Coronavirus Thread VI: Are We Nearly There Yet? (READ OP)

[Kowani]

Japan declares third state of emergency in attempt to stop COVID surge

Bars, department stores and theaters across Japan closed for 17 days Sunday, after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and three other prefectures in an attempt to curb surging COVID-19 cases.

[New Visayan Islands]

Data for PH as of April 25th, 1600 PHT/0400 EDT.

Detailed update in Tagalog. Key data to consider:

• 47970 people were tested, with a 16.7% positivity rate. That's 8011 positive results for SARS-CoV-2 if you did the math and rounded off to the nearest whole person because 8010.99 is the exact amount.
• 8162 people were added to the "I have The Coof" tally.
• 20509 people moved to the "I survived The Coof" tally, and 109 people croaked.

Also:

• IATF: So...how are we going to deal with Manila and immediate environs?
• Hear that? That was the sound of Indians cursing in every language spoken in the country.
• Over one billion Coof Shots administered!
• BR: OUCH!

[Esthe]

It appears dogs can sniff out coronavirus

One possibility, according to a new study, is dogs. A proof-of-concept investigation published today in the journal PLOS ONE suggests that specially trained detection dogs can sniff out COVID-19-positive samples with 96% accuracy.

"This is not a simple thing we're asking the dogs to do," says Cynthia Otto, senior author on the work and director of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine Working Dog Center. "Dogs have to be specific about detecting the odor of the infection, but they also have to generalize across the background odors of different people: men and women, adults and children, people of different ethnicities and geographies."

In this initial study, researchers found the dogs could do that, but training must proceed with great care and, ideally, with many samples. The findings are feeding into another investigation that Otto and colleagues have dubbed "the T-shirt study," in which dogs are being trained to discriminate between the odors of COVID-positive, -negative, and -vaccinated individuals based on the volatile organic compounds they leave on a T-shirt worn overnight.

"We are collecting many more samples in that study -- hundreds or more -- than we did in this first one, and are hopeful that will get the dogs closer to what they might encounter in a community setting," Otto says.

Through the Working Dog Center, she and colleagues have had years of experience training medical-detection dogs, including those that can identify ovarian cancer. When the pandemic arrived, they leveraged that expertise to design a coronavirus detection study.

Collaborators Ian Frank from the Perelman School of Medicine and Audrey Odom John from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia provided SARS-CoV-2-positive samples from adult and pediatric patients, as well as samples from patients who had tested negative to serve as experimental controls. Otto worked closely with coronavirus expert Susan Weiss of Penn Medicine to process some of the samples in Penn's Biosafety Level 2+ laboratory to inactivate the virus so they would be safe for the dogs to sniff.

Because of workplace shutdowns due to the pandemic, instead of working with dogs at Penn Vet, the researchers partnered with Pat Nolan, a trainer with a facility in Maryland.

Eight Labrador retrievers and a Belgian Malinois that had not done medical-detection work before were used in the study. First the researchers trained them to recognize a distinctive scent, a synthetic substance known as universal detection compound (UDC). They used a "scent wheel" in which each of 12 ports is loaded with a different sample and rewarded the dog when it responded to the port containing UDC.

When the dogs consistently responded to the UDC scent, the team began training them to respond to urine samples from SARS-CoV-2 positive patients and discern positive from negative samples. The negative samples were subjected to the same inactivation treatment -- either heat inactivation or detergent inactivation -- as the positive samples.

Processing the results with assistance from Penn criminologist and statistician Richard Berk, the team found that after three weeks of training all nine dogs were able to readily identify SARS-CoV-2 positive samples, with 96% accuracy on average. Their sensitivity, or ability to avoid false negatives, however, was lower, in part, the researchers believe, because of the stringent criteria of the study: If the dogs walked by a port containing a postive sample even once without responding, that was labeled a "miss."

The researchers ran into many complicating factors in their study, such as the tendency of the dogs to discriminate between the actual patients, rather than between their SARS-CoV-2 infection status. The dogs were also thrown off by a sample from a patient that tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 but who had recently recovered from COVID-19.

