You’re last paragraph, Biden’s expected to ban non-citizens... what about US Citizen’s traveling back?
U.S. citizens can travel back and enter the country. They are still required (since mid-January) to get a COVID test before getting on the plane to travel to the U.S. Depending where they are coming from there also may be a required quarantine period after arriving in the U.S.
And you thought your COVID test was difficult... China Is Now Using Anal Swabs to Test for COVID in High-Risk Groups The invasive testing method reportedly involves a saline-soaked cotton swab that is inserted about 3 to 5 centimeters into the anus https://people.com/health/china-using-anal-swabs-test-coronavirus/
COVID-19 'long-haulers' trying to decode lasting symptoms a year after falling ill One man who had COVID-19 in March 2020 still undergoes dialysis weekly https://abcnews.go.com/US/covid-19-long-haulers-decode-lasting-symptoms-year/story?id=75520269
Scientists liken long Covid symptoms to those of Ebola survivors Experts also studying similarities with lasting effects of Chikungunya virus in hope of finding new treatments https://www.theguardian.com/society...ng-covid-symptoms-to-those-of-ebola-survivors
These are actually problems including other problems shared between many deadly diseases beyond Covid-19 and Ebola especially when a patient lapses into a coma or medically induced into a coma. ------- From the article... For Ebola, roughly three-quarters of survivors are still experiencing symptoms a year after the initial infection, and sometimes for much longer – including joint and muscle pain, migraine-like headaches, visual problems and fatigue. ------- In 2016, I myself survived a rare type of pneumonia including lapsing into a coma. I didn't wake up for almost two months from life support. It took a few years for me to be able to dream again like I use to prior to my illness, a few years to get back my taste and smell but I did have a slight vision problem in one of my eyes that had to be surgically corrected. I literally could not taste nor smell what I ate or drank...it was probably the weirdest experience and at times maybe the most difficult experience to deal with. Yet, within 4 years...I was back running, rowing, playing hockey, playing lacrosse, biking, extensive skiing, blackbelt in Judo / workouts, winter hiking/camping in the mountains, pheasant hunting and everything else as if nothing ever happen... Still have ups / downs in my immune system that makes me very cautious when my kids develop a cold. The big issue for me was trading. The first two years I mentally tired very easily and needed to hire a private psycho therapist to help me deal with what had happen. In fact, I decided to continue using her after the first few years because it help my trading into improvements I never had before the illness. Also, I'm part of a private survival group of coma patients and one of the things we talk about on Zoom are our dreams we had during the coma. Recently, there's been three new members added...Covid-19 patients. I'm the only one in the group that was in a coma the longest and without being medically induced. In fact, there's a lot of research now in the world about those long haulers symptoms that seems to be very common among patients that were "medically induced into a coma" to save their life. Thus, I think that's why I'm the only one in the group that doesn't share all the long-haulers effects nor the long term effects. I think the reason why is my prior extensive athletic background and the shape I was in prior to my illness. For example, low body percent fat, no history of cholesterol problems, no history of diabetes / no family history of such, drank a glass of wine maybe once per month, non smoker and routinely exercised heavily about 2 hours every other day. Simply, I don't believe I was able to avoid most of the crap after such an illness by pure luck. Another way to look at this, its one of the primary reasons why I take this Covid-19 Pandemic very seriously because I do not want to go thru what I went through in the fall of 2016 nor experience a month long quarantine in a hospital after the coma. Properly wear your face mask, social distance, wash your hands a minimum of 2 mins with soap, keep a small bottle of hand sanitizers on you if you're like me that's very active (outdoors) during this Pandemic plus do not bring others into your home that's not part of your household. Heck, I make my teenagers take showers when they return home from school and they do not debate with my rules involving Covid-19 because they have not forgotten about what our family went through in 2016. Post Pandemic Goal - Family vacation to the Winter Olympics wrbtrader
