COVID-19 News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

Milan Reports 50% of Passengers on China Flights Have Covid
https://news.yahoo.com/milan-reports-50 ... 02106.html

(Bloomberg) -- Italian health authorities will begin testing all arrivals from China for Covid after almost half of the passengers on two flights to Milan were found to have the virus.

[weatheriscool]

U.S. will require airline passengers traveling from China to test negative for Covid
Source: CNBC

The Biden administration will require airline passengers traveling from China to test negative for Covid before entering the U.S., a federal health official said on Wednesday.

All travelers two years of age and older originating from China, Hong Kong or Macau will be required to get tested for Covid two days before their departure to the U.S., the health official said. The requirements, which apply regardless of nationality and vaccination status, starting Jan. 5.

The testing requirements come as China battles a major outbreak of the virus after easing its stringent zero-Covid policy in the wake of social unrest earlier this year.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/28/us-will ... ovid-.html

[Xyls]

I doubt that "we" will do that. In any case, I don't think it should be a matter of "punishment." It may feel like "punishment" to the Chinese (and people wishing to fly to and from China) but it should be more a matter of health precaution. I would think that it would be hypocritical of the Chinese government to complain given their history of shut-downs and social isolation in dealing with COVID-19. Not to mention the somewhat different path they have chosen regarding vaccines.

Completely disagree with this approach. We already saw the "not being racist, not punishing the Chinese approach" at the start of COVID and look where that got us. Forever more if there is a new disease being reported in China, should be immediate travel restrictions as the country simply is not honest.

My point is that "immediate travel restrictions" should not be viewed as a matter of punishment. Rather, it should be more a matter of a health precaution.

Why "punish" the Chinese people for the dishonesty of their government?

Are they not already victims in that regard?

First of all, it is not about "punishing the Chinese people" it's about threat management. It is clear that there is a major threat from China regarding the evolution of the disease with the sheer volume of people being infected there at the moment.

It is also true that the Chinese government has a horrendously bad track record of being forthcoming with information about infectious diseases as we can see with SARS in 2003, COVID V.1 in 2020, and now this new wave of COVID. They aren't tracking information, they aren't being honest with information and they aren't doing their own due diligence in not causing collateral damage to other countries.

Other countries do not have a responsibility to consider the feelings of citizens of China if their own government won't, and especially not if doing so endangers the health and security of their own citizens. This nonsense attitude is a major contributor to why COVID turned into a pandemic in the first place. It's time to use effective disease management and restrict travel as much as possible until the situation subsides.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

-----

China Covid: experts estimate 9,000 deaths a day as US says it may sample wastewater from planes

Fri 30 Dec 2022 03.04 GMT

The United States is considering sampling wastewater taken from international aircraft to track any emerging new Covid-19 variants as infections surge in China, as UK-based health experts estimate about 9,000 people a days are now dying of the disease in China.

The proposed of testing wastewater by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would provide a better solution to tracking the virus and slowing its entry into the US than new travel restrictions announced this week, three infectious disease experts said.

The US and a number of other countries have said travellers from China will require mandatory negative Covid tests.

Their comments came as UK-based health data firm Airfinity said about 9,000 people in China were probably dying each day from Covid, nearly doubling its estimate from a week ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... rom-planes



Photograph: Mark R Cristino/EPA

[Time_Traveller]

-----

China Covid: experts estimate 9,000 deaths a day as US says it may sample wastewater from planes

Fri 30 Dec 2022 03.04 GMT

The United States is considering sampling wastewater taken from international aircraft to track any emerging new Covid-19 variants as infections surge in China, as UK-based health experts estimate about 9,000 people a days are now dying of the disease in China.

The proposed of testing wastewater by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would provide a better solution to tracking the virus and slowing its entry into the US than new travel restrictions announced this week, three infectious disease experts said.

The US and a number of other countries have said travellers from China will require mandatory negative Covid tests.

Their comments came as UK-based health data firm Airfinity said about 9,000 people in China were probably dying each day from Covid, nearly doubling its estimate from a week ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... rom-planes



Photograph: Mark R Cristino/EPA

That is alot in a day, after my week has finished back to my face mask until further notice.

[wjfox]

Virologist Luis Enjuanes: ‘The situation in China is worrisome and will have a cascade effect on the rest of the world’

Dec 30, 2022 - 04:50 GMT

The Spanish researcher believes that the Asian country has made a mistake in going from a zero-Covid policy to a nearly unrestricted one, as its population has low vaccination coverage

Read more: https://english.elpais.com/internationa ... world.html

[weatheriscool]

UK to require COVID negative tests for arrivals from China
Source: Reuters

Dec 30 (Reuters) - The UK said on Friday that passengers arriving in Britain from China will require a negative COVID-19 test after a surge in infections in China.