"The dogs kept responding to that sample, and we kept telling them no," Otto says. "But obviously there was still something in the patient's sample that the dogs were keying in on."

Major lessons learned from the study, besides confirming that there is a SARS-CoV-2 odor that dogs can detect, were that future training should entail large numbers of diverse samples and that dogs should not be trained repeatedly on the samples from any single individual.

"That's something we can carry forward not only in our COVID training but in our cancer work and any other medical detection efforts we do," says Otto. "We want to make sure that we have all the steps in place to ensure quality, reproducibility, validity, and safety for when we operationalize our dogs and have them start screening in community settings."

Now I wish I wasn’t allergic to them.

[Glorious Hong Kong]

Meanwhile, Bhutan continues to be based.

I'm confused. I thought Israel was leading? Either way, the British territory of Gibraltar massively outpaces them both with 97% of its tiny population now fully vaccinated. OWID gives a figure of 75% of the population for first doses in Bhutan to Israel's 62%.

U.S. racing to send aid to India as COVID-19 cases soar

Meanwhile, protesters in my country (Malaysia, not Hong Kong, though the same thing happens there too) have been arrested for participating in an illegal assembly and breaching social distancing rules (standard operating procedures, or SOPs). What was the protest about? Their village was placed under an Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) due to a massive local outbreak of infections. Everyone is fenced in and barred from even stepping out of their homes for several weeks at a time. The government ostensibly provides the affected community with food, water, and other essentials. The protesters were arrested for trying not to fucking starve to death because they haven't been receiving nearly enough aid. Meanwhile, a VIP minister is able to go gallivanting around in New Zealand without being quarantined. This stupid, fucking, unelected dictatorship needs to be thrown out on its hind legs as soon as possible.

How does their local MP respond?

"Maybe they should've gotten in touch with me first."

I'm so surprised you didn't defect like the other cowards. You're done, you stupid bitch. No more VIP goodies for you.

[Tringapore]

Hooray! A billion doses already!

[Xmara]

WV, which once led the nation in vaccination, has now “hit a wall.” Vaccination rates have declined even though 40% of eligible West Virginians are not vaccinated.

Speaking of vaccines, I get dose number 2 of the Moderna this week.

[Neanderthaland]

WV, which once led the nation in vaccination, has now “hit a wall.” Vaccination rates have declined even though 40% of eligible West Virginians are not vaccinated.

Speaking of vaccines, I get dose number 2 of the Moderna this week.

Grats! Hope it goes well.

[Kowani]

US to send aid to India

Raw material for vaccine production
Therapeutics
Rapid diagnostic kits
Ventilators
Oxygen generation & related supplies
Financial support for vaccine manufacturing expansion
Deployment of CDC and USAID public health teams

[Ethel mermania]

US to send aid to India

Raw material for vaccine production
Therapeutics
Rapid diagnostic kits
Ventilators
Oxygen generation & related supplies
Financial support for vaccine manufacturing expansion
Deployment of CDC and USAID public health teams

Huzzah for us.

[North Washington Republic]

US to send aid to India

Raw material for vaccine production
Therapeutics
Rapid diagnostic kits
Ventilators
Oxygen generation & related supplies
Financial support for vaccine manufacturing expansion
Deployment of CDC and USAID public health teams

Huzzah for us.

Indeed. However, I think that the UK could also help us help India as well, if they haven’t already.

[Kowani]

Huzzah for us.

Indeed. However, I think that the UK could also help us help India as well, if they haven’t already.

They are.

Britain said Sunday it was sending life-saving medical equipment to India, including ventilators and oxygen concentrators, as the south Asian country reels from record numbers of daily Covid-19 infections and deaths.

London will ship more than 600 pieces of equipment to New Delhi to support its fight against the virus, following a request from India and Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledging the UK would do "all it can" to help.
[...] Britain's Foreign Office, which is funding the aid, said the first shipment would leave the country Sunday, arriving in New Delhi in the early hours of Tuesday, with further shipments following later in the week.

