We've had a couple like that in the UK. One coughed over someone & said he had covid-19. Arrested, tested, tried, imprisoned - for assault. Negative, but it's a good warning to other idiots.
New Coronavirus threat
- Thread starter John Fedup
- Start date
There are efforts on making the serology test that checks for the relevant antibody cheaper. It's already fast enough at about 15 minute, but apparently not cheap enough. I'm seeing good progress at making this type of tests a lot cheaper in the near future. Bangladesh claims to be testing a serology test kit that costs $3 per test. If that proves unsuccessful, the UK-Senegal cooperative effort aims to bring the cost to $1 each. I'm pretty sure China has their own projects too. Likely others too.
However, testing for antibody can potentially miss recently infected people. These people are contagious but have not yet developed the antibody to fight it off (the body hasn't realized the virus' presence yet). So a test that checks for the antibody alone isn't good enough. We may end up with two sets of tests. One a PCR-based test that looks for the virus itself and a serology-based test that looks for the antibody.
John Fedup
The Bunker Group
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #243
A negative antibody test means the person’s plasma will be of no value as a treatment aid. It also means the person hasn’t been exposed or is in early stage infection so yes, it is not a test for the virus. Even with a negative result, it tells the person is still vulnerable so it is a valuable result if the cost is minimal.
Post 1 of 2: Viewing the US response
1. There are more confirmed cases in the United States than anywhere else in the world — even if there are some hopeful and preliminary signs that the wave of infections may be beginning to slow in the New York epicenter. President Trump once said that when he was elected the United States would win so much that they would be sick of winning. As the United States leads the world in infections, Americans are not sick of winning — they are winners of being sick in a global pandemic.
2. When it is all said and done history will not be kind to Trump for winning the Olympics of incompetence — the Washington Post reported on the steady drumbeat of coronavirus warnings that the intelligence community presented to the White House in Jan and Feb 2020. These alerts made little impact upon senior administration officials, who were undoubtedly influenced by President Donald Trump’s constant derision of the virus, which he began on Jan. 22:
3. And this coronavirus pandemic is a real stress test of governmental competence or lack thereof in this case — Jan 2020 memos by a top White House official warning about the pandemic at the same time the President was dismissing it as a threat, demonstrate Trump’s incompetence.
4. The current coronavirus pandemic is not a black swan event, as even previous Bush and Obama US administrations were aware of the risks and dangers of a pandemic. See link to a transcript of Bush’s 2005 speech on pandemic flu strategy, where George Bush said:
1. There are more confirmed cases in the United States than anywhere else in the world — even if there are some hopeful and preliminary signs that the wave of infections may be beginning to slow in the New York epicenter. President Trump once said that when he was elected the United States would win so much that they would be sick of winning. As the United States leads the world in infections, Americans are not sick of winning — they are winners of being sick in a global pandemic.
2. When it is all said and done history will not be kind to Trump for winning the Olympics of incompetence — the Washington Post reported on the steady drumbeat of coronavirus warnings that the intelligence community presented to the White House in Jan and Feb 2020. These alerts made little impact upon senior administration officials, who were undoubtedly influenced by President Donald Trump’s constant derision of the virus, which he began on Jan. 22:
“We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control.”
3. And this coronavirus pandemic is a real stress test of governmental competence or lack thereof in this case — Jan 2020 memos by a top White House official warning about the pandemic at the same time the President was dismissing it as a threat, demonstrate Trump’s incompetence.
4. The current coronavirus pandemic is not a black swan event, as even previous Bush and Obama US administrations were aware of the risks and dangers of a pandemic. See link to a transcript of Bush’s 2005 speech on pandemic flu strategy, where George Bush said:
“The third part of our strategy is to ensure that we're ready to respond to a pandemic outbreak.
A pandemic is unlike other natural disasters. Outbreaks can happen simultaneously in hundreds, or even thousands, of locations at the same time. And unlike storms or floods which strike in an instant and then recede, a pandemic can continue spreading destruction in repeated ways that can last for a year or more.
To respond to a pandemic we must have emergency plans in place in all 50 states, in every local community. We must ensure that all levels of government are ready to act to contain an outbreak. We must be able to deliver vaccines and other treatments to front-line responders and at-risk populations.
So my administration is working with public health officials in the medical community to develop effective pandemic emergency plans. We're working at the federal level. We're looking at ways and options to coordinate our response with state and local leaders.
I've asked Mike Leavitt -- Secretary Leavitt to bring together state and local public health officials from across the nation to discuss their plans for a pandemic and to help them improve pandemic planning at the community level.
