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If it’s working in Georgia, why can’t it work here?

Georgia’s flattening curve defied all scientific logic. Pandemics don’t end because the economy is suffering and we want them to.

And yet data don’t lie. Or do they?

Thanks to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, we now know things did indeed look too good to be true. Georgia’s coronavirus numbers looked so rosy because officials misrepresented the data in such a way it’s difficult to believe it wasn’t done on purpose.

The state of Georgia made it look like its covid cases were going down ***by putting the dates out of order on its chart*** May 5 was followed by April 25, then back to May again, whatever made it look like a downslope. https://t.co/H8pSvY6rxn
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) May 17, 2020

“I have a hard time understanding how this happens without it being deliberate,” microbiology and molecular genetics PhD and state Rep. Jasmine Clark told the Journal Constitution. “Literally nowhere ever in any type of statistics would that be acceptable.”

Georgia isn’t the only state itching to reopen that has a penchant for dubious data. Florida actively tried suppressing county coroners from releasing COVID-19 death tallies.

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Originally posted by 1KIKI:


COVID-19 health risk due to pre-existing conditions
grey is lowest, dark brown is highest

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:


They're not going to ever be any worse off than NYC was, and at the end of the day it really wasn't that bad there despite all he pissing and moaning.

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As of 12midnight 7/13
cases 1~~,~~~
deaths 3,~~~

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As of 12midnight 7/12
cases 1~~,~~~
deaths 3,~~~

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As of 12midnight 7/11
cases 130,242
deaths 3,793

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As of 12midnight 7/10
cases 127,358
deaths 3,738

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As of 12midnight 7/9
cases 124,738
deaths 3,689

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As of 12midnight 7/8
cases 123,004
deaths 3,642

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As of 12midnight 7/7
cases 120,539
deaths 3,579

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As of 12midnight 7/6
cases 116,570
deaths 3,534

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As of 8pm 7/5 systems update
cases ~~~~~
deaths ~~~~~

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As of 8pm 7/4 systems update
cases ~~~~~
deaths ~~~~~

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As of 8pm 7/3 systems update
cases ~~~~~
deaths ~~~~~

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As of 8pm 7/2 systems update
cases ~~~~~
deaths ~~~~~
Revised Health Officer Order Requires Closure of Indoor On- Site Dining and Other Indoor Activities

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As of 8pm 7/1
cases 107,667(excludes some areas)
deaths 3,454

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As of 8pm 6/30
cases 105,507
deaths 3,402
Beaches Closed, Fireworks Displays Prohibited During 4th of July Weekend to Prevent Spread of COVID-19

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As of 8pm 6/29
cases 100,772
deaths 3,326
Los Angeles County Bars Closing

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As of 8pm 6/28
cases 103,529
deaths 3,369

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As of 8pm 6/27
cases 97,894
deaths 3,305

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As of 8pm 6/26
cases 95,371
deaths 3,285

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As of 8pm 6/25
cases 93,232
deaths 3,267

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As of 8pm 6/24
cases 91,467
deaths 3,246

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As of 8pm 6/23
cases 89,490
deaths 3,205

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As of 8pm 6/22
cases 88,262
deaths 3,171

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As of 8pm 6/21
cases 85,942
deaths 3,137

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As of 8pm 6/20
cases 83,397
deaths 3,120

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As of 8pm 6/19
cases 81,636
deaths 3,110

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As of 8pm 6/18
cases 79,609
deaths 3,063

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As of 8pm 6/17
cases 78,227
deaths 3,027

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As of 8pm 6/16
cases 77,189
deaths 2,991

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As of 8pm 6/15
cases 75,084
deaths 2,959

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As of 8pm 6/14
cases 73,791
deaths 2,926

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As of 8pm 6/13
cases 73,018
deaths 2,907

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As of 8pm 6/12
cases 72,023
deaths 2,890

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As of 8pm 6/11
cases 70,476
deaths 2,832

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As of 8pm 6/10
cases 68,875
deaths 2,813

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As of 8pm 6/9
cases 67,064
deaths 2,768

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As of 8pm 6/8
cases 65,822
deaths 2,707

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As of 8pm 6/7
cases 64,644
deaths 2,655

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As of 2pm* 6/6
cases 63,844
deaths 2,645

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As of 8pm 6/5
cases 62,338
deaths 2,620

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As of 8pm 6/4
cases 61,045
deaths 2,565

