Coronavirus Pandemic: Apocalypse Now! Or exaggerated scare story?

[JEEP]

From dimsumdaily.hk:

Russian scientists believe America created the Wuhan coronavirus to sabotage China

2nd February 2020 -(Russia) Acccording to William Ebbs, several Russian scientists believe America created the Wuhan coronavirus to sabotage China in order to make tonnes of money by subsequently coming up with an antidote or vaccine.

["the experimental Remdesivir, antiviral medication" "Can you apply this treatment to ALL people infected with the coronavirus" "Yes"]

Russian media sources suggest the novel disease, provisionally known as 2019-nCoV, could be an American made bio-weapon designed to sabotage China.The claims have had significant airtime on mainstream Russian media and could be part of Vladimir Putin’s efforts to discredit U.S interests in the region.

“The Chinese believe the coronavirus is created by the Americans,” the popular Komsomolskaya Pravda reported, citing as proof that the virus was “genetically shaped in the American laboratories,” the claim that “all the infected are Asians!” and there are “no Europeans.”

Russia’s oldest state-owned news agency, RIA Novosti, reported, “The spread of coronavirus might have been a sabotage, the expert [Nikulin] thinks.”

The RIA Novosti report, citing Nikulin, speculated that U.S. diplomatic staff may have “delivered” the dangerous cargo from the “American lab” to Wuhan.

Leonid Savin, featured as a foreign policy expert at the shadowy Strategic Culture Foundation, speculated that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation may have helped finance creation of the “coronavirus bioweapon.” We reported this conspiracy theory as it was based on a patent filed by the Pirbright Institute in England. However, in denial of the allegation, Matthew Frieman, a coronavirus researcher at the University of Maryland, was quoted saying that “the sequencing was done at the CDC during the SARS outbreak and they were the ones that filed the patent.”The other supposedly related patent is for a mutated form of avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which infects poultry, but not people. The patent was filed by the Pirbright Institute, a research institute in the UK that aims to prevent and control “viral diseases of livestock.”

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and a popular veteran politician, told Moscow radio that Americans were “surely” behind the outbreak. He suggested pharmacists were gaining billions while the U.S. military reaped an “opportunity to test” weaponizing the virus.

Is the Coronavirus an American Bio-Weapon?

The recent tensions between the United States and China are well known. The conflict is seen as a great power struggle between an established superpower and its burgeoning rival. The conflict’s scope ranges from a trade war to disputes over the South China Sea and 5G internet.

Some in Russia believe these tensions have pushed the United States’ government to take drastic actions to achieve its goals.

Igor Nikulin, a former member of the U.N. Commission on Biological and Chemical Weapons, claims he was contacted by Chinese colleagues who believe the coronavirus is man-made.

Nikulin states the following:

IT ALL LOOKS LIKE SABOTAGE. FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS THE CITY OF WUHAN – IT’S THE CENTER OF THE COUNTRY, A MAJOR TRANSPORTATION HUB, PLUS NOW THE CHINESE NEW YEAR – HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF CHINESE WILL TRAVEL AROUND THE COUNTRY TO RELATIVES, ACQUAINTANCES, AND SO ON.

Nikulin goes on to make an even more stunning (and perhaps implausible) suggestion — that American corporations may have created the Wuhan coronavirus to make money off a cure.

He states:

IT CAN BE BENEFICIAL FOR AMERICAN CORPORATIONS THAT ARE DEVELOPING THESE KINDS OF NEW DISEASES JUST FOR PROFIT. OR MAYBE FOR THE AMERICANS THEMSELVES, BECAUSE AMERICA IS THE ONLY COUNTRY THAT HAS 400 MILITARY BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES AROUND THE WORLD, NOT ONLY AROUND RUSSIA BUT ALSO AROUND CHINA, IN MALAYSIA, IN INDONESIA, IN THE PHILIPPINES – THE US MILITARY IS EVERYWHERE.

Nikulin isn’t the only notable Russian spouting these extreme claims. Politicians are also using the opportunity to bash America. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a leader of the Russian LDPR, has publicly stated that America could have caused the crisis to undermine Chinese economic power while making tons of money in the process.

He said:

PHARMACISTS WILL BECOME BILLIONAIRES IN 2020, AND EVERYONE WILL QUICKLY FORGET EVERYTHING.

Some in China take these suggestions seriously. But according to Hu Xijin, an editor at the Global Times, most don’t believe it.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1221861471107182593

Russia Is Taking Drastic Action Against The Coronavirus Threat

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has ordered the closure of Russia’s far eastern border to stop Wuhan coronavirus from spreading into the country. 16 of the 25 crossings between the two countries were closed by midnight on 31st January.

Russia reported its first two cases of coronavirus on Friday and said the infected people were Chinese citizens who had been isolated.

Russian scientists believe America created the Wuhan coronavirus to sabotage China - Dimsum Daily

2nd February 2020 -(Russia) According to William Ebbs, several Russian scientists believe America created the Wuhan coronavirus to sabotage China in order to make tonnes of money by subsequently coming up with an antidote or vaccine. Russian media sources suggest the novel disease, provisionally...

www.dimsumdaily.hk

 

[liam1310]

Chinese Propaganda Video Shows Coronavirus Victims in Detainment Facility Dancing - Lente Conservador

Apparently keen to offset video footage of screaming Chinese people being abducted from their homes and taken to detention camps, the ruling Communist Party put out a video showing “mild” coronavirus victims housed in a “temporary hospital” being directed to dance by workers in hazmat suits.

The video was published by People’s Daily, the largest newspaper in the country and the official news organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Virus can’t put out the passion for life! Video shows #coronavirus infected patients with mild syndromes isolated in a temporary hospital in #Wuhan taking up dancing. pic.twitter.com/2lImpV7rmK

— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) February 10, 2020

It shows what are purported to be “infected patients with mild syndromes” dancing to Chinese music. Some of them appear to be less enthusiastic than others and one is reminded of the mandatory exercise sessions in George Orwell’s 1984.

“Virus can’t put out the passion for life!” states the tweet accompanying the video.

Another clip shows a medic in a hazmat suit performing “Chinese traditional Qigong outside a quarantine chamber” as a way of telling the patients, “Don’t worry. Things will get better.”

