26251 replies to this topic

[Szeven]

no anxiety or fear about losing our rights or whatever? wouldn't you feel better if you just kept calm & carried on?

 

CBD cures that amor, duh.

[dasmo]

no anxiety or fear about losing our rights or whatever? wouldn't you feel better if you just kept calm & carried on?

I am calm. I am not loosing my rights because I'm not giving them away. I'm concerned about others. We have it good here so far. I personally have it good. I work for myself so am not forced to do anything, I don't have parents anymore that might be stuck in an elderly home where I can't see them or deliver nutritious food for them, I don't have a child with special needs being confronted with this sceptical, nor did I lose all support for them, My wife and I are on the same page so my family isn't splitting apart, I don't have a shared family situation where I would have to take the ferry often etc. But that is no reason for presumptuous denial. 

Edited by dasmo, 19 October 2020 - 11:31 AM.

[On the Level]

What's with all of the Covid flights happening?  The flights were from Calgary, but who knows where the originating flights to Calgary come from.    Who exactly would be flying during a pandemic?

 

 

Two recent flights into Victoria have been added to the BC Centre for Disease Control’s list of flights with known COVID-19 exposures on board.

 

https://www.iheartra...list-1.13751531

[exc911ence]

What's with all of the Covid flights happening?  The flights were from Calgary, but who knows where the originating flights to Calgary come from.    Who exactly would be flying during a pandemic?

 

 

https://www.iheartra...list-1.13751531

 

Most of the same people who would be flying not during a pandemic? 

[Victoria Watcher]

 

Alberta has avoided the second surge of COVID-19 cases being experienced by some other jurisdictions around the world, but case numbers here are creeping up.

 

The province reported 332 new cases of the disease on Friday, but no additional deaths.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...eaths-1.5765551

 

 

 

 

 

per capita that puts alberta behind quebec but higher new cases than ontario.   yet in large parts of ontario all gyms theatres and restaurants are closed.  none of that is closed in alberta.

 

 

 

and vancouver island has less than 2 per 100,000 people.

 

 

ALBERTA:  Right now 117 people are in hospital with the disease, 11 of them in intensive care.

BC:  72 / 26

ISLAND:  0 / 0

 

 

we have dropped to 67 / 19 today.

[amor de cosmos]

Health officials in the Northwest Territories announced three new presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 on Friday – one in Inuvik and two in Yellowknife
https://www.aptnnews...es-of-covid-19/

B.C. sees record-breaking daily COVID infections with 499 new cases over weekend
Two people, both in the Lower Mainland, died due to the virus over the weekend
https://www.nanaimob...s-over-weekend/
 

At least 49 active cases of COVID-19 have been linked to a wedding held earlier this month in Calgary.

It comes as Alberta hits its highest case numbers ever — 3,138 active cases, 998 of which are in Calgary.

The wedding featured a large number of Albertans from different households, Alberta Health spokesperson Tom McMillan said.

Aggressive contact tracing is underway to identify anyone who may have been exposed and ensure they are isolating and getting tested, and anyone at risk is being contacted directly by Alberta Health Services.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...id-19-1.5768814

Just five per cent of Canadian children met basic physical activity guidelines early on in the pandemic
https://www.cbc.ca/n...covid-1.5767912

Only a fraction of Ontario's COVID-19 cases have used the national COVID Alert app to report their infections, hampering the app's effectiveness in slowing the second wave of the pandemic in the province
https://www.cbc.ca/n...t-app-1.5768033

 

 

We find that exposure to Fox News influenced people’s compliance with social-distancing guidelines. Figure 2 shows the most straightforward representation of our results. The blue line shows changes in the distance travelled in counties where, on average, Fox News was ‘low on the dial’ (based on 2005 allocation), while the red line shows the changes in distance travelled for US counties where Fox News was ‘high on the dial’. In both counties, there are virtually no changes at the beginning of March; reductions begin several days before President Trump declared a national emergency on 13 March. Then, in both types of counties, the distance travelled drops significantly – from 10% to 50% as compared to the baseline, depending on the day. While the distance travelled dropped significantly in both types of counties, the reduction was deeper in the counties less exposed to Fox News than in the counties more exposed.

