavirus in Tanzania: The country that's rejecting the vaccine - BBC News

a smoothie vs vaccination ???? - that's wooer than normal woo

Definitely not going there !

 

[Pickman's model]

New research suggests a link between climate change and the virus Climate change may have driven the emergence of SARS-CoV-2

 

[elbows]

Cats & dogs testing & quarantine in South Korea, but only if they are symptomatic.

South Korea's capital has said it will give pet dogs and cats free coronavirus tests if they come into contact with infected humans and show symptoms.

Pets found infected with the virus must be quarantined at their homes or a city-run facility for 14 days, said Seoul official Park Yoo-mi.

The central government last week released guidelines on virus tests on pets, after a cat in the south-eastern city of Jinju became the country's first animal confirmed to have Covid-19.

The cat belongs to a mother and daughter who were among dozens of confirmed patients associated with a Jinju religious facility.

Seoul to give free Covid-19 tests to pets

South Korea's capital has said it will give pet dogs and cats free coronavirus tests if they come into contact with infected humans and show symptoms.

www.irishnews.com

 

[elbows]

 

[weltweit]

Rather a lot of Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccines on hold in South Africa due to partial and inconclusive test results against the SA variant.

 

[Indeliblelink]

WHO are holding a conference in Wuhan at the moment with results of investigation into origins of covid-19.

 

[Indeliblelink]

 

[Indeliblelink]

Daszak - " IMPORTANT: The joint team concluded that direct or indirect spillover, cold chain food pathways are potentially important. Lab incident is "Extremely unlikely to explain introduction of SARS-CoV-2 & further work on this is not necessary for further research from this study"

Surprised they're giving credit to the frozen food hypothesis, I thought most had ruled that out as Chinese trying to move possibility of origins to another country.

 

[Indeliblelink]

Daszak - KEY COMMENT: Recommendations include sampling potential intermediate hosts & bats both inside & outside China. Possible role of cold chain - incl. "Frozen wild animal that could have been infected by [progenitor] of SARS-CoV-2"

This virus may have emerged through "convoluted pathways that may have taken a long time and moved it across borders"

 

[Indeliblelink]

IMPORTANT Q:
@WSJ
Exactly what animals found at Huanan mrkt?? "Testing showed no positives, but some animals that are known to be susceptible to CoVs like ferret badger" "some of trace-back in farms or regions where bats harbor related CoVs". This, to me, is a CRITICAL finding!!

There was also mention of rabbits and bamboo rats being susceptible.

 

[platinumsage]

So nothing to do with their coronavirus lab in Wuhan and we should look at frozen food imported from outside China, and also pet cats. Righty ho.

 

[elbows]

So nothing to do with their coronavirus lab in Wuhan and we should look at frozen food imported from outside China, and also pet cats. Righty ho.

Yeah. I can completely understand the point of not initially dismissing the theory out of hand, since there are examples of such things in history and simply trying to dismiss it as a conspiracy theory is just not good enough. But then if you are going down that route, I'm not convinced that you can then to dismiss it at the very next opportunity without meaningful detail. On what basis? I'm not looking forward to eventually reading their justification for that, and I continue to have low expectations of learning more of substance about the origins.

At the end of the day one of the main weaknesses of the WHO at every stage is that it is inevitably tainted by all the factors and pressures that come with 'international diplomacy'. I'll never forget their Feb 2020 China team study, where they came out with absolute shit about the number of asymptomatic infections in China.

 

[IC3D]

That's a doctor Nope then

 

[platinumsage]

I understand they spoke to some scientists from the lab who assured them that the sequence of this particular virus wasn't a match for one they had been working with.

The top theory espoused by the team was that the virus came to humans from bats via an intermediary host. As all the live animals they tested were negative, suspicion naturally fell on imported frozen meat as the intermediary. Also, since infections have now been observed in cats and mink around the world, but not in pangolins or any other seafood market creatures, pet cats should be investigated.

 

[IC3D]

'Even before his death, Dr. Li had become a hero to many Chinese after word of his treatment at the hands of the authorities emerged. In early January, he was called in by both medical officials and the police, and forced to sign a statement denouncing his warning as an unfounded and illegal rumor.'