I'm asking Congress to provide $583 million for pandemic preparedness, including $100 million to help states complete and exercise their pandemic plans now before a pandemic strikes.
If an influenza pandemic strikes every nation, every state in this union and every community in these states must be ready.
To respond to a pandemic we need medical personnel and adequate supplies of equipment. In a pandemic, everything from syringes to hospital beds, respirators, masks and protective equipment would be in short supply.
So the federal government is stockpiling critical supplies in locations across America as part of the Strategic National Stockpile.
The Department of Health and Human Services is helping states create rosters of medical personnel who are willing to help alleviate local shortfalls during a pandemic.
And every federal department involved in health care is expanding plans to ensure that all federal medical facilities, personnel and response capabilities are available to support local communities in the event of a pandemic crisis.
To respond to a pandemic, the American people need to have information to protect themselves and others. In a pandemic, an infection carried by one person can be transmitted to many other people, and so every American must take personal responsibility for stopping the spread of the virus.
To provide Americans with more information about pandemics, we are launching a new Web site, pandemicflu.gov. That ought to be easy for people to remember: pandemicflu.gov.
...
Leaders at every level of government have a responsibility to confront dangers before they appear and engage the American people in the best course of action. It is vital that our nation discuss and address the threat of pandemic flu now.
Leaders at every level of government have a responsibility to confront dangers before they appear and engage the American people in the best course of action. It is vital that our nation discuss and address the threat of pandemic flu now.
There is no pandemic flu in our country or in the world at this time. But if we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare. And one day many lives could be needlessly lost because we failed to act today.
By preparing now, we can give our citizens some peace of mind, knowing that our nation is ready to act at the first sign of danger and that we have the plans in place to prevent and, if necessary, withstand an influenza pandemic.”
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Post 2 of 2: Bolton’s contribution to this mess
5. The Global Health Security and Biodefense unit — responsible for pandemic preparedness — was established in 2015 by Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor, Susan Rice. The unit resided under the National Security Council (NSC) — a forum of White House personnel that advises the president on national security and foreign policy matters.
6. In 2018, the Trump administration has seen fit to shrink the ‘bloated’ NSC staff. One such move at the NSC was to create the counterproliferation and biodefense directorate, which was the result of consolidating three directorates into one, given the overlap between arms control and nonproliferation, weapons of mass destruction terrorism, and global health and biodefense. It is this reorganization that some of Trump’s supporters have claimed that Democrats have misconstrued or misrepresented.
7. On March 14, 2020, John Bolton seeking to defend his past decision, described the changes made to the team as streamlining. He tweeted: “Claims that streamlining NSC structures impaired our nation's bio defense are false. Global health remained a top NSC priority, and its expert team was critical to effectively handling the 2018-19 Africa Ebola crisis.”
8. But global health experts say Bolton's decision left the Trump administration flat-footed in confronting the virus. "Bolton’s chosen approach to NSC 'streamlining' involved decapitating and diluting the White House’s focus on pandemic threats," Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, wrote in a rebuttal. "He eliminated the senior director position entirely, closed the biodefense directorate, and spread the remaining staff across other parts of the NSC." Closing the pandemic office "clearly reflected the White House’s misplaced priorities and has proven to be a gross misjudgment," Konyndyk wrote.
9. Trump himself has acknowledged that he cut global health experts from his staff and tried to slash funding for the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies charged with spotting and responding to such epidemics. "Some of the people we cut, they haven’t been used for many, many years," Trump said during a Feb. 26 briefing on the coronavirus response. "I’m a business person — I don’t like having thousands of people around when you don’t need them," he said. "When we need them, we can get them back very quickly."
10. As an outsider observing American polarisation in any debate strange and disconcerting. Some decisions are technocratic in nature and putting a political spin on a bad decision by Bolton is in poor taste. If Trump wants to take credit for slowing the spread of the virus by banning travel from China, he also has to own up to his bad decisions — this includes his decision NOT TO FOLLOW the Bush and Obama playbook for pandemic preparedness. Trump is almost at the end of his first term. It is not viable for Trump to continue to blame Obama for his own decisions.
11. At some point, Americans recognize an uncomfortable reality — the country will have the worst outbreak of coronavirus among wealthy countries, largely because of the ineffectiveness of its government, no matter who is the president.
8. Having noted the ineffectiveness of American government, I am of the opinion that the Trump administration in streamlining the NSC and its failure to systematically address the coronavirus threat at an early stage (failure of its testing kits and subsequent roll out) made the situation worse than necessary in New York. By failing to mobilise early, this created a situation where the US government and hospitals were much less prepared than expected — as the Trump administration failed to follow the Obama playbook for pandemic preparedness.
