Drug companies urged to give up patents (esp for Remdesivir). Trump
should force them, as he forced GM
Newsletter published on March 31, 2020
(1) Chloroquine & Vitamin C - cheap remedies for Covid-19 - Dietrich
Klinghardt MD, PhD
(2) Intravenous Vitamin C "Widely Used" To Treat COVID-19 In NY
Hospitals - yet FDA derided it
(3) Cuban anti-viral drug Interferon Alpha 2b
(4) Drug companies urged to give up patents (esp for Remdesivir). Trump
should force them, as he forced GM
(5) Trump invokes Defense Production Act to force GM to make ventilators
after stalled talks
(6) Use an Aromatherapy Humidifier Diffuser to mist anti-viral essential
oils, cost $30
(7) A Nebulizer is not a Ventilator
(8) NY relies on immmigrant nurses from the Philippines; hospitals &
nursing schools were closed
(9) China stats grossly understate Wuhan deaths; not 2,500 but 46,800
(10) Coronavirus is airborne, study suggests. What about airconditioning?
(11) Statement from Johns Hopkins on Event 201 simulation of Pandemic
(1) Chloroquine & Vitamin C - cheap remedies for Covid-19 - Dietrich
Klinghardt MD, PhD
From: "Liliana_Dumitrescu" <marquisdeart@embarqmail.com> Subject: Did
you read this one?
Corona 2020
Dietrich Klinghardt MD, PhD
March 2020
Dr Dietrich Klinghardt MD, PhD, is Founder of the Klinghardt Academy
(USA), the American Academy of Neural Therapy, Medical Director of the
Institute of Neurobiology, and lead clinician at the Sophia Health
Institute, located in Woodinville, Washington. He is also Founder and
Chairman of the Institute for Neurobiology (Germany) and (Switzerland).
Klinghardt Academy (USA) provides teachings to the English speaking
world on biological interventions and Autonomic Response Testing
assessment techniques.
[...] Recent guidelines from South Korea and China report that
chloroquine is an effective antiviral therapeutic treatment against
Coronavirus Disease 2019. Use of chloroquine (tablets) is showing
favorable outcomes in humans infected with Coronavirus including faster
time to recovery and shorter hospital stay. US CDC research shows that
chloroquine also has strong potential as a prophylactic (preventative)
measure against coronavirus in the lab, while we wait for a vaccine to
be developed.
Chloroquine is an inexpensive, globally available drug that has been in
widespread human use since 1945 against malaria, autoimmune and various
other conditions. As chloroquine is not available in Korea, doctors
could consider hydroxychloroquine 400mg orally per day
(Hydroxychloroquine is an analog of chloroquine used against malaria,
autoimmune disorders, etc. It is widely available as well). The
treatment is suitable for 7 - 10 days, which can be shortened or
extended depending on clinical progress.
The UK has banned the export of Chloroquine[13] As of February 26, 2020,
the UK government has added chloroquine to the list of medicines that
cannot be parallel exported from the UK. Chloroquine was never on this
list before. This likely happened because of the growing body of
evidence of chloroquine’s effectiveness against coronavirus.
Background A recent well controlled clinical study conducted by Didier
Raoult M.D/Ph.D, et. al in France has shown that 100% of patients that
received a combination of HCQ and Azithromycin tested negative and were
virologically cured within 6 days of treatment. Please cite this work
as Gautret et al. (2020) Hydroxychloroquine and azithromyci n as a
treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non- randomized clinical
trial. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents – In Press 17 March
2020 – DOI : 10.
patients in treatment group, 20 cures)
o Six patients were asymptomatic, 22 had upper respiratory tract
infection symptoms and eight had lower respiratory tract infection
symptoms.
o Twenty cases were treated in this study and showed a significant
reduction of the viral carriage at Day 6-post inclusion compared to
controls,
o and much lower average carrying duration than reported of untreated
patients in the literature.
o Azithromycin added to hydroxychloroquine was significantly more
efficient for virus elimination General measures for prevention of
viral respiratory infections include the following:
o Handwashing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. A 60%
alcohol-based hand sanitizer may be used if soap and water are
unavailable.
o Individuals should avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth with
unwashed hands. o Individuals should avoid close contact with sick
people.
o Sick people should responsibly self isolate/ stay at home (e.g., from
work, school).
o Coughs and sneezes should be covered with a tissue, followed by
disposal of the tissue in the trash.
o Frequently touched objects and surfaces should be cleaned and
disinfected regularly.
