ABCNews has a sensational report about an alleged epidemic warning report which circulated in November 2019. Some people claim that this proves that there were early cases of the covid-19 disease. There was likely a report but the insinuation that it was connected to covid-19 comes only from ABCnews.
Intelligence report warned of coronavirus crisis as early as November: Sources
As far back as late November, U.S. intelligence officials were warning that a contagion was sweeping through China’s Wuhan region, changing the patterns of life and business and posing a threat to the population, according to four sources briefed on the secret reporting.
Concerns about what is now known to be the novel coronavirus pandemic were detailed in a November intelligence report by the military's National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), according to two officials familiar with the document’s contents.
The NCMI denies that such a report was made. But we can be sure that it would notice when news about a potential epidemic in China circulates. That was indeed the case in mid November. The news was not about the novel corona virus but about a small outbreak of bubonic plague from Inner Mongolia:
Three patients have been diagnosed in Beijing with the most dangerous form of the plague – the medieval disease also known as the Black Death.
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On Tuesday, Beijing authorities announced a municipal hospital had taken in a married couple from Inner Mongolia, a sparsely populated autonomous region in northwest China, seeking treatment for pneumonic plague. One patient is stable while the other is in critical condition but not deteriorating, according to Beijing's health commission.
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On November 16, authorities diagnosed a third case of pneumonic plague. The man, age 55, is also from Inner Mongolia though authorities said his case was not related in any way to the couple medically evacuated to Beijing. Twenty-eight people who were in close contact with the man have been quarantined and none have exhibited symptoms of the plague.Of the three versions of the disease, pneumonic plague is the only one that can be transmitted from one person to another by coughing, for example. The other variants are typically spread by infected fleas or animals.
Pneumonic plague has symptoms of respiratory failure similar to pneumonia. Left untreated, it is fatal.
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Mongolia, which borders the autonomous region where the infected Chinese couple lives, reported two fatal cases of bubonic plague just this year, after the patients ate raw marmot, a species of wild rodent that often carry the offending bacterium. In Mongolia, eating marmot is thought to be good for health.
The covid-19 disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-19 virus, not by bacteria. The three cases in November were caused by a detectable bacteria. The first SARS-Cov-19 case currently known emerged in Wuhan in mid-late December.
Religious people continue to undermine epidemic control measures:
- Turkey's state religious body undermines anti-coronavirus efforts
- Kansas legislature strikes down governor's directive limiting size of religious gatherings
- After ignoring warnings, Israeli ultra-Orthodox hit by virus
- Head of stricken Kiev monastery says underestimated gravity of coronavirus
German researchers have used flow analysis experiments to test various household material that can be used to make masks. They conclude that high-quality vacuum cleaner bags are the best material usable for the purpose. On page 20 of their English language report (pdf) they describe and show how to manufacture masks out of them.
Some people continue to argue that the death rate of covid-19 disease is as low as the death rate of the common flu. We actually do not know the death rate of covid-19 as we do not know how many have had it and how many died from it. Italy, Spain and France have seen more covid-19 death outside of the hospital system than inside. But only the inside numbers are counted in the official tally. There is also increasing concern of long term effects as the recovered patients seem to have a partially reduced lung function. The Case Fatality Rates though, which are the only reliable number we have, are quite high and our decision are based on them.
Remember this screed from March 12:
Coronavirus burial pits so vast they’re visible from space
Iranian authorities began digging a pair of trenches for victims just days after the government disclosed the initial outbreak.
This picture shows New York City's mass graves on Hart Island. The island has been used as anonymous graveyard for 150 years but will now see a surge of new arrivals.
Mass Burials On Hart Island Increase Fivefold As COVID-19 Death Toll Skyrockets:
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PEPE ESCOBAR: Who Profits from the Pandemic? – Consortium News
Coronavirus now leading cause of death in US – The Hill
China Is Reopening Its Wet Markets. That's Good – Bloomberg
Inside a Real Chinese Wet Market – video
Mandatory vaccination against tuberculosis may help some people and countreis:
Correlation between universal BCG vaccination policy and reduced morbidity and mortality for COVID-19: an epidemiological study – medRxiv