A medic harmonizes the ward showing Chinese traditional Qigong outside a quarantine chamber, as if telling the patients: “Don’t worry. Things will get better.” pic.twitter.com/BqOSRk83yh

— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) February 10, 2020

The two videos are in contrast to plenty of other video footage which shows alleged coronavirus victims being chased down by authorities and dragged kicking and screaming to internment camps.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1226928822081196035

 

[thorbiorn]

I did listen to the whole thing and I feel like I have a much better understanding of what's going on. If you have time, I recommend it.

This is a big deal and it doesn't bode well for the CCP

In the meantime, I did too, and yes, it was worthwhile. At the same time, I also think one could make a few comments, even though by the end of the day it became quite long.

Somewhere in the video, they mention US-Chinese study from 2015 and apparently the Americans were troubled (officially at least), while it was uncertain what happened in China. This study was mentioned in the informative post by Laura, where James Lyons-Weiler analysed different possibilities and reached the conclusion that of four option the fourth, a recombined virus for the purpose of making a vaccine, was most likely.

So much for introduction, below I will trace some details of this 2015 study, who was involved, what is was about, and what other studies went before. It is like a small peek into the world of microbiologists who work rather close to the edge of both knowledge and of ethics.

On the Origins of the 2019-nCoV Virus, Wuhan, China

James Lyons-Weiler, PhD – 1/30/2020 UPDATE – 2/9/2020 – IPAK HAS CONDUCTED FURTHER, IN-DEPTH STUDIES OF THE GENOMIC AN PROTEIN SEQUENCES OF THE 2019-nCoV CORONAVIRUSES AND THEIR R…

jameslyonsweiler.com

James Lyons-Weiler, PhD – 1/30/2020

RECOMBINATION technology has been in use in molecular virology since the 1980’s. The structure of the 2019-NCoV virus genome provides a very strong clue on the likely origin of the virus.

Unlike other related coronaviruses, the 2019-nCoV virus has a unique sequence about 1,378 bp (nucleotide base pairs) long that is not found in related coronaviruses.
[...]
Option 4. A recombined virus made in a laboratory for the purpose of creating a vaccine.
[...]

[...]

The above study from 2015 reminds of a Flashback from 2015 reposted on SOTT,not long and probably mentioned several times in the thread already. Lab-made coronavirus triggers debate -- Sott.net I went to the original link to the paper and found:

A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence - Nature Medicine

Ralph Baric, Vineet Menachery and colleagues characterize a SARS-like coronavirus circulating in Chinese horseshoe bats to determine its potential to infect primary human airway epithelial cells, cause disease in mice and respond to available therapeutics.

www.nature.com

Published: 09 November 2015
A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence
Vineet D Menachery, Boyd L Yount Jr, Kari Debbink, Sudhakar Agnihothram,, Lisa E Gralinski, Jessica A Plante, Rachel L Graham, Trevor Scobey, Xing-Yi Ge, Eric F Donaldson, Scott H Randell, Antonio Lanzavecchia, Wayne A Marasco, Zhengli-Li Shi & Ralph S Baric
Nature Medicine volume 21, pages1508–1513(2015)Cite this article
609k Accesses, 91 Citations, 2265 Altmetric, Metricsdetails, A Corrigendum to this article was published on 06 April 2016, This article has been updated
Abstract
The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV underscores the threat of cross-species transmission events leading to outbreaks in humans. Here we examine the disease potential of a SARS-like virus, SHC014-CoV, which is currently circulating in Chinese horseshoe bat populations1. Using the SARS-CoV reverse genetics system2, we generated and characterized a chimeric virus expressing the spike of bat coronavirus SHC014 in a mouse-adapted SARS-CoV backbone. The results indicate that group 2b viruses encoding the SHC014 spike in a wild-type backbone can efficiently use multiple orthologs of the SARS receptor human angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2), replicate efficiently in primary human airway cells and achieve in vitro titers equivalent to epidemic strains of SARS-CoV. Additionally, in vivo experiments demonstrate replication of the chimeric virus in mouse lung with notable pathogenesis. Evaluation of available SARS-based immune-therapeutic and prophylactic modalities revealed poor efficacy; both monoclonal antibody and vaccine approaches failed to neutralize and protect from infection with CoVs using the novel spike protein. On the basis of these findings, we synthetically re-derived an infectious full-length SHC014 recombinant virus and demonstrate robust viral replication both in vitro and in vivo. Our work suggests a potential risk of SARS-CoV re-emergence from viruses currently circulating in bat populations.

Seeing that the article had been updated, I wondered when:

Change history
20 November 2015
In the version of this article initially published online, the authors omitted to acknowledge a funding source, USAID-EPT-PREDICT funding from EcoHealth Alliance, to Z.-L.S. The error has been corrected for the print, PDF and HTML versions of this article.

In the video it is mentioned that one lady, a Chinese researcher, associated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology was involved in the 2015 study, I highlighted her name in the excerpt above and under affiliation there was:

Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
Xing-Yi Ge & Zhengli-Li Shi.

Zhengli-Li Shi is a well known and accomplished microbiologist. The Wiki about her quotes her for saying the very thing mentioned in the video.

Shi Zhengli (Chinese: 石正丽; born 26 May 1964) is a Chinese virologist and researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Shi and her colleague Cui Jie found that the SARS virus originated in bats.[1][2] Shi is a member of the Virology Committee of the Chinese Society for Microbiology. She is an editor of the Board of Virologica Sinica, Chinese Journal of Virology, and Journal of Fishery Sciences of China.

Early life
Shi was born in May 1964 in Xixia County, Henan, China.[3] She graduated from Wuhan University in 1987. She received her master's degree from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1990 and her Ph.D. from Montpellier 2 University in 2000.