[...] Furins: Andrographis and Vit.C against SARS-Co2 Furin: the furin
gene encodes for the furin protein.
The members of this "family" process latent precursor proteins into
their biologically active products. Furin is enriched in the Golgi
apparatus, where it functions to cleave other proteins into their
mature/active forms. the envelope proteins of viruses of SARS-CoV 2 must
be cleaved by furin or furin-like proteases to become fully functional.
(Coutard B, Valle C, de Lamballerie X, Canard B, Seidah NG, Decroly E
(February 2020).
"The spike glycoprotein of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV contains a
furin-like cleavage site absent in CoV of the same clade". Antiviral
Research. 176: 104742. doi: 10.
32057769.)
The furin cleavage allows efficient virus entry into basically all cell
types, making the COVID-19 easily transmissible at rates up to 1,000
times greater than the virulent SARS coronavirus The presence of furin
enzymes on all cell surfaces cleaves and activates the SARS-CoV-2 in a
wide range of tissues and organs.
Activated SARS-CoV-2 then unleashes NLRP3 inflammasomes, initiating a
flurry of immune reactions that can result in deadly cytokine storms.
(Furin cleavage site in the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus glycoprotein
in-the-sars-cov-2-coronavirus-
Andrographis paniculata is a powerful anti-furin strategy and should be
utilized early in the treatment of infected or suspected individuals!
Basak, Ajoy, et al. "Inhibition of proprotein convertases-1,-7 and furin
by diterpines of Andrographis paniculata and their succinoyl esters."
Biochemical Journal 338.1 (1999): 107-113. Basak, Ajoy. "Inhibitors of
proprotein convertases." Journal of molecular medicine 83.11 (2005):
844-855.
Vitamin C has also been shown to have anti-furin properties (COVID-19,
Furins & Hypoxia – The Vitamin C Connection – EvolutaMente.it
[...]
(2) Intravenous Vitamin C "Widely Used" To Treat COVID-19 In NY
Hospitals - yet FDA derided it
IV Vitamin C "Widely Used" To Treat COVID-19 In NY Hospitals
by Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/30/2020 - 20:05
Authored by Cassius K via The Organic Prepper blog,
For years regulatory agencies like the FDA have subtly targeted the use
of such things as intravenous vitamins.
One method they use to target the fabric of culture in which people
utilize simple, naturopathic remedies is the stringent enforcement of
any regulation they can think of. It seems that the FDA targets
regulatory violations supposedly committed by those who deal in
naturopathic medicine far more than violations from Big Pharma.
Almost 10 years ago, in 2011 it was reported that the FDA sent out a
warning letter to a small pharmacy, urging them not to stock intravenous
vitamin C. In Australia, the mainstream media has consistently inundated
the discussion surrounding health with propaganda over the last 10
years, and vitamin C has been specifically scoffed at.
Despite an observable urge for the regulatory agencies to crush the
culture of vitamins and erase their history, it’s leaking out into the
mainstream that intravenous (IV) vitamin C in high doses is effective
against COVID-19.
Now New York’s largest hospital system is using Vitamin C for Covid-19
In New York’s largest hospital system, urgently ill COVID-19 patients
are now being given large doses of IV vitamin C, an article from the New
York Post reported a couple of days ago.
Dr. Andrew G. Weber, a pulmonologist and critical-care specialist
affiliated with two Northwell Health facilities on Long Island, said his
intensive-care patients with the coronavirus immediately receive 1,500
milligrams of intravenous vitamin C.
Identical amounts of the powerful antioxidant are then
readministered three or four times a day, he said.
Each dose is more than 16 times the National Institutes of Health’s
daily recommended dietary allowance of vitamin C, which is just 90
milligrams for adult men and 75 milligrams for adult women.
The regimen is based on experimental treatments administered to
people with the coronavirus in Shanghai, China, Weber said.
"The patients who received vitamin C did significantly better than
those who did not get vitamin C," he said.
