GD's Political Animal

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Biden's shifting positions on a national lockdown

Joe Biden calls for a national lockdown to contain the coronavirus | Los Angeles Times - Michael Finnegan:

March 28, 2020 - "Former Vice President Joe Biden is calling for an immediate nationwide stay-at-home order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, saying the main mistake that leaders can make in a pandemic is 'going too slow.' The Democratic presidential candidate told CNN on Friday that he agreed with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates that the uneven patchwork of state and local lockdowns in effect in the United States will inevitably cost lives and prolong the economic catastrophe....President Trump has urged Americans to practice social distancing but has declined to issue a nationwide stay-at-home order....

"Biden said he’d watched Gates’ appearance on CNN on Thursday night and found him 'really insightful'.... Gates, a philanthropist whose family foundation has spent billions of dollars to curb the spread of malaria, AIDS and other diseases, told CNN on Thursday that the coronavirus will keep spreading out of control 'anywhere you don’t have a serious shutdown.'

'We’re entering into a tough period that, if we do it right, we’ll only have to do it once for six to 10 weeks,' [Gates] said. 'But we have to do it. It has to be the whole country.... It’s exponential growth if you’re not stopping it,' he said. 'The sooner you engage in the shutdown, the easier it is to get to that peak. We have not peaked. The parts of the country that aren’t shut down, in late April we should see the numbers peak there'"

Biden says he'd lock down country if spread of coronavirus warranted it | Politico - Evan Semones:

August 21, 2020 - "Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he would do 'whatever it takes" to combat the spread of coronavirus within the country — including locking down the U.S. if deemed necessary. 'I would shut it down; I would listen to the scientists,' Biden told ABC’s David Muir in a joint interview with his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, to air Sunday. 'We’re going to do whatever it takes to save lives....

"'We cannot get the country moving until we control the virus. That is the fundamental flaw of this administration’s thinking to begin with,' he said. 'In order to keep the country running and moving — and the economy growing and people employed — you have to fix the virus.'"

Biden Says He Will Not Order National Lockdown to Fight Virus | Bloomberg - Justin Sink:

November 19, 2020 - "President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that his administration would not impose a national lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"'I am not going to shut down the economy, period,” he said at a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware.... 'I’m going to shut down the virus, that’s what I’m going to shut down. I’ll say it again: No national shutdown. No national shutdown,' he repeated. 'Every region, every area, every community can be different. So there’s no circumstance that I can see which would require a total national shutdown.'"

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Italians defy Covid business shutdowns

As officials talk of tighter lockdown, Italian restaurants open their doors in protest | RT:

January 16, 2020 - "Though much of Italy remains under strict coronavirus restrictions, restaurants and bars have opened their doors in protest. Customers drank, ate, sang, and in one viral video, apparently booted the police back out the door.

"Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte extended the country’s three-tier coronavirus restrictions on Friday, imposing a nationwide 10pm to 5am curfew until March and forbidding travel between Italy’s 20 regions until February 15. These measures were originally implemented in [October], and were set to expire on Friday. The extended restrictions haven’t gone down well with bar owners and restaurateurs. Organizing on social media under the hashtag ‘#IoApro’ (I Open), owners threw their doors open on Friday in protest.

"The number of participants is unclear. Before Friday, the #IoApro organizers said that as many as 50,000 restaurateurs were expected to take part. However, reports in Italian media suggest that far fewer actually opened their doors.

"In one video that went viral on Friday night, the footage apparently shows police attempting to enter a pub, before being bullied out the door by chanting customers.... In at least one restaurant in Florence, nine patrons were fined and the owner was forced to shut altogether for a week, despite Florence being in the ‘Yellow’ zone....

"While restaurant owners may be sick of the country’s tiered restrictions, an adviser to Health Minister Roberto Speranza told Bloomberg on Friday that a return to a strict national lockdown could be on the cards soon. 'We have to limit people’s movement, block everything except essential businesses for two months,' he said."

Italy's South Tyrol again flouts Rome over virus closures | Associated Press - Coleen Barry:

January 17, 2021 -"The autonomous province of South Tyrol with its German-speaking majority is flouting Rome’s decision to put it under partial lockdown starting Sunday, with provincial authorities citing its autonomous status to allow stores and restaurants to remain open. Provincial officials are contesting the criteria that prompted the Rome government to designate South Tyrol a red zone, along with Lombardy and Sicily. The designations require authorities to close nonessential businesses and bars all indoor dining, permitting only takeout and delivery.