In 2005, a team led by Shi Zhengli and Cui Jie found that the SARS virus originated in bats.[4] The results were published in Science in 2005 and Journal of General Virology in 2006.[5]

From 2014, Shi Zhengli was the recipient of a number of US Government grants as well as grants from the National Basic Research program of China, the Chinese Academy of Science, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and from the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences, to assist in funding research into coronaviruses.[6]

During the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, Shi and twelve other Institute scientists formed an expert group on the research of Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).[7][8] In February 2020, researchers led by Shi Zhengli published an article in Nature titled "A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin",[9] and in a post on bioRxiv, said that the Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is in the same family as SARS and closest to one found in bats.[10][11] In February 2020, her team published a paper in Cell Research showing that remdesivir, an experimental drug owned by Gilead Sciences, had a positive effect in inhibiting the virus in vitro, and applied for a patent for the drug in China on behalf of the WIV.[12][13][14]

In February 2020, the South China Morning Post reported that Shi's decade-long work to build up one of the world's largest databases of bat-related viruses gave the scientific community a "head start" in understanding the virus.[15] The SCMP also reported that Shi was the focus of personal attacks in Chinese social media who claimed the WIV was the sources of the virus, leading Shi to post: "I swear with my life, [the virus] has nothing to do with the lab", and when asked by the SCMP to comment on the attacks, Shi responded: "My time must be spent on more important matters".[15] Caixin reported Shi made further public statements against "perceived tinfoil-hat theories about the new virus's source", quoting her as saying: "The novel 2019 coronavirus is nature punishing the human race for keeping uncivilized living habits. I, Shi Zhengli, swear on my life that it has nothing to do with our laboratory".[16]
Honours:
2016 Chevalier of the Ordre des Palmes académiques[17]
2018 State Natural Science Award (Second Class)[18]
February 2019 Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM)[19]

The original article from 2015 has references that give a view of the kind of research that preceded the one published:. I checked only a few of them, but when I read nr 3, I couldn't help asking myself what they were really trying to achieve?!? Number 12 is accessible because it describes what some of the elements involved in a Corona virus are called, and how they are abbreviated. Probably many of the others do as well.

References

1. Ge, X.Y. et al. Isolation and characterization of a bat SARS-like coronavirus that uses the ACE2 receptor. Nature 503, 535–538 (2013).
2. Yount, B. et al. Reverse genetics with a full-length infectious cDNA of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 12995–13000 (2003).
3. Becker, M.M. et al. Synthetic recombinant bat SARS-like coronavirus is infectious in cultured cells and in mice. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA105, 19944–19949 (2008).
4. Peiris, J.S., Guan, Y. & Yuen, K.Y. Severe acute respiratory syndrome. Nat. Med. 10, S88–S97 (2004).
5. Al-Tawfiq, J.A. et al. Surveillance for emerging respiratory viruses. Lancet Infect. Dis. 14, 992–1000 (2014).
6. He, B. et al. Identification of diverse alphacoronaviruses and genomic characterization of a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome–like coronavirus from bats in China. J. Virol. 88, 7070–7082 (2014).
7. Li, F. Receptor recognition and cross-species infections of SARS coronavirus. Antiviral Res. 100, 246–254 (2013).
8. Sheahan, T. et al. Mechanisms of zoonotic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus host range expansion in human airway epithelium. J. Virol. 82, 2274–2285 (2008).
9. Yoshikawa, T. et al. Dynamic innate immune responses of human bronchial epithelial cells to severe acute respiratory syndrome–associated coronavirus infection. PLoS ONE 5, e8729 (2010).
10. Qiu, X. et al. Reversion of advanced Ebola virus disease in nonhuman primates with ZMapp. Nature 514, 47–53 (2014).
11. Sui, J. et al. Broadening of neutralization activity to directly block a dominant antibody-driven SARS-coronavirus evolution pathway. PLoS Pathog. 4, e1000197 (2008).
12. Sui, J. et al. Effects of human anti–spike protein receptor binding domain antibodies on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus neutralization escape and fitness. J. Virol. 88, 13769–13780 (2014).
13. Rockx, B. et al. Escape from human monoclonal antibody neutralization affects in vitro and in vivo fitness of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. J. Infect. Dis. 201, 946–955 (2010).
14. Spruth, M. et al. A double-inactivated whole-virus candidate SARS coronavirus vaccine stimulates neutralizing and protective antibody responses. Vaccine 24, 652–661 (2006).
15. Bolles, M. et al. A double-inactivated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus vaccine provides incomplete protection in mice and induces increased eosinophilic proinflammatory pulmonary response upon challenge. J. Virol. 85, 12201–12215 (2011).
16. Siegrist, C.-A. in Vaccines 6th edn. (eds. Plotkin, S.A., Orenstein, W.A. & Offit, P.A.) 14–32 (W.B. Saunders, 2013).
17. Deming, D. et al. Vaccine efficacy in senescent mice challenged with recombinant SARS-CoV bearing epidemic and zoonotic spike variants. PLoS Med. 3, e525 (2006).
18. Graham, R.L., Donaldson, E.F. & Baric, R.S. A decade after SARS: strategies for controlling emerging coronaviruses. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 11, 836–848 (2013).
19. Graham, R.L. & Baric, R.S. Recombination, reservoirs and the modular spike: mechanisms of coronavirus cross-species transmission. J. Virol. 84, 3134–3146 (2010).
20. Agnihothram, S. et al. A mouse model for betacoronavirus subgroup 2c using a bat coronavirus strain HKU5 variant. MBio 5, e00047-14 (2014).
21. Relman, D.A. Metagenomics, infectious disease diagnostics and outbreak investigations: sequence first, ask questions later? J. Am. Med. Assoc. 309, 1531–1532 (2013).
22. Kaiser, J. Moratorium on risky virology studies leaves work at 14 institutions in limbo. ScienceInsiderMoratorium on risky virology studies leaves work at 14 institutions in limbo (2014).
23. Frieman, M. et al. Molecular determinants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus pathogenesis and virulence in young and aged mouse models of human disease. J. Virol. 86, 884–897 (2012).
24. Ren, W. et al. Difference in receptor usage between severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus and SARS-like coronavirus of bat origin. J. Virol. 82, 1899–1907 (2008).
25. Sims, A.C. et al. Release of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus nuclear import block enhances host transcription in human lung cells. J. Virol. 87, 3885–3902 (2013).
26. Fulcher, M.L., Gabriel, S., Burns, K.A., Yankaskas, J.R. & Randell, S.H. Well-differentiated human airway epithelial cell cultures. Methods Mol. Med. 107, 183–206 (2005).
27. Roberts, A. et al. A mouse-adapted SARS-coronavirus causes disease and mortality in BALB/c mice. PLoS Pathog. 3, e5.

