Covid-19 #34 - Alpha, Delta, It’s All Greek to Me!

[Fragile Bird]

I need to double check the numbers, but I’m pretty sure this is #35. We had two 31s and two unnumbered ones, right?

eta: no, I first used 34 and 34 is the right number. Thanks!

[Luzifer's right hand]

Well I hope we do not run out of Greek letters... 

[lady narcissa]

52 minutes ago, L'oiseau français said:

I need to double check the numbers, but I’m pretty sure this is #35. We had two 31s and two unnumbered ones, right?

My search results came up with numbered threads through 30, then two 31s, then one unnumbered thread, and no 32, 33 or 34.  So the two 31s are 31 and 32.  The unnumbered thread is 33.  So this is 34?  Unless one did not have Covid in the thread title and did not come up in the search results.

 

[Luzifer's right hand]

Well maybe we should switch to Roman numerals? I mean changing things to make it more confusing is such a covid-19 thing.

[Fragile Bird]

4 minutes ago, lady narcissa said:

My search results came up with numbered threads through 30, then two 31s, then one unnumbered thread, and no 32, 33 or 34.  So the two 31s are 31 and 32.  The unnumbered thread is 33.  So this is 34?  Unless one did not have Covid in the thread title and did not come up in the search results.

 

I first used 34, and then I thought there were two unnumbered threads so changed to 35, but there's just one. I was on my cellphone and scrolling back was a PITA. Thanks for double-checking!

[Fragile Bird]

Oh look, you can’t go see the Bruce Springsteen show on Broadway if you’re fully vaccinated with AZ, because only people fully-vaccinated with FDA-approved vaccines can attend, as Canadians are finding out.

Nice touch!

[Zorral]

Thanks for initiating the new covid thread, 'Bird.

Good title too.

 

[Fragile Bird]

My brother pointed out to me that since Biden intends to donate millions of doses of AZ vaccine to nations in need, the FDA will approve  the vaccine so the US won’t be accused of donating vaccine unapproved in the US. Of course, as I predicted back in, what, February or March, no American will receive any AZ doses, other than those folks who took part in the US trial.

[Impmk2]

Good analysis there about the curevac @rotting sea cow, I find it pretty credible. mRNA is notoriously unstable and a pain to work with. It pretty much evolved to degrade rapidly to give a quick 'off' switch for gene expression. No surprise the unstabilised nucleotides aren't hanging around long enough to produce the desired response.

I still find it pretty amazing that the prefusion stabilised spike protein is patentable - its a 2 amino acid (6 nucleotide) substitution to lock the protein in a particular conformation. As far as I'm aware the technique was developed by publically funded, published research on the MERS virus. That kind of stuff should end up public domain imo.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

 

[SpaceChampion]

Looks like a red comet coming to kill the dinosaurs.

[mcbigski]

I was about to start a new thread called Covid 23 The Quickening, but I'm kind of a nerd.

To Tywin, my question wasn't about demonstrating proof with papers specifically, but I think about my brother, who got sent home for work for 2 weeks when he had Covid, and then was told subsequently he has to wear a mask at work  unless he gets a shot as well.  Show me that study please.  His employer obv knew he had it and recovered.

To Rip Do you think cloth face masks can stop a virus? Show me studies 2019 or prior, since this has become politicized.  All cloth masks do is turn heavy drops into a finer, hang in the air longer, mist.  If someone is actively trying to spit on me, I would like them to wear a mask.  Otherwise, it does no help for viruses and is worse for bacteria and social interactions.  Net negative. 

Fog stays in the air longer than rain.  Haven't seen that study but it sure sounds truthy.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

13 minutes ago, mcbigski said:

To Tywin, my question wasn't about demonstrating proof with papers specifically, but I think about my brother, who got sent home for work for 2 weeks when he had Covid, and then was told subsequently he has to wear a mask at work  unless he gets a shot as well.  Show me that study please.  His employer obv knew he had it and recovered.

I suspect the "study" was his bosses knowing he's not taking this seriously, got the virus, and thus forced him to behave or find work elsewhere. 

[mcbigski]

So someone who got sent home from work with minimal symptoms but a positive test should be fired because having and clearing covid is not safer than someone who never tested positive?  You're on Team Panic there, not science.  And it's not even close

[BigFatCoward]

53 minutes ago, mcbigski said:

So someone who got sent home from work with minimal symptoms but a positive test should be fired because having and clearing covid is not safer than someone who never tested positive?  You're on Team Panic there, not science.  And it's not even close

Someone who went to work with symptoms should be fired and never employed anywhere ever again as far as I'm concerned. What an absolute selfish twat. 