"It helps a tremendous amount, but it is not highlighted because
it’s not a sexy drug." (source)
They say the decision to use IV C in New York was based on reports of
its effectiveness in China, but vitamin C’s reputation in America far
predates that info, although not specifically in response to this virus.
(3) Cuban anti-viral drug Interferon Alpha 2b
From: editor@mltoday.com
Dear friend:
Please sign, and circulate, the on line petition asking the Food & Drug
Administration (FDA)
for expedited approval of the Cuban anti-viral drug Interferon Alpha 2b
which could help treat
Covid-19 patients.
(4) Drug companies urged to give up patents (esp for Remdesivir). Trump
should force them, as he forced GM
Drug companies urged to give up patents
Victoria Craw
2:51 am March 31, 2020
Medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors
Without Borders (MSF) published an open letter signed by 145
organisations calling for no patents or profiteering on drugs, tests, or
vaccines used for the COVID-19 pandemic.
It targeted US company Gilead, which recently gave up a US 20-year
patent for a drug that potenitally could be used to treat the disease,
remdesivir. Gilead has yet to give up global rights to the drug,
sparking fears it may not do so.
"Gilead has no business profiteering from this pandemic and must commit
to not enforce or claim its patents and other exclusive rights," said
MSF's US policy adviser, Dana Gill.
"Otherwise, Gilead is setting itself up to charge whatever it wants for
remdesivir during this global health crisis, and for years to come. This
is even more outrageous when you consider the tremendous amount of
taxpayer dollars and public resources that have already contributed to
the research and development of remdesivir."
Comment (Peter M.):
Remdesivir may be the best drug available to get rid of Covid-19. But
its high cost renders it unavailable for mass use. That's why
Chloroquine is needed; it costs 30c for a 250mg tablet ($3.87 in USA).
Big Pharma seeks windfall profits from Covid-19. What would Joe Biden do
about it? Nothing? When GM was seeking Profit for making ventilators,
Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to force GM to make them, and
at an acceptable price. He should do the same with drug companies
putting Profit ahead of the Common Good.
(5) Trump invokes Defense Production Act to force GM to make ventilators
after stalled talks
By Louis Casiano | Fox News
March 28, 2020
President Trump said Friday that he had directed Health and Human
Services Secretary Alex Azar to require General Motors to begin making
ventilators under the Defense Production Act to combat the coronavirus
pandemic after negotiations with the automaker had stalled.
"Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators
have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too great to
allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run
its normal course," Trump said in a statement, adding: "GM was wasting
time."
Experts say the U.S. is hundreds of thousands of breathing machines
short of what it likely will need to treat a rapidly rising number of
COVID-19 patients. New York, Michigan, Louisiana and the state of
Washington have been singled out as virus hot spots in the U.S.
In a statement, GM said it has been "working around the clock for over a
week" with medical device company Ventec Life Systems and parts
suppliers to build more ventilators. The company said its commitment to
build Ventec's ventilators "has never wavered."
"The partnership between Ventec and GM combines global expertise in
manufacturing quality and a joint commitment to safety to give medical
professionals and patients access to life-saving technology as rapidly
as possible," the statement went on. "The entire GM team is proud to
support this initiative."
Trump said that while the White House activated the act against GM, it
may not be needed. "Maybe we won't even need the full activation. We'll
find out," Trump said Friday in the Oval office.
The announcement came hours after Trump lashed out at GM and its CEO,
Mary Barra, in a series of tweets.
"As usual with 'this' General Motors, things just never seem to work
out. They said they were going to give us 40,000 much needed
Ventilators, 'very quickly'. Now they are saying it will only be 6000,
in late April, and they want top dollar," he wrote.
"General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown
plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS,
NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!!" he tweeted.
GM sold the Lordstown plant to a company that wants to make electric
commercial vehicles.
Trump criticized Barra, saying: "Always a mess with Mary B."
The tweets were an apparent response to a New York Times report that a
$1 billion deal between the White House and the company was called off.
The contract would have allowed the production of 80,000 ventilators.
Trump's move appears aimed at price and volume negotiations with the
government. But it's Ventec, not GM, that is talking with the
government, said Chris Brooks, Ventec's chief strategy officer.
