outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

if he's right, then the engineered virus scenario is not so unlikely as some have claimed.

wow, if his essay claiming the virus might be engineered is right, the virus might be engineered? sorry, i am lost in your maze of logic

The important thing about the lab leak theory is that it 100% doesn't matter unless you're one of the people weirdly into ramping up Cold War II: The Cold Warring. Natural, lab, alien, magic - all options change absolutely nothing about our behavior or response, now or in the future.

Why does o nate need to believe in lab leak theory? I’d like an answer to that that isn’t some obvious swerve like “I’m just asking questions why everyone is shutting this down!”

OK, that is one view. I don't agree but at least you are willing to state why you don't want to talk about it. Thanks. xp

I don't believe in lab leak theory! If you asked me right now I'd say my (extremely amateurish and uninformed) take is: 5% chance zoonotic crossover at the Huanan Seafood Market, 5% change lab leak from WIV, 90% chance we have no clue.

Why does everyone try to shut down discussion about if the Earth is 6,000 years old? I’m just interested in free inquiry!

Lol, ok, if you think those are equivalent theories. Plenty of scientifically trained people believe the lab leak theory deserves serious consideration. There are also obvious reasons to entertain the possibility that certain quarters of the virological research establishment might be wary of a theory that would most probably lead to very stringent restrictions on the type of research that has been their bread and butter.

I see, I see, biased virologists don’t want to jeopardise their income…whereas random “scientifically trained people”, who I’m guessing do not have the same expertise, are more objective. Hmmm.

the virological research establishment

There are plenty of critics of the way the federally-funded scientific establishment works in the US, but they are mostly disgruntled former researchers, so of course we shouldn't listen to them.

Btw, one reason that the lab leak theory does not lead to a new Cold War is because we (the US) are at least as much to blame as China if it’s true. We have participated in and funded this type of research. WIV worked with American researchers and got funding from the US government to do similar work. If the theory is true, we have plenty of reasons to point the finger of blame at ourselves.

Kudos for taking down Big Virology

Is that the expanded Pearl Jam reissue?

Some optimism here:

https://erictopol.substack.com/p/daily-pandemic-briefing-4-november

Why does everyone try to shut down discussion about if the Earth is 6,000 years old? I’m just interested in free inquiry!

― Lord Pickles (Boring, Maryland), Friday, November 4, 2022 7:14 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Lol, ok, if you think those are equivalent theories. Plenty of scientifically trained people believe the lab leak theory deserves serious consideration. There are also obvious reasons to entertain the possibility that certain quarters of the virological research establishment might be wary of a theory that would most probably lead to very stringent restrictions on the type of research that has been their bread and butter.

― o. nate, Friday, November 4, 2022 9:37 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

These are equivalent theories.

𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 pic.twitter.com/TACaWvVi8U

— 3rd brain (@_night_brain__) November 27, 2022

!!!

(from https://www.smh.com.au/national/as-xi-jinping-craves-territory-abroad-his-real-problems-are-at-home-20221107-p5bw8f.html)

Yeah everything's on the uptick again. The hospital I normally work at now essentially at 20 hospitalized, first time it's been at that level in months. Being as I'm on the committee for it, I specifically pressed to have our library holiday party be outdoors (which it will be at a nice firepit setup here in the city, that works).

My gf and I have been pretty fanatical about our COVID protocols since early 2020. Thanksgiving was the first time I've been unmasked around other people since 4th of July. Everyone in attendance was fully vaxxed and boostered, and everyone had tested negative earlier in the day. And everyone who hadn't already had COVID got COVID. According to the stupid CDC's stupid current guidelines, I would've been totally fine returning to the office and shedding virus all over creation for the couple of days until I tested positive. I'm glad I have more sense than the CDC and opted to spare my coworkers. So yeah, I can totally see why shit might be going pear-shaped.

Also, I have been proactive about trying to report my positive test result to SOME local official or other and I cannot find a goddamn way to do so. My university is using an app to record positive cases and it crashes every time I try to record mine. I'm about done bothering at this point (particularly since I know where where I caught it and have been isolating since). This is from someone who is actively trying to report a case, so just imagine how many cases from indifferent or outright belligerent parties are going unreported.

Crazy and frustrating. I do weekly PCR tests via kits provided by my university available at my hospital -- so it would at least get reported ASAP. But I sure am glad to work where I work at given everything else...

