Covid-19 in China

[Greg.D.]

That bat virus researcher was just a dedicated scientist who collaborated with non-Chinese researchers, so was likely legitimate. With respect to "having to publish in non-Chinese journals" - well, that would be a first for a Chinese journal to reject a manuscript!

 

Anyway, yes, you have to bring the samples back to the lab rather than set up sequencing equipment in bat caves. Even though the workers wear protective equipment (as do bat guano harvesters), the virus really needs to pass through an intermediate host before it can become human-infectable - still a rare event. That's where the live animal, bush meat markets come in. Cages stacked on top of each other, poop spreading around and into other cages. Took 16 years for it to happen again after SARS 1. Now, we have SARS-CoV-2. Neither the live market (2 blocks from the train station) nor that lab should be situated where they are, too. Germany had a Marburg virus outbreak in a similar situation.

[Randy W]

I think the masks this time around are a little better quality at least compared to what I remembered 10 years ago. They seem to fit a more snuggly and be more breathable. Perhaps because they're more form fitting including the metal strip which you bend to wrap around your nose.

[Allon]

The masks are essentially the same. We have had snug fitting masks with lines around the nose and aerator screens and all kinds of contraptions that still only test 75% (N95) effective and not recommending for anyone with breathing problems, which cuts out a lot of elderly.

 

Dr. Shi (the Wuhan researcher), as the article I posted points out, only published after getting some preliminary confirmation from the US research facilities. Nonetheless, she and colleagues were working on this form of corona for a lot longer than other doctors were running across it in humans. Wuhan's research is still being peer reviewed -- in China and around the world. Frankly, at this stage, we will never find out who found it first or tried to publish or warn with the CCP running the propaganda machine. It's like ladyboys in Thailand: at first the government arrested them. Now there's a beauty pageant for them when they start drawing tourists.

 

Several media articles now are on to the bat cave. As Dr. Shi wrote, she found coronavirus antibodies in 400 people who lived in and around Yunnan in subsequent trips to the cave, before the so-called "meat market" incident.

 

To me, it does not matter who got it "first." I have been through dengue fever outbreaks in Cambodia and Laos and Vietnam. They still have them, but treatment is better so fewer people die. And so-called C Diff (Clostridium difficile) in hospitals. C Diff will run a ward from patient to patient and you will never find the cause of it, and the tragedy is a lot of people will die. An outside worker could touch a sheet and hand it off. As usual, it's the immune system that usually (usually) determines the how pernicious the disease is. And when there are 600,000 variants of the common cold, for instance, and viruses like corona go through mutant variation as they progress, we will be at this for a while.

 

Some evidence of variation of corona is they are finding it in people who actually recovered with symptoms slightly worse than a cold. Other pathological history says lung damage occurs even in the majority of patients who do recover.

 

There are some promising results from an anti-corona vaccine study. I guess any good news is good at this point.....

[Randy W]

Chinese city drafts ‘white list’ of 9 edible animals. Dogs are out

https://inks.tn/vpng

 

 

Shenzhen comes up with s whitelist which does NOT include dogs or cats.

 

From Inkstone

 

 

INKSTONE - Chinese city drafts ‘white list’ of 9 edible animals. Dogs are out

Shenzhen has drafted regulations that would make it illegal to eat dogs, snakes and other animals.

 

. . .

 

The city has drafted a “white list” of nine farm animals deemed fit for consumption – pigs, cattle, sheep, donkeys, rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese and pigeons.

 

While the list is not exhaustive, the city said in a notice it was seeking to make a “stringent” law to promote “civilized eating habits.”

 

 

 

[Allon]

"civilized eating habits." Uh, speaking of propaganda. I wonder who came up with that expression. I will bet a whole department worked on that one. It still does not paint a good picture for Chinese cuisine.....

 

China, China.

[Randy W]

from goldthread on Facebook

Quote

Chinese artists have been using their work to quietly criticize the government’s response to the outbreak, especially early efforts to hide the severity of the virus from the public.

https://www.facebook.com/342615829579497/posts/802238460283896/

Edited June 8, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from TheChinaTrips

a little bit of history shuttered

https://www.facebook.com/2358098751081249/posts/3295233757367739/

https://www.facebook.com/TheChinaTrips/photos/a.2574606149430507/3295232924034489/

Hong Kong's floating restaurants close ‘until further notice’
Hong Kong’s iconic Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurants will close "until further notice".
Read our full report: https://sc.mp/rzzmc

Edited June 8, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

 

https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3064550/hong-kongs-iconic-jumbo-floating-restaurant-feted-queen-tom

 

 

 

Hong Kong’s iconic Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurants that feted the Queen, Tom Cruise, to close ‘until further notice’ as viral outbreak dents revival efforts

 

Hong Kong’s iconic Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurants will close their doors this week ‘until further notice’ as the coronavirus outbreak slams the food and beverage industry already reeling from social unrest last year.

 

Both restaurants, located in Aberdeen Harbour on the south side of Hong Kong Island, are collectively known as Jumbo Kingdom.

 

Built in the style of a Ming dynasty palace, the red, gold and green building floats in the middle of the harbour, adorned in dragons and pagodas, as a snippet of ancient Chinese architecture in Hong Kong.

 

Guests are ferried by wooden sampan boats over to the restaurants that are lit up at night, making them one of the city’s iconic tourist attractions.

[Randy W]

Chinese restaurant avoids virus fears by delivering hotpot to your home

How China's Haidilao is helping its customers enjoy their hotpot - even when the restaurants are closed.

from the SCMP -eating "out" Haidilao

https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/246221713043230/

Edited June 8, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Not exactly unexpectedly- from Businesses Insider

 

 

China's air pollution dropped dramatically after coronavirus lockdown

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/satellite-images-air-pollution-drop-china-coronavirus-2020-3

[DocMartin817]

Air is much cleaner here in Wuhan -- well no factories and few cars on the road -- quick solution to air pollution

[Randy W]

http://candleforlove.com/forums/gallery/image/9117-psx-20200303-023751/

 

[Randy W]

from Inkstone. Notice that the shutdown referenced took 0lace on Jan. 22 as the Corona virus was only first being disclosed

 

 

Chinese lab ordered shut a day after publishing coronavirus genome

 

 

https://www.inkstonenews.com/science/shanghai-lab-first-publish-coronavirus-genome-ordered-shut/article/3064631

 

 

 

The laboratory at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center was ordered to close for “rectification” on January 12, a day after it publicized the genetic makeup of a new virus that would go on to sicken more than 89,000 people globally.

“The center was not given any specific reasons why the laboratory was closed for rectification,” a source with the center said, requesting anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

“The closure has greatly affected the scientists and their research when they should be racing against the clock to find the means to help put the novel coronavirus outbreak under control,” the source said.

[Randy W]

Meituan is a generic delivery company. From Goldthread

A day in the life

https://www.facebook.com/342615829579497/posts/807855806388828/

With most Chinese cities on lockdown, homebound residents are increasingly relying on delivery. This is one hectic day in the life of a deliveryman in China.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Adapting "A.I." to recognizing masked individuals (watch out, Batman)

Everyone in China is using masks to protect themselves from Covid-19. Facial recognition has also adapted and found ways to identify people, even when they’re wearing masks.

from Abacus

https://www.facebook.com/243426166188443/posts/716251005572621/

The video is still there - click on above link to see it

Edited June 8, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)