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As of 8pm 6/3
cases 59,650
deaths 2,531

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As of 8pm 6/2
cases 58,234
deaths 2,489

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As of 8pm 6/1
cases 57,118
deaths 2,443

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As of 8pm 5/31
cases 55,968
deaths 2,384

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As of 8pm 5/30
cases 54,996
deaths 2,362

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As of 8pm 5/29
cases 53,651
deaths 2,338

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As of 8pm 5/28
cases 51,562
deaths 2,290

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As of 8pm 5/27
cases 49,774
deaths 2,241

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As of 8pm 5/26
cases 48,700
deaths 2,195

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As of 8pm 5/25
cases 47,822
deaths 2,143

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As of 8pm 5/24
cases 46,018
deaths 2,116

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As of 8pm 5/23
cases 44,988
deaths 2,104

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As of 8pm 5/22
cases 44,055
deaths 2,090

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As of 8pm 5/21
cases 43,052
deaths 1,072

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As of 8pm 5/20
cases 42,037
deaths 2,016

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
So I took another look at divoc-91 deaths/wk/MM and I tried to put states into one of four categories:

These started low and mostly stayed low, and are now at or near zero:
Alaska,
Arkansas,
Hawaii,
Idaho,
Kansas (maybe, but has a tick up at the end),

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Maine,
Montana,
Oklahoma,
Oregon,
Utah,
Vermont,
Tennesee,
Texas (maybe, same issue),

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West Virginia, and
Wyoming.


Took an initial jump up but have since plateaued. The jump up indicates that they have some risk factors for transmission, the plateau shows that they've reached some kind of equilibrium with the virus:
California,
Maryland,
Pennsylvania,
Mississippi

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Nebraska

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Nevada,
Florida,
Ohio,

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, Georgia,
Indiana,
Kentucky,

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Louisiana,
Michigan,
Massachusetts,
South Carolina, and (of course) the big three:
New York,
Connecticut, and
New Jersey,

And the surprises. These states hae done nothing but go up and are STILL going up: Illinois

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New Hampshire

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Iowa (Iowa???)

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Virginia

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Alabama,

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and New Mexico.

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
At the end of the day, this will all be a huge nothing burger and I will be right about it, just like I almost always am.



Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Please ignore SIX on this topic. He's making it all about himself and not bringing any information to the table.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
In denial of what?

I'm still waiting for anything close to a serious death toll.

It does not exist.


In the meantime, death rates are extremely inaccurate and overblown since any legit testing has not been implemented, and we still haven't even begun to test for people who have antibodies and were never tested in the first place.


Big.

Fucking.

Nothingburger.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
In denial of what?

I'm still waiting for anything close to a serious death toll.

It does not exist.


In the meantime, death rates are extremely inaccurate and overblown since any legit testing has not been implemented, and we still haven't even begun to test for people who have antibodies and were never tested in the first place.


Big.

Fucking.

Nothingburger.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

---

THIS is why we're laughing at you. The "serious death toll" has already occurred. Maybe not in YOUR little corner of the world, but it's happened and is still happening.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

#WEARAMASK

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Originally posted by 1KIKI:

‘It’s something I have never seen’: How the Covid-19 virus hijacks cells



A deep dive into how the new coronavirus infects cells has found that it orchestrates a hostile takeover of their genes unlike any other known viruses do, producing what one leading scientist calls “unique” and “aberrant” changes.

Recent studies show that in seizing control of genes in the human cells it invades, the virus changes how segments of DNA are read, doing so in a way that might explain why the elderly are more likely to die of Covid-19 and why antiviral drugs might not only save sick patients’ lives but also prevent severe disease if taken before infection.

The first group of genes produces interferons. These proteins, which infected cells release, are biological semaphores, signaling to neighboring cells to activate some 500 of their own genes that will slow down the virus’ ability to make millions of copies of itself if it invades them. This lasts seven to 10 days, tenOever said, controlling virus replication and thereby buying time for the second group of genes to act.

This second set of genes produce their own secreted proteins, called chemokines, that emit a biochemical “come here!” alarm. When far-flung antibody-making B cells and virus-killing T cells sense the alarm, they race to its source. If all goes well, the first set of genes holds the virus at bay long enough for the lethal professional killers to arrive and start eradicating viruses.

“Most other viruses interfere with some aspect of both the call to arms and the call for reinforcements,” tenOever said. “If they didn’t, no one would ever get a viral illness”: The one-two punch would pummel any incipient infection into submission.

