OT: Coronavirus

[Guest]

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) found over 450 dead crows on I-35 this past week, and there was concern that they may have died from the Coronavirus.
A veterinary epidemiologist examined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's relief, confirmed the problem was NOT Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The cause of death was actually from vehicular impacts. However, during analysis it was noted that varying colors of paints appeared on the bird's beaks and claws. By analyzing these paint residues it was found that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, while only 2% were killed by cars.
KDOT then hired an Ornithological Behaviorist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills.
The Ornithological Behaviorist quickly concluded that when crows eat road kill, they always have a look-out crow to warn of danger.
They discovered that while all the lookout crows could shout "Cah","Cah" not a single one could shout "Truck"!!!

[Guest]

Article from CNN's Gary Tuchman on what it's like traveling in the COVID-19 era (Mankato, MN mentioned at the end)

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/coron...index.html

[Guest]

I wonder if Covid-19 is going to be like influenza - but more dangerous?

What I mean is what if it doesn't get completely eradicated like Small Pox did?

What if it comes back seasonally every year like Influenza A or B? And we end-up having to vaccinate to a morphed version annually? If there ever is a vaccine. 

As my-own attention turns more to vaccine the reality of one sooner than later seems daunting (not impossible).

How long can a vaccine last? How effective can it be? How can you make enough?

So many questions to address...

[Guest]

Speaking of vaccine...



US begins 'warp speed' vaccine push as studies ramp up

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and ZEKE MILLER Associated PressMay 15, 2020 — 6:19pm

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump vowed to use “every plane, truck and soldier” to distribute COVID-19 vaccines he hopes will be ready by year's end — even as the country's top scientists gear up for a master experiment to rapidly tell if any really work.
Trump on Friday declared the vaccine program he calls “Operation Warp Speed” will be “unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project.”
The goal is to have 300 million doses in stock by January, a huge gamble since a vaccine never has been created from scratch so fast — and one that could waste millions if shots chosen for the production line don't pan out. As the manufacturing side gets into place, the National Institutes of Health is working in parallel to speed the science.
At least four or five possible vaccines “look pretty promising” and one or two will be ready to begin large-scale testing by July with others to follow soon, NIH Director Francis Collins told The Associated Press.
"The big challenge now is to go big and everybody is about ready for that. And we want to be sure that happens in a coordinated way,” Collins said.
That year-end goal is a “very bold plan ... a stretch goal if there ever was one,” he said in an interview late Thursday.
Worldwide, about a dozen vaccine candidates are in the first stages of testing or poised to begin, small safety studies in people to look for obvious problems and whether the shots rev up the immune system. Among those getting the most attention are one created by the NIH and Moderna Inc., and a different type created by Britain’s Oxford University.
Current tests “are looking pretty good,” Collins said. “But until you put it into the real world and check it out you don’t really know. You can’t skip over that really, really hard part of testing this in thousands and thousands of people.”
For those next-step studies, NIH is working with some of the world's largest pharmaceutical firms to create a master plan so each potential vaccine is tested the same way, using the same database, instead of each company devising its own methods. That partnership — called ACTIV or Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines — is like an umbrella where vaccine makers can sign on when they're ready to start enrolling.
Some key questions are how those at highest risk from COVID-19, such as older adults and people with chronic health problems, will respond to the shots.
“If you had a vaccine that only worked for 20-year-olds and didn’t work for 70-year-olds, that would not be a success,” Collins said.
While Collins' team musters the needed science, Trump on Friday appointed Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, to lead the broader warp-speed project, along with Army Gen. Gustave Perna, the commander of United States Army Materiel Command.
The project also will work on new treatment and testing options, but vaccines are a priority.
“When a vaccine is ready, the U.S. government will deploy every plane, truck and soldier required to help distribute it to the American people as quickly as possible,” Trump said in a Rose Garden event.
The World Health Organization and global health leaders have made clear that any vaccine must be shared equally between rich and poor countries. Trump said the U.S. would work with other countries, no matter who found a vaccine first.
“We have no ego when it comes to this,” he said. He later added, “the last thing anybody's looking for is profit.”
Slaoui, a veteran vaccine developer, said the goals are “very credible," but added, "I also believe they are extremely challenging.”
Some groups are questioning Slaoui's financial conflicts of interest; he has resigned from Moderna's board.
In recent weeks, senior White House officials and allies have thrown their support behind “Operation Warp Speed” amid concerns that the economic rebound the president is betting his reelection on will require a reliable vaccine. Still, Trump was insistent that the U.S. would reopen regardless of the success of the effort.
"Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back,” Trump said, as states begin to reopen despite fears of a second wave of the virus.
Despite all the emphasis on speed, Collins stressed that “no corners are going to be cut” on safety and scientists will be carefully looking for side effects.
But he added: “If we can get this vaccine out there even a day sooner than otherwise we might have, that’s going to matter to somebody.”

[Guest]

[Guest]

Illinois' governor's plan for reopening has goals that are pretty much unobtainable. Some state legislators have sued the governor saying he is overstepping his authority and come up with their own plan. The governor has now called for a special legislative session this Wednesday. Rumor is that the governor is going to ask the state legislature to grant him more power which would negate the lawsuit. The governor has the majority in both the state house and senate to get what he wants. The only reason he has the majority is because Chicago and the neighboring counties outnumber the entire southern 3/4 of the state.

The governor is threatening to use the state police to stop anyone that dares to defy his orders.

As it stands right now, there will be no gatherings of over 50 people until: vaccine, effective and widely available treatment or elimination of new cases "over a sustained period of time".
This means the Bears can not have a training camp in Illinois until science makes a breakthrough or this COVID miraculously disappears.

[Guest]

@Hidalgo said:
Illinois' governor's plan for reopening has goals that are pretty much unobtainable. Some state legislators have sued the governor saying he is overstepping his authority and come up with their own plan. The governor has now called for a special legislative session this Wednesday. Rumor is that the governor is going to ask the state legislature to grant him more power which would negate the lawsuit. The governor has the majority in both the state house and senate to get what he wants. The only reason he has the majority is because Chicago and the neighboring counties outnumber the entire southern 3/4 of the state.

The governor is threatening to use the state police to stop anyone that dares to defy his orders.

As it stands right now, there will be no gatherings of over 50 people until: vaccine, effective and widely available treatment or elimination of new cases "over a sustained period of time".
This means the Bears can not have a training camp in Illinois until science makes a breakthrough or this COVID miraculously disappears.

Its da fuggin bears... iss dere anyting in Illinois deemed more essential den dat?

[Guest]

Illinois business owners could do jail time under Pritzker's new emergency rules
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois...42d17.html

This state is so effed up! Small businesses are going bankrupt. People that used to work at small businesses can't draw unemployment because the system is so screwed up and overwhelmed. Anybody that requires a state license for their business is being threatened with having their license revoked if the defy the governor.

[Guest]

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[Guest]