Starting on Jan. 5, Chinese travellers will need to show a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than two days prior to departure, UK's Department of Health and Social Care said in a statement.

The move comes after doubts over the transparency of official data from Beijing raised concerns about a wave of infections. Airlines will be required to check all passengers from China for tests, and passengers will not be allowed to board a flight without providing evidence of a negative test result, it added.

The UK joins other countries, including the United States and India, to impose COVID-19 tests for travellers from China. France, South Korea and Spain have also done so. The Timesand The Telegraph on Friday reported that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had weighed in to take the step.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-req ... 022-12-30/

[wjfox]

[erowind]

.

[R8Z]

I wonder if the Pfizer files and articles about it should be posted here or on a separate discussion thread?

[wjfox]

I wonder if the Pfizer files and articles about it should be posted here or on a separate discussion thread?

Maybe try a different forum? One for conspiracy theorists and science deniers?

[caltrek]

It’s really frustrating to me to watch most media outlets and people for that matter go from criticizing China’s “totalitarian” zero covid policy for being incongruent with global policy standards only to turn around and now criticize China for experiencing mass deaths now that the policy has been lifted.

It’s clear that these articles and comments are less about covid and more about ruthlessly criticizing literally anything the Chinese government does. If their policy were truly totalitarian for that matter than vaccine uptake wouldn’t have been so low. It seems people weren’t actually being held at gunpoint by cartoon character soldiers with vaccines in hand.

There’s plenty to criticize the Chinese government for, genocide, imperialism, lack of democracy, etc. But covid policy isn’t it.

You make a lot of good points here, most of which I agree. Still, there is one point brought up in a Time article I cited earlier:

Although about 90% of the country has been vaccinated against COVID-19, China relied on vaccines with lower efficacy rates than the mRNA-based vaccines that many other countries sought to produce.

One wonders, was it a matter of the loss of face involved in using other vaccines?

Other parts of the explanation might include lack of available stock and companies overly protective of their intellectual property rights.

Source of citation: https://time.com/6242070/covid-china-deaths-explainer/

[weatheriscool]

China COVID data shows no new variant, WHO says, easing some global fears
Source: Reuters

No new coronavirus variant has been found in China, data released by the World Health Organization showed on Wednesday, easing some concerns about an outbreak that has spread rapidly there since Beijing abruptly reversed its "zero COVID" policy.

The U.N. agency was releasing data provided by the Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a day after WHO officials met Chinese scientists amid global unease about the accuracy of China's reporting of an outbreak that has filled hospitals and overwhelmed some funeral homes.

China's People's Daily, the Communist Party's official newspaper, sought to rally worried citizens for what it calls a "final victory" over COVID-19, rebutting criticism of its policy of strict isolation that triggered rare protests last year.

Meanwhile, health officials abroad have been struggling to work out the scale of the outbreak and how to stop it spreading, with more countries introducing measures such pre-departure COVID tests for arrivals from China, moves that Beijing has criticised.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chi ... 023-01-04/

[SerethiaFalcon]

I'm also thinking the massive amount of deaths could not only be from the virus itself but because they have a large population and not enough medical services when that many people get sick at once.

[weatheriscool]

96% of flights with COVID. Decoupling of hospitalizations & wastewater versus cases
Source: Dr. Eric Ding (former 16yr Harvard Epidemiologist)

We need to talk about how COVID hospitalization is surging in Massachusetts- doubling in a month - but cases are flat. But is COVID truly flat? No, not at all if you look at the wastewater levels of SARSCov2 RNA in Boston. Thus we have now lost the reliability of simple case counts. But unlike the good uncoupling of low hospitalization vs rising cases, we now have the opposite bad uncoupling of rising hospitalization vs flat cases. Wastewater seems to be only only good early warning indicator now.

Speaking of water water surveillance — 96% of flights in a study of airplane toilet water in SE Asia region last year found SARS2 virus. We have to use this as a warning indicator that likely most flights have someone with COVID in this pandemic era. If you don’t still mask on flight— you are playing with fire— playing Russian roulette with your health and Long COVID.

Hospitalization 2x surging…

—but cases flat??

What’s going on is testing has crashed and #COVID19 case numbers are unreliable.
Cases and hospitalizations are uncoupling—but in the WRONG WAY… opposite of last year.

Wastewater doesn’t lie. See wastewater data from Massachusetts below.

More wastewater data: SarsCoV-2 was detected in wastewater from 95.7% of flights

Driven by the highly evasive and infectious #XBB15 variant.

Don’t ignore the #Kraken. #MaskUp

Read more: https://drericding.substack.com/p/96-of ... dium=email

[wjfox]

China reopens borders as lunar new year travel kicks off amid Covid surge

Virus outbreaks tipped to worsen as mainland China opens to Hong Kong, ends quarantine for visitors and millions begin holiday-period travel

Sun 8 Jan 2023 01.44 GMT

China has lifted quarantine requirements for inbound travellers, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation even as the country battles a surge in Covid cases.