He clearly can't be trusted, so his company have to treat him like a child. 

[TrueMetis]

2 hours ago, mcbigski said:

To Rip Do you think cloth face masks can stop a virus? Show me studies 2019 or prior, since this has become politicized.  All cloth masks do is turn heavy drops into a finer, hang in the air longer, mist.  If someone is actively trying to spit on me, I would like them to wear a mask.  Otherwise, it does no help for viruses and is worse for bacteria and social interactions.  Net negative. 

Fog stays in the air longer than rain.  Haven't seen that study but it sure sounds truthy.

This is the kind of "logic" that people use to dismiss climate change. "Don't give me studies from when it became super fucking important to have accurate information."

[JoannaL]

Very interesting article in the Guardian about biosecurity of BSL- 4  labs:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/15/covid-escaped-lab-or-not-biosecurity-laboratories

from the article:

"So even if you do not believe that the current pandemic was the result of a gain-of-function experiment gone wrong, it doesn’t mean that this type of work couldn’t be the source of the next pandemic."

"According to a database maintained by the American Biosafety Association (Absa), since 2003 there have been four incidents of researchers being exposed, but not necessarily infected, while working in a BSL-4 lab. Concerns about whether labs are conducting their research safely, securely and responsibly are not new, or of relevance solely to labs in China – as revealed by a comprehensive study on global BSL-4 labs that we recently completed."

"Our research identified nearly 60 BSL-4 labs in operation, under construction or planned across 23 countries, including seven in the UK. Given recent concerns about biosafety, it is worth noting that three-quarters of these labs are located in urban areas. "

"Our study also revealed that there was significant room for improvement in the policies in place to ensure that these labs were operated safely, securely and responsibly. Only about one-quarter of the countries with BSL-4 labs received high scores for biosafety and biosecurity – as measured by the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Global Health Security Index. "

"The vast majority of countries with BSL-4 labs do not conduct oversight of the type of gain-of-function research that has been a central feature in the debate on Covid-19’s origin, as potentially responsible for the possible leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology."

I think, this is bad, and like after tschernobyl, the world should look more closely which technologies it does  allow and where. Percaution and prevention are necessary for the future. I personally would much prefer the lonely island solution for BSL-4 labs. Or perhaps cruise ships could be redesigned with 14-days quarantine to ship in and out.

the article ends:

"Covid-19 was a wake-up call about the vulnerabilities of our modern, globalised societies to a novel respiratory virus. Preventing the next pandemic should be a priority for all countries. Ensuring that research with hazardous pathogens, especially those with potential pandemic properties, is conducted safely, securely and responsibly must be a key element of that strategy"

 

[Rippounet]

2 hours ago, TrueMetis said:

This is the kind of "logic" that people use to dismiss climate change. "Don't give me studies from when it became super fucking important to have accurate information."

I have to admit it's "clever" to ask for old studies. But I think where we really get into bullshit territory is when you're smart/educated enough to know that the effectiveness of cloth masks can potentially be questioned, but you'd rather use that information to bitch about mask-wearing rather than... uh, I dunno, actually read the CDC guidelines and understand that if you have doubts, you can totally wear a disposable mask underneath a cloth mask?

[Luzifer's right hand]

1 hour ago, Rippounet said:

I have to admit it's "clever" to ask for old studies. But I think where we really get into bullshit territory is when you're smart/educated enough to know that the effectiveness of cloth masks can potentially be questioned, but you'd rather use that information to bitch about mask-wearing rather than... uh, I dunno, actually read the CDC guidelines and understand that if you have doubts, you can totally wear a disposable mask underneath a cloth mask?

But that would involve taking the virus seriously. I told my uncle that he was an idiot when he went work with "the flu" in the middle of a pandemic and if I had a brother I would do the same. 

[Week]

15 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

 

Dunning-Kruger. My god.

4 hours ago, Rippounet said:

I have to admit it's "clever" to ask for old studies. But I think where we really get into bullshit territory is when you're smart/educated enough to know that the effectiveness of cloth masks can potentially be questioned, but you'd rather use that information to bitch about mask-wearing rather than... uh, I dunno, actually read the CDC guidelines and understand that if you have doubts, you can totally wear a disposable mask underneath a cloth mask?

This is where the only worthwhile response is to 'ARF' back at the sea lion*. 15 months into the pandemic. 3.8 million dead (per Worldometer) and still trying to snipe at 'so-called science experts'. Very "those scientists better check their hypotenuses" energy:

*i.e. -- "Hey, could you take some of your time to show me some research/studies that I could absolutely find myself so that I can not read them and explain away their relevance with an irrelevant nit."