COVID-19 Coronavirus Containment Efforts

[chemisttree]

It is not yet clear how this particular Coronavirus was produced, but it seems closely related to coronaviruses found in bats and pangolins.
https://nextstrain.org/groups/blab/sars-like-cov?c=host

I don’t know how to interpret the phylogeny map perhaps but it seems to me that the virus is most closely related to bat and civet strains rather than the pangolin. The pangolin strain is off on its own branch?

How does a pangolin catch something from a bat?

 

[StatGuy2000]

I don’t know how to interpret the phylogeny map perhaps but it seems to me that the virus is most closely related to bat and civet strains rather than the pangolin. The pangolin strain is off on its own branch?

How does a pangolin catch something from a bat?

From what I've read, the most likely scenario is that the Coronavirus strain jumped the species barrier from (possibly) bats or civets to a pangolin, and then to people through a common location where these animals and people congregate. Namely the outdoor markets in Wuhan, where live animals are bought and sold for food (as is common throughout China and many parts of South and Southeast Asia).

From what I understand, these live animal markets are also quite common in parts of Africa as well.

 

[DennisN]

From what I've read, the most likely scenario is that the Coronavirus strain jumped the species barrier from (possibly) bats or civets to a pangolin, and then to people through a common location where these animals and people congregate.

That's what I've read too.

 

[atyy]

I don’t know how to interpret the phylogeny map perhaps but it seems to me that the virus is most closely related to bat and civet strains rather than the pangolin. The pangolin strain is off on its own branch?

I think the branching you see is assumption on the choice of root, but these guys should know what they are doing so it should be good. Nonetheless, they have produced an unrooted diagram also.
https://nextstrain.org/groups/blab/sars-like-cov?c=host&l=unrooted

 

[chemisttree]

From what I've read, the most likely scenario is that the Coronavirus strain jumped the species barrier from (possibly) bats or civets to a pangolin, and then to people through a common location where these animals and people congregate.

Interesting if true. But it is now reported that the pangolin strain is at best only 92% similar to the virus found in humans. Only that portion of the genome responsible for coding the pangolin spike binding protein was reported as 99% similar. The bat strain was something like 96% similar.

Perhaps someone will do a study to determine how easily a bat Coronavirus infects pangolins? The bat version is reported to not be easily transferred to humans.

 

[kadiot]

I have wondered about this...all agencies are avoiding huge gatherings in a bid to check the spread of the virus. Why don't we do something similar in the Archdiocese? Our parish churches especially on Sundays, are perfect incubation centers for the disease.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...ses-announces-day-of-fasting-and-prayer-54167

 

[kadiot]

Singapore just created test kits for covid-19. In 3 hours.. results are out!

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid19-new-test-kits-swab-three-hours-12505658

 

[Rive]

From the frontline
Quite ... bad.

 

[chemisttree]

I wish I hadn’t read that...

 

[chirhone]

About the total lockdown in Italy. I read "Italy's 60-million people will only be able to travel for work, medical reasons or emergencies until April 3. All schools and universities, which were closed nationwide last week until March 15, will now not reopen before next month.".

What happens if you want to transfer from one house to another 10 blocks away? For example. You got separated from your loved ones before the lockdown. Would it be allowed or you would be jailed? Days ago I was imagining lockdown like martial law.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-cases-why-more-men-than-women-2020-2?amp

Here I read most affected are males. Is there any summary where it can be listed the exact number of male, female, adult and children victims? Is it possible women and children *mainly* are spared. Maybe COVID-19 has man hatter issue?

Is there a virus that can be made to home in on only high levels of testosterone? What other chemicals that only exist in men and not women and children? (for the women affected by COVID-19. Is there by chance they have higher level of testosterone?)

 

[Ygggdrasil]

Genetic analyses currently point to the virus perhaps being the result of recombination between bat and pangolin coronaviruses. However, these analyses are preliminary and have not yet been published in peer reviewed journals. More work will be needed in the future to determine the exact origins of the virus, but these studies make a good case that pangolins were involved as an intermediatry species:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.07.939207v1
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.17.951335v1
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.13.945485v1

 

[Ygggdrasil]

Here I read most affected are males. Is there any summary where it can be listed the exact number of male, female, adult and children victims? Is it possible women and children *mainly* are spared. Maybe COVID-19 has man hatter issue?