Chinese Doctor, Silenced After Warning of Outbreak, Dies From Coronavirus (Published 2020)

Dr. Li Wenliang issued a warning about a strange new virus. Then the authorities summoned him for questioning.

www.nytimes.com

This kind of thing might influence WHO interviews.

ETA for an RIP 1 year ago. This guy broke the story to protect his colleagues while the Chinese state tried to silence him.

 

[elbows]

One of the things that does my head in about trying to explore the lab angles is how little awareness or mainstream discussion there is about the 1977 influenza that caused a pandemic (in the young, so not a famously deadly pandemic) and was likely caused by a lab accident.

Its a story that has received some sporadic attention over the years, eg Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic?

But for some strange reason the press didnt exactly rush to write a load of articles about the history of lab releases when that possible angle with this pandemic emerged.

Dont get me wrong, I'm not wedded to any particular origin story for SARS-CoV-2. I just refuse to rule things out prematurely. And we'll be lucky if any of the gaps get filled in. Probably the most I hope to understand is more about the timing and spread in the period before the disease was noticed.

 

[elbows]

BBC 'analysis', lol.

It was unlikely that the expert group, in its politically-charged mission, would be able to pinpoint the source of the pandemic in China a year after it began. But, after visiting the Wuhan Institute of Virology, they have closed the lid on a controversial theory that coronavirus came from a lab leak or was made by scientists.

Covid: WHO says 'extremely unlikely' virus leaked from lab in China

A team of international and Chinese experts say more work is needed to find the source of the virus.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[IC3D]

They really found shit all other than reassurances lol

On a previous visit to the lab in relation to safety in 2018 however, weaknesses involved " According to Dr Lentzos, these include: "Who has access to the lab, the training and refresher-training of scientists and technicians, procedures for record-keeping, signage, inventory lists of pathogens, accident notification practices, emergency procedures." I guess things improved.

Coronavirus: Is there any evidence for lab release theory?

BBC News examines allegations that the coronavirus was accidentally released from a lab.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[elbows]

The 2010 Haiti cholera outbreak is an example of authorities including the WHO trying for some time to avoid difficult questions and answers about the source of a disease outbreak. In that case the nature of the disease and the fact it wasnt new to humanity meant that it was possible to track down the source, and authorities gave up attempts to obfuscate at some point, once confronted by compelling evidence.

2010s Haiti cholera outbreak - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

For three months, UN officials, the CDC, and others argued against investigating the source of the outbreak. Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO), said finding the cause of the outbreak was "not important". Hartl said, "Right now, there is no active investigation. I cannot say one way or another [if there will be]. It is not something we are thinking about at the moment. What we are thinking about is the public health response in Haiti."[27] Jordan Tappero, the lead epidemiologist at the CDC, said the main task was to control the outbreak, not to look for the source of the bacteria and that "we may never know the actual origin of this cholera strain."[28] A CDC spokesperson, Kathryn Harben, added that "at some point in the future, when many different analyses of the strain are complete, it may be possible to identify the origin of the strain causing the outbreak in Haiti.

Under intense pressure, the UN relented, and said it would appoint a panel to investigate the source of the cholera strain.[32] That panel's report, issued in May 2011, confirmed substantial evidence that the Nepalese troops had brought the disease to Haiti. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) utilized DNA fingerprinting to tests various samples of cholera from Haitian patients to pinpoint the specific strand of cholera found in Haiti. During an epidemiological outbreak investigation, DNA fingerprinting of bacteria can be extremely helpful in identifying the source of an outbreak. The results of the CDC tests showed that the specific strain of cholera found in samples taken from Haitian patients was Vibrio cholerae serogroup O1, serotype Ogawa, a strain found in South Asia.[33] This specific strain of cholera is endemic in Nepal, therefore supporting the Haitian suspicion that Nepalese peacekeepers were the source of the outbreak. However, in the report's concluding remarks, the authors hedged to say that a "confluence of circumstances" was to blame.