Ventec ventilators, which are portable and can handle intensive care
patients, cost about $18,000 each, Brooks said. That's much cheaper than
the more sophisticated ventilators used by hospitals that can cost up to
$50,000, he said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has made multiple requests since
Sunday for estimates of how many ventilators it can build at what price,
and has not settled on any numbers, according to Brooks. That could slow
Ventec's efforts to ramp up production because it doesn't know how many
breathing machines it must build, he said.
Former Vice President Joe Biden praised Trump's announcement during a
virtual roundtable with first responders.
"The good news I just heard about ten minutes ago.. is that president
has just finally implemented the act and he's ordered GM to make
ventilators," Biden said. "That's really good news. Now we were
suggesting he do that over a month ago but the point is he's done it and
I congratulate him for it."
Fox Business' Matthew Kazin, Fox News' Paul Steinhauser, Gary Gastelu
and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(6) Use an Aromatherapy Humidifier Diffuser to mist anti-viral essential
oils, cost $30
From: Darren Cawley <d4rr3n_c@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: Recovery at Home - from Death's door in 4 days of natural
therapies - Dr David Brownstein
Hello Peter,
I am not an expert in use of essential oils so this is just what I am
doing. I selected essential oils that were not only antiviral but had
been found to destroy specifically the HIV virus. Rosemary, Lemon balm
and cinnamon. I mixed these in equal parts with fennel essential oil
which has been found to reduce lung inflammation. I do not use an
expensive nebuliser, I use a cheap USB ultrasonic mister which fits on
the end of a bottle (example link below). I simply add some of the
essential oil mixture into the water bottle and give it a good shake.
Put this in your room next to your bed and as you breath in the air the
antiviral oil will also be inhaled.
Portable Car Air Humidifier Diffuser Ultrasonic Aroma Mist Purifier USB
Charging | eBay
Spray amount: 30-40ml/Aroma Diffuser Humidifier. Occasion: Working,
Driving, Yoga, Reading, Sleeping, Traveling,... ==
I mixed all four oils together in equal parts and put it in a small
bottle. I added a teaspoon of this oil to about 1 litre of water and
give it a good shake.
I currently do not have the virus so I just have this ready if I get it
and start to experience lung infection. I intend to let the antiviral
mist fill the air around my bed which I will naturally inhale.
> Do you run it from a computer?
No I have a USB plug adaptor which is off an old phone charger.
> Does it have filters?
No it has a felt wick like in a felt-tip pen which it uses to draw up
the liquid into the ultrasonic head.
> Do any of these essential oils clog up the system? What can be done
about that?
I had it going for a few hours to test it and had no problem with
clogging but as these USB misters are inexpensive I purchased three
anyway. You can also have more then one running if you want a greater
amount of mist.
This is not the only way to get the oil into the air, you could use one
of those candle essential oil warmers.
I prefer the idea if having the air in the room impregnated with the
antiviral oil rather then having a mask stuck to my face pumping it down
my lungs.
(7) A Nebulizer is not a Ventilator
From: cg in New York
Subject: Nebulizer
A nebulizer is not a ventilator. A ventilator is mechanized breathing
and is done with muscle relaxant and anaesthesia and constant
supervision where rates, pressures, and oxygen have to be monitored and
adjusted.
A nebulizer is a little pump to create an aerosol of medications which
is breathed in usually to keep the airways open in the case of asthma
and other conditions or to deliver other medication to the airways. A
nebulizer is a mechanized version of a perfume sprayer. A simple hand
spray of saline solution is useful to clear the nose and plain lavage,
washing out of the nose. The inhalation of vapor from boiling potatoes
may be a simple way to help airways in the case of a cold.
A steam vaporizor, which puts molecules of water in the air is a good
thing to have. An ultrasound humidifier, which puts actual small water
drops instead of steam, is NOT a good idea, ever, in fact, since, with
an ultrasound humidifier what ever is in the water you will be putting
in the air, whereas with a steam vaporizer you only put water molecules
on which bacteria and viruses cannot ride.
A Bipap or a Cpap and a mask, used for sleep apnea, set at very high
pressure, above 15cm on the inhalation phase would help very sick
patients who have difficulty breathing and do not have a mechanical
breathing ventilator. BUT at the same time, a Cpap or Bipap would create
an aerosol in the surroundings with the virus creating a danger for
others.