Is there a virus that can be made to home in on only high levels of testosterone? What other chemicals that only exist in men and not women and children? (for the women affected by COVID-19. Is there by chance they have higher level of testosterone?)

Here is an article summarizing some of the characteristics of those infected in China: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762130. While women have slightly lower mortality, they are by no means spared. Children however, do seem to exhibit very low mortality for unknown reasons (for a discussion of the issue in the popular press see )

Here's an article which discusses some of the potential reasons why the virus shows higher mortality in men, including a higher prevalence of smoking in men and differences in immune responses between the sexes: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/health/coronavirus-men-women.html

 

[Haorong Wu]

Here is an article summarizing some of the characteristics of those infected in China: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762130. While women have slightly lower mortality, they are by no means spared. Children however, do seem to exhibit very low mortality for unknown reasons (for a discussion of the issue in the popular press see )

Here's an article which discusses some of the potential reasons why the virus shows higher mortality in men, including a higher prevalence of smoking in men and differences in immune responses between the sexes: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/health/coronavirus-men-women.html

The reason is that the whole country's medical resource, such as tens of thousands of doctors and nurses, are thrown into the black hole in Wuhan to supress the mortality.

 

[Haorong Wu]

Here is a comparison between Italy and Germany. If Germany do follow Italy, things would get really bad.

:(

 

[Mary Conrads Sanburn]

Coronavirus-Stricken Grand Princess Arrives At Port Of Oakland; Passenger Says ‘It Looks Like A War Zone’

March 9, 2020 at 11:19 am

OAKLAND (CBS SF) — The coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess made its way under the famed Golden Gate Bridge Monday, heading toward the Port of Oakland where the more than 2,000 passengers will disembark under heavy military security, undergo medical examinations and then be transported to 14-day quarantine sites at four bases across the country.

passengers wearing masks waved from the ship’s pool area to the helicopters hovering overhead as the Grand Princess neared the bridge, relieved their ill-fated journey was about to come to an end.

WATCH LIVE CONTINUING COVERAGE ON CBSN BAY Area: Grand Princess Arrives In Oakland; Passengers talk about ordeal aboard boat

“It’s been a nightmare the last few days,” Eddie Castellano, a passenger onboard from Miami, told KPIX 5 in the telephone interview. “But today, I’m feeling great. I’m feeling hopeful that we finally after all these days I’m going to be able to get off this ship.”

Looking out his window, Castellano said the dockside was filled with military personnel and ambulances.

“I see some military outside the ship right now,” he said. “I see a lot of military. I see a lot of ambulances… It looks like a war zone. I’m terrified. I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve never been through something like this in my life before…I’m worried about the 3,000 people on this boat and their health.”

Maureen James from San Mateo is also a passenger on the ship with her husband. She said the cheers of a crowd on the Golden Gate Bridge as the ship passed underneath made her feel like she’s finally returned home.

“One of the amazing things to me today was when we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge and the 100-plus people that were on the bridge cheering us on,” she said.

Then the dock workers and truck drivers at the massive Port of Oakland facility also gave the passengers a boisterous welcome.

“The people at the Oakland pier here, honking their horns and cheering us on,” she said. “You know it’s just a warm feeling — there are a few people out there that think why in my backyard. It is what it is. We went on a cruise, something unfortunate happened. They have to get us all off in a safe manner and get us tested to make sure we are okay.”

[ . . . ]

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2...s-golden-gate-bridge-sick-passengers-oakland/

Please read the entire article.

 

[mfb]

At the time Italy had found 900 cases they had 20 deaths. Germany has found 1200 cases, but only two deaths (both from today). I don't think Germans live that much healthier. Okay, Italy had a couple of older patients early on, but it's still a big difference. Most likely it's a better test coverage.

What happens if you want to transfer from one house to another 10 blocks away?

Then you do that. It's a travel restriction (and a ban of events with large crowds), not a restriction on any movement.
Here is BBC's article

 

[morrobay]

I don’t know how to interpret the phylogeny map perhaps but it seems to me that the virus is most closely related to bat and civet strains rather than the pangolin. The pangolin strain is off on its own branch?

How does a pangolin catch something from a bat?