On Sunday, mainland China also opened its border to Hong Kong, dismantling the last pillars of a zero-Covid policy that had shielded people from the virus but also cut them off from the rest of the world.

The containment policy had a huge impact on the world’s second-biggest economy and generated resentment throughout Chinese society that led to nationwide protests just before it was eased.

In the final unravelling of those rules, Sunday saw inbound travellers to China no longer required to quarantine, after almost three years of being subject to varying durations of mandatory isolation.

At Shanghai’s Pudong international airport, a woman surnamed Pang told news agency AFP she was thrilled with the change to the rules.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... ovid-surge

[caltrek]

Pacific Sea Sponge Compound Could Soak Up COVID-19
by Stephen Luntz
January 9, 2023

Introduction:

(IFL Science) A team of scientists from 13 institutions tested 373 compounds produced by plants, fungi, and invertebrates seeking those capable of killing or stopping the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It’s a long way from petri dish to pharmacy, but three performed remarkably well, one of them coming from a marine organism that lives not far from the University of British Columbia (UBC), which led the research.

Billions of years of evolution have created a cornucopia of biologically active molecules that sometimes work well against the diseases that plague humanity. Testing of existing compounds is cheaper and faster than making our own from scratch, and those with biological origins tend to have fewer side effects. Even though the ideal drug often needs a few tweaks from the original discovery, it’s common for a substance taken from an animal, plant, or fungus to provide the inspiration for new medications.

In Antiviral Research, UBC’s Dr Jimena Pérez-Vargas and co-authors describe bathing human lung cells in solutions of the test compounds and exposing them to a modified SARS-CoV-2 virus that makes cells it infects glow green. More than 70 substantially reduced the glow seen in untreated cells, and 26 inhibited the virus by 80-100 percent.

Encouraging as this sounds, it is wise to remember Randall Monroe’s observation that the list of things that kill cancer in cells in a petri dish includes handguns. Many more tests are required before we can even contemplate using any of these to treat COVID-19.

However, the first of these tests has already been undertaken, with the team trying much smaller doses of the antiviral compounds. Three passed this more stringent test. “The advantage of these compounds is that they are targeting the cells, rather than the virus, blocking the virus from replicating and helping the cell to recover,” said Pérez-Vargas in a statement.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/pacific-sea ... -19-66993

[weatheriscool]

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance increased globally last year, new 23-country survey shows

by Barcelona Institute for Global Health
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-01- ... untry.html

Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines increased globally, from 75.2% in 2021 to 79.1% in 2022, according to a survey in 23 countries that represent more than 60% of the world's population. However, vaccine acceptance decreased in eight countries and almost one in eight vaccinated respondents, particularly younger men and women, were hesitant about receiving a booster dose.

Led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) and published in Nature Medicine, the study underlines a wide variability among countries and the need for tailored communication strategies in addressing vaccine hesitancy.

"The pandemic is not over, and authorities must urgently address vaccine hesitancy and resistance as part of their COVID-19 prevention and mitigation strategy," says Jeffrey V Lazarus, Head of the Health Systems Research Group at ISGlobal, an institution supported by "la Caixa" Foundation. To do so effectively, though, policy-makers need solid data on vaccine hesitancy trends (whether it is decreasing or increasing and in which populations) and drivers (factors that influence vaccine acceptance, such as income or education).

To obtain these data, an international collaboration led by Lazarus and Ayman El-Mohandes, Dean of CUNY SPH, performed a series of surveys starting in 2020 across 23 highly populated countries that were hit hard by the pandemic (Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States).

The data reported here correspond to the third survey conducted between June and July 2022.

Of the 23,000 respondents (1,000 per country surveyed), 79.1% were willing to accept vaccination. This finding represented an increase of 5.2% from June 2021. The willingness of parents to vaccinate their children also rose slightly, from 67.6% in 2021 to 69.5% in 2022. However, eight countries observed increased hesitancy (from 1.0% in the UK to 21.1% in South Africa).

[wjfox]

Satellite images capture crowding at China’s crematoriums and funeral homes as Covid surge continues

By Sophie Jeong and Wayne Chang, CNN
Updated 9:58 AM EST, Tue January 10, 2023

Satellite images taken over a number of Chinese cities have captured crowding at crematoriums and funeral homes, as the country continues its battle with an unprecedented wave of Covid-19 infections following its dismantling of severe pandemic restrictions.

The images – taken by Maxar in late December and early January and reviewed by CNN – show a funeral home on the outskirts of Beijing, which appears to have constructed a brand-new parking area, as well as lines of vehicles waiting outside of funeral homes in Kunming, Nanjing, Chengdu, Tangshan and Huzhou.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/10/asia ... index.html