Families of Wuhan COVID-19 victims claim China is monitoring them, as WHO expert team visits https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02...us-victim-families-who-investigation/13109968 Zhang Hai is demanding to meet a visiting World Health Organization expert team, saying families are being muffled by the Chinese Government.(AP: Ng Han Guan) Families of people who died from the coronavirus in China's former epicentre Wuhan say they have been monitored and silenced by local authorities, and are calling for a meeting with World Health Organization investigators. Multiple residents say they are desperate for answers about the origin of COVID-19 after the death of their loved ones, although Wuhan hasn't reported any new deaths from the virus since April last year. The residents also told the ABC they demanded officials who covered up the city's initial outbreaks be held to account, as their "lies and obtuseness" led to the spread of the then-unknown virus in the city. Zhang Hai, 51, a Wuhan resident who now lives in the southern city of Shenzhen, this week marked the first anniversary of his father's death. Mr Zhang's father, a patriotic veteran who was honoured for his involvement in China's first nuclear test in the 1960s, contracted COVID-19 in a military hospital in Wuhan after receiving bone-fracture surgery in mid-January. One week later, the 77-year-old passed away due to respiratory failure caused by COVID-19, according to an official death certificate seen by the ABC. "The Government's first priority is to protect the people's health and safety, but it failed to inform the public as soon as the coronavirus outbreak happened," Mr Zhang told the ABC. "My father, a very patriotic soldier, had devoted his youth to the nation … but he was killed by COVID-19 in his later life. "The epidemic would never happen if the Government had truly put the people's interest [as their] first priority." Mr Zhang said he was extremely keen to meet with World Health Organization (WHO) experts who were in Wuhan to investigate the origins of the deadly virus. Last Friday, the WHO said on its official Twitter account that the team would visit hospitals, virus laboratories and markets in Wuhan, and speak with early responders and some of the first COVID-19 patients. However, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, denied the WHO's field work was an "investigation", and said it had to follow "the prior consensus". "The exchanges and cooperation on origin-tracing between WHO experts and Chinese professionals are part of a global study, not an investigation," Mr Zhao said. But Mr Zhang said he wouldn't trust visits organised and limited by the Chinese Government, and thought the information patients gave could be "highly suspicious". "They could have been trained many months ago, and been ordered to stage and repeat the Government's narrative," Mr Zhang said. "I am highly concerned that the WHO experts in Wuhan are not a match for these counterfeiters." Families fight against being silenced Mr Zhang had established a chat group on Chinese social media platform WeChat, where he united more than 100 Wuhan residents who lost their families during the epidemic and wanted an explanation. The WeChat group was censored on January 16, and three members were temporarily banned from posting comments, according to multiple group members who spoke to the ABC. Three families told the ABC they were warned to keep silent, and their daily activities were closely monitored by authorities in Wuhan. They requested that the ABC not disclose their identities, in order to avoid persecution. "[I had] police interviews, cameras pointing at home, and dismissal from work. They pressured my families, stalked my activities, which is completely unscrupulous," one parent, who lost their only child, told the ABC. "[I am told] don't contact the foreign media, because it will be used by anti-China forces, which is detrimental to our country. "I just want everyone to know that the Government is a murderer for hiding the epidemic. "I have lost my only child in my late life. My life is worse than death." The ABC has approached WeChat for comment. Another family told the ABC they felt very scared to ask for an answer from the WHO's investigation, because their demands had been ignored and denied by authorities since last year. "I hope the WHO experts can understand that victims and their families want an explanation from the Government … but we feel very hopeless," they said. The ABC has approached the WHO and one expert in the investigation team for comment. Lawsuit rejected by court Mr Zhang ignores almost every phone call from strangers on his phone, because he believes it could be 'greetings' from authorities, asking him to stop speaking out online. But he continued to voice his views, because he feels deep grief after his father's death. He is using his personal experience, he said, to highlight how China's media censorship has helped to cover up other social justice issues after the epidemic. Last November, Mr Zhang's lawsuit against the Government of both Wuhan city and Hubei province was rejected by the Hubei Higher People's Court, which told Mr Zhang he was ineligible to sue the Government. The Wuhan Government hung up on the ABC when called for comment and did not respond to emails. The Hubei Higher People's Court was contacted several times but did not respond. Mr Zhang said he had requested the court provide an official notice of not filing the case, but was rejected by the court. His story was never reported by media in mainland China, and five of his accounts on Chinese social media Weibo were permanently banned. Weibo has been approached for comment. "I am an ordinary citizen in this country, but I have my dignity and rights," Mr Zhang said. "However, the more you speak out and criticise the Government, the stronger surveillance and persecution you receive." Mr Zhang said the WHO's investigation was the "only hope" for him. He said he wants the experts to understand "how significant their work and responsibility" is for the families of over two million victims around the world. "I will never forgive myself if I don't speak out for my father, who could be a victim forever," he said.