(8) NY relies on immmigrant nurses from the Philippines; hospitals &
nursing schools were closed
From: C in New York
The first thing which comes to mind is the vulnerability of the American
health care system, which is health for profit. At the moment, you are
supposed to keep six feet apart in public and keep gatherings to low
numbers. The inside of buses are roped off to protect the driver and you
enter through the back instead of the front, and, since the pay- the-
fare point is in front, the buses are free. But—in New York, patients
spend twelve or more hours waiting to be seen in an emergency room for
whatever reason. So, dozens, perhaps hundreds of sick people are all
together in a small space. So the hospital is a sure place to become
infected. Come in for one problem and come out with Covid. There is no
other place to go since, "urgent care" establishments usually cost a
hundred dollars, and these, curiously, have no lines. There used to be
community health centers where the proletarian population would go for
x-rays, vaccinations, first care. These have been closed many years long
ago limiting access. Yes, if you had money, there were places to go, but
you need money since even the so-called "copay" and other restrictions
make "health insurance" an illusion. The insurance company has a low,
agreed upon price for services and medication, the public pays an
imaginary inflated price. Scam.
NO PROVISION was made for delivering health care under pandemic
conditions. No alternate places to receive patients were foreseen, no
system of triage. The critical shortage of masks and gowns is a clear
sign that no one was thinking. These shortages appeared weeks ago.
Nurses using garbage bags as gown reveals that this is an impoverished
society. Pharmacies do not have some elementary medications.
The number of hospital beds in the US, in the interests of making more
money, is two per thousand people, whereas, Japan is being cited, there
are twelve hospital beds per thousand. The inherent greed of the system
is its weak point. I remember watching with consternation the fact that
one hospital after another was closed in the city in the last fifty
years. The capacity today must be a fraction of what it was only thirty
years ago. Many hospitals became apartments. Nursing schools also
closed. Today the city relies on immmigrant nurses from the Philippines
and others. Which means America has outsourced its medical educational
system to the third world. The Russian population is very prominent at
all levels of the medical system, but where did the Americans go?
In the local nursing schools which still exist, which are of low
quality, less than 5% of those enrolled are American born. The rest are
immigrants. Are Americans incapable of doing it any longer because the
schools are worthless? Or they don't want to do it. The word has gotten
out. Nursing is an incredibly exploited profession. Hospitals are there
to reduce expenses and increase profits. Nurses work twelve hour days in
sweat shops under constant pressure to do things faster and there are
always more things to do of a purely bureaucratic nature. Unimportant,
needless paper work crowds out important paperwork. In the last ten
years Nurses whose education was two year schools but who had twenty
years experience were forced to take courses on line to get BSN degrees,
or four year degrees. The alternate was not being allowed to work. The
content of these additional courses was completely irrelevent to
Nursing. The least cost for this miserable waste of time was $20,000
dollars creating added useless indebtedness. So it is easy to imagine
that Nurses tell others to keep away from the profession not to fall
into the trap, because it has become a terrible job. Which it does not
have to be.
In the hurricane Katrina emergency, a nursing home had to euthanize its
patients because the nursing home was abandoned. It was a reasonable
thing to do. Afterwards, the doctors and nurses were charged with
homicide. I don't know the outcome in that case, but the government, on
the other hand, has actually been guilty of mass murder for decades and
answers for nothing. The recorded music plays on and people smile.
The media attempts to blame the Chinese. The public does not know what
happened at the American biowarfare lab, Fort Detrick, Maryland, last
summer. This is actually a case of dig a ditch for another, fall into it
yourself. Has Sydney prepared a plan? Have they set aside alternate
places to receive the sick where the chances of infection are reduced?
Have they issued practical instructions on what to do if you have
symptoms? Have they stockpiled?
In my case I was quite lucky. I had a very mild case of Covid in the
beginning of February, so I suppose I have some immunity. I see the
frightened, withdrawn people around me, who are afraid to be in the
elevator with me, while I am relatively unaffected by the psychology of
fear. I did not even connect the symptoms at the time. It was only a
month later that I realized what had happened. I had forgotten that I
was in Northern Italy in the beginning of January since I have been
there so often it is like going to the suburbs.