In total, nine airline container-loads of supplies, including 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators, will be sent to the country, said the ministry.

[North Washington Republic]

Indeed. However, I think that the UK could also help us help India as well, if they haven’t already.

They are.

Britain said Sunday it was sending life-saving medical equipment to India, including ventilators and oxygen concentrators, as the south Asian country reels from record numbers of daily Covid-19 infections and deaths.

London will ship more than 600 pieces of equipment to New Delhi to support its fight against the virus, following a request from India and Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledging the UK would do "all it can" to help.
[...] Britain's Foreign Office, which is funding the aid, said the first shipment would leave the country Sunday, arriving in New Delhi in the early hours of Tuesday, with further shipments following later in the week.

In total, nine airline container-loads of supplies, including 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators, will be sent to the country, said the ministry.

Good. I hope that this can help India get their current situation somewhat under control.

[Glorious Hong Kong]

They are.

Britain said Sunday it was sending life-saving medical equipment to India, including ventilators and oxygen concentrators, as the south Asian country reels from record numbers of daily Covid-19 infections and deaths.

London will ship more than 600 pieces of equipment to New Delhi to support its fight against the virus, following a request from India and Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledging the UK would do "all it can" to help.
[...] Britain's Foreign Office, which is funding the aid, said the first shipment would leave the country Sunday, arriving in New Delhi in the early hours of Tuesday, with further shipments following later in the week.

In total, nine airline container-loads of supplies, including 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators, will be sent to the country, said the ministry.

Good. I hope that this can help India get their current situation somewhat under control.

US to send aid to India

Raw material for vaccine production
Therapeutics
Rapid diagnostic kits
Ventilators
Oxygen generation & related supplies
Financial support for vaccine manufacturing expansion
Deployment of CDC and USAID public health teams

We should get some treaty ports out of this.

This is excellent news. The West has come a long way from the severe shortages of masks, PPE, and testing kits that it suffered a year ago while China pretended to play the role of world savior. This is what coronavirus diplomacy looks like. No strings attached. No being forced to go on record to praise the generosity of the British or American people and be photographed kissing the Union Jack or the Star-Spangled Banner. No self-aggrandizement in state-owned media outlets. None of that gaslighting, trolling bullcrap. Just pure, unadulterated goodwill between kind-hearted men and women. This is the real deal.

India has given us so much. It is a major vaccine powerhouse and has manufactured and donated millions of AstraZeneca doses to COVAX and other countries. It is time for the rest of the world to return the favor.

#StandWithIndia

[North Washington Republic]

Good. I hope that this can help India get their current situation somewhat under control.

We should get some treaty ports out of this.

This is excellent news. The West has come a long way from the severe shortages of masks, PPE, and testing kits that it suffered a year ago while China pretended to play the role of world savior. This is what coronavirus diplomacy looks like. No strings attached. No being forced to go on record to praise the generosity of the British or American people and be photographed kissing the Union Jack or the Star-Spangled Banner. No self-aggrandizement in state-owned media outlets. None of that gaslighting, trolling bullcrap. Just pure, unadulterated goodwill between kind-hearted men and women. This is the real deal.

India has given us so much. It is a major vaccine powerhouse and has manufactured and donated millions of AstraZeneca doses to COVAX and other countries. It is time for the rest of the world to return the favor.

#StandWithIndia

I don’t know what made you think that we would require India to kiss our flag in order to revive help. It is quite simple. We need to help India to help us. This is a highly contagious and dangerous pandemic after all.

[USS Monitor]

This is excellent news. The West has come a long way from the severe shortages of masks, PPE, and testing kits that it suffered a year ago while China pretended to play the role of world savior. This is what coronavirus diplomacy looks like. No strings attached. No being forced to go on record to praise the generosity of the British or American people and be photographed kissing the Union Jack or the Star-Spangled Banner. No self-aggrandizement in state-owned media outlets. None of that gaslighting, trolling bullcrap. Just pure, unadulterated goodwill between kind-hearted men and women. This is the real deal.

