Wuhan Corona Virus Coming Soon? (Now Here)

[kalakoa]

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/02/2...2a0f13e514

“It’s a head-scratcher that the Department of Health has not sent one test to the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) yet. We’re not waiting for a rainy day.”

John Mizuno
Representative (D, Kalihi Valley-Kamehameha Heights), chairman of the House Health Committee

[Punatic007]

Lt. Governor Josh Green is recommending we get test kits from Japan until the ones from CDC get here. Strange he doesn't have the power or whatever it takes to simply do it.

edit to add: oops I forgot Hawaii depends on tourism and well you know how that goes with the state gov.

[ironyak]

CDC is having internal problems with getting the test kits sorted out, but also with interference from the State Department who overruled them and flew the 14 positive individuals back to the U.S. with the uninfected.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/20...rus-116529
https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2020/02/trump-...le-report/

Meanwhile, cities in Japan, South Korea, Iran, and Italy have many new positive individuals and are cancelling public events, shutting down school, etc... Appears containment is over and the virus is on the move.
https://twitter.com/BNODesk
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/02/2...s-spreads/

Time to step up those preventative actions. As Smokey might say - only you can prevent foreign fevers!

[rainyjim]

I don’t really understand how they could be waiting for tests. It’s an RNA virus, there are degenerate and specific primers posted in scholarly articles already - I don’t see why any lab can’t just order them from IDT et al., and get on with it!

[PaulW]

"Scientists saying they have no evidence of engineering (post CRISPR-Cas) doesn’t mean it wasn’t engineered"
Ever heard of Occam's Razor? Of course you have. The astronauts in the space station could actually just be in a TV studio in Burbank but why would anybody think that, let alone post stories to that effect on forums?

[ironyak]

@rainyjim - given the enormous financial implications currently attached to a positive case, it seems they want consistency with the testing methods and someone else to be responsible for the results. Hence the kit:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nco...uests.html

Also probably part of the reason why Green's idea of using kits from Japan is not likely to be implemented - imagine going outside the approved channels and ending up with a (false?) positive that tanks the ~$20 billion tourist market here. No one wants that on their head so best just to avoid any responsibility until the CDC tests are ready or the virus is wide spread enough that testing doesn't really matter (sometime in the next several weeks possibly).

[rainyjim]

Paul, the mutations that occurred in the spike protein area of the virus genome are exactly the kind of mutations scientists make to study these viruses and their transmission and host range. A lab, the Wuhan institute of virology, who does these types of study’s on these specific viruses is just a short distance from the market where the initial outbreak was started.

I hear you about Occam’s razor, and I’m not claiming proof either way. I am just pointing out some realities in the current day in respect to the technologies available and potential outcomes.

[kalakoa]

Green's idea of using kits from Japan is not likely to be implemented

Talking points create the appearance of work.

until the CDC tests are ready

Sounds like the "superseded by a higher law" argument they love so much.

[rainyjim]

Well I read the link about the test kit Ironyak. I guess positive controls, but yeah other than that it’s just primers. Not sure how you could mess that up, it even specifies which primers so you could find them easily yourself. I guess it wouldn’t be a huge problem to generate some gBlocks was of the region the primers target and then use that as a positive control.

But I get what you are saying about the political fallout and having a scapegoat, makes a lot of sense.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Tips while flying. According to a biostatistician from Emory University quoted in the article, risk of respiratory infection in a plane is low:

"The window seats are a little less risky than the aisle seats," Hertzberg says.
Statistically, people in window seats come into contact with fewer passengers because they leave their seats less often than those sitting near the aisle. And they are a few more feet from the action in the aisle, where passersby could be coughing, sneezing and spreading germs.

If you're sick with a respiratory illness, wearing a mask and opening the overhead vent could help prevent transmission.
If you're infectious, turning on the controllable, overhead air vents — called "gaspers" — can also help contain your germs. Hertzberg says the strong force of air attracts other air into it. "You're sneezing into that draft of air, and it just immediately sucks it down to the floor," she says.

Keep your hands microbe-free. "When you look at most infectious diseases, the overwhelming majority are transmitted when you touch a contaminated surface," Gendreau says. "You grab the doorknob of the airplane bathroom and then touch your eyes, nose or mouth."
"You always have to bring on board hand sanitizer," he says, that's at least 60% alcohol. "Before you eat or drink, sanitize your hands."

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsod...-pathogens