26251 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Of course Florida has received all kinds of extra attention from the leftist media, but we see here that for Omicron, they have fared extremely well.

 

 

 

 

https://www.worldome...us/usa/florida/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 January 2022 - 11:36 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

More than 1,600 volunteers have signed up after New Brunswick issued a call to the public for assistance amid a growing wave of COVID-19 that has sparked concern over the strained health-care system, the province says.

 

On Tuesday, Health Minister Dorothy Shephard asked for paid and unpaid volunteers to help with the clinical and non-clinical pandemic response as the Omicron variant is causing both increased hospitalizations and staff absences.

 

In an update Wednesday, the province said more than 1,600 New Brunswickers have already stepped up.

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...-2022-1.6320012

 

 

 

Now, why have we never asked?  Adjusted for population, that would be like 11,200 volunteers in BC.

 

New Brunswick on Wednesday reported four new COVID-19 deaths, while the number of hospitalizations was at a record high 123, with 11 in ICU. 

 

 

 

So NB has received 1,600 volunteer applications to help the load of 134 people in hospital.  Good show.  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 January 2022 - 12:13 AM.

[vortoozo]

If you truly believe what you written I feel sorry for you. Folk that declined this vaccine have caused you no harm. 

 

TFord 

 

Current restrictions are in place because our hospital system is overwhelmed.

Unvaccinated people are in the hospital at a much higher rate than those that are vaccinated.

That is undeniably.

Therefore, yes, absolutely, folks that declined the vaccine are responsible for additional restrictions, resulting in economic harm and devastating small businesses.

[Victoria Watcher]

1. Current restrictions are in place because our hospital system is overwhelmed.

 

2. Unvaccinated people are in the hospital at a much higher rate than those that are vaccinated.

 

3. That is undeniably.

 

4. Therefore, yes, absolutely, folks that declined the vaccine are responsible for additional restrictions, resulting in economic harm and devastating small businesses.

 

I agree with #1, 2, and 3.

 

And quite frankly, all the anti-vax and anti-lockdown people, or at least most of them, have very little answer for this.  I have some ideas, but they are often not popular.  I also wonder why 2 years in, our hospital capacity is mostly unchanged.

 

For #4, its harder for me to draw that direct line.  The unvaccinated did not - and mostly do not - ask for restrictions and business closures.  However, I agree that might be a related/direct side effect, but it's out of their control.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 January 2022 - 01:11 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

COVID-19: Remdesivir drops need for ventilation by half, Canadian study says

 

A Canadian study suggests the antiviral medication remdesivir could have a “modest but significant effect” on COVID-19 patient outcomes, including decreasing the need for mechanical ventilation by approximately 50 per cent.

 

The study, published Wednesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, is billed as the largest single-country trial of remdesivir reported to date.

 

https://globalnews.c...dication-study/

 

 

NBC, November 2020:

 

The antiviral remdesivir should not be used as treatment for hospitalized Covid-19 patients, the World Health Organization said Thursday, only a month after the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug to treat patients over age 12 who are hospitalized with Covid-19.

 

Remdesivir, also known as Veklury, and the steroid dexamethasone are the only drugs authorized to treat Covid-19 patients. But a recent massive global study of remdesivir's effectiveness, run by the WHO, showed that remdesivir had little or no impact on hospitalized patients, contradicting previous trials.

 

"Remdesivir has no meaningful effect on mortality or on other important outcomes for patients, such as the need for mechanical ventilation or time to clinical improvement," experts from the WHO Guideline Development Group wrote in a statement. The review was published in The BMJ, a medical journal.

 

https://www.nbcnews....ts-who-n1248320

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 January 2022 - 03:03 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Ontario:

 

 

Of the 4,061 people in hospital with COVID-19, which is down by 71 since yesterday, 55 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while 45 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.

 

There are 594 people in ICUs, which is up by five from the previous day. Around 81 per cent of those in intensive care with COVID were admitted because of the virus, while around 19 per cent were admitted for other reasons.

 

 

https://globalnews.c...20-coronavirus/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 January 2022 - 07:55 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Ontario:

 

 

Of the 4,061 people in hospital with COVID-19, which is down by 71 since yesterday, 55 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while 45 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.

 

There are 594 people in ICUs, which is up by five from the previous day. Around 81 per cent of those in intensive care with COVID were admitted because of the virus, while around 19 per cent were admitted for other reasons.