India has given us so much. It is a major vaccine powerhouse and has manufactured and donated millions of AstraZeneca doses to COVAX and other countries. It is time for the rest of the world to return the favor.

#StandWithIndia

I don’t what made you think that we would require India to kiss our flag in order to revive help. It is quite simple. We need to help India to help us. This is a highly contagious and dangerous pandemic after all.

He just needs a soapbox for his political axe-grinding.

[Sharania]

Spain arrested a man who deliberately spread COVID-19

Man arrested after infecting 22 people in Majorca
The 40-year-old is alleged to have continued to go to work and the gym despite having a cough and a temperature of more than 40C (104F).

He is said to have walked around his place of work in Majorca, pulling his mask down, coughing and telling colleagues he was going to infect them.

Five colleagues and three fellow gym goers later tested positive.

Another 14 people - family members of the infected - also came down with Covid, including three one-year-olds.

In France, people injected with saline instead of the Pfizer vaccine

In the French city of Epernay, 140 people were injected with saline instead of being vaccinated against COVID-19 with Pfizer.
Saline is sterile salt water used as a solvent during injections, so the saline injections did not affect the health of Epernay residents. A mistake was made in one of the vaccination centers, and, next day, representatives of the center contacted 140 citizens so that they could talk with a doctor and make an appointment. The authorities did not explain the cause of the error, but an investigation was carried out and a medical professional was appointed to strengthen security procedures.

Iraq Covid hospital fire: 82 dead after 'oxygen tank explodes'

At least 82 people have been killed in a fire at a hospital treating coronavirus patients in the capital of Iraq, Baghdad.

More than 100 others were injured in the blaze, which erupted at the Ibn Khatib hospital on Saturday night.

Reports say an accident had caused an oxygen tank to explode, sparking the blaze.

Videos on social media show firefighters scrambling to extinguish the flames as people flee the building.

Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Sunday suspended the health minister and ordered an investigation into the tragedy.

The head of Iraq's Civil Defence, Gen Kadhim Bohan, said the fire had broken out in the hospital's intensive-care unit, on a floor "designated for pulmonary resuscitation".

About "30 patients were in the intensive care unit", which was reserved for the most severe cases of Covid-19 in Baghdad, a hospital source told the AFP news agency.

The fire was under control by the early hours of Sunday morning, Iraq's Civil Defence said.

In a statement, the government's human rights commission said the incident was "a crime against patients exhausted by Covid-19".
Emergency service officials said many patients died when they were taken off oxygen machines to be evacuated, while others were suffocated by smoke.

"Once the fire started somebody needed to put the auto central pipes off, which means basically cutting the oxygen from those who need it most," Halla Sarraf, the director of Iraqi Health Access, a non-governmental organisation, told the BBC.

Iraq's hospitals have been pushed to the limit during the coronavirus pandemic, adding to the strains wrought by years of war, neglect and corruption.

Covid infections have been rising steeply since February in Iraq, and the total passed the one-million mark this week.

The health ministry has recorded 1,025,288 cases and 15,217 deaths since the pandemic began.

The country launched its vaccination campaign last month, and has received nearly 650,000 doses, most of which have come from Covax, a global programme for sharing jabs

AFP and France 24 video (ENG) of the aftermath.

[North Washington Republic]

I don’t know what made you think that we would require India to kiss our flag in order to revive help. It is quite simple. We need to help India to help us. This is a highly contagious and dangerous pandemic after all.

Kissing the flag would be really stupid, but maybe some economic concessions wouldn't be a bad idea.

Oh, and what type of “economic concessions” do you have mind?

[The Huskar Social Union]

Good. I hope that this can help India get their current situation somewhat under control.

We should get some treaty ports out of this.

