2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

Forums › Health and fitness › 2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

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1694 posts

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#2696595 22-Apr-2021 12:07

Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine research ‘was 97% publicly funded’
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/apr/15/oxfordastrazeneca-covid-vaccine-research-was-97-publicly-funded

""
Analysis rebuts claim by Boris Johnson that jab was developed ‘because of greed’
""

So much for Boris stumping for greed.

Campaign to waive Covid jab patent highlights $26bn shareholder payouts
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/22/campaign-to-waive-covid-jab-patent-highlights-26bn-shareholder-payouts

Unfortunately we have been stuck with a global political situation where alliances were split and an air of everyone for themselves.
So there was not going to be any unified , UK, Europe, USA effort to counter the typical divide and conquer tactics, while so much rancor between nations.
Companies know how to use R&D subsidies of one country vs another, much like we see with film industry, no industry without substantial subsidy.

The die was cast and we have to deal with it for the moment.
Hopefully in future a unified agreement to open up will happen.

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freitasm

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#2696596 22-Apr-2021 12:09

The situation in India could be ten times worse than the official figures report. Twitter thread here or unrolled version (single page) here.

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freitasm

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#2696621 22-Apr-2021 12:26

More on India and current situation: ‘The system has collapsed’: India’s descent into Covid hell | India | The Guardian

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Oblivian

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#2696622 22-Apr-2021 12:27

There's a doctor that was showing lines of ambulance 50 deep because hospital beds full

Smoke from outdoor cremation that was going on causing pollution for those who couldn't wait for proper services

It's unfathomable

One of the solution for the cremations being visible.. built a high wall at the vantage points

Fred99

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#2696632 22-Apr-2021 12:45

Worldometer showing 315,000 new cases and 2100 deaths in India today, both records, and both anecdotally claimed to be vast underestimates.

Some of the anecdotes I've read are horrific if true, bodies of covid victims being dropped at hospitals, they're not tested to establish cause of death, C-19 official death tolls in towns recorded as "a few", but hundreds of bodies being cremated.

Shortages of hospital beds, severe shortages of oxygen and other hospital supplies/equipment, shortage of vaccine.

India is about 1/5 of all people on earth, they are in very deep trouble, and it seems to be getting worse rapidly.

Fred99

13684 posts

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#2696635 22-Apr-2021 12:55

How bad?

If this is accurate (from the Financial Times), then it's an absolute catastrophe:

Fred99

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#2696691 22-Apr-2021 14:15

So, the number of cases is unknown, the number of deaths is unknown, an unknown number of cases are of a variant B1617 not (yet?) declared officially as a "variant of concern" and they're doing very few sequencing tests, but the impact of that variant on transmission rate is "assumed" to increase it - but not known for sure, and the impact of the variant on possible "vaccine/immune escape" is also not known.

The Irish Times reports that the number of cases of this B1617 variant being detected in the UK (where they are sequencing) are doubling every week despite a continued huge decline in numbers of new cases thanks to vaccination, but the numbers are still far too small to conclude anything much from that.

Edit: discussion about the variant here:

https://theconversation.com/q-a-indian-coronavirus-variant-what-is-it-and-what-effect-will-it-have-159269

tieke

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#2696738 22-Apr-2021 15:54

I'm not sure what barriers a variant needs to overcome to be deemed a "variant of concern" - this article from a week or two ago mentions that "In the western state of Maharashtra, which is experiencing the worst of India’s second wave, 61 per cent of cases between January and March were of the B.1.617 strain", and that "The variant carries two specific mutations of concern – E484Q and L452R – and virologists believe it is both more contagious and can cause reinfection. Similar mutations are thought to be behind the devastating second surge of cases in Brazil and much of South America over recent months."

I assume that peer-reviewed surveys and analyses are required and that no-one wants to jump to conclusions, but the B.1.617 variant definitely seems to be an issue. Is it known if any of the dozens of positive Covid cases we got from India before the recent lockdown was of this type?

Batman

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#2696742 22-Apr-2021 16:02

The thing with India was, looking at the graph alone, they absolutely crushed the curve you'd think covid was over, then you get mount everest. Question is how /why

MaxineN

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#2696747 22-Apr-2021 16:32

And I bet people will still cry wolf because we shut down flights from India to here when there are over 312000 cases today and it is still rising.

Glad the shutdown happened but it really is not looking good for India.

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tdgeek

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#2696786 22-Apr-2021 18:42

MaxineN:

And I bet people will still cry wolf because we shut down flights from India to here when there are over 312000 cases today and it is still rising.

Glad the shutdown happened but it really is not looking good for India.

Its the usual online whining thing. Some need to separate politics from reality. Its not great to shut off India, but its also not great to put that down to discrimination. which has occurred. If each country can protect themselves, that will cause the virus to struggle. Its an 8 million people issue, the official borders we have can be used to suffocate it.

DS248

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#2696871 22-Apr-2021 21:49

How is this allowed to happen?

Revealed: Border worker who left job this week hadn't had COVID-19 test for six months (msn.com)

Hipkins on Wednesday was asked if an audit has ever been carried out across all border employers.

"No," he responded.

Jase2985

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#2696875 22-Apr-2021 21:57

DS248:

How is this allowed to happen?

Revealed: Border worker who left job this week hadn't had COVID-19 test for six months (msn.com)

Hipkins on Wednesday was asked if an audit has ever been carried out across all border employers.

"No," he responded.

because there has never been a system in place to collate and access that data.

there are so many organizations involved in every aspect of the boarder, but there is no way to access the testing data short of asking someone to show their latest test result on their phone.

networkn

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#2696876 22-Apr-2021 21:57

DS248:

How is this allowed to happen?

Revealed: Border worker who left job this week hadn't had COVID-19 test for six months (msn.com)

Hipkins on Wednesday was asked if an audit has ever been carried out across all border employers.

"No," he responded.

/me smdh.

And will anyone be held accountable? Nope.

You'd think any one of the last 5 major things like this might have triggered an audit... of course that would require some common sense.

Fred99

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#2696951 23-Apr-2021 09:11

Fred99:

Batman:

anyway the headline news on herald today, for lack of better news? covid corpse washes onto beach mysteriously

Well Vanuatu is one of our Pacific neighbours, a source of RSE workers arriving here, and had been relatively C19 free.

The other aspect is how come a worker with Covid ended up in the sea? You hear stories of how some crew are treated, if true then biffing a dead body over the side for the sharks - in the hope that you can cover up an onboard epidemic of Covid - lest that disrupt "normal operations" and profit for the owners, it seems probable enough to be newsworthy.

The ship is now in Sydney.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-port-workers-tested-for-covid-19-after-infected-crew-docked-at-port-botany-20210422-p57loa.html

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