5. The Global Health Security and Biodefense unit — responsible for pandemic preparedness — was established in 2015 by Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor, Susan Rice. The unit resided under the National Security Council (NSC) — a forum of White House personnel that advises the president on national security and foreign policy matters.
6. In 2018, the Trump administration has seen fit to shrink the ‘bloated’ NSC staff. One such move at the NSC was to create the counterproliferation and biodefense directorate, which was the result of consolidating three directorates into one, given the overlap between arms control and nonproliferation, weapons of mass destruction terrorism, and global health and biodefense. It is this reorganization that some of Trump’s supporters have claimed that Democrats have misconstrued or misrepresented.
7. On March 14, 2020, John Bolton seeking to defend his past decision, described the changes made to the team as streamlining. He tweeted: “Claims that streamlining NSC structures impaired our nation's bio defense are false. Global health remained a top NSC priority, and its expert team was critical to effectively handling the 2018-19 Africa Ebola crisis.”
8. But global health experts say Bolton's decision left the Trump administration flat-footed in confronting the virus. "Bolton’s chosen approach to NSC 'streamlining' involved decapitating and diluting the White House’s focus on pandemic threats," Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, wrote in a rebuttal. "He eliminated the senior director position entirely, closed the biodefense directorate, and spread the remaining staff across other parts of the NSC." Closing the pandemic office "clearly reflected the White House’s misplaced priorities and has proven to be a gross misjudgment," Konyndyk wrote.
9. Trump himself has acknowledged that he cut global health experts from his staff and tried to slash funding for the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies charged with spotting and responding to such epidemics. "Some of the people we cut, they haven’t been used for many, many years," Trump said during a Feb. 26 briefing on the coronavirus response. "I’m a business person — I don’t like having thousands of people around when you don’t need them," he said. "When we need them, we can get them back very quickly."
10. As an outsider observing American polarisation in any debate strange and disconcerting. Some decisions are technocratic in nature and putting a political spin on a bad decision by Bolton is in poor taste. If Trump wants to take credit for slowing the spread of the virus by banning travel from China, he also has to own up to his bad decisions — this includes his decision NOT TO FOLLOW the Bush and Obama playbook for pandemic preparedness. Trump is almost at the end of his first term. It is not viable for Trump to continue to blame Obama for his own decisions.
11. At some point, Americans recognize an uncomfortable reality — the country will have the worst outbreak of coronavirus among wealthy countries, largely because of the ineffectiveness of its government, no matter who is the president.
8. Having noted the ineffectiveness of American government, I am of the opinion that the Trump administration in streamlining the NSC and its failure to systematically address the coronavirus threat at an early stage (failure of its testing kits and subsequent roll out) made the situation worse than necessary in New York. By failing to mobilise early, this created a situation where the US government and hospitals were much less prepared than expected — as the Trump administration failed to follow the Obama playbook for pandemic preparedness.
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NZ is looking at shutting its border for anything up to 2 years or longer if necessary. The entry requirements on Kiwis returning home will also be far stricter from tomorrow with an announcement due tomorrow. They'll be welcome home but going into govt supervised 14 days quarantine immediately on arrival.
Our lockdown is stricter than Australia's so that's why we have a chance of eradicating the virus. In NZ hairdressers are not an essential service and the malls are shut.
In a first such case, a 63-year-old man was shot dead in the Philippines for flouting coronavirus lockdown. According to a report in Al Jazeera, the elderly man was not wearing a mask and threatened to attack police personnel using a scythe. The incident took place at a checkpoint in Nasipit town in the southern province of Agusan del Norte on Thursday. The man was reportedly drunk.
Ananda
The Bunker Group
If you see the picture from Moody's. One thing that come out from this COVID 19, the digital movement is fasten and traditional sectors will become weaker in future even after this COVID 19 slowed down and being handle.
Quite surprisingly, Defense will go on with minimal hinderence. Or, it's not surprising at all.
There will be a lot of pain and quite a few industries will not be coming back, but humans adapt quickly. New business opportunities will rise from the ashes of the old. I think quite a few industries could easily adapt to working remotely and online. It was heading that anyway and Covid 19 has perhaps just accelerated the process.
I work in IT and can testify that app and web development is booming at this time.
I work in IT and can testify that app and web development is booming at this time.
John Fedup
The Bunker Group
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #250
Absolutely remote online stuff will be the fallout from this pandemic. Unfortunately, the Chinese and Russians can hardly wait to to exploit this increased activity.