This is a wet market in thailand. The venders do very little cleaning . So a pathogen can easily transfer anywhere in this environment. For example note that blue plastic mesh used to weigh the seafood. Most of the mesh is black from never being cleaned.

 

[atyy]

Germany has found 1200 cases, but only two deaths (both from today). I don't think Germans live that much healthier.

Were their ages and health conditions announced? I remember an article about one of the early German cases, a quite young guy who needed to be put on a lung machine, but it didn't mention whether he had other health problems, nor whether he survived: https://www.spiegel.de/internationa...at-all-a-d91de996-0705-437d-8706-5682e8c0cbee (citing the article mainly for its description, it says Germany is not well prepared, but that doesn't seem obviously true to an outsider like me)

Edit: New York Times reports "No deaths of people with the virus were reported in Germany before the first two announced Monday: an 89-year-old in the western city of Essen and a 78-year-old man in Heinsberg county near the Dutch border. Both locations are in North Rhine-Westphalia state, which accounts for 484 of the 1,112 infections confirmed in Germany to date. ...
The 79-year-old man who died in Heinsberg, where a large cluster of cases has been linked to traditionally raucous German carnival celebrations last month, had numerous underlying health problems including diabetes and heart trouble, said Stephan Pusch, who heads the county administration. "
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/03/09/world/europe/ap-eu-virus-outbreak-germany.html

 

[morrobay]

Time to lighten up. Bangkok style

 

[chirhone]

We were being comforted by local TV that there is nothing to fear. Most would only suffer slight runny nose and cough like common colds. Only the elderly and those with weak immune system can suffer.

Do you know someone with strong immune system yet succumb to the disease?

Also I think there is overreaction worldwide. Do you know that pollution kills 7 million people every year? This would make the COVID-19 pale in comparision. Death won't even reach a million.

https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1

After the dusts (or virus) settle. We must focus on pollutions. This COVID-19 thing will only give us greater awareness for stronger immune system and make us health conscious (mind and body).

 

[chirhone]

Here is question about test kits. First. Our department of health has finally admitted there was underreporting of cases because of our lack of test kits:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/newsin...ional-underreporting-of-coronavirus-cases/amp

So we produced locally made test kits.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/12391...Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1583808169

What must be standards in test kits. Our worry is it can produce false negative. Are test kits made in USA only for USA and test kits for south korea only for south korea? Can't any nation sell us extra to avoid underreporting?

 

[kadiot]

Here is question about test kits. First. Our department of health has finally admitted there was underreporting of cases because of our lack of test kits:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/newsin...ional-underreporting-of-coronavirus-cases/amp

So we produced locally made test kits.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/12391...Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1583808169

What must be standards in test kits. Our worry is it can produce false negative. Are test kits made in USA only for USA and test kits for south korea only for south korea? Can't any nation sell us extra to avoid underreporting?

At least, Early Detection Protocol is now available in the Philippines.

Singapore developed new test kits. In 3 hours... results are out! Excellent!

I wonder if SG will sell it and at what cost. Sometimes some patients will need to use up more than one test kit. Example, a PUI may be negative on day 3, 5, and 7 then turns positive on day 10. Then retest on day 14 to see if negative already. If not, then retest until 2 negatives. Let’s say one test kit is around 5k Philippine Peso (that’s the average cost of a test kit), that would mean around 5 test kits per patient or 25k. So that means the 2000 test kits are good for around 400-500 people only. That’s why it's a goos news that we were able to developed our own. Because other countries may have, but they may not be selling it because they need it themselves. If we will wait for donated ones, it may take awhile.

 

[atyy]

Do you know someone with strong immune system yet succumb to the disease?

There are probably some "normal healthy folks" who have severe disease. The following paper says that about 4.5% of people had illness that was severe enough to require intensive care even though they did not have hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, hepatitis B infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney diseases, malignancy and immunodeficiency

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.25.20027664v1
The composite endpoint was documented in 77 (19.3%) of patients who had at least one comorbidity as opposed to 54 (4.5%) patients without comorbidities (P<0.001)

 

[chemisttree]

View attachment 258420
This is a wet market in thailand. The venders do very little cleaning . So a pathogen can easily transfer anywhere in this environment. For example note that blue plastic mesh used to weigh the seafood. Most of the mesh is black from never being cleaned.