In the Wiki about Zhi Shengli, there is a link to a recent study they published in Wuhan. It is freely available on A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin or as a pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2012-7_reference.pdf
Possibly this is the paper they are discussing in the video. But while the person interviewed interpret the result to mean that the virus is not natural, this is not the way the researchers express themselves.

Zhou, P., Yang, X., Wang, X. et al. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature(2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7
Received 20 January 2020 Accepted 29 January 2020 Published 03 February 2020
[...]
Nature (2020)Cite this article
Since the SARS outbreak 18 years ago, a large number of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoV) have been discovered in their natural reservoir host, bats1–4. Previous studies indicated that some of those bat SARSr-CoVs have the potential to infect humans5–7. Here we report the identification and characterization of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) which caused an epidemic of acute respiratory syndrome in humans in Wuhan, China. The epidemic, which started from 12 December 2019, has caused 2,050 laboratory-confirmed infections with 56 fatal cases by 26 January 2020. Full-length genome sequences were obtained from five patients at the early stage of the outbreak. They are almost identical to each other and share 79.5% sequence identify to SARS-CoV. Furthermore, it was found that 2019-nCoV is 96% identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus. The pairwise protein sequence analysis of seven conserved non-structural proteins show that this virus belongs to the species of SARSr-CoV. The 2019-nCoV virus was then isolated from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of a critically ill patient, which can be neutralized by sera from several patients. Importantly, we have confirmed that this novel CoV uses the same cell entry receptor, ACE2, as SARS-CoV.

The paper says:

We then found a short RdRp region from a bat coronavirus termed BatCoV RaTG13 which we previously detected in Rhinolophus affinis from Yunnan Province showed high sequence identity to 2019-nCoV. We did full-length sequencing to this RNA sample (GISAID accession no.EPI_ISL_402131). Simplot analysis showed that 2019-nCoV was highly similar throughout the genome to RaTG13 (Fig. 1c), with 96.2% overall genome sequence identity. Using the aligned genome sequences of 2019-nCoV, RaTG13, SARS-CoV and previously reported bat SARSr-CoVs, no evidence for recombination events was detected in the genome of 2019-nCoV. The phylogenetic analysis of full-length genome, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene and S gene sequences all showed that RaTG13 is the closest relative of the 2019- nCoV and form a distinct lineage from other SARSr-CoVs (Fig. 1d and Extended Data Figure 2). The receptor binding protein spike (S) gene was highly divergent to other CoVs (Extended Data Figure 2), with less than 75% nt sequence identity to all previously described SARSr-CoVs except a 93.1% nt identity to RaTG13 (Extended Data Table 3). The S genes of 2019-nCoV and RaTG13 S gene are longer than other SARSr-CoVs. The major differences in 2019-nCoV are the three short insertions in the N-terminal domain, and four out of five key residues changes in the receptor-binding motif, in comparison with SARS-CoV (Extended Data Figure 3). Whether the insertions in N-terminal domain of 2019- nCoV confers a sialic acid binding activity like MERS-CoV needs to be further studied. The close phylogenetic relationship to RaTG13 provides evidence for a bat origin of 2019-nCoV.

While reading I found out there seems to be a second name or an extended name, because they write: "We then successfully isolated the virus (named 2019-nCoV BetaCoV/Wuhan/WIV04/2019),"

The also say:

The study provides the first detailed report on 2019-nCoV, the likely etiology agent responsible for ongoing acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in Wuhan, central China. Viral specific nucleotide positive and viral protein seroconversion observed in all patients tested provides evidence of an association between the disease and the presence of this virus. However, there are still many urgent questions to be answered. The association between the 2019-nCoV and the disease has not been proved by animal experiments to full the Koch postulates. We don’t know the transmission routine of this virus among hosts yet. It seems the virus is becoming more transmissible between human-to-human. We should closely monitor if the virus continue evolving to become more virulent. Owing to shortage of specific treatment and considering the relatedness between SARS-CoV and 2019-nCoV, some drugs and pre-clinical vaccine against SARS-CoV probably can be applied to this virus. Finally, considering the wide spread of SARSr-CoV in their natural reservoirs, future research should be focused on active surveillance of these viruses through a broader geographic regions. In the long-term, broad-spectrum antiviral drugs and vaccine should be prepared for the future emerging infectious diseases caused by this cluster of virus. Most importantly, strict regulations against the wildlife domestication and consuming should be implemented.

In the paper one can find maps like genealogical relationship between different viruses. There are also segment of gene sequences, that compares different viruses with each other.

Another paper:

Full-genome evolutionary analysis of the novel corona virus (2019-nCoV) rejects the hypothesis of emergence as a result of a recent recombination event

Background A novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) associated with human to human transmission and severe human infection has been recently reported from the city of Wuhan in China. Our objectives were to characterize the genetic relationships of the 2019-nCoV and to search for putative recombination...

www.biorxiv.org

Published on Full-genome evolutionary analysis of the novel corona virus (2019-nCoV) rejects the hypothesis of emergence as a result of a recent recombination event

Full-genome evolutionary analysis of the novel corona virus (2019-nCoV) rejects the hypothesis of emergence as a result of a recent recombination event

Author links open overlay panel D.Paraskevisa E.G.Kostakia G.Magiorkinisa G.Panayiotakopoulosb G.Sourvinosc S.Tsiodrasd
Show more https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104212
Abstract
Background
A novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) associated with human to human transmission and severe human infection has been recently reported from the city of Wuhan in China. Our objectives were to characterize the genetic relationships of the 2019-nCoV and to search for putative recombination within the subgenus of sarbecovirus.
Methods
Putative recombination was investigated by RDP4 and Simplot v3.5.1 and discordant phylogenetic clustering in individual genomic fragments was confirmed by phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods.
Results
Our analysis suggests that the 2019-nCoV although closely related to BatCoV RaTG13 sequence throughout the genome (sequence similarity 96.3%), shows discordant clustering with the Bat_SARS-like coronavirus sequences. Specifically, in the 5′-part spanning the first 11,498 nucleotides and the last 3′-part spanning 24,341–30,696 positions, 2019-nCoV and RaTG13 formed a single cluster with Bat_SARS-like coronavirus sequences, whereas in the middle region spanning the 3′-end of ORF1a, the ORF1b and almost half of the spike regions, 2019-nCoV and RaTG13 grouped in a separate distant lineage within the sarbecovirus branch.
Conclusions
The levels of genetic similarity between the 2019-nCoV and RaTG13 suggest that the latter does not provide the exact variant that caused the outbreak in humans, but the hypothesis that 2019-nCoV has originated from bats is very likely. We show evidence that the novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) is not-mosaic consisting in almost half of its genome of a distinct lineage within the betacoronavirus. These genomic features and their potential association with virus characteristics and virulence in humans need further attention.