 

 

https://globalnews.c...20-coronavirus/

 

 

 

Hospitalizations fell by 14 to 3,411 in the last day. Officials say 352 people were admitted, while 366 were discharged.

 

The latest update shows that 285 patients hospitalized with the disease are in intensive care units. That number remains unchanged from the previous day.

 

Quebec also recorded 6,528 new novel coronavirus infections Thursday.

 

https://globalnews.c...anuary-20-2022/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 January 2022 - 08:23 AM.

[amor de cosmos]

Low-cost drug Heparin effective and safe treatment for COVID-19
https://www.eurekale...releases/940713
 

The groundbreaking programme is able to detect the virus far more quickly than a PCR test; which typically takes around 2-hours.
 
It is hoped that the technology can eventually be used to help relieve strain on hard-pressed Accident and Emergency departments, particularly in countries where PCR tests are not readily available.
 
The state-of-the-art technique utilises x-ray technology, comparing scans to a database of around 3000 images, belonging to patients with Covid-19, healthy individuals and people with viral pneumonia.
 
It then uses an AI process known as deep convolutional neural network, an algorithm typically used to analyse visual imagery, to make a diagnosis. During an extensive testing phase, the technique proved to be more than 98% accurate.

https://www.eurekale...releases/940610
 

As COVID case numbers continue to climb, doctors are seeing more patients struggling with a wide range of debilitating and potentially dangerous symptoms several months after contracting the virus. Now, a new study by researchers at National Jewish Health published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is shedding light on the cause behind these long-term symptoms that will help experts begin to develop treatments.
 
“There is no common characteristic among those experiencing post-COVID syndrome. We see patients who are young and old, those with mild and severe cases of COVID and those who are active and healthy as well as some with pre-existing conditions,” said Irina Petrache, MD, chief of the Division of Pulmonary at National Jewish Health and a co-author of the study. “Some have subtle symptoms while others experience very obvious, life-altering health issues that keep them from returning to their normal day-to-day life. For most, initial testing of their heart and lungs was normal, so we looked deeper to the cellular level.”
 
To do this, researchers conducted exercise testing at the National Jewish Health Center for Post-COVID Care and Recovery, monitoring hundreds of data points as patients became fatigued on an exercise bike.  Patients wore a specialized mask and electrodes that monitored their breathing and heart function, and, in some patients, an arterial line was also inserted to track blood oxygen levels.
 
They concluded that mitochondria – microorganisms in cells that are responsible for generating energy – did not function properly in patients with post-COVID syndrome. While the test revealed this dysfunction in muscle tissue, researchers believe this same process is related to symptoms originating in the pulmonary and neurological systems as well.
 
It’s a discovery that researchers hope will lead to treatments for patients like Joanna Zieger, who continues to struggle with fluctuating heart rates, extreme fatigue and memory issues five months after having COVID. As a former Olympic triathlete and Ironman champion, exercise is a major part of her lifestyle. But these days, she struggles just to take her dog for a walk or climb a flight of stairs.

https://www.eurekale...releases/940552
 
PM Boris Johnson and Carrie's Five-Week-Old Baby Romy Hit 'Quite Badly' by COVID
https://sputniknews....1092394460.html

Czech Folk Singer Dies After Intentionally Catching COVID
Hana Horka, 57, got infected on purpose so she could get a recovery pass to access certain venues, her son said.
https://crooksandlia...r-intentionally

Australia says no to 16-year-old forklift drivers as remedy to COVID-19 supply chain pain
https://www.rappler....ply-chain-pain/
 

המשטרה עצרה השבוע גבר בשנות ה-30 לחייו מאזור ירושלים בחשד שתקף תיירת ואנס אותה לפני 13 שנה. המשטרה הצליחה לאתר את החשוד באמצעות מסכת קורונה שהשתמש בה, ובעזרת אמצעים טכנולוגיים לזיהוי פלילי. בית המשפט האריך ביום שני את מעצרו של החשוד בשבוע, והיום צפוי להיות מוגש נגדו כתב אישום. החשוד היה קטין בזמן ביצוע העבירה ושמו אסור לפרסום.

המקרה אירע בשנת 2009. לפי החשד, התיירת - שהיתה אז כבת 20 - והחשוד נפגשו במרכז העיר ירושלים. הוא סייע לה לסחוב את כלי הנגינה שהיה ברשותה, ולאחר מכן הוביל אותה לגן ציבורי חשוך ושם הכה אותה בראשה ואנס אותה. לאחר מכן הוא נמלט מהמקום והאישה פונתה לבית חולים. החוקרים איתרו את האישה במקום מגוריה בחו"ל והיא הגיעה לישראל לבקשתם בתחילת השבוע.

