The Coronavirus Thread

[JimC]

Yeah, it's virtual schooling here for the remainder of the term. The twin boys Bron tutors are driving their parents (who do high-powered jobs from home) crazy, so they doubled Bron's hours to 3 full mornings a week. I think they wanted 5 days a week (they could afford it), but the twins are monsters, so 3 days a week is enough...

[Sean Hayden]

[pErvinalia]

We can't get rid of this bloody virus here in Victoria, after a couple of days of new cases hovering in the 300's, we just had 410 new cases and a record number of deaths, 21...

There's no way that the current strict lockdown will end when scheduled in another 4 weeks...

The deaths reflect the really high infection numbers a couple of weeks ago. Your cases are trending down nicely. I think you could be able to drop back one stage of lockdown in 4 weeks.

[JimC]

You're more optimistic than me, rEv...

[pErvinalia]

The trend has really turned. There'll be daily ups and downs, but you are on top of it now I think.

[Tero]

Russian vaccine
How does it work?
— The vaccine is a so-called viral vector vaccine, meaning it employs another virus to deliver small parts of a pathogen and stimulate an immune response.

— It is an injection solution based on the adenovirus, the common cold. China’s CanSino is developing a similar technology with its coronavirus vaccine prototype.

Who has taken it so far?
— Gamaleya chief Alexander Gintsburg and the institute's scientists have inoculated themselves with the vaccine. Experts criticized their move as an unorthodox and rushed way of starting human trials.

— Dmitriyev has said he and his family have also taken the vaccine.

— Putin said Tuesday that one of his daughters, whose identity he has neither confirmed nor denied to date, has already taken the vaccine. He said the only side effect she experienced was a high temperature of 38 degrees Celsius for one day.

— “Several hundred” members of Russia’s political and business elite may have been inoculated with the experimental vaccine as early as April, Bloomberg reported in July. Some participants reported experiencing fever and muscle aches after receiving the shots, while one unnamed top executive said he had no side effects.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/08/ ... ion-a71113

[Svartalf]

what I find funny is that I heard yesterday that he claimes that vaccine was "efficacious for up to two years"... a claim I just have to wonder at since I don't know how long ago the first inoculations were made, but there's the fact that virus is less than a year old. Plus, we have little evidence that immunity to coronavirii is lasting at all... heck, I just heard new that a Chinese woman tested positive again 6 months after being ill.

[rainbow]

— “Several hundred” members of Russia’s political and business elite may have been inoculated with the experimental vaccine as early as April, Bloomberg reported in July. Some participants reported experiencing fever and muscle aches after receiving the shots, while one unnamed top executive said he had no side effects.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/08/ ... ion-a71113

A problem with skipping the testing steps is that one doesn't know the long term effects:

The immunity may only be partial.
The immunity may be temporary.
If boosters are required they may be less effective over time.
There could be a disruption of the immune system, that could actually make the cytokine storm worse in future infections.

[NineBerry]

How does it work?
— The vaccine is a so-called viral vector vaccine, meaning it employs another virus to deliver small parts of a pathogen and stimulate an immune response.

That's imprecise. The viral vector does not deliver the antigen itself, but it delivers a small section of DNA that will then result in the invaded cells producing the antigen.

[Tero]

Right.

Yes, time frames are guesses. Not as bad as our marketing guy. He said, of the formulated pills we had a test run of, "can you do the 6 month stability study in 3 months?" You can quote me. Capitalism vs science.

[Woodbutcher]

I'd love to see trains come back, but nobody wants to spend the money. I don't mind taking a bit more time to get there, particularly on a sleeper.

Get on "The Orient Express" !

[Scot Dutchy]

That wont get you far these days I am afraid.

[Scot Dutchy]

err

[Brian Peacock]

Quite a good examination of the Melbourne outbreak in today's Guardian podcast: Today in Focus (28m).

[NineBerry]

One of the conspiracy nuts in Germany says within the next few days, the German military will be deployed and all of Germany will be under curfew with military in the street and no one allowed to do anything just like in Melbourne. They will establish a military dictatorship just like in Melbourne!!!



----

Knowing that this is not the actual state in Melbourne, we won't go as far as they actually do in Melbourne within the next couple of weeks. The numbers aren't as bad yet and hopefully will not get much worse than they are currently.