Under Mining coronavirus genomes for clues to the outbreak’s origins there is a summary of findings

Mining coronavirus genomes for clues to the outbreak’s origins
By Jon CohenJan. 31, 2020 , 6:20 PM
attaaaggtt tataccttcc caggtaacaa accaaccaac tttcgatctc ttgtagatct …

That string of apparent gibberish is anything but: It’s a snippet of a DNA sequence from the viral pathogen, dubbed 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), that is overwhelming China and frightening the entire world. Scientists are publicly sharing an ever-growing number of full sequences of the virus from patients—53 at last count in the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data database. These viral genomes are being intensely studied to try to understand the origin of 2019-nCoV and how it fits on the family tree of related viruses found in bats and other species. They have also given glimpses into what this newly discovered virus physically looks like, how it’s changing, and how it might be stopped.
[..]

Under the above Global Initiative page there is link to auspice that has a map showing the relation between different coronaviruses.

Phylogeny of SARS-like betacoronaviruses including novel coronavirus (nCoV)
Built with github.com/blab/sars-like-cov. Maintained by Trevor Bedford.
Showing 49 of 49 genomes.

Regarding the links to bats it is worth going a bit deeper. Bats spend part of their lives in caves, where humans presumably also lived thousands of years ago, and what else might be down in the caves, but that was not really what I wanted to dwell on, because quite a bit of research has been done on the viruses that bats can carry.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331492838_Bat_Coronaviruses_in_China has

Bat Coronaviruses in China

Yi Fan, Kai Zhao, Zheng-Li Shi, Peng Zhou

[...]
Viruses 2019,11, 210 5 of 14
3. Bat Coronaviruses That Are Associated with Diseases
3.1. SARS-Related Coronaviruses
In November 2012, the first case of SARS was recorded in Foshan city, Guangdong Province, China (Figure 1). In 2005, two independent Chinese groups reported the first bat SARS-related CoV (SARSr-CoV) that was closely related to human SARS-CoV, implying a bat origin of the latter [20,21]. Since then, more bat SARSr-CoV isolates were identified in China (Table 1). Genome identities of these bat SARSr-CoVs are as high as 92% to human SARS-CoV, but their major receptor binding spike proteins cannot use the human virus entry receptor ACE2 [67]. Whether they are the progenitor viruses of SARS-CoV is debatable. In 2013, the isolation of a bat SARSr-CoV that uses the ACE2 receptor provided the strongest evidence of the bat origin of SARS-CoV [22]. Furthermore, the building blocks for SARS-CoV were identified from eleven different SARSr-CoV viral strains in a five-year surveillance program in a cave inhabited by multiple species of horseshoe bats in Yunnan Province, China [62].

The following interesting study is posted on Human-animal interactions and bat coronavirus spillover potential among rural residents in Southern China

Human-animal interactions and bat coronavirus spillover potential among rural residents in Southern China

Redirecting
Hongying Li a,f , Emma Mendelsohn a , Chen Zong b , Wei Zhang c , Emily Hagan a , Ning Wang c , Shiyue Li d , Hong Yan d , Huimin Huang d , Guangjian Zhu a , Noam Ross a , Aleksei Chmura a , Philip Terry e , Mark Fielder f , Maureen Miller g , Zhengli Shi c,∗ , Peter Daszak a,∗∗

Abstract
Human interaction with animals has been implicated as a primary risk factor for several high impact zoonoses, including many bat-origin viral diseases. However the animal-to-human spillover events that lead to emerging diseases are rarely observed or clinically examined, and the link between specific interactions and spillover risk is poorly understood. To investigate this phenomenon, we conducted biological-behavioral surveillance among rural residents in Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong districts of Southern China, where we have identified a number of SARS-related coronaviruses in bats. Serum samples were tested for four bat-borne coronaviruses using newly developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Survey data were used to characterize associations between human-animal contact and bat coronavirus spillover risk. A total of 1,596 residents were enrolled in the study from 2015 to 2017. Nine participants (0.6%) tested positive for bat coronaviruses. 265 (17%) participants reported severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and/or influenza-like illness (ILI) symptoms in the past year, which were associated with poultry, carnivore, rodent/shrew, or bat contact, with variability by family income and district of residence. This study provides serological evidence of bat coronavirus spillover in rural communities in Southern China. The low seroprevalence observed in this study suggests that bat coronavirus spillover is a rare event. Nonetheless, this study highlights associations between human-animal interaction and zoonotic spillover risk. These findings can be used to support targeted biological behavioral surveillance in high-risk geographic areas in order to reduce the risk of zoonotic disease emergence.

The content of the above abstract may relate to what Shi Zhingli said: "The novel 2019 coronavirus is nature punishing the human race for keeping uncivilized living habits." It may also be true in more than the one sense. Nevertheless, this attitude ignores potential positive outcomes of the interaction between humans and viruses. Who knows, maybe new viruses can assist in the growth of new possibilities, or unlocking those that were locked up like from bat virus to batman . There are a lot of things we don't know.

For me the conclusion is that although the video and the article I mentioned at the very beginning found it very likely that there was human agency involved in the emergence of the 2019-nCov, and while that may the case and even though both the video and the article had interesting and relevant considerations, then at this point I will wait a bit longer before rooting for any particular solution to the problem of the appearance of the virus. Who knows, maybe there have been several causative factors working together like in the case of the Zika virus. In the meantime. In the meantime, I will try to learn a bit more about microbiology and the manner in which the research is being done. In the video and in the papers for example, they talk or write about "spikes". From what I understand, these determine if and how the virus gets access to the cell in the body. How exactly does this process work, and what does it look like, but that is a question for another day.

