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A scientific study which found COVID-19 may have been a “cell-culture” uniquely adapted for transmission to humans (more so than any other animal – including bats), is gaining steam.
The paper, currently under peer review, comes from Flinders University Professor Nikolai Petrovsky, who has spent over two decades developing vaccines against influenza, Ebola, and animal Sars. He says his findings allow for the possibility that COVID-19 leaked from a laboratory, according to Sky News.
“The two possibilities which I think are both still open is that it was a chance transmission of a virus from an as yet unidentified animal to human. The other possibility is that it was an accidental release of the virus from a laboratory,” said Petrovsky, adding “Certainly we can’t exclude the possibility that this came from a laboratory experiment rather than from an animal. They are both open possibilities.” CLICK for complete article
A spokeswoman for Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday morning that the US president is taking a malaria drug as a defense against Covid-19, despite his own administration’s warnings that the drug could have dangerous side-effects.
The confirmation came hours after the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, expressed alarm that Trump was taking the drug since he is “morbidly obese”, in her words.
At the White House, the press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, told CBS News Trump was taking hydroxychloroquine.
“I can absolutely confirm that,” she said…CLICK for complete article
Where COVID-19 is Rising and Falling Around the World
It’s been just over two months since New York declared a state of emergency, and global stock markets were hammered as the fears of a full-blown crisis began to take hold.
Since then, we’ve seen detailed, daily coronavirus coverage in most of the major news outlets. With such a wealth of information available, it can be hard to keep track of the big picture of what’s happening around the world.
Today’s graphic, adapted from Information is Beautiful, is an efficient look at where the virus is fading away, and where new infection hotspots are emerging.
The Ebb and Flow of Coronavirus Cases
First, the good news: the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases has started to level off on a global basis. This metric was rising rapidly until the beginning of April — but since then, it has plateaued and is holding steady (for now)…CLICK for complete article
With widespread layoffs and furloughs hitting post-World War II records and a global economy deep in the throes of a recession, the economic devastation wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic is only rivaled by the Great Depression. Yet, some businesses have been thriving during this upheaval, while others have had to reinvent themselves thanks to dramatic shifts in consumer behavior.
POET LLC, the world’s largest ethanol manufacturer producing about two billion gallons of the product per year, has made a pretty drastic business transition after retooling and pivoting into hand sanitizers instead. POET has re-engineered its systems to make pharmaceutical-grade hand sanitizers after ethanol prices cratered following weak gasoline demand.
Second Act POET runs more than two dozen ethanol plants in the U.S. but has been forced to close down three plants. It is running the remaining plants at half capacity and has laid off 10% of its workforce.
Pivoting into hand sanitizers is not as dramatic as, say, auto companies such as Ford, GM, and Tesla repurposing their car factories to make ventilators. Nevertheless, POET CEO Jeff Broin says the conversion from an ethanol manufacturer to one making hand sanitizers comes with some pretty significant costs….CLICK for complete article
In the early days of the COVID-19 panic—back in mid-March—articles began to appear pushing the idea of “flattening the curve” (the Washington Post ran an article called “Flatten the Curve” on March 14). This idea was premised on spreading out the total number of COVID-19 infections over time, so as to not overburden the healthcare infrastructure. A March 11 article for Statnews, summed it up:
“I think the whole notion of flattening the curve is to slow things down so that this doesn’t hit us like a brick wall,” said Michael Mina, associate medical director of clinical microbiology at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “It’s really all borne out of the risk of our health care infrastructure pulling apart at the seams if the virus spreads too quickly and too many people start showing up at the emergency room at any given time.”
In those days, it was still considered madness to suggest outlawing jobs for millions of Americans or “shutting down” entire national economies in an effort to “flatten the curve.” Thus, the article lists for more moderate mitigation strategies…CLICK for complete article
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