(9) China stats grossly understate Wuhan deaths; not 2,500 but 46,800
Wuhan residents say coronavirus figures released by China don't add up
By Barnini Chakraborty | Fox News
March 30, 2020
Funeral homes that serve Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus
outbreak, have been handing out the cremated remains of about 500 people
to their families every day. However, residents say those numbers put
the 2,500 death toll the Chinese government has claimed into question.
Chinese officials, desperate to recast the country as a global leader
that has conquered the coronavirus, have been saying that its death
rates are decreasing in the city of Wuhan. The problem, residents say,
is that the numbers don't add up.
Wuhan, the first epicenter of the global outbreak, began lifting its
two-month lockdown over the weekend. The city in Central China restarted
some subway service, reopened its borders and allowed families to reunite.
{photo} People wearing face masks wait for a subway train on the first
day the city's subway services resumed following the novel coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Wuhan of Hubei province, on March 28,
2020. REUTERS/Aly Song
The move is part of Beijing's choreographed campaign to mark a turning
point in China's fight against the deadly virus, which has spread to 200
countries and infected more than 732,000 people as of Monday morning. Of
those, 34,686 people have died.
Despite China's propaganda pushers being all smiles for the
international community, residents told Radio Free Asia that Beijing's
claims that there were only 2,500 deaths in Wuhan is far from reality.
For more than a week, seven large funeral homes that serve Wuhan have
been handing out the cremated remains of about 500 people to their
families every day. When added, the figure puts the official number the
Chinese government has claimed into question.
"It can't be right ... because the incinerators have been working round
the clock, so how can so few people have died," said Zhang, a Wuhan
resident who only gave Radio Free Asia his last name. "They started
distributing ashes and starting interment ceremonies on Monday."
Wuhan accounts for about 60 percent of China's coronavirus cases, but
the numbers the government has been putting out has fallen sharply in
weeks, a sign, the government says, that its aggressive measures are
working.
Social media users aren't buying it and have taken the country to task,
doing basic math and finding faulty figures in the government's reporting.
The news website Caixin.com reported that 5,000 urns had been delivered
by a supplier to the Hankou Funeral Home in one day. That's double the
number of deaths Xi's officials claimed. There have also been social
media posts that have claimed all seven of Wuhan's funeral homes have
handed out 3,500 urns every day.
{photo} In this March 23, 2020 photo released by Xinhua News Agency,
workers disinfect a subway train in preparation for the restoration of
public transport in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. China's
health ministry says Wuhan has now gone several consecutive days without
a new infection, showing the effectiveness of draconian travel
restrictions that are slowly being relaxed around the country. (Xiao
Yijiu/Xinhua via AP)
Radio Free Asia reported that funeral homes told families who have lost
loved ones to COVID-19 that they will try to "complete cremations before
the traditional grave-tending festival of Qing Ming on April 5, which
would indicate a 12-day process beginning on Mach 23. Such an estimate
would mean that 42,000 urns would be given out during that time."
Another online estimate is based on the cremation capacity of funeral
homes in Wuhan, which runs 84 furnaces with a capacity over a 24-hour
period of 1,560 urns. That estimate puts the number of estimated deaths
in Wuhan at 46,800.
Another resident of the Hubei province – where Wuhan is the capital –
told RFA that the majority of people there believe more than 40,000
people died before and during the lockdown. That's tens of thousands
more than the government has claimed.
"Maybe the authorities are gradually releasing the real figures,
intentionally or unintentionally, so that people will gradually come to
accept the reality," the resident, who only gave his last name as Mao, said.
One source close to the civil affairs bureau told RFA that the true
number of deaths was a sensitive subject in the communist country and
that authorities probably know the real number but are keeping it under
wraps.
There have also been claims of city officials paying off families in
exchange for their silence.
"There have been a lot of funerals in the past few days, and the
authorities are handing out 3,000 yuan in hush money to families who get
their loved ones remains laid to rest ahead of Qing Ming," Wuhan
resident Chen Yaohui said. "It's to stop them keeing (a traditional
expression of grief); nobody's allowed to keen after [the festival] Qing
Ming has passed."