Are you saying it transferred from a dead bat to pangolin meat? All I see in the picture is animal corpses.

 

[chirhone]

At least, Early Detection Protocol is now available in the Philippines.

Singapore developed new test kits. In 3 hours... results are out! Excellent!

I wonder if SG will sell it and at what cost. Sometimes some patients will need to use up more than one test kit. Example, a PUI may be negative on day 3, 5, and 7 then turns positive on day 10. Then retest on day 14 to see if negative already. If not, then retest until 2 negatives. Let’s say one test kit is around 5k Philippine Peso (that’s the average cost of a test kit), that would mean around 5 test kits per patient or 25k. So that means the 2000 test kits are good for around 400-500 people only. That’s why it's a goos news that we were able to developed our own. Because other countries may have, but they may not be selling it because they need it themselves. If we will wait for donated ones, it may take awhile.

What countries have extra test kits now.

We can trust the locally produced ones?

I wonder how they acquire test kits in very poor countries like south africa?

The obvious victims of this are the elderly, parents, grandparents, etc.

 

[kadiot]

We can trust the locally produced ones?

I don't trust much after they approved Dengvaxia vaccine and several children died. Good thing DOH has permanently revoked the certificates of product registration (CPRs) of the controversial Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur. Anyway, FDA approves UP NIH test kits for Coronavirus infection through a certification of exemption. It's just a test kit. Not a vaccine.

 

[morrobay]

Are you saying it transferred from a dead bat to pangolin meat? All I see in the picture is animal corpses.

No only saying that a wet market environment that is not sanitary is conducive to pathogen transfers in general. There are no bats or pangolins in this market. If the virus in China transferred between the two outside of a wet market I would not speculate .

 

[mfb]

Death won't even reach a million.

We'll see.

 

[DennisN]

Here's an interactive worldwide map which gets continually updated with confirmed cases, recoveries and deaths:

• Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by CSSE at Johns Hopkins University

(it is one of the main sources that the Wikipedia page uses for its numbers)

 

[chemisttree]

No only saying that a wet market environment that is not sanitary is conducive to pathogen transfers in general. There are no bats or pangolins in this market. If the virus in China transferred between the two outside of a wet market I would not speculate .

I think anyone handling an infected {insert animal name} would risk infection whether it was in a wet market or somewhere else.

 

[kadiot]

To put things in perspective, this is how Covid-19 compares with other viruses in terms of transmission.

 

[homeylova223]

What would Issac Newton think about viruses, and illnesses based on his research.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Here is an article summarizing some of the characteristics of those infected in China: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762130. While women have slightly lower mortality, they are by no means spared. Children however, do seem to exhibit very low mortality for unknown reasons (for a discussion of the issue in the popular press see )

Here's an article which discusses some of the potential reasons why the virus shows higher mortality in men, including a higher prevalence of smoking in men and differences in immune responses between the sexes: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/health/coronavirus-men-women.html

Interesting article, especially the link between a higher prevalence of smoking in men in China (which may not necessarily be true for other countries) and its link to greater mortality rates for COVID-19.

I am curious about the differences in immune responses between the sexes. In particular, I wonder if the differences in immune responses may be due to a greater number of older men with pre-existing or co-morbid medical conditions (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure) which likely will have an impact on immune responses, as was suggested in the following article below.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/03...n-of-coronavirus-risk-by-demographic-factors/

 

[BillTre]

Mask vs. Beard:

Masks will not work well if the mask-face seal is compromised by facial hair.
I like the names for the different hair styles.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

Interesting article, especially the link between a higher prevalence of smoking in men in China (which may not necessarily be true for other countries) and its link to greater mortality rates for COVID-19.

I am curious about the differences in immune responses between the sexes. In particular, I wonder if the differences in immune responses may be due to a greater number of older men with pre-existing or co-morbid medical conditions (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure) which likely will have an impact on immune responses, as was suggested in the following article below.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/03...n-of-coronavirus-risk-by-demographic-factors/

Higher rates of certain medical conditions in men could certainly contribute to the differences in immune responses between the sexes. However, the NYT piece also notes higher rates of autoimmune disease in women ("Nearly 80 percent of those with autoimmune diseases are women, Dr. Clayton noted."), which could suggest some underlying biological differences between immunity in men and women.