 

*snip*

 

Our results are consistent with other studies that explored causal effects of exposure to Fox News on health-related behaviours during the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, Simonov et al. (2020) showed that a 10% increase in Fox News viewership decreased the probability of staying at home by 1.3 percentage points, while Ash et al. (2020) demonstrated that people exposed to Fox News were less likely to adopt masks, cleaning products, and hand sanitisers. Even within Fox News viewership, exposure to the hosts who were more dismissive towards the disease led to higher mortality (Bursztyn et al. 2020). It has been also shown that political affiliation and media consumption is a powerful predictor of public health policy and behaviour (Makridis and Rothwell 2020, Wright et al. 2020). This emerging literature shows how important media are for the pandemic response, and how political polarisation and the politicisation of science can harm containment efforts. The Covid-19 crisis in the US has undoubtedly been exacerbated by the political divide (Giuliano and Rasul 2020). Other countries must learn from this cautionary tale.

https://voxeu.org/ar...l-distancing-us

COVID-19 Is Driving The Uptake Of Chess -- And Of Surveillance Tools To Stop Online Players Cheating
https://www.techdirt...-cheating.shtml
 

Newswise — One way CBD appears to reduce the "cytokine storm" that damages the lungs and kills many patients with COVID-19 is by enabling an increase in levels of a natural peptide called apelin, which is known to reduce inflammation and whose levels are dramatically reduced in the face of this storm.
 
Dental College of Georgia and Medical College of Georgia researchers reported this summer CBD's ability to improve oxygen levels and reduce inflammation as well as physical lung damage in their laboratory model of deadly adult respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS.
 
Now they have shown that apelin levels go way down with the viral infection, which has killed 1 million people worldwide, and that CBD quickly helps normalize those levels along with lung function.
 
"It was dramatic in both directions," says Dr. Babak Baban, DCG immunologist and associate dean for research, of shifting apelin levels in both circulating blood and lung tissue.
 
Blood levels of the peptide dropped close to zero in their ARDS model and increased 20 times with CBD, they report in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

longish
https://www.newswise...tective-peptide
https://onlinelibrar...1111/jcmm.15883
 

Manila, Oct 19 (efe-epa).- Virgin coconut oil helps destroy the COVID-19 virus so it can be used as an antiviral against the disease, according to the preliminary experiments of a research in the Philippines.

The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) said it studied the effects of coconut oil against COVID-19 for months in the experimental phase and has already begun clinical trials with 56 patients.

“The results are very promising, as not only does it show that the VCO, by itself, can destroy the virus, but it also has a key mechanism in upregulating the immune response against COVID-19,” Dr. Jaime C. Montoya, Executive Director of the PCHRD, said in a statement.

According to research funded by the Philippine Department of Science and Technology, virgin coconut oil compounds decrease coronavirus count by 60-90 percent at low viral load while also improving cell survival, which means they contribute to strengthening the immune system’s response.

https://www.laprensa...covid-19-virus/
 
Crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein RNA binding domain reveals potential unique drug targeting sites
https://www.alphagal...y/ItemId/199644

A blend of racial prejudice, poor coping and partisan media viewing were found in Americans who stigmatized people of Asian descent during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study
https://www.eurekale...u-srw101920.php

Hesitancy about a COVID-19 vaccine is linked to beliefs about origin of the virus
https://www.eurekale...p-haa101920.php
 

Young, healthy people will be intentionally exposed to the virus responsible for COVID-19 in a first-of-its kind ‘human challenge trial’, the UK government and a company that runs such studies announced on 20 October. The experiment, set to begin in January in a London hospital if it receives final regulatory and ethical approval, aims to accelerate the development of vaccines that could end the pandemic.

Human challenge trials have a history of providing insight into diseases such as malaria and influenza. The UK trial will try to identify a suitable dose of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that could be used in future vaccine trials. But the prospect of deliberately infecting people — even those at low risk of severe disease — with SARS-CoV-2, a deadly pathogen that has few proven treatments, is uncharted medical and bioethical territory.

Proponents of COVID-19 challenge trials have argued that they can be run safely and ethically, and that their potential to quickly identify effective vaccines outweighs the low risks to participants. But others have raised questions about the safety and value of these studies, pointing out that large-scale efficacy trials involving tens of thousands of people are expected to deliver results on several COVID-19 vaccines soon.

“Deliberately infecting volunteers with a known human pathogen is never undertaken lightly. However, such studies are enormously informative about a disease," Peter Openshaw, an immunologist at Imperial College London and investigator on the study, said in a press statement. “It is really vital that we move as fast as possible towards getting effective vaccines and other treatments for COVID-19, and challenge studies have the potential to accelerate and de-risk the development of novel drugs and

https://www.nature.c...586-020-02821-4
 

According to Dr. Caricchio, large numbers of COVID-19 patients have been treated at Temple since the pandemic emerged in the United States. "We have a significant amount of data in terms of variables to predict cytokine storm," he said.