Where I am, cases (or at least reported cases) are so low the total for the entire area is significantly less than some of the weekly numbers the high school alone once reported. Like, maybe around 30 at any given time. Anecdotally, I know far, far more people catching colds and whatnot than I do catching covid right now, assuming testing remains reliable. I picked my daughter up from college a few days before Thanksgiving, since she had a 103 degree fever; we both wore masks on the way home. The next day we got her tested for covid (negative, as had been her two rapid tests), the flu (negative), strep (negative), and RSV (negative). She was just ... sick. And a few days and lots of rest later, she was all better. My mom (who has yet to catch covid, thank goodness) still usually wore a mask around her just to be safe. At this point that seems to be the best strategy. Just keep aware of symptoms and how you are feeling and, when needed and possible, stay away from others, and when not, wear a mask and make sure everyone knows so that they can make their own best decisions. Wash hands, don't touch face, etc. There's a lot of shit in the air these days.

this is coming out next week

https://www.simonandschuster.biz/books/The-Truth-about-Wuhan/Andrew-G-Huff/9781510773882

(i.e. the virus was manmade etc)

We're still rated "low" by the CDC's nonsense standards, but there's a basic principle that still works: the more anecdotal cases I Hear about, the higher the likely numbers. So far we've been good? I've had more students with flues and colds than COVID, according to their medical notes.

biggest lie in history huh (xp)

Somehow most of FL's county wastewater isn't upticking at the same rate as other cities in other states. Maybe it was the extended plateau we had in the summer? Maybe it's coming?

yeah, I read that -- we had a decent sure from summer well into early fall.

*surge

Got the second monkeypox vaccine, feel like shit: mostly chills, mild muscle pain (mostly neck pain). Not COVID -- took a PCR yesterday and home test this morning.

The most cautious member of my family had a "cold" the week leading up to Thanksgiving that turned out to NOT be a cold. It's been long enough that I'm going to say I'm in the clear, but my sister's been testing positive since the Sunday after the holiday.

I've been joking that there's been confusion and you test BEFORE the family dinner, not after.

I'm finally over a pretty nasty cold (actual cold, not covid) after it really took me out last week. There are at least three distinct plagues (nasty version of the common cold, some other garbage that might be a flu, strep) going around the office so I'm hiding out for the time being.

Strep has killed 7 kids in the UK so far this autumn :/

On the Thanksgiving thread I mentioned we delivered dinner to a friend whose son tested positive for covid, stranding them alone for the holidays. Predictably, a day or so later she said that she, too, had just tested positive for covid. But then a few days after that she said that actually, no, she didn't have covid after all. Um, who announces they have covid and then says that they don't? Turns out she did take a test and did test positive, but no worries, only had a faint positive line, so no covid.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don’t even want to tell the story that caused me to nearly cancel Thanksgiving.

All I will say is that Boomers don’t seem to understand epidemiology at all, nor the risks of Covid.

I had a half frozen sausage hero by myself for thanksgiving. Thanks COVID. I can't blame COVID for my not cooking it fully, that was just my laziness, though I suppose the fatigue I was feeling at the time from COVID did contribute.

Not interested in disuading anyone from getting vaccinations, but I'm fairly certain I now have SIRVA in my left upper arm from my last booster. Unlike my other shots which were entirely painless, this one stung a bit when I got it. The soreness in my arm lingered at a low level for about a month and then started to get progressively worse. Now a lot of arm movements hurt, especially if I have to raise my arm above my head.

yikes!

well, that sucks. hope it gets feeling better, Moodles

thanks, probably need to investigate getting a cortisone shot or something similar

just keep juicing up until it feels better (different juices, same arm)

i'm sorry to hear that. one thing I was always worried about when getting my booster at Walgreens was that they'd be in such a hurry and jab me in the wrong place.

hoping you can get range of motion back soon!

exactly, let's just get that shot on target next time please

and yes, this was at Walgreens. Actually got my previous booster AT Target, and that went great.

they owe you some Walbucks

Free federal COVID tests coming back starting tomorrow

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/14/free-covid-home-test-program-restart-00073962

cool, hope they don’t mail me already expired tests this time— half that i received were expired and not on the ‘extended expiration’ list.

I saw my first tv ad for an otc COVID test!

xp they're almost certainly not expired. IIUC the boxes were printed with the expiration of the emergency authorization, not the physical expiration of the test. that keeps getting extended.

see https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests#list to confirm.

"that keeps getting extended", meaning the authorization keeps getting extended.

Whoa, thanks for that caek, we were just about to toss out a few of our free fed tests that we had thought were expired! Def timely for that info in our house.

a bunch of ours were not on that list, so we threw them away. thanks

Wellllll ... looks like we hosted a superspreader event. We had a 40th birthday party for my wife last Saturday. Our COVID numbers here have been rising a bit but still relatively low, and we figured you only turn 40 once. Probably 50ish people were there over the course of the evening. And we now know of six of them who have since tested positive. We feel bad about it but also obviously this was a known risk for everyone going in. Everybody vaxxed and probably boosted, so far people seem to be having fairly "normal" cases.

An interesting data point that may or may not mean anything, and of course could change if we hear from more people: All six of the positive cases we know of are people who had never had it before. My wife and I had it in September, and so far neither of us has had any symptoms (we've also tested to be safe). Most of our other friends who were there had had it previously too, but not these six (including my wife's dad, who's in his 70s and obviously in a risk category). Also interestingly, at least as of now, none of the six has passed it on to their significant others. But that could change too, of course.

Anyway. Still glad we had the party, it was a blast, but we may not do largescale indoor events again for a while.