SARS-CoV-2, however, uniquely blocks one cellular defense but activates the other, he and his colleagues reported in a study published last week in Cell. They studied healthy human lung cells growing in lab dishes, ferrets (which the virus infects easily), and lung cells from Covid-19 patients. In all three, they found that within three days of infection, the virus induces cells’ call-for-reinforcement genes to produce cytokines. But it blocks their call-to-arms genes — the interferons that dampen the virus’ replication.

The result is essentially no brakes on the virus’s replication, but a storm of inflammatory molecules in the lungs, which is what tenOever calls an “unique” and “aberrant” consequence of how SARS-CoV-2 manipulates the genome of its target.

In another new study, scientists in Japan last week identified how SARS-CoV-2 accomplishes that genetic manipulation. Its ORF3b gene produces a protein called a transcription factor that has “strong anti-interferon activity,” Kei Sato of the University of Tokyo and colleagues found — stronger than the original SARS virus or influenza viruses. The protein basically blocks the cell from recognizing that a virus is present, in a way that prevents interferon genes from being expressed.

In fact, the Icahn School team found no interferons in the lung cells of Covid-19 patients. Without interferons, tenOever said, “there is nothing to stop the virus from replicating and festering in the lungs forever.”

That causes lung cells to emit even more “call-for-reinforcement” genes, summoning more and more immune cells. Now the lungs have macrophages and neutrophils and other immune cells “everywhere,” tenOever said, causing such runaway inflammation “that you start having inflammation that induces more inflammation.”

At the same time, unchecked viral replication kills lung cells involved in oxygen exchange. “And suddenly you’re in the hospital in severe respiratory distress,” he said.

In elderly people, as well as those with diabetes, heart disease, and other underlying conditions, the call-to-arms part of the immune system is weaker than in younger, healthier people, even before the coronavirus arrives. That reduces even further the cells’ ability to knock down virus replication with interferons, and imbalances the immune system toward the dangerous inflammatory response.

The discovery that SARS-CoV-2 strongly suppresses infected cells’ production of interferons has raised an intriguing possibility: that taking interferons might prevent severe Covid-19 or even prevent it in the first place, said Vineet Menachery of the University of Texas Medical Branch.

In a study of human cells growing in lab dishes, described in a preprint (not peer-reviewed or published in a journal yet), he and his colleagues also found that SARS-CoV-2 “prevents the vast amount” of interferon genes from turning on. But when cells growing in lab dishes received the interferon IFN-1 before exposure to the coronavirus, “the virus has a difficult time replicating.”

After a few days, the amount of virus in infected but interferon-treated cells was 1,000- to 10,000-fold lower than in infected cells not pre-treated with interferon. (The original SARS virus, in contrast, is insensitive to interferon.)

Ending the pandemic and preventing its return is assumed to require an effective vaccine to prevent infection and antiviral drugs such as remdesivir to treat the very sick, but the genetic studies suggest a third strategy: preventive drugs.

It’s possible that treatment with so-called type-1 interferon “could stop the virus before it could get established,” Menachery said.

Giving drugs to healthy people is always a dicey proposition, since all drugs have side effects — something considered less acceptable than when a drug is used to treat an illness. “Interferon treatment is rife with complications,” Menachery warned. The various interferons, which are prescribed for hepatitis, cancers, and many other diseases, can cause flu-like symptoms.

But the risk-benefit equation might shift, both for individuals and for society, if interferons or antivirals or other medications are shown to reduce the risk of developing serious Covid-19 or even make any infection nearly asymptomatic.

Interferon “would be warning the cells the virus is coming,” Menachery said, so such pretreatment might “allow treated cells to fend off the virus better and limit its spread.” Determining that will of course require clinical trials, which are underway.

“It’s something I have never seen in my 20 years of” studying viruses, said virologist Benjamin tenOever of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, referring to how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, hijacks cells’ genomes.

The “something” he and his colleagues saw is how SARS-CoV-2 blocks one virus-fighting set of genes but allows another set to launch, a pattern never seen with other viruses. Influenza and the original SARS virus (in the early 2000s), for instance, interfere with both arms of the body’s immune response — what tenOever dubs “call to arms” genes and “call for reinforcement” genes.


https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/21/coronavirus-hijacks-cells-in-uniqu
e-ways/

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