Since early March, every patient admitted to Temple University Hospital (TUH) has had data on more than 60 different laboratory variables collected daily until the time of recovery or time of death. Among variables measured every day are factors like white blood cell count, metabolic enzyme activity, and markers of inflammation and respiratory function. Importantly these markers are commonly used in hospitals across the globe and therefore are readily available.

The research group carried out statistical analyses on laboratory data for 513 COVID-19 patients hospitalized at TUH in March and April, 64 of whom developed cytokine storm. A genetic algorithm was used to identify cut-off values for each individual laboratory variable to define the predictive requirements for cytokine storm. Genetic algorithms mimic the processes of natural selection and evolution in analyzing the data, and in this case, over multiple iterations, the algorithm turned up variables indicating which patients are most likely to develop cytokine storm.

Overall, the analyses yielded six predictive criteria comprising three clusters of laboratory results relating to inflammation, cell death and tissue damage, and electrolyte imbalance. In particular, patients in cytokine storm exhibited a proinflammatory status and elevated levels of enzymes indicating significant systemic tissue damage. Moreover, patients who met the criteria had extended hospital stays and were at increased risk of death from COVID-19, with almost half of patients who experienced cytokine storm meeting all criteria within the first day of hospitalization.

https://www.eurekale...hs-ct101920.php

184 countries and economies have joined COVAX: WHO chief
http://www.ecns.cn/n...ys6710027.shtml

Cambodia reports 2 new imported COVID-19 cases, 285 in total
http://www.ecns.cn/n...ys6710202.shtml

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bulgaria has reached 30,527 after a record high of 1,024 new infections was reported in the last 24 hours
http://www.ecns.cn/n...ys6710344.shtml
 

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin on Monday night declared that the whole country will move to the highest Level-5 response to deal with the deteriorating COVID-19 situation.

Addressing the nation in a televised speech following a cabinet meeting, Martin said the government's decision will be implemented starting from midnight on Wednesday and last for six weeks until Dec. 1.

"If we all pull together over the next six weeks, we will have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas in a meaningful way," he said.

Under the Level-5 response, all people in the country, except essential workers, are required to stay at home and their movement from home shall be limited to 5 kilometers, he said.

According to Martin, only essential retail outlets such as supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open, and restaurants, cafes and bars can only provide takeaway services.

Describing the Level 5 measures as "probably Europe's strictest regime", Martin said that a full lockdown is "simply not a realistic option" and some exceptions will be made.

http://www.ecns.cn/n...ys6710012.shtml

Argentina nearing 1 million Covid-19 cases with no end in sight
https://www.laprensa...o-end-in-sight/

Russia sees highest single-day spike in virus cases
Country reports over 16,000 coronavirus cases, 269 deaths over past 24 hours
https://www.aa.com.t...s-cases/2012896
 

BEIJING: A state-owned Chinese drugmaker is setting up production lines to supply 1 billion doses of two possible coronavirus vaccines that are being tested on 50,000 people in 10 countries, the company chairman said Tuesday (Oct 20).

Testing by SinoPharm Group is “in the last kilometre of a long march”, chairman Liu Jingzhen said at a news conference. He gave no indication when results are expected.

China’s fledgling drug industry is part of a global race to produce a vaccine and has four candidates in final stages of testing. Health experts say, however, that even if China succeeds, stringent certification rules in the United States, Europe and Japan might mean its vaccine can be distributed only in other developing countries.

SinoPharm is testing two vaccines in countries including Egypt, Argentina, Jordan and Peru, Liu said. Both are inactivated, meaning they use a non-infectious version of the coronavirus.

https://www.channeln...-lines-13321536

Cathay Pacific to cut 6,000 jobs, axe Cathay Dragon brand amid COVID-19 pandemic: Report
https://www.channeln...vid-19-13320972

China's super rich got US$1.5 trillion richer during COVID-19 pandemic: Report
https://www.channeln...vid-19-13320310

Two more COVID-19 positives at Giro d'Italia
https://www.channeln...italia-13320462

Coronavirus: 9.1 million people to get Covid-19 vaccine at 1st phase in Indonesia
https://www.khaleejt...se-in-indonesia