This is excellent news. The West has come a long way from the severe shortages of masks, PPE, and testing kits that it suffered a year ago while China pretended to play the role of world savior. This is what coronavirus diplomacy looks like. No strings attached. No being forced to go on record to praise the generosity of the British or American people and be photographed kissing the Union Jack or the Star-Spangled Banner. No self-aggrandizement in state-owned media outlets. None of that gaslighting, trolling bullcrap. Just pure, unadulterated goodwill between kind-hearted men and women. This is the real deal.

India has given us so much. It is a major vaccine powerhouse and has manufactured and donated millions of AstraZeneca doses to COVAX and other countries. It is time for the rest of the world to return the favor.

#StandWithIndia

Hey guys did you know i dont like china

[Fartsniffage]

Spain arrested a man who deliberately spread COVID-19

Man arrested after infecting 22 people in Majorca
The 40-year-old is alleged to have continued to go to work and the gym despite having a cough and a temperature of more than 40C (104F).

He is said to have walked around his place of work in Majorca, pulling his mask down, coughing and telling colleagues he was going to infect them.

Five colleagues and three fellow gym goers later tested positive.

Another 14 people - family members of the infected - also came down with Covid, including three one-year-olds.

/quote]

[North Washington Republic]

This is excellent news. The West has come a long way from the severe shortages of masks, PPE, and testing kits that it suffered a year ago while China pretended to play the role of world savior. This is what coronavirus diplomacy looks like. No strings attached. No being forced to go on record to praise the generosity of the British or American people and be photographed kissing the Union Jack or the Star-Spangled Banner. No self-aggrandizement in state-owned media outlets. None of that gaslighting, trolling bullcrap. Just pure, unadulterated goodwill between kind-hearted men and women. This is the real deal.

India has given us so much. It is a major vaccine powerhouse and has manufactured and donated millions of AstraZeneca doses to COVAX and other countries. It is time for the rest of the world to return the favor.
#StandWithIndia

Hey guys did you know i dont like china

Well, with China utter lack of transparency when it comes to the origins of COVID-19, I think people have legitimate reason not to like China. Besides the genocide they’re committing right now...

Oh, and what type of “economic concessions” do you have mind?

Maybe some Treaty ports.

Perhaps. But they need help getting their situation under control before it spreads to more countries.

[Kowani]

EU, Russia, to send oxygen, vaccines, and other aid to India, China offers help

As the number of COVID-19 patients remained high, Russia, UK, France and Germany among other countries have offered to gift oxygen generating equipment to India.

Germany will be the first to send nearly two dozen oxygen generation plants and France and the UK have also said they are prepared to follow suit.

The Russian offer for oxygen as well as remdesivir injections came on Friday when India notched the world’s highest daily tally of COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day.

Russia has offered to provide medical-grade oxygen and anti-viral drug remdesivir. India, grappling with a record shortage of both products, can begin receiving shipments in a fortnight.

Moscow has also offered four lakh remdesivir injections every week. The injections have a going rate of Rs 30,000-40,000 in the black market.

India has already waived the import duty on remdesivir. Russia is also dispatching emergency doses of Sputnik-V vaccine due to a slowdown in production in India after the US put curbs on export of raw material for the vaccines.

Sources said till its India-made vaccine hits the market in sufficient numbers, India is exploring the possibility of “full and fill” Sputnik vaccines.On the continuing US ban on export of raw materials that goes into the manufacturing of vaccines in India, the sources said, “we have raised at high levels and they have been receptive”.

In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said China was ready to offer assistance according to India’s needs. Hoping that India will defeat the virus at an early date, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian expressed Beijing’s sincere sympathies to India over the deteriorating situation in the country recently.

“China is ready to provide support and help according to India’s need, and is in communication with the Indian side on this,” said Zhao when asked at the media briefing on Friday about the kind of help that China can offer and also whether China is having communications with India on providing help.

[North Washington Republic]

EU, Russia, to send oxygen, vaccines, and other aid to India, China offers help

As the number of COVID-19 patients remained high, Russia, UK, France and Germany among other countries have offered to gift oxygen generating equipment to India.