"Provincial Gov. Arno Kompatscher said he was 'surprised' by the designation. He has registered his disagreement with Italy’s health minister and is taking the province’s case to the technical committee in Rome. But he isn’t waiting for a response, instead allowing all stores to stay open and restaurants to serve until 10 p.m., defying Rome as he did in May when he invoked autonomy to reopen businesses earlier than in the rest of the country.

"Health officials argue that the high percentage of positives is due to additional screenings with antibody tests that are revealing more positives and claim that the technical committee in Rome didn’t take into account its decreasing rate of transmission. The province of 520,000 people has registered more than 800 deaths and nearly 33,000 positive cases.

"Lombardy governor Atilio Fontana also contests his region’s partial lockdown. He is taking his case to an administrative court this week in a bid to get it overturned, his only recourse."

Monday, January 18, 2021

Follow science on vitamin D, experts tell gov'ts

Experts send Vitamin D and Covid-19 open letter to world's governments | NUTRAingredients.com - Nikki Hancocks:

December 21, 2020 - "In an open letter being sent to world governments today (21st December), 120 health, science and medical experts from the UK, US, and Europe say there is clear scientific evidence that vitamin D reduces Covid-19 infections, hospitalisations, and deaths. In the letter (signed by 120 on Friday 18th but rapidly increasing) scientists are calling for immediate, widespread, increased vitamin D intake to 4,000 International Units (IU) per day (or at least 2,000) for healthy adults.

"This comes just days after the UK government's health bodies SACN [Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition] and NICE [National Institute for Health and Care Excellence], denied there is enough evidence to support increasing vitamin D intake for COVID-19 specifically.

"The scientists involved in the open letter say that global patterns and risk factors for the Covid-19 pandemic and Vitamin D deficiency match 'precisely' due to the impact on immune function. They ... are calling for immediate, widespread, increased vitamin D intakes.... They say new mechanisms specific to SARS-Cov-2 are now very well-understood, with ... more than 70 studies showing higher vitamin D levels are associated with lower rates of infection and lower risk of hospitalisation, ICU, or death, as well as early causal inference studies confirmed by recently published randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies.

"The campaign’s main organisers are Dr Karl Pfleger (USA) and Dr Gareth Davies (UK) - both have backgrounds in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, as well as Medicine. The letter has a growing list of 120 signatories. More than one hundred are medical doctors or PhDs, or both, and more than 60 are professors. Two British MPs - David Davis and Rupa Huq - have also signed the letter.

"Martin Hewison, Professor of Molecular Endocrinology at Birmingham University and one of the world’s leading authorities on Vitamin D, has signed the letter after he strongly criticised SACN and NICE, calling their reports 'disappointing'. He reacted to the latest NICE report, stating: 'NICE, SACN and PHE [Public Health England] continue to promote the idea of vitamin D "toxicity", despite no evidence of this in trials where up to 4,000 IU/day vitamin D were used. This obsession has become a major hurdle to better vitamin D health in the UK. Many vitamin D researchers have worked tirelessly over the summer to provide a framework in which vitamin D supplementation could be incorporated into the general strategies being used to defeat COVID-19. NICE, SACN and PHE have rejected this, and their new recommendations provide little or no help at all for the UK public.'

"MP David Davis has been a vocal supporter of vitamin D throughout the pandemic. He says, 'The evidence from several dozen studies show that vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency is implicated in compromising the body’s immune response to respiratory diseases in general and COVID-19 in particular.... In the unlikely event that all this evidence is an artefact, the costs and health risks are minimal. In the much more likely event that the multiple sources of observational evidence, and the evidence from the growing number of RCTs, show a real causal role of vitamin D in activating and modulating the immune system, it would be irresponsible not to give vitamin D to all the groups who are at risk from COVID-19. It will save lives, improve population immunity, and help reduce the medical and economic impact whilst we await the universal roll out of vaccines.

"Furthermore, if it is to have any material effect the dosage has to be sufficient to correct the existing deficiency, which means up to ten times the UK recommended daily intake.'