Russia’s Chumakov Center begins clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in St. Petersburg
The trials involve 30 volunteers aged 18-45 with negative COVID-19 tests and absence of antibodies
https://tass.com/society/1213793

Dark Day for Iran: Daily Rise in COVID-19 Fatalities at Highest Level Ever
Iran’s Health Ministry spokeswoman says the novel coronavirus has killed 337 patients since Sunday noon, increasing the overall death toll to 30,712.
https://ifpnews.com/...hest-level-ever

A woman in her 30s, only identified as a resident of Garland, Texas, died of COVID-19 on a plane while it was still on the tarmac in Arizona earlier this year
https://sputniknews....before-takeoff/
 

Hours after bragging about his persistent refusal to listen to scientists when it comes to fighting the deadly coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump on Monday lashed out at Dr. Anthony Fauci and other public health officials, saying during a call with his campaign staff that "people are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots."

"People are tired of Covid. People are saying, 'Whatever, just leave us alone,'" Trump said of a virus that has killed more than 219,000 Americans and is still spreading at an alarming rate across the United States. "He's been here for, like, 500 years. He's like this wonderful sage telling us how—Fauci, if we listened to him, we'd have 700,000 [or] 800,000 deaths."

"If there's a reporter on, you can have it just the way I said it, I couldn't care less," the president added, addressing members of the press on the call.

https://www.salon.co...idiots_partner/

[Ismo07]

That’s the problem. There are no parameters for this ending. There is no oversight or checks and balances at all. Why are we still in a state of emergency here again? Two weeks to flatten the curve has turned into two years. What’s next? Two decades?

 

What parameter would you like them to say?  Like a date that it all returns to normal?  A certain count over a month period?  These are difficult to determine.  I think what's next is to really see a reduction in cases when there is tons of testing.  Maybe that will be April 1st if you really need a date.

 

Why would any party want to give up control if they don't have to?

 

What control are you referring to?  I mean I get areas are locking down but when you say a party doesn't want to give up control, why do they want to keep everyone inside and having business suffer?  Have these parties made certain investments or you think they just love that they can keep their areas locked down just for the ego stroke of it all?  What is this desire for control you think?

[Victoria Watcher]

NEW: UK reports more than 21,000 new coronavirus cases, biggest one-day increase on record -

New cases: 21,331 -

Positivity rate: 8.2% (+2.1) -

In hospital: 6,899 (+506) -

In ICU: 654 (+30) -

New deaths: 241

[dasmo]

What parameter would you like them to say?  Like a date that it all returns to normal?  A certain count over a month period?  These are difficult to determine.  I think what's next is to really see a reduction in cases when there is tons of testing.  Maybe that will be April 1st if you really need a date.

 

At this point I will take anything over one person being "satisfied". 

[Victoria Watcher]

An underreported, recently-published CDC study adds to the pile of evidence that cloth masks or other forms of mandated face coverings only contribute negatives to our COVID-19 problem. The study also displays — despite the constant accusations of widespread misbehavior from public health officials — that Americans are adhering to mask wearing, but mask wearing is not doing us any good.

 

The CDC study, which surveyed symptomatic COVID-19 patients, has found that 70.6% of respondents reported “always” wearing a mask, while an additional 14.4% say they “often” wear a mask. That means a whopping 85% of infected COVID-19 patients reported habitual mask wearing. Only 3.9% of those infected said they “never” wear a face covering.

 

The study offers insight into the reality that tens of thousands of Americans are acquiring COVID-19 on a daily basis despite overwhelming adherence to mask wearing. Masks simply aren’t working to “slow the spread” or “stop the spread.” The study also dismisses “public health experts’” claims from individuals such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and others that Americans are not following the guidance being disseminated by the CDC and other disease control agencies.

 

https://jordanschach...patients-report

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 October 2020 - 02:28 PM.

[Ismo07]

At this point I will take anything over one person being "satisfied". 

 

It's far from needing one person to be happy with it, it will depend on many and worldwide, unfortunately we are not in a bubble...

[dasmo]

It's far from needing one person to be happy with it, it will depend on many and worldwide, unfortunately we are not in a bubble...

Nope, but that could be the foundation of one parameter. Establishing an oversite committee of many individuals from many professions etc so that the bubble is expanded.  

