outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

those prices leaking could be a very big deal apparently, they were confidential between the EU and the manufacturers

pew pew

Sorry Andy, Space Force got renewed for season 2 so it's not going away that soon.

prison... is a bit much, but throwing the book at people like this is satisfying to see tbh

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/gwinnett-county/gwinnett-teen-sentenced-months-prison-breaking-cayman-islands-quarantine/LRMB4F7TVJDVZMXR3WDBZIBEM4/

Mack went to the Caribbean with her boyfriend, who is a Cayman Islands native, on Nov. 27. Ramgeet is a professional jet ski racer.

did not know that was a job tbh

Probably one of those where the job title is lots better than the pay. I wonder if it's on his passport.

Occupation: Jet ski racer

"He noted that Ramgeet is a professional jet skier like Mack’s father."

Daddy issues.

The Cayman Compass newspaper reported that Judge Roger Chapple said during Tuesday’s sentencing that the decision to violate safety measures was born of “selfishness and arrogance,” adding in its report that Mack spent seven hours out in public without a face mask or social distancing.

“This was entirely deliberate and planned, as evidenced by her desire to switch her wristband the day before to a looser one that she was then able to remove,” he was quoted as saying, referring to the electronic tracking device.

Hughes said the sentence is the first of its kind, adding that Mack’s family is concerned: “They’re worried for her because she’s in prison in a foreign country on her own. While this is something she brought on herself, it’s very distressing for her.”

She refused to quarantine and they've put them in enforced quarantine. A super rare case where prison seems appropriate!
You may also notice a oh-so-subtle whiff of xenophobia and racism going on there...

All I can think of is Steve Shasta, professional wakeboarder

The UK can beat that for stupidity:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-55310647

xp lol

The new UK strain is bad news:

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: Threat Assessment Brief: Rapid increase of a SARS-CoV-2 variant with multiple spike protein mutations observed in the United Kingdom

Over the last few weeks, the United Kingdom (UK) has faced a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in South East England, leading to enhanced epidemiological and virological investigations. Analysis of viral genome sequence data identified a large proportion of cases belonged to a new single phylogenetic cluster. The new variant is defined by multiple spike protein mutations (deletion 69-70, deletion 144, N501Y, A570D, D614G, P681H, T716I, S982A, D1118H) present as well as mutations in other genomic regions. While it is known and expected that viruses constantly change through mutation leading to the emergence of new variants, preliminary analysis in the UK suggests that this variant is significantly more transmissible than previously circulating variants, with an estimated potential to increase the reproductive number (R) by 0.4 or greater with an estimated increased transmissibility of up to 70%.

estimated potential to increase the reproductive number (R) by 0.4 or greater

I understand this is an estimate, but I don't like the sound of that "or greater".

So far, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria have banned air travel from the UK due to the new strain. UK health secretary Matt Hancock is calling it, "out of control".

The German health minister Jens Spahn asserted the vaccines would remain effective against the new strain. We can hope.

"or greater" up to 0.93
https://khub.net/documents/135939561/338928724/SARS-CoV-2+variant+under+investigation%2C+meeting+minutes.pdf/962e866b-161f-2fd5-1030-32b6ab467896?t=1608470511452

As frightening as excerpted quotes from minutes of a highly technical and non-peer-reviewed meeting are, it might be more useful to read something like the NYT coverage of this https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/20/health/coronavirus-britain-variant.html

experts are all over the place on this fwiw. some buy it some don’t

Don’t worry we’ve got posters

no scares intended by my post, it was a reference to my 0.93 figure.