This week, the police arrested a man in his 30s from the Jerusalem area on suspicion of assaulting a tourist and raping her 13 years ago. Police were able to locate the suspect using the Corona mask he used, and using technological means for forensic identification. The court extended the suspect's detention for a week on Monday, and an indictment is expected to be filed against him today. The suspect was a minor at the time the offense was committed and his name is not allowed to be published.

The incident occurred in 2009. According to the suspect, the tourist - who was then about 20 years old - and the suspect met in the center of Jerusalem. He helped her carry the musical instruments in her possession, then led her to a dark public park where he hit her on the head and raped her. He then fled the scene and the woman was evacuated to a hospital. Investigators located the woman at her residence abroad and she arrived in Israel at their request earlier this week.

https://www.haaretz..../law/1.10552270

Russia Sends All Sputnik V Data to WHO, Visit of Experts Expected in Q1
https://sputniknews....1092400733.html

[Mike K.]

Let me guess. Best, most effective vsccine, with the least side effects of any known vaccine, ever, and it’s cheap to produce plus can be used for all sorts of ailments.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

 

UK:

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 January 2022 - 09:11 AM.

[vortoozo]

I agree with #1, 2, and 3.

 

And quite frankly, all the anti-vax and anti-lockdown people, or at least most of them, have very little answer for this.  I have some ideas, but they are often not popular.  I also wonder why 2 years in, our hospital capacity is mostly unchanged.

 

For #4, its harder for me to draw that direct line.  The unvaccinated did not - and mostly do not - ask for restrictions and business closures.  However, I agree that might be a related/direct side effect, but it's out of their control.

 

Whether it's in their control or not in their control, it's still the end result.

To claim that their are not hurting others is a bold faced lie.

If they are not going to get the vaccine - fine, that's their choice. But there are consequences and of course it's natural for the rest of society to be frustrated about them.

[LJ]

Results from a study from the testing of the vaccines prior to authorization of them showed about 10% of the people that received the placebo reported side effects such as headaches and tiredness.

[Mayallama]

I find it odd that our local news don’t report that the UK has removed mandates. Japan, Finland and many other countries have also removed mandates. I’m not on any side of this issue, but I think the facts should be revealed. Perhaps some of you could enlighten me.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://www.worldome...country/canada/

 

[Victoria Watcher]

Results from a study from the testing of the vaccines prior to authorization of them showed about 10% of the people that received the placebo reported side effects such as headaches and tiredness.

 

There's your "long-haulers".

[Victoria Watcher]

https://www.worldome.../weekly-trends/

 

 

USA is minus 12%.

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 21 January 2022 - 12:13 AM.

[amor de cosmos]

The doctor who was accused in 2020 of breaking New Brunswick's COVID-19 rules by failing to isolate, and of being the source of a deadly outbreak, is suing the province, the RCMP and Facebook's parent company.
 
Lawyers for Dr. Jean-Robert Ngola, 52, said Thursday they have filed their claim with the Court of Queen's Bench in Moncton — seven months after they announced their intention.
 
The document alleges, among other things, "institutional anti-Black systemic racism," abuse of power, negligence, defamation, malicious prosecution and a breach of the doctor's charter rights.
 
"This is a battle for rights, human dignity and against racism," Ngola told reporters in French during an online news conference from Louiseville, Que., where he now practises.
 
Joel Etienne, one of his lawyers, who is based in Toronto, said they expect the legal battle to be "needless and protracted."

https://www.cbc.ca/n...wsuit-1.6321845

The Vancouver Canucks COVID-19 outbreak continues, with star goalie Thatcher Demko and forward J.T. Miller testing positive for the virus via rapid tests on Thursday.
https://www.cbc.ca/s...covid-1.6321982
 

Researchers at UBC’s faculty of medicine have conducted the world’s first molecular-level structural analysis of the Omicron variant spike protein. The findings were published today in Science. 
 
The analysis—done at near atomic resolution using cryo-electron microscopy—reveals how the heavily mutated Omicron variant attaches to and infects human cells. 
 