 

read our EMERGENCY PROGRAM ACT

 

Division 2 — Declaration of State of Emergency
Declaration of state of emergency
If satisfied that an emergency exists or is imminent, the minister or the
Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order, declare a state of emergency
relating to all or any part of British Columbia.
A declaration of a state of emergency under subsection (1) must identify the
nature of the emergency and the area of British Columbia in which the
emergency exists or is imminent.
Immediately after a declaration of a state of emergency is made, the minister
must cause the details of the declaration to be published by a means of
communication that the minister considers most likely to make the contents of
the declaration known to the majority of the population of the affected area.
A declaration under subsection (1) expires 14 days from the date it is made,
but the Lieutenant Governor in Council may extend the duration of the
declaration for further periods of not more than 14 days each.
Subsections (2) and (3) apply to each extension under subsection (4) of the
duration of a declaration of a state of emergency.

[Victoria Watcher]

surprise surprise.  quebec is into day #20 of their 28-day complete lockdown (where it is illegal to visit friends family or neighbours) and today:

 

 

Legault couldn't say when the restrictions put in place until at least Oct. 28 will be lifted.

 

"Quebecers have to understand that measures will stay in place until we see the number of cases go down," he said.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...ct-19-1.5768970

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 October 2020 - 03:41 PM.

[dasmo]

Speaking of anxiety, this is a great video to watch for some perspective regardless of where you sit on the skeptical scale....

https://youtu.be/P0-eNyOjtf0

[Victoria Watcher]

Active COVID-19 cases at an all-time high in Ontario and Alberta

https://www.cbc.ca/n...ct-20-1.5768967

 

 

 

yet ontario only has 274 hospitalized and 72 in ICU.  that's a province with nearly 15m people.

 

https://covid-19.ontario.ca/data

 

their high back in the spring was 1032 in the hospital and 262 in ICU.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 October 2020 - 04:09 PM.

[Jackerbie]

An underreported, recently-published CDC study adds to the pile of evidence that cloth masks or other forms of mandated face coverings only contribute negatives to our COVID-19 problem. The study also displays — despite the constant accusations of widespread misbehavior from public health officials — that Americans are adhering to mask wearing, but mask wearing is not doing us any good.

 

The CDC study, which surveyed symptomatic COVID-19 patients, has found that 70.6% of respondents reported “always” wearing a mask, while an additional 14.4% say they “often” wear a mask. That means a whopping 85% of infected COVID-19 patients reported habitual mask wearing. Only 3.9% of those infected said they “never” wear a face covering.

 

The study offers insight into the reality that tens of thousands of Americans are acquiring COVID-19 on a daily basis despite overwhelming adherence to mask wearing. Masks simply aren’t working to “slow the spread” or “stop the spread.” The study also dismisses “public health experts’” claims from individuals such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and others that Americans are not following the guidance being disseminated by the CDC and other disease control agencies.

 

https://jordanschach...patients-report

 

I mean that's one way to interpret the results I guess. The other way (and the way the way that the paper actually presents the results) is that community spread is occurring in those situations where wearing a mask is not practical, such as at restaurants.

 

Findings from a case-control investigation of symptomatic outpatients from 11 U.S. health care facilities found that close contact with persons with known COVID-19 or going to locations that offer on-site eating and drinking options were associated with COVID-19 positivity. Adults with positive SARS-CoV-2 test results were approximately twice as likely to have reported dining at a restaurant than were those with negative SARS-CoV-2 test results.

[Barrrister]

Masks dont protect the wearer but they are intended to protect others from you (if you are infected). You are just as likely to get infected with or without a mask but you are much less likely to get infected if everyone around you is wearing a mask. 

[Mike K.]

That means a whopping 85% of infected COVID-19 patients reported habitual mask wearing. Only 3.9% of those infected said they “never” wear a face covering.

That’s literally the herd immunity target with most diseases.

Crazy.

[dasmo]

Masks dont protect the wearer but they are intended to protect others from you (if you are infected). You are just as likely to get infected with or without a mask but you are much less likely to get infected if everyone around you is wearing a mask.

There is no proof of that. Actually the contrary. Why do you think the nurses union won in arbitration NOT to have to wear a mask if they didn’t get a flu shot. But it’s a clever argument. If there was a shred of truth and logic to this I would be 100% on board. The truth is that the mask makes you feel comfortable. It’s actually an act of selflessness to not wear one now. It’s certainly getting more difficult. I think it’s important considering the generations that fought and died for the freedom we enjoy here. When you see someone not wearing a mask odds aren’t they are fighting for all our future.

[dasmo]

This is an interesting paper co authored by Fauci. https://www.ncbi.nlm...les/PMC2599911/