This is a terrible idea and he's obviously just trolling but I sympathize with his vindictive rage on some level:

https://www.dw.com/en/anti-vaxxers-should-forgo-ventilators-german-doctor-says/a-55996805

No he’s right

really wish people would not say that stuff publicly because morally while I agree it will obviously be we fly and just gives ammo to the sanctimonious idiots who will delight in dunking on this

It's a mistake from a PR perspective, no doubt about it, but it's hard to argue with the anger of those who toil on the front line (admittedly, this guy is not among them):

"I urgently recommend that these alarmists go to the nearest hospital and present their conspiracy theories to the doctors and nurses who have just come from the overcrowded intensive care unit completely exhausted," he said.

well, just as well I had already given up on th eidea of being in london over Xmas.
THis doesn't sound great.
First tiime I haven't been in decades.
NOrmally gives me a chance to pick up fabric and ht FOPP and Rough Trade and stuff.
So going to stay around here and make stuff or something.

it will obviously be we fly

lol... “it will obviously not fly”

I thought it was new slang

A good summary of what we know about the new strain:

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/mutant-coronavirus-united-kingdom-sets-alarms-its-importance-remains-unclear

Jesus is going to be born in checks notes 4 days. Let's see what he says first?

The Vatican has declared it “morally acceptable” for Roman Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines that were developed based on research that used fetal tissue from abortions. https://t.co/RYk9jnUYTD

— The Associated Press (@AP) December 21, 2020

NO CONTINENT IS SAFE

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/22/covid-cases-recorded-in-antarctica-for-first-time

WATCH CLARK

Captain Oates to blame again

British officials have detected another coronavirus variant in the United Kingdom, health secretary Matt Hancock announced Wednesday, with both cases confirmed in individuals who were in contact with recent arrivals from South Africa.

Britain is placing new restrictions on visitors from South Africa and calling on anyone who has recently been in the country or in contact with a recent arrival to self-isolate immediately, Hancock said at a news conference, describing the measures as temporary while officials seek to better understand the variant.

“This virus is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible and appears to have mutated further than the new variant that’s been discovered in the U.K.,” he said.

does this mean it's time to begin the mutant virus panic phase of the pandemic? cuz, I was hoping to clear my calendar a bit more for that and I'm fairly booked this week already

My friend, a teacher, lost another teacher friend to COVID today. She died pretty quickly after getting it. She was young.

Ugh. Now she's shook af.

Apparently the friend was posting to FB normally and all 4 years ago.

Also my bro has a coworker who tested positive ... hasn't seen him in a week but he's getting tested.

my first (pediatric onology nurse) friend got vaccinated today. she cried.

Was very happy to see my ER nurse cousin in Indiana got the vaccine this week. Much happier to see that than another “it’s a hoax for doctor dollars” member of congress getting one.

extremely wonky thread that IIUC implies "the new variant(s) are not being found in the US because the US is months behind with its genomic sequencing relative to the UK"

So, the core issue with US genomic surveillance is not volume but cadence. We absolutely need faster turnarounds between specimen collection and sequence sharing. @CovidGenomicsUK has shown what's possible. 12/12

— Trevor Bedford (@trvrb) December 23, 2020

Happy Birthday to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who turns 80 years old today.

i thought you were joking HOLY SHIT that is old

And he still has a job!

HB, Dr. Fauci! Sorry about the Christmas Eve thing. I'm sure it sucked as a kid.

It looks like he might survive the Trump Administration... I think Trump is distracted and isn't too worried about "Showboating Fauci" stealing his thunder anymore.

He's not an appointee, he's a civil servant with protected job. Trump can't fire Fauci without due process (though he could lean on HHS and NIH, but everyone involved would simply slow-walk it and run out the clock).

In any case he's guaranteed a job in the Biden administration so wgaf

Nerves are frayed:

USA Today: COVID-19 patient fatally beats hospital roommate with oxygen tank after he 'started to pray,' California authorities say

I've driven past Pfizer's campus in Puurs, Belgium, many times before and the only thing I knew about the company then was "haha, hardon pills for grampas" but this time there was this - even though it's exactly the same mutinational capitalist blablabla - this weird sense of "This Is Now An Important Place For Humanity"

nothing unimportant about hard-on pills for grandpas, might save humanity a war or two

hah! true.

is there a pill that stops an erection

i feel like teens would buy the shit out of that