Chen told the news outlet that no one in Wuhan believes the official
death toll is 2,500.
"Before the epidemic began, the city's crematoriums typically cremated
around 220 people a day," he said, adding that during the epidemic, the
government transferred cremation workers from around China to Wuhan to
cremate bodies around the clock.
You can find Barnini Chakraborty on Twitter @Barnini.
(10) Coronavirus is airborne, study suggests. What about airconditioning?
Coronavirus could be airborne, study suggests
By Madeline Farber | Fox News
March 30, 2020
The White House extends social distancing guidelines to April 30 on the
latest advice from medical experts; John Roberts reports.
It may be possible for the novel coronavirus to transmit through the
air, a new study released over the weekend suggests.
In a joint study by the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC),
the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska
and others, researchers found genetic material from the virus that
causes COVID-19 in air samples from both in and outside of confirmed
coronavirus patients’ rooms. The findings offer "limited evidence that
some potential for airborne transmission exists," researchers said,
though they warned that the findings do not confirm airborne spread.
CORONAVIRUS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Researchers, looking to better understand viral shedding and how it
related to the novel virus, took air and surface samples from 11
patients’ rooms during the initial isolation of 13 people who tested
positive for COVID-19. The researchers found virus genetic material on
commonly used items such as toilets, but also in air samples, thus
indicating that "SARS-CoV-2 is widely disseminated in the environment."
SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Not only was the virus detected within COVID-19 patients’ rooms, "air
samplers from hallways outside of rooms where [the] staff was moving in
and out of doors were also positive," they wrote.
"These findings indicate that disease might be spread through both
direct (droplet and person-to-person) as well as indirect contact
(contaminated objects and airborne transmission) and suggests airborne
isolation precautions could be appropriate," they concluded, noting that
the findings also suggest that COVID-19 patients, even those who are
only mildly ill, "may create aerosols of virus and contaminate surfaces
that may pose a risk for transmission."
The study’s authors also said that the results underscore the importance
of personal protective equipment or PPEs, and the use of negative air
pressure rooms for confirmed COVID-19 patients.
"Our team was already taking airborne precautions with the initial
patients we cared for," said James Lawler, an infectious diseases expert
and director of the Global Center for Health Security at UNMC, in a
statement. "This report reinforces our suspicions. It’s why we have
maintained COVID patients in rooms equipped with negative airflow and
will continue to make efforts to do so -- even with an increase in the
number of patients. Our health care workers providing care will be
equipped with the appropriate level of personal protective equipment.
Obviously, more research is required to be able to characterize
environmental risk."
Scientists are still working to understand how the novel virus
transmits, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
says that it mainly spreads via person-to-person, such as when an
infected person coughs or sneezes. Their respiratory droplets could then
land in the noses and mouths of other people close by (hence why
officials are urging people to stay at least six feet away from one
another when in public.) Touching a contaminated object — recent studies
have found the virus can live on surfaces between hours and days — and
then touching your eyes, nose or face with dirty hands is also a
possibility.
But a recent study also found the virus may transmit through the
digestive tract, specifically the fecal-oral route. Scientists from the
Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology
of the Chinese Academy of Science recently discovered virus genetic
material in stool samples and rectal swabs from some patients, Chinese
state media reported in February.
Madeline Farber is a Reporter for Fox News. You can follow her on
Twitter @MaddieFarberUDK.
(11) Statement from Johns Hopkins on Event 201 simulation of Pandemic
Statement about nCoV and our pandemic exercise
In October 2019, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security hosted a
pandemic tabletop exercise called Event 201 with partners, the World
Economic Forum and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Recently, the
Center for Health Security has received questions about whether that
pandemic exercise predicted the current novel coronavirus outbreak in
China. To be clear, the Center for Health Security and partners did not
make a prediction during our tabletop exercise. For the scenario, we
modeled a fictional coronavirus pandemic, but we explicitly stated that
it was not a prediction. Instead, the exercise served to highlight
preparedness and response challenges that would likely arise in a very
severe pandemic. We are not now predicting that the nCoV-2019 outbreak
will kill 65 million people. Although our tabletop exercise included a
mock novel coronavirus, the inputs we used for modeling the potential
impact of that fictional virus are not similar to nCoV-2019.
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