"Signatory Dr David S Grimes, a retired gastroenterologist, has campaigned to get vitamin D taken more seriously for years. He says: '[NICE and SACN] have ignored past and current research and instead assert "there is not adequate evidence to support the use of vitamin D". They have denied the NHS the use of calcifediol, a rapid-acting form of vitamin D, in the treatment of Covid-19 pneumonia, despite it being shown in one clinical trial to have 96% efficacy. The UK has had 25,000 COVID-19 deaths since this study was published, yet NICE continues to claim "not enough evidence". They have so much to answer for. They’re a national disgrace.”

Sunday, January 17, 2021

Scientists now think Covid immunity lasts for years

Covid-19 immunity likely lasts for years | MIT Technology Review - Neel V. Patel:

January 6, 2021 - "Covid-19 patients who recovered from the disease still have robust immunity from the coronavirus eight months after infection, according to a new study. The result is an encouraging sign that the authors interpret to mean immunity to the virus probably lasts for many years, and it should alleviate fears that the covid-19 vaccine would require repeated booster shots to protect against the disease and finally get the pandemic under control....

"The study, published January 6 in Science, contrasts with earlier findings that suggested covid-19 immunity could be short-lived, putting millions who’ve already recovered at risk of reinfection.... But the new study suggests reinfection should only be a problem for a very small percentage of people who’ve developed immunity — whether through an initial infection or by vaccination.

"In fact, the new study does show that a small number of recovered people do not have long-lasting immunity. But vaccination ought to offset that problem by ensuring herd immunity in the larger population.

"The new paper studied blood samples from 185 men and women who had recovered from covid-19 — most from a mild infection, although 7% were hospitalized. Each person provided at least one blood sample between six days and eight months after their initial symptoms, and 43 of the samples were taken after six months. The team that ran the investigation measured the levels of several immunological agents that work together to prevent reinfection: antibodies (which tag a pathogen for destruction by the immune system or neutralize its activity), B cells (which make antibodies), and T cells (which kill infected cells).

"The researchers found that antibodies in the body declined moderately after eight months, although levels varied wildly between individuals. But T-cell numbers declined only modestly, and B-cell numbers held steady and sometimes inexplicably grew. That means that despite decreases in free-flowing antibodies, the components that can restart antibody production and coordinate an attack against the coronavirus stick around at pretty high levels. Crotty adds that the same mechanisms that lead to immune memory after infection also form the basis for immunity after vaccination, so the same trends ought to hold for vaccinated people as well.

"And ... it’s worth looking at what happens in people who recovered from SARS, a close cousin of the virus that causes covid-19. A study published in August showed that T cells specific to SARS can remain in the blood for at least 17 years, bolstering hopes that covid-19 immunity could last for decades.

"The new study isn’t perfect. It would have been better to collect multiple blood samples from every participant. 'Immunity varies from person to person, and uncommon individuals with weak immune memory still may be susceptible to reinfection,' Crotty cautions. And we can’t make any firm conclusions about covid-19 immunity until years have passed.... Nonetheless, this latest result is a good indication that if the vaccination rollout goes well (a big if), we might soon be able to put the pandemic behind us."

Read study: Jennifer M. Dan1, Jose Mateus1, Yu Kato1, Kathryn M. Hastie1, Esther Dawen Yu1, Caterina E. Faliti1, Alba Grifoni1, Sydney I. Ramirez1, Sonya Haupt, April Frazier, Catherine Nakao1, Vamseedhar Rayaprolu1, Stephen A. Rawlings, Bjoern Peters1, Florian Krammer, Viviana Simon4, Erica Ollmann Saphire, Davey M. Smith, Daniela Weiskopf, Alessandro Sette, and Shane Crotty, "Immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 assessed for up to 8 months after infection," Science, 06 Jan 2021:eabf4063

DOI: 10.1126/science.abf4063

Saturday, January 16, 2021

Study finds no clear benefit from Covid lockdowns

COVID Lockdowns May Have No Clear Benefit vs Other Voluntary Measures, International Study Shows | Newsweek - Nataile Colarossi:

January 14, 2021 - "A study evaluating COVID-19 responses around the world found that mandatory lockdown orders early in the pandemic may not provide significantly more benefits to slowing the spread of the disease than ... voluntary measures, such as social distancing or travel reduction. The peer reviewed study was published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation on January 5, and analyzed coronavirus case growth in 10 countries in early 2020.