 

[genero81]

In the meantime, I will try to learn a bit more about microbiology and the manner in which the research is being done. In the video and in the papers for example, they talk or write about "spikes". From what I understand, these determine if and how the virus gets access to the cell in the body. How exactly does this process work, and what does it look like, but that is a question for another day.

Yes exactly. Apparently it's the 'right' spikes that make it 'fit' into human cells. In the video, they talk a lot about a 100% genomic match for the 'envelope' with bat coronavirus. I'm pretty sure that's what they said, but that the spikes were different. That's what made it look as though it was deliberately engineered to cross over to humans. But apparently, from the information you cited above, some crossover occurs naturally. So we can certainly hold off on conclusions as to the origin. I don't think it's going to make a whole hell of a difference one way or the other. What matters is how fast it's spreading and mortality rates. And whether containment is in the foreseeable future.

 

[genero81]

The content of the above abstract may relate to what Shi Zhingli said: "The novel 2019 coronavirus is nature punishing the human race for keeping uncivilized living habits." It may also be true in more than the one sense.

Yes, and what did you make of the discussion about the 60 year Chinese cycle right at the end?

 

[Laura]

https://www.accuweather.com/en/health-wellness/coronavirus-expert-says-the-virus-will-burn-itself-out-in-about-6-months/679415

"Compared to SARS and MERS, we are talking about a coronavirus that has a mortality rate of eight to 10 times less deadly to SARS to MERS," Nicholls is quoted as having said on the conference call. "So, a correct comparison is not SARS or MERS but a severe cold. Basically, this is a severe form of the cold."

 

[thorbiorn]

https://www.accuweather.com/en/health-wellness/coronavirus-expert-says-the-virus-will-burn-itself-out-in-about-6-months/679415

"Compared to SARS and MERS, we are talking about a coronavirus that has a mortality rate of eight to 10 times less deadly to SARS to MERS," Nicholls is quoted as having said on the conference call. "So, a correct comparison is not SARS or MERS but a severe cold. Basically, this is a severe form of the cold."

In the article just quoted there was also:

"Three things the virus does not like: 1. Sunlight, 2. Temperature, and 3. Humidity," Nicholls said in response to a question about when he thinks confirmed cases will peak, the transcript showed.

"Sunlight will cut the virus' ability to grow in half so the half-life will be 2.5 minutes and in the dark it's about 13 to 20 [minutes]," Nicholls said. "Sunlight is really good at killing viruses."

For that reason, he also added that he doesn't expect areas such as Australia, Africa and the Southern hemisphere to see high rates of infection because they are in the middle of summer.

[..]
"The virus can remain intact at 4 degrees (39 degrees Fahrenheit) or 10 degrees (50 F) for a longer period of time," Nicholls said, referring to Celsius measurements, according to the transcript. "But at 30 degrees (86 degrees F) then you get inactivation. And high humidity -- the virus doesn't like it either," he added, the transcript of the call showed.

 

[SOTTREADER]

A few more updates

• The super spreader in the UK was named and shamed by the media yesterday. Is that ethical?

Pictured: Coronavirus super-spreader is scout leader from Brighton

EXCLUSIVE: Steve Walsh is in quarantine in a London hospital today after picking up the disease at a Singapore conference last month and coming home to Hove via an Alpine skiiing holiday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

• Africa and South America still haven't reported any cases.
• We're having a few more cases now spreading in Europe. Germany leads the way with 16 cases, 2 of which were confirmed yesterday.
• The daily numbers of confirmed cases out of China seems to be going down. However, more cities in China are now going in lockdown.
• Some evidence has emerged that the incubation period for the virus might be 24 days, not 14. However, the WHO is not changing its recommendations just yet!

Coronavirus: No change to recommended quarantine period despite study suggesting 24-day incubation, says WHO

SINGAPORE - The World Health Organisation (WHO) is not currently considering a change to its recommended 14-day quarantine period, despite new research by a team of Chinese scientists that has suggested the new coronavirus could have a long incubation period of up to 24 days. Read more at...

www.straitstimes.com

Regarding the virus being halted in the summer by the sun, I think Thailand is a good case study. It's pretty much summer in Thailand now - rainy season coming up in a couple of months. Daily temperatures now are in the 30 degree Celsius and have been so for a couple of months.

Below is this week's weather in Bangkok

Bangkok - BBC Weather

14-day weather forecast for Bangkok.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Wandering Star]

My family and I have been drinking it for four days and we are all doing well.

In my case I have a runny nose, like when I am "healing" in a cold, but I don't have any more discomfort.

I think my body is "cleaning" something.

Thanks, Laura.

,.......................................................................
Ooops, this comment was for Laura's thread about the Elderberries. However, in a certain way it is related. I have edited it and I have added this clarification.
My apologies.

 

[thorbiorn]

Yes, and what did you make of the discussion about the 60 year Chinese cycle right at the end?

In Chinese astrology there are some basic elements that include, yin and yang, the five elements and the 12 zodiacal animals specific to the Chinese tradition. In years where the last number is even it is a yang year and the uneven years are yin years, in 12 years one goes through all the animals, but as each element is allotted both a yang year and a yin year, one goes through six element in 12 years. Therefore it requires five times 12 years to complete one cycle of five elements and 12 animals to come back to the same element with the same animal. According to the Wiki in the above link a cycle of 60 years begins with the element Wood

The 60-year cycle consists of two separate cycles interacting with each other. The first is the cycle of ten heavenly stems, namely the Five Elements (in order Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) in their Yin and Yang forms.

The last wood year was "Feb 02 1984–Jan 21 1985" and it seems that the yang is counted first in this table, but it would make sense as the year was ruled by the Rat, the first animal of the 12 animals. So when he says it is the beginning of a 60 year cycle, it is true in the sense that it is 60 years since there last was there was a combination of Metal and Rat. But on the other hand if one considers the starting point of a cycle to be the combination of Wood and Rat then his claim is not true.

