... skepticism of the market being the original site of the infection.

The Wuhan market may or may not have been the source. So far we simply do not know.

However, also note that markets are a social focus for a very wide area and so the Wuhan market could easily have been (merely) an inadvertent transmission hub from some other (possibly far flung) source or import...


There is some intense genetic tracing ongoing to try to determine where this Corona-SARS-2 virus originated so that we hopefully can learn to avoid a #3.


Stay safe!
Martin

Except that we know the virus originated in bats, the theory that it was passed through pangolins is dubious, that link was years ago and now that virus is slightly different, and the market doesn't sell bats.
Therefore IMO we can dismiss the market as the source of human infection.

But we do know that cats catch SARS CoV 2, and we also know that cat is/was on the menu in China.

I'm finding it interesting that the literature indicates that horseshoe bats were the source, when they were the source of the original SARS in 2002. I'm left wondering if there are translation issues or if they actually came from the same source. They did find the bat to human link for the original SARS, so that link is obviously possible for SARS CoV-2.

I'll agree that the market could be involved if they find another link from bat to ______ to man.

Going on to a different story Coronavirus: Trump says peak is passed and US to reopen soon but if you look at John Hopkins - World Map and click on US, in left column, and then Logarithmic under the graph in lower right corner, the curve is still on an upward path.
This would indicate, if the data is accurate, dubious at best, that the peak hasn't been reached yet in the US.
It possibly has peaked in New York, Washington and California, but not in New Orleans, or the other hot spots, and may even be only just reaching other parts of the US.

The illness "Covid-19" is caused by a single virus, which is called "Covid-19". Which is not the same as the "seasonal flu" which is caused by a range of virsu, you will have seen in the press "H1N1", "H1N15" and so on.

Anti-bodies are, in the main, highly specific to one particular virus, but there can be several different anti-bodies to a single virus. Viruses belong to "families", in the case of Covid-19 it is a member of the Corona virus family, a family which also contains MERS and SARS (remeber those?). The anti-bodies for SARS and MERS are not effective against Covid-19, hence spending time to find the right ones.

Anti-bodies work by attaching to the virus and making it impossible for the virus to attach to (and thus infect) a cell. Some anti-bodies actually attach to the attachment point while others attach nearby and by virtue of their shape "hide" the attachment site from cells; so it is not quite as simple as finding out what the active part of an anti-body is and using that, one needs the whole lot for them to work.

(Seasonal flu is one of the few viral infections that while caused by different, but related, virus where the virus can be blocked by a single common anti-body)

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Going on to a different story Coronavirus: Trump says peak is passed and US to reopen soon but if you look at John Hopkins - World Map and click on US, in left column, and then Logarithmic under the graph in lower right corner, the curve is still on an upward path.
This would indicate, if the data is accurate, dubious at best, that the peak hasn't been reached yet in the US.
It possibly has peaked in New York, Washington and California, but not in New Orleans, or the other hot spots, and may even be only just reaching other parts of the US.

Same original source John Hopkins, click US Map, top center, then click on the tab confirmed by population. It shows that most of the US has a level well above the background. Many of those more rural states have not begin to peak and they never had stay at home orders. Something tells me that there easily could be explosive growth in those areas and completely overwhelm their much more limited resources as compared to the urban areas who always have excess surge capacity for normal disease.

Data at IHME https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america is a couple of days stale, but should be updated soon and you can see that those states that do not have stay at home orders may not peak until late June of early July.

We will be on some form of stay at home social distance until most of us have been vaccinated, which might not be until near the end of 2021. While China with their extreme measures may have beaten it out of Wuhan, all it takes is one traveler and you have an explosion in numbers, which they are seeing on the Russian border. This is not going to be over any time soon.

Now if you could test everyone once a week, then perhaps you could get all the positive cases in quarantine so it can't spread given a couple of months. But, the first person who travels will bring it in and it is all for naught.

Personally I don't think it responsible to open as we were until the number of new cases stays at zero for a week. Then if one pops up quick contact tracing should be able to contain.

Navy May Reinstate Fired Captain to Command of Roosevelt

WASHINGTON — The Navy is looking into whether it can reinstate Capt. Brett E. Crozier, who was removed from command of the carrier Theodore Roosevelt after he pleaded for more help fighting a novel coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship, Defense Department officials said on Wednesday.

Adm. Michael M. Gilday, the chief of naval operations, has indicated that he may reinstate Captain Crozier, who is viewed as a hero by his crew for putting their lives above his career, officials said.

“No final decisions have been made,” Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the admiral, said in a statement on Wednesday to The New York Times. Commander Christensen added that Admiral Gilday was reviewing the findings of a preliminary investigation into the events surrounding Captain Crozier’s removal.

But Admiral Gilday’s decision could be upended by President Trump, who has not been shy about intervening in military personnel cases. Only five months ago, Mr. Trump fired Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer for opposing the president’s intervention in support of a member of the Navy SEALs accused of murdering a wounded captive with a hunting knife during a deployment to Iraq in 2017.

No one in the Navy wants those events to be repeated, which included a Twitter admonishment by Mr. Trump of how the branch’s leaders handled the SEALs case. But Navy officials insist that Admiral Gilday will make a decision based on the findings of the investigation into the Roosevelt crisis, and not on what he believes the president wants him to do.

The illness "Covid-19" is caused by a single virus, which is called "Covid-19".

No disrespect, Covid-19 is the disease, SARS CoV-2 is the virus that causes the disease Covid-19.

We will be on some form of stay at home social distance until most of us have been vaccinated, which might not be until near the end of 2021. While China with their extreme measures may have beaten it out of Wuhan, all it takes is one traveler and you have an explosion in numbers, which they are seeing on the Russian border. This is not going to be over any time soon.