COVID-19: WHO team in Wuhan sees data 'no one has seen before' - and does not rule out coronavirus escaped from a lab Sky News is the first British broadcaster to talk to Dr Peter Daszak since he arrived in China. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...e-out-coronavirus-escaped-from-a-lab-12206781 The World Health Organisation team in Wuhan investigating the origins of COVID-19 say they are getting data "which no one has seen before" and are "really getting somewhere" - and have not ruled out the possibility that the virus had escaped from a lab. Dr Peter Daszak, part of the ongoing WHO mission, told Sky News: "We are seeing new information and it's good, it's very valuable stuff that is beginning to help us look at the right directions for this virus." In his first interview with a British broadcaster since arriving in China, Dr Daszak, who is the president of EcoHealth Alliance, an NGO, said that site visits were offering valuable information - especially the Huanan seafood market, where the first ever cases of COVID-19 were clustered. "We are in the market looking around on our own and asking questions, we are meeting with market managers, with vendors who worked there and people from the community and asking them questions. "We are talking to people who collected samples from the floor of the market that then tested positive. That's the sort of information we are getting with the person that really matters." The WHO mission arrived in Wuhan more than a year after the outbreak there began, after the organisation complained about delays in access. But Chinese scientists have been conducting their own research into the origins of COVID-19 in the meantime. Dr Daszak said "there are little clues we are finding here and there in the wealth of data". "They are sharing data with us that we have not seen before - that no one has seen before. They are talking with us openly about every possible pathway. We really are getting somewhere and I think every member of the team would say that. "I think China is open and willing to work with us and we are seeing that every day." The WHO is scheduled to visit the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Researchers there handled coronaviruses but have rejected claims that COVID-19 emerged as the result of a leak. Dr Daszak told Sky News the possibility had not been ruled out. "We're all aware of the hypotheses around the potential involvement of the lab in this and we're certainly going to ask questions about all of the key aspects of the Wuhan Institute of Virology. "If there are data that point towards any hypothesis, we'll follow the data, we'll follow the evidence where it leads us. If it leads us to a seafood market and a cold chain, we'll follow it there. "If it leads us to a wildlife farm or a wildlife market we'll go there. If it leads us to a lab we'll go there. Everything's on the table and we're keeping an open mind." Dr Daszak has a long working relationship with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and with Shi Zhengli, a researcher there, but rejected the suggestion that his connections to the lab would compromise his impartiality. "My relationship with China, my work here, my connections to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Shi Zhengli are very well known. And they're really well known because I've spent 20 years or 15 years publishing the data. I think that's a pretty worthwhile thing that we've been doing." The WHO mission is being tightly controlled by China, with scientists being kept in isolation as part of the country's COVID-19 prevention measures. Critics have questioned to what extent the investigation is being stage managed - especially after the scientists visited a propaganda museum detailing Wuhan's fight against COVID-19 on their second day. Dr Daszak defended visiting the museum, which features giant portraits of Chinese president Xi Jinping in its first hall. "We're intelligent enough to read beyond the show in a museum," he said. "We know what the flags flying and the national pride part of it is. But in there are real artefacts from real patients… It's absolutely critical to see that." Dr Daszak was optimistic about eventually finding the origins of COVID-19. "We will get there and we will at the end of this mission produce a report which will have some indications of what the most likely scenarios are." But even if the origin is discovered, Dr Daszak said that new variants of the virus meant we would be living with COVID-19 forever. "This is one of the viruses that jumps into humans and then became endemic, and will be with us forever. "But we'll come to terms with it. We'll have a vaccine that works and we get an escape variant, we'll modify the vaccine." (Article has video)