Germany will be the first to send nearly two dozen oxygen generation plants and France and the UK have also said they are prepared to follow suit.

The Russian offer for oxygen as well as remdesivir injections came on Friday when India notched the world’s highest daily tally of COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day.

Russia has offered to provide medical-grade oxygen and anti-viral drug remdesivir. India, grappling with a record shortage of both products, can begin receiving shipments in a fortnight.

Moscow has also offered four lakh remdesivir injections every week. The injections have a going rate of Rs 30,000-40,000 in the black market.

India has already waived the import duty on remdesivir. Russia is also dispatching emergency doses of Sputnik-V vaccine due to a slowdown in production in India after the US put curbs on export of raw material for the vaccines.

Sources said till its India-made vaccine hits the market in sufficient numbers, India is exploring the possibility of “full and fill” Sputnik vaccines.On the continuing US ban on export of raw materials that goes into the manufacturing of vaccines in India, the sources said, “we have raised at high levels and they have been receptive”.

In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said China was ready to offer assistance according to India’s needs. Hoping that India will defeat the virus at an early date, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian expressed Beijing’s sincere sympathies to India over the deteriorating situation in the country recently.

“China is ready to provide support and help according to India’s need, and is in communication with the Indian side on this,” said Zhao when asked at the media briefing on Friday about the kind of help that China can offer and also whether China is having communications with India on providing help.

I understand the Oxygen, people are suffering and dying on mass because there is a critical shortage. But India produces a lot of the vaccines. I have no issue sending them vaccines, but knowing Modi, wouldn’t he put a pause on exporting vaccines..or at least a mass reduction so he can get his own people vacationed?

[Kowani]

EU, Russia, to send oxygen, vaccines, and other aid to India, China offers help

As the number of COVID-19 patients remained high, Russia, UK, France and Germany among other countries have offered to gift oxygen generating equipment to India.

Germany will be the first to send nearly two dozen oxygen generation plants and France and the UK have also said they are prepared to follow suit.

The Russian offer for oxygen as well as remdesivir injections came on Friday when India notched the world’s highest daily tally of COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day.

Russia has offered to provide medical-grade oxygen and anti-viral drug remdesivir. India, grappling with a record shortage of both products, can begin receiving shipments in a fortnight.

Moscow has also offered four lakh remdesivir injections every week. The injections have a going rate of Rs 30,000-40,000 in the black market.

India has already waived the import duty on remdesivir. Russia is also dispatching emergency doses of Sputnik-V vaccine due to a slowdown in production in India after the US put curbs on export of raw material for the vaccines.

Sources said till its India-made vaccine hits the market in sufficient numbers, India is exploring the possibility of “full and fill” Sputnik vaccines.On the continuing US ban on export of raw materials that goes into the manufacturing of vaccines in India, the sources said, “we have raised at high levels and they have been receptive”.

In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said China was ready to offer assistance according to India’s needs. Hoping that India will defeat the virus at an early date, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian expressed Beijing’s sincere sympathies to India over the deteriorating situation in the country recently.

“China is ready to provide support and help according to India’s need, and is in communication with the Indian side on this,” said Zhao when asked at the media briefing on Friday about the kind of help that China can offer and also whether China is having communications with India on providing help.

I understand the Oxygen, people are suffering and dying on mass because there is a critical shortage. But India produces a lot of the vaccines. I have no issue sending them vaccines, but knowing Modi, wouldn’t he put a pause on exporting vaccines..or at least a mass reduction so he can get his own people vacationed?

Already happened

[Postauthoritarian America]

how does someone make a mistake like that on such a huge scale?

Have you never met people?

The good thing is that the quality checking picked it up.

Good thing too the CEO of Emergent sold $10m worth of stock before flushing the price down by half.

[Southern Xenick]

Hooray! A billion doses already!

Wowza, thats a lot.
I don't need or qualify for the vaccine, but my family got them.