Yep. Zoom was developed in Hong Kong and it has grown from 10 million users a day up to over 200 million a day in just a couple of months. It is about as secure as a leaky sieve but businesses are using it to hold board meetings and share classified information.
Redlands18
Well-Known Member
One swipe would be my guess.
The number will be higher than his IQ, I can sort of understand his thinking, sell them at a mark up but 1600 is just flaming ridiculous there was just no way he was going to get away with that.
Oh well he's gonna have a good supply of dunny paper for a while. Won't matter if he gets multiple attacks of the screaming craps.
NZ had 29 new cases and 35 recovered patients yesterday 29 new cases of COVID-19. This is the 4th day in a row where the new case numbers have been decreasing. We are half way through our 4 week lockdown and it now looks like that it is working as intended. The borders have been tightened further with all returning Kiwis and others going into 14 days compulsory lockdown supervised and monitored by the govt.
www.beehive.govt.nz
Prime Minister’s remarks halfway through Alert Level 4 lockdown
Today is day 15 of Alert Level 4 lockdown. And at the halfway mark I have no hesitation in saying, that what New Zealanders have done over the last two weeks is huge.
Besides what was on my list in the post, public transport in urban areas, freight and logistics moving essential freight only (food, fuel, medicines, equipment to keep things running, etc.) Major ports, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch airports and I think Dunedin. Food producers, petrol stations, and they've just allowed some businesses who have online shopping to sell essentials only such as warm clothes, meats, whitewear etc. This is the MBIE list
Home
A central place for information from the New Zealand Government about COVID-19.
covid19.govt.nz
Todjaeger
Potstirrer
In the US, at this point nearly 90% of the PPE in the Strategic National Stockpile has been distributed, with 10% to be held back for Federal responses. Bulk orders were placed on 12 March and then again 21 March to resupply PPE like N95 masks, but those deliveries are not expected to arrive until the end of April.
Compounding the problem of the depletion of the SNS, is that no sort of unified logistics, ordering, or supply chain has been established leading to different agencies, organizations and facilities competing with each other when ordering scarce PPE.
Compounding the problem of the depletion of the SNS, is that no sort of unified logistics, ordering, or supply chain has been established leading to different agencies, organizations and facilities competing with each other when ordering scarce PPE.
Nighthawk.NZ
Well-Known Member
I am quietly optimistic, however... we have to keep the hardline on things and not lax on it...NZ had 29 new cases and 35 recovered patients yesterday 29 new cases of COVID-19. This is the 4th day in a row where the new case numbers have been decreasing. We are half way through our 4 week lockdown and it now looks like that it is working as intended. The borders have been tightened further with all returning Kiwis and others going into 14 days compulsory lockdown supervised and monitored by the govt.
Prime Minister’s remarks halfway through Alert Level 4 lockdown
Today is day 15 of Alert Level 4 lockdown. And at the halfway mark I have no hesitation in saying, that what New Zealanders have done over the last two weeks is huge.
Most of us are trying to be positive and understand the need to take action to restrict infection. I am at a loss to what your post adds to the discussion. I applaud the sentiment but your post offers nothing new. If we want to garner positive affirmation then we can look at facebook but I feel we need to have value in our posts in this forum.
alexsa
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New Zealand had its second COVID-19 death yesterday with a woman in her nineties dying as a result of complications caused by the disease Second death linked to COVID-19, 44 new cases. For the second day in a row recoveries exceeded new cases. Some people still haven't got the message about staying at home and tried to go on holiday for the long weekend. A small minority of numb nuts. They were turned around at checkpoints by the police. Repeat offenders get to enjoy Mr Plod's hospitality. Coronavirus checkpoint: Tension, love and relief as motorists share their Good Friday stories
So far about 10 Lufthansa and Condor flights have taken stranded German citizens back to Germany. The latest was a Lufthansa A380 flight out of Auckland today which did a low flyby of the city to say thank you as it left. Coronavirus: Lufthansa plane bids farewell flying low over Auckland
So far about 10 Lufthansa and Condor flights have taken stranded German citizens back to Germany. The latest was a Lufthansa A380 flight out of Auckland today which did a low flyby of the city to say thank you as it left. Coronavirus: Lufthansa plane bids farewell flying low over Auckland
John Fedup
The Bunker Group
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #260
This is perhaps one of many changes that will result from the pandemic. Flags of convenience will likely continue for cargo vessels for some time yet but cruise ships, not so much IMO. Could COVID-19 End Flags of Convenience?