But if we go along with his interpretation then the current period running from January 25, 2020 until New Year's Eve on February 11, 2021 is ruled by Metal and Rat. the last time that happened was in 1960-1961, before that in 1900-1901 and even earlier 1840-1841. What he is referring to is this pattern and the transforming events he alleges happened during these years. To check up on his claim that there is a pattern, one can consult the Timeline of Chinese history - Wikipedia

He mentions a famine around 1960; the Wiki has under 1959 which was the year of the Pig just like last year where the present 2019-nCov began:

Great Chinese Famine

: A famine began which would claim as many as forty million lives over three years.

So that one is okay, more or less.

In 1900 there was:

Boxer Rebellion

: Cixi responded to anti-foreign unrest by issuing the Imperial Decree of declaration of war against foreign powers in the Guangxu Emperor's name

Also okay.

In 1840 there is nothing but in 1842 there was:

First Opium War

: The Qing dynasty and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Nanking, under which the former agreed to end the monopoly of the Cohong, pay reparations for the war and the destruction of opium, and cede Hong Kong Island in perpetuity.

This one is somewhat more out than the others.

While I don't think the evidence is overwhelming, he is after all acknowledging the existence of cycles, as probably also Chinese people in China often do. I don't know how wide spread the understanding of these subjects are beyond the "news paper level of astrology", but I did find.

Daoism in China, Ancient Philosophy and Modern Religion

Daoism is China's oldest religion and an ancient Chinese philosophy. It's now a folk religion with related practices ranging from fengshui to tai chi and TCM.

www.chinahighlights.com

Chinese Astrology — The 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals
Chinese astrology is a tradition that stretches back in time over several thousand years. Like Western astrology the Chinese system uses a zodiac (from Greek zoidiacos, cycle of figures), being divided into 12 signs, each representing a mythic animal.

Chinese astrology operates on different levels; the most basic of these is the study of the animal that rules one's year of birth. A slightly more complex feature involves the yang/yin polarity of the year and the element that rules it. Herein is the Chinese zodiac's connection with "Daoism". Apart from that, there is the question of which animal governs one's birth moon and the animal that influences one's hour of birth.

Professional astrologers in China take into account a great deal more than this, including the day of birth and the lunar cycle that one was born in. See more on The Chinese Zodiac.

While looking into the above question, a method developed that I have not attempted before. Not that the results were overwhelming, but they were admittedly different.

Tips on using a Chinese search engine to return results even if you do not know much Chinese
The above information on astrology in China is from China Highlights, a China tour company. If one wishes something in genuine Chinese, one can translate "Chinese astrology" into chinese using a translation application, then take that word, I got "中国占星术" open up baidu.com and enter the word and then use browser settings to translate the page into, say English. Baidu also has a version of "Google Scholar" it is called 百度学术 - 保持学习的态度 In this case I did not find the results, although the "scholar" was slightly more interesting. After that it occured that maybe my search word could be improved. The engine said "Chinese zodiac" should be "中国十二生肖" this I added to the above signs and the results became richer. When one then translates the result there are like on Google other search suggestions at the bottom.

Of course one could go much deeper into the subject of Chinese astrology, but if one connects the little discussion of cycles within the structure in Chinese astrology to the subject of viruses, one could take a different perspective. In 2018 there was a session with a question about an earthquake in Mexico.

Session 20 October 2018

Session Date: October 20th 2018 Laura, Andromeda, and Artemis at the board Pierre, Joe, Chu, Ark, Scottie, Niall, Princess Leia, Opal the Majesticat Q: (L) Today is the 20th of October 2018. [Review of those present] Hello, is anybody out there? A: 5D calling Q: (L) What does that mean? A...

cassiopaea.org

(Pierre) There was this earthquake in Mexico that happened on the 19th of September in 1985, and then another on the same day in 2017. For the second one, you had people in Mexico commemorating the thousands of deaths in 1985, and then the second one happens that very day. Did the commemorative event have an effect on the second earthquake?

A: Indeed!

Q: (L) I guess you can refer to that session where we talked about the day after Christmas earthquake in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Isn't that the one that had the tsunami and some 200,000 people were killed? The Cs said that if you can't create without, you create within.

(Pierre) I don't think it was only the grieving in Mexico...

(L) It was the current state of affairs.

(Pierre) The injustice and poverty and misery that is so widespread...

(L) I have a theory that when you have oppression of human beings en masse without them being able to release it, that energy goes into the Earth and then the planet reacts for them. It may destroy them in the process, but it reacts for them. Is that anywhere near close to true?

A: Yes!!

Q: (Pierre) The human-cosmic connection goes both ways. And the crazy cosmic events make people more crazy, so then they trigger even more events. It's a downward spiral.

In relation to the events in China maybe the violent events in 1900 and 1969-1962 have set up a tension in the collective awareness of the people, now 1.5 billion, similar to what the people Mexico experienced when commemorating the earthquake that took place on September 19, 1985.

One could also say, that although a virus is not an earth changer, like a vulcanic eruption, the manner the Communist Party of China has reacted to the virus, has an impact that is perhaps not so much different from a situation where one of the usually considered earth changers has struck. For an indirect and discrete approach to China, consulting a popular fiction genre like Chinese literature of officialdom If this literature genre is so close to reality that it can sell, and so close to reality as some of our crime series and crime mystery books, then it should be possible to learn something about Chinese culture from reading it. But as elsewhere, there is probably more crime in the books, on the web, in games and on TV than there is in reality, still it does exist.

Before the above excerpt, there is an earlier question, which might be applicable from the perspective of illustrating what a distraction can do and how it works. In particular the analogy between people running where the media headlines indicate and a cat running after a moving laser spot is most telling.

(L) What about this murder of this poor guy Khashoggi?

(Joe) Is that what it seems to be?

A: Nothing ever is!

Q: (Joe) Is it what we were hypothesizing? Well, no... Was he killed in the embassy?

A: Yes

Q: (Joe) Was he killed with the knowledge of Crown Prince MbS?

A: Yes

Q: (Joe) With his knowledge. Why, because this guy was an outspoken critic of the Saudi regime?

A: Arrogance and sure Trump is in his pocket.

Q: (Joe) That's ridiculous. The whole "free world" is threatening fire and brimstone against Saudi Arabia. That's all BS, right?

A: More or less.

Q: (Joe) They can't do anything.

(L) It's a distraction!

A: Yes

Q: (L) It's part of the big freaking farce that they're putting on to keep everyone occupied, distraught, distracted, destabilized, exhausted…

(Joe) Keeping the news cycle hot.