Possibly out to 2024
No wonder Trump Is dancing on hot coals. His wallet must be screaming at him.
Maybe rename a thread "Profits 1st, death 2nd".
we seen that here approx. a fortnight ago with our football clubs saying they will take legal action against the government when this is all over.
Sheesh.

TBH, it is a tough call, but within a week of the lockdown?
What were those numpties thinking? It's only the flu?

Somebody's making a profit out of Trump:

Small line from Local pharmacies face cash crisis

"The price of paracetamol wholesale climbed from around 50p to £2," he said.

The ramp in the price of hydroxychloroquine - the malaria drug mentioned by Donald Trump as a possible Covid-19 cure - was even more dramatic.

"It used to cost us £2. Now it costs up to £32.49," Mr Burdon said.

Well, with 7.8 billion In the world, what's a few deaths to those chasing $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Think Mr Trump...
...should read this
As should other world leaders.

To be part of the Forgotten [14th) Army during WWII & then do this. What an achievement.
Well done Capt Tom

So much for the lockdown.
From BBC live report 10:55

The first of six specially chartered flights from Romania to London will land on Thursday afternoon carrying 150 people to assist British farmers pick fruit and vegetables.
Despite a high profile "Pick for Britain" campaign appealing to students and laid-off hospitality workers to help with the harvest, not enough British workers have come forward.
The six flights were privately chartered by large UK food producers and will land between now and June.
The National Farmers Union estimates a shortage of 70,000 seasonal farm workers that has been exacerbated by the Covid 19 lockdown.
Before boarding, the prospective workers will have their temperatures checked, fill out a health questionnaire and be given masks and hand sanitiser. On arrival in the UK, they will be taken by bus to farms in East Anglia to pick lettuce.
Mark Bridgeman, the president of the Country Land and Business Association, said bringing in workers from overseas to help meet the shortfall was "the right thing to do if we want to keep the supermarkets stocked".

Mark Bridgeman also pointed out that fruit and vegetable growers are well used to providing accommodation for temporary workers during the picking season. But one does wonder whether the standard accommodation provided for this purpose has enough space to provide for the current levels of social (i.e. physical) isolation? There won't be many other places they can stay.

Two related questions.
With 22 million people who have joined the unemployed ranks in the last four weeks, and presumably most of them will have lost their employer paid health insurance.
Who's going to pay the bills if they get Covid-19?

As hospitals are having to deal with Covid-19, they are not performing the high profit non-essential treatments, some of which will have been cancelled due to the above.
Will these hospitals become bankrupt, or start laying off staff?

Will these hospitals become bankrupt, or start laying off staff?

Yep without new legislation.

---

Will these hospitals become bankrupt, or start laying off staff?

Yep without new legislation.

It was called Obama Care.

This 98-year-old French doctor is still treating his patients during the corona virus pandemic.
https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1250752046040403971
Chapeau:)

As the world quickly approaches 2.2 million case and the U.S. closes in on 700,000, while still setting records along the way, not a great deal has changed with the top 10 except that Belgium (currently 10th) looks to lose its spot soon enough.

While Brazil, Russia and India (currently 11th, 14th and 18th spots) are making big moves.

Meanwhile South Korea is now down to 23rd spot while Australia is down to 32nd spot with Czechia, Saudi Arabia and Mexico about to swamp them.

Don't forget Trump made us number one, as always America first.

---

Here today, gone tomorrow?
Even though the report is U.S. centric, it will apply worldwide...
...sadly. :-(

Media are writing a lot of the Swedish way to handle the crisis, being "laissez-fair" and having "Business as usual".
Russian Kremlin funded "Sputnik" write this today.
https://sputniknews.com/europe/202004171078992292-is-sweden-facing-herd-immunity-in-may-or-disaster-with-ugly-death-rates/
Funny that they are showing a picture of Västerlånggatan totally deserted of people as an illustration:)
And ending the article with...

So far, however, Sweden has had more COVID-19 deaths than the rest of Scandinavia combined. Amid the expected spike in the number of patients, Sweden's medical institutions have de-prioritised elderly people and people with multiple illnesses from intensive care in the even of lack of hospital beds.

True that we have high death rates, but it's because we report them more then so many other countries. Many countries only report those who died of COVID-19 in ICU, not those in nursing homes or at home. That we de-prioritised elderly people and people with multiple illnesses from intensive care in the even of lack of hospital beds are lies! We don't lack of hospital beds.

Then Norway are complaining about us.
But still 2350 Norwegians crossed the Swedish border this Easter to shop!
Well. The Norwegian government will stop that.
https://www.vg.no/nyheter/i/Jo55aR/drar-du-til-sverige-for-aa-handle-naa-da-kan-du-miste-sykepengene

It is unreasonable that people who knowingly break the travel advice from the authorities should receive sick pay while in quarantine. We are therefore changing the rules so that in this situation you can be denied sick pay, says Røe Isaksen in a comment on the regulatory amendment.

https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/utrikesministern-forsvarar-svenska-strategin-en-myt-att-livet-pagar-som-vanligt

The Swedish strategy to stop the spread of the corona virus has been questioned worldwide. Foreign Minister Ann Linde (S) now defends the strategy during a press conference for foreign media.
- It is a myth that life goes on as usual in Sweden.

Swedish-American astronaut Jessica Meir has landed on Earth
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/jessica-meir-har-landat-pa-jorden

“It is very surreal for us to follow what is happening on earth and see it develop when we have been up here all the time. It feels like we're coming back to a completely different planet, ”says Jessica Meir in a press release from the Space Agency.