China didn’t warn public of likely pandemic for 6 key days https://apnews.com/68a9e1b91de4ffc166acd6012d82c2f9 In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations. President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data.
Heh. Steve Schmidt. "Former Republican Strategist." But no longer a republican. Worked with McCain and left the party when all the butthurt set in. This is MSDNC pretending to be fair and balanced.
This is an interesting study regarding Sars-Cov. https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-422X-2-69 Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread Results We report, however, that chloroquine has strong antiviral effects on SARS-CoV infection of primate cells. These inhibitory effects are observed when the cells are treated with the drug either before or after exposure to the virus, suggesting both prophylactic and therapeutic advantage. In addition to the well-known functions of chloroquine such as elevations of endosomal pH, the drug appears to interfere with terminal glycosylation of the cellular receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. This may negatively influence the virus-receptor binding and abrogate the infection, with further ramifications by the elevation of vesicular pH, resulting in the inhibition of infection and spread of SARS CoV at clinically admissible concentrations. Conclusion Chloroquine is effective in preventing the spread of SARS CoV in cell culture. Favorable inhibition of virus spread was observed when the cells were either treated with chloroquine prior to or after SARS CoV infection. In addition, the indirect immunofluorescence assay described herein represents a simple and rapid method for screening SARS-CoV antiviral compounds.
https://qz.com/1840804/us-hospitals-are-going-to-crazy-lengths-to-get-face-masks/ US hospitals are going to crazy lengths to get masks The story sounds more like the set-up to a drug deal than an effort to secure critical medical supplies. It involves a flight out to a small airport near an industrial warehouse, disguised semi-trailer trucks, and agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). But it’s actually the account of one hospital executive, published in a letter on the website of the New England Journal of Medicine yesterday, describing how his team was forced to get a supply of N95 respirator masks and surgical masks. It illustrates the extreme lengths US health systems are going to in order to overcome the critical shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) they face amid the Covid-19 outbreak. In his account, Andrew Artenstein, chief physician executive at Baystate Health in Massachusetts, explained how challenging it has become to get medical supplies such as gowns, gloves, face masks, goggles, and face shields. The undersupply of PPE has resulted in a free-for-all where everyone from hospitals to the federal government is competing for shipments. At Baystate Health, the supply-chain group has “adapted to a new normal, exploring every lead, no matter how unusual,” Artenstein wrote. “Deals, some bizarre and convoluted, and many involving large sums of money, have dissolved at the last minute when we were outbid or outmuscled, sometimes by the federal government.” The team got a lead on a shipment of N95 and surgical masks from China. Since scammers and price gougers have become rampant in the medical-equipment market, they got samples beforehand to ensure the N95 masks were up to standard. The order would cost more than five times what they would normally pay for a similar shipment, Artenstein noted, but less than what other brokers have asked. Satisfied with the product, they proceeded, going to great trouble to make sure their supplies wouldn’t be intercepted: Three members of the supply-chain team and a fit tester were flown to a small airport near an industrial warehouse in the mid-Atlantic region. I arrived by car to make the final call on whether to execute the deal. Two semi-trailer trucks, cleverly marked as food-service vehicles, met us at the warehouse. When fully loaded, the trucks would take two distinct routes back to Massachusetts to minimize the chances that their contents would be detained or redirected. Before the team could wire payment to the seller, two FBI agents arrived and questioned them, according to Artenstein. They were able to assure the agents nothing illegal was happening and were allowed to take their supplies. But Artenstein said he soon discovered the Department of Homeland Security was considering redirecting their shipment elsewhere. Artenstein made some calls that he said got a congressional representative involved and kept the supplies from being seized. As dramatic as the story is, it reflects the challenges of many health and hospital networks in the US. The strategic stockpile of medical equipment available to the US wasn’t nearly sufficient to meet demand in a pandemic. As of April 2, it had distributed 11.6 million N95 respirators and 26 million surgical masks, and by that point was nearly depleted. About a week later, the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University estimated that (pdf) the US will need about 136 million N95 or other disposable respirators and 360 million medical-grade masks. Companies of all sorts, from medical suppliers to apparel makers, are churning out masks as quickly as possible, but they’re not simple to produce and most of the infrastructure to make them is located in China. Meanwhile, everyone in need of masks is left fighting to get their hands on shipments where they can. “Did I foresee, as a health-system leader working in a rich, highly developed country with state-of-the-art science and technology and incredible talent, that my organization would ever be faced with such a set of circumstances? Of course not,” Artenstein wrote. “This is the unfortunate reality we face in the time of Covid-19.”
I don't know the validity of this study. But, I am curious to hear from someone more knowledgeable than me wrt virology. If this study is accurate, is there any hope for vaccine? Some excerpts below: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/sci...tions-affect-deadliness-strains-chinese-study Coronavirus’s ability to mutate has been vastly underestimated, and mutations affect deadliness of strains, Chinese study finds The most aggressive strains of Sars-CoV-2 could generate 270 times as much viral load as the least potent type New York may have a deadlier strain imported from Europe, compared to less deadly viruses elsewhere in the United States Professor Li Lanjuan and her colleagues from Zhejiang University found within a small pool of patients many mutations not previously reported. These mutations included changes so rare that scientists had never considered they might occur. They also confirmed for the first time with laboratory evidence that certain mutations could create strains deadlier than others. “Sars-CoV-2 has acquired mutations capable of substantially changing its pathogenicity,” Li and her collaborators wrote in a non-peer reviewed paper released on preprint service medRxiv.org on Sunday. This finding could shed light on differences in regional mortality. The pandemic’s infection and death rates vary from one country to another, and many explanations have been proposed. Li’s team detected more than 30 mutations. Among them 19 mutations – or about 60 per cent – were new.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/04/21/coronavirus-latest-news/ Live updates: Trump says he will temporarily ban immigration to U.S.