(Pierre) Like when you play with Pikabu (Opale’s nickname).

(L) Yeah, it's like using a laser to make the cat go this way, and then make the cat go that way... This way, and that way. The whole world is being teased with a laser light.

(Joe) It's kind of useful in the sense that the Saudis can kill a guy in their own embassy and chop him up into pieces, and all the Freedom and Democracy people in the West are like, well, slap on the wrist and carry on!

(L) Look at the double standard! No evidence whatsoever of the Russians being involved in something that happens in broad daylight in England, and the whole world sanctions Russia. Then Saudi Arabia does this, he's filmed going into the embassy, they have recordings of the torture session with cutting off his fingers and god knows what, but, "Well, we have to wait for the investigation!" WHAT?!

(Pierre) That's what Russia kept saying: Let's conduct an independent investigation. They never got it.

(L) Some people are seeing it, I think. The masses aren't. They're just like the cat following the laser light. This way, and that way.

(Joe) You'd assume that a lot of people can't avoid the fact that their glorious Western leaders are in bed with a serial killer. One of their strongest allies is a serial killer.

(L) That's coming through loud and clear for some! I guess that will build up a lot of rage and anger, and one day it's gonna pop.

 

[United Gnosis]

• Some evidence has emerged that the incubation period for the virus might be 24 days, not 14. However, the WHO is not changing its recommendations just yet!

I don't think the evidence suggests that. The few case studies I've seen (on Dr John Campbell's youtube) show cases where visitors meeting up with a primary source fall ill within 3-4 days. A man back from china, his son meets him, the father starts symptoms the following day and the son 2 days later. Incubation time is provably short; what this suggests, then, is that cure does not provide immunity and there is likelyhood of re-infection. That would be bad, because -

https://www.accuweather.com/en/health-wellness/coronavirus-expert-says-the-virus-will-burn-itself-out-in-about-6-months/679415

"Compared to SARS and MERS, we are talking about a coronavirus that has a mortality rate of eight to 10 times less deadly to SARS to MERS," Nicholls is quoted as having said on the conference call. "So, a correct comparison is not SARS or MERS but a severe cold. Basically, this is a severe form of the cold."

Accuweather's position is worse than a joke, it's an insult to the ongoing and incoming deaths. The cold creates severe complications 0.1% of the time, and with medical care only a tiny fraction of the weakest individuals die. CoViD-19 hospitalizes 20% of cases, about a third of that require ICU treatment, and deaths are counted in whole percentage points, including healthy individuals in their 30s. This is a whole new level of civilizational cost, multiple orders of magnitude worse. It's a severe form of *pneumonia*, not of 'flu'.

And for anybody who's played Plague Inc., we know high-mortality virii are limited. First you spread around the globe before alarms are raised, then you evolve mortality (or those darn icelanders will quarantine you out). CoViD is perfectly positioned for those next steps. And if it can re-infect, as a few other virii are known to do, that basically gives it an infinite host pool in which to evolve and try, try again. Not fun.

 

[Niall]

Accuweather's position is worse than a joke, it's an insult to the ongoing and incoming deaths. The cold creates severe complications 0.1% of the time, and with medical care only a tiny fraction of the weakest individuals die. CoViD-19 hospitalizes 20% of cases, about a third of that require ICU treatment, and deaths are counted in whole percentage points, including healthy individuals in their 30s. This is a whole new level of civilizational cost.

That's not Accuweather's position; that's the view, initially expressed in a private setting, of a 25-year-long coronavirus researcher based in Hong Kong:

At the University of Hong Kong, Nicholls has spent the past 25 years studying coronavirus and he served as a key member of the team that characterized SARS. The Hong Kong University Faculty of Medicine's Clinical Research Centre also created the world's first lab-grown copy of novel coronavirus, according to CNN correspondent Kristie Lu Stout, giving researchers a major breakthrough in understanding the behavior of the virus.

 

[SummerLite]

Dr. Mercola's report is mostly what we have already heard but for this one point which is children aren't becoming sick.

How Can We Achieve the Great Awakening?

Filmmaker-turned-author Mikki Willis discusses his two-part film "Plandemic" with me. Tune in here for his incredible insight.

articles.mercola.com

Elderly Appear Particularly Vulnerable
So far, most of those who have died have been elderly. As reported by the Foreign Policy Journal:15

"One puzzling aspect so far is the thankful lack of child victims. Usually, children, with less developed immune systems than adults, come down with one illness after another …

Yet few children have yet been reported with coronavirus symptoms. That does not mean that no children have been infected. A similar pattern of benign disease in children, with increasing severity and mortality with age, was seen in SARS and MERS.

SARS had a mortality rate averaging 10 percent. Yet no children, and just 1 percent of youths under 24, died, while those older than 50 had a 65 percent risk of dying. Is being an adult a risk factor per se? If so, what is it about childhood that confers protection?"

 

[SOTTREADER]

Regarding official numbers decreasing, I have heard that China AND Japan have now changed who they include in the official numbers.

They will now only include those people who test positive AND show symptoms. If you test positive AND do not show symptoms, you aren't included in the official numbers going forward.

I found an article here but it's now being mentioned by multiple YouTubers: China changes counting scheme to lower Wuhan ... | Taiwan News

Fake news?

In other news, the F1 Shanghai grand Prix which was scheduled for April has now been postponed due to the virus.

Also, don't forget the Olympics will be in Japan this summer so watch this space!

Ps, over the last few years sott have been reporting on top level stuff, recent case in point was the assassination of the Iranian general. I don't think I have seen a sott focus article on this virus given it's position in current world events?

That's not Accuweather's position; that's the view, initially expressed in a private setting, of a 25-year-long coronavirus researcher based in Hong Kong:

This strangely reminds me of something Edward Bernays said. It was on how to manipulate the public by effective use of authorities and experts. In most cases, people will believe something based off the expert perception of the person delivering the message e.g. if their title says Dr. for example. However, I believe it's not the title but the strength of argument that should be the deciding factor.

Just an FYI. Made me remember Edward Bernays.

 

[SOTTREADER]

Ps, meant SOTT FOCUS articles from one of the in-house authors. In-house views are always interesting. :)