“Understanding the molecular structure of the viral spike protein is important as it will allow us to develop more effective treatments against Omicron and related variants in the future,” said lead author Dr. Sriram Subramaniam (he/him), professor in UBC’s department of biochemistry and molecular biology. “By analyzing the mechanisms by which the virus infects human cells, we can develop better treatments that disrupt that process and neutralize the virus.”

https://www.eurekale...releases/940715
 
study of the day

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University scientists may have uncovered an important clue that sheds light on why pigs don’t get sick when exposed to the coronavirus.

Studies since the start of the pandemic have noted that pigs can be infected by the virus if exposed to high doses, but the infection is self-limited and pigs don’t show clinical signs of disease nor do they transmit the virus to other animals. So Rahul Nelli, a research assistant professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, and Luis Gimenez-Lirola, an associate professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, set out to find out why in a newly published study in the academic journal Cell Death Discovery. What they found could lead to new ways to treat humans who contract COVID-19, the disease that results from infection by the virus SARS-CoV-2, said Nelli and Gimenez-Lirola.

Nelli and Gimenez-Lirola have studied how coronaviruses affect pigs for years. They’ve developed models that allow them to study in detail how viruses infect pigs and pig cells and how the cells respond to fight the infection. For the latest experiments, they introduced the virus to cultured porcine and human respiratory epithelial cells, which line most of the respiratory tract. They found the pig cells underwent apoptosis, or controlled cell death, in response to infection at a higher rate than human epithelial cells.

“When we looked under the microscope there was an interesting phenomenon going on inside the cells,” Nelli said. “The nuclei of the infected pig cells were starting to shred into fragments but not uninfected pig cells.”

That shredding of the nucleus is a telltale sign of apoptosis, which may be a key in helping pigs avoid symptoms after exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Triggering apoptosis early in the infection essentially causes minimal tissue damage and confines viral replication, thus limiting severe illness. Human cells can undergo apoptosis in response to coronavirus infection as well, but the study found human cells do so much less frequently than porcine cells. Pig cells are roughly 100 times more likely to undergo apoptosis than human cells, according to the study.

https://www.news.ias.../20/covidinpigs
https://www.scienced...20120125443.htm
 
COVID-19 Vaccines Do Not Cause Infertility
A new study has found that COVID-19 vaccination does not impair fertility—but males who become infected by the coronavirus may experience short-term reduced fertility.
https://www.bu.edu/s...se-infertility/
https://www.scienced...20120135142.htm
 

New Haven, Conn. — Millions of people around the world have received two shots of Sinovac, a Chinese-manufactured inactive vaccine that is used in 48 countries to help reduce transmission rates of COVID-19.
 
However, those vaccinations alone are of no help against the widely circulating Omicron variant, show a new study by researchers at Yale and the Dominican Republic. The results are published in the journal Nature Medicine.
 
An analysis of blood serum from 101 individuals from the Dominican Republic showed that Omicron infection produced no neutralizing antibodies among those who received the standard two-shot regimen of the Sinovac vaccine. Antibody levels against Omicron rose among those who had also received a booster shot of the mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech.
 
But when researchers compared these samples with blood serum samples stored at Yale, they found that even those who had received two Sinovac shots and a booster had antibody levels that were only about the same as those who’d received two shots of the mRNA vaccines but no booster shot. In other studies, the two-shot mRNA regimen without a booster has been shown to offer only limited protection against Omicron.

https://www.eurekale...releases/940813

Adele postpones Las Vegas concert series after half her crew gets COVID-19
British singer was set to begin a 3-month residency
https://www.cbc.ca/n...vegas-1.6322492
 

The FBI sought National Institutes of Health grant documents covering bat coronavirus research in Wuhan in spring 2020, according to emails obtained by The Intercept. The emails, released through ongoing litigation between The Intercept and the NIH, detail internal NIH conversations involving the New York-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, which collaborated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology on research. The emails also contain previously unreported requests the agency made of EcoHealth Alliance as a condition for restoring a grant funding its research. While unable to provide some of the information requested by the agency, Peter Daszak, EcoHealth’s besieged president, fought fiercely to save the grant.
 
The new information gives an unprecedented window into the high-profile tussle between EcoHealth Alliance and the NIH, and underscores the agency’s tenuous grasp of the biosafety protocols in place in its research projects, even with a project that has since come under scrutiny for a possible link to the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
“There doesn’t seem to be transparent and accessible record-keeping of incident reporting,” said Filippa Lentzos, co-director of the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King’s College London, after viewing some of the emails. “That is very worrying and underscores the need for an overhaul of biosafety oversight in the United States.”

https://theintercept...-ecohealth-fbi/
 

Federal and state investigations into a large national chain of COVID-19 testing sites have turned up tests that were never labeled with patients' names, tests piled into trash bags stored for long periods at room temperature, tests that were never processed, and test results that were clearly fake.
 
Behind the testing sites are two Illinois-based companies: Center for COVID Control (CCC) and Doctors Clinical Laboratory, Inc., which is said to carry out COVID PCR testing for CCC. The two companies share the same address, though CCC is owned by Chicago-area couple Akbar Syed and Aleya Siyaj, while the clinical company is owned by Mohammed Shujauddin.
 
Together, the companies claim to provide rapid and PCR testing for COVID-19, with fast turnaround times and no appointments necessary. So far, they have collected more than 400,000 samples from over 300 locations across the US. And they have billed the federal government over $113 million for running many of those tests.
 
The companies are currently under investigation by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as well as multiple states. On Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit alleging numerous counts of deceptive or fraudulent practices by the pair.
 
“When Minnesotans and people from around the country tested with these companies to keep themselves and their families safe, they trusted they would get correct results on time," Attorney General Ellison said in a statement. "I’m holding these companies accountable that sent back false or inaccurate results, when they sent them back at all, for deceiving Minnesotans and undermining the public’s trust in testing."

Alleged deceit

According to Ellison's lawsuit, Minnesota investigators found evidence of egregious fraud and documented numerous cases in which the consumers seeking COVID-19 tests were deceived. In Minnesota, CCC opened eight pop-up testing sites that claimed to provide rapid test results in 15 minutes, with an emailed confirmation of results within three hours and results of PCR tests within 24 to 48 hours.

CCC often missed those windows completely, and many consumers referenced in the lawsuit have yet to receive any results weeks to months after their tests. Former CCC employees told Minnesota investigators that many of those tests were simply never processed. The employees noted that test samples were piled up in garbage bags around CCC's office, without any organization or cold storage to keep the samples from degrading. According to federal inspections reported by NBC News, CCC employees didn't even label some samples with patients' names. Inspection documents from federal investigators noted that "51 out of 51 patient specimen tubes contained in the box [they examined] were blank.”

https://arstechnica....lled-feds-113m/
 

Four inmates at an Arkansas jail have filed a lawsuit against the facility and its doctor after they said they were unknowingly prescribed ivermectin to treat Covid-19 as a form of “medical experimentation” despite US health officials warning that the anti-parasitic drug should not be used for that purpose.

The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of the men last week against Washington county jail, the Washington county sheriff, Tim Helder, and jail physician Dr Robert Karas. Last August, Helder revealed that the drug had been prescribed to patients with Covid-19.

“The lawsuit charges the defendants for administering ivermectin to incarcerated individuals without prior informed consent as to the nature, contents, or potential side effects of the drug,” the ACLU said in a statement last week.

Gary Sullivan, legal director of the ACLU of Arkansas, condemned Helder’s actions, saying: “No one – including incarcerated individuals – should be deceived and subject to medical experimentation. Sheriff Helder has a responsibility to provide food, shelter, and safe, appropriate care to incarcerated individuals.”

“Plaintiffs ingested incredibly high doses of a drug that credible medical professionals, the FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all agree is not an effective treatment against Covid-19, and that if given in large doses is dangerous for humans,” the lawsuit said.

https://www.theguard...ovid-ivermectin

[Victoria Watcher]

• On Friday, Quebec reported 3,351 people in hospital (a decrease of 60 from the previous day), including 265 in intensive care (a decrease of 20 from the previous day).

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...an-21-1.6322665

[Mike K.]

I find it odd that our local news don’t report that the UK has removed mandates. Japan, Finland and many other countries have also removed mandates. I’m not on any side of this issue, but I think the facts should be revealed. Perhaps some of you could enlighten me.

A friend who recently returned from the UK echoed the divergence between them and US, and how behind the times we are.

Of course it all started with the UK vaccinating a large portion of their population while we waited for supply.

[Victoria Watcher]

Of course it all started with the UK vaccinating a large portion of their population while we waited for supply.

 

 

But as I posted yesterday, we have currently an identical death rate today.  UK and Canada.  And today UK is removing mask mandates while in Canada over 3/4 of all restaurants and theatres and arenas are closed.

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 21 January 2022 - 09:13 AM.