"The study compared cases in England, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the U.S. – all countries that implemented mandatory lockdown orders and business closures – to South Korea and Sweden, which instituted less severe, voluntary responses. It aimed to analyze the effect that less restrictive or more restrictive measures had on changing individual behavior and curbing the transmission of the virus. The researchers used a mathematical model to compare countries that did and did not enact more restrictive lockdown orders, and determined that there was 'no clear, significant beneficial effect of [more restrictive measures] on case growth in any country.'

"'We do not question the role of all public health interventions, or of coordinated communications about the epidemic, but we fail to find an additional benefit of stay-at-home orders and business closures,' the research said. However, the researchers also acknowledged that the study had limitations, and noted that 'cross-country comparisons are difficult,' since nations may have different rules, cultures, and relationships between their government and citizenry.

"The study was conducted by researchers affiliated with Stanford University, and was co-authored by Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine and economics who has been a vocal opponent of coronavirus lockdowns since March. Bhattacharya was also among a group of scientists who wrote The Great Barrington Declaration, a controversial statement that encouraged governments to lift lockdown restrictions to achieve herd immunity among young and healthy people, while focusing protections on the elderly.

"For additional context, other studies have oppositely determined that lockdown orders have effectively saved millions of lives. A study published in the journal Nature by researchers at Imperial College London in June [concluded] that some 3.1 million deaths had been averted due to lockdowns across Europe early on in the pandemic....

"Mandatory lockdown orders have also been a highly politicized issue across the U.S. Some Republican leaders, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, have vehemently opposed state or nationwide closures to curb the spread of COVID-19. In Democratic states, including New York and California, lockdown orders have been a consistent part of the coronavirus response since March.

"According to a poll released by Vox and Data for Progress on December 24, more than half of Americans said they would support a nationwide lockdown for one month. But President-elect Joe Biden [who called for a nationwide lockdown in March - gd] said in an interview in November that he had no intention of implementing a national shutdown when he takes office on January 20.

"'I'm not going to shut down the economy. I'm going to shut down the virus,' Biden said. 'There is no circumstance which I can see that would require a total national shutdown. I think that would be counterproductive'....

"Newsweek reached out to an author of the Stanford study for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication."

Read study: Erin Bendavid, Christopher Oh, Jay Bhattacharya, John Ioannidis, "Assessing Mandatory Stay‐at‐Home and Business Closure Effects on the Spread of COVID‐19," European Journal of Clinical Investigation," Jan. 5, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/eci.13484

Friday, January 15, 2021

PCs expel Ontario MPP for criticizing lockdowns

Ontario MPP kicked out of Ford’s caucus after letter claims ‘lockdowns are deadlier than COVID’ | Global News - Gabby Rodriguez:

January 15, 2021 - "The Ontario government has kicked out one of its own members after an MPP wrote a letter to Doug Ford calling for the end to the lockdown measures implemented due to a surge in coronavirus cases, deaths and hospitalizations. 'The lockdowns are deadlier than COVID,' wrote Roman Baber, MPP for Toronto’s York-Centre riding, as the title of his letter to the premier posted on social media Friday morning. Baber had been elected as a Progressive Conservative MPP in the 2018 provincial election.

"'I wrote a respectful letter to Premier Ford, asking to end the Lockdown. Look at the data — the virus is real but the crisis is mostly in LTC (long-term care),' Baber said in his tweet. 'Let’s focus on LTC & hospital capacity, but ending the Lockdown is best for our health.' Baber attached a copy of the letter to his tweet and to his Facebook page. In the letter, he writes that 'the medicine is killing the patient' and 'Ontario’s hospital and ICU capacity are better than in the last three years.'

"'Effective immediately, Mr. Baber will no longer be sitting as a member of the PC Caucus and will not be permitted to seek re-election as a PC member,' said Ford in a statement, in response to Baber’s letter.... Ford said Baber’s comments are 'irresponsible' and by 'spreading misinformation he is undermining the tireless efforts of our frontline health care workers at this critical time, and he is putting people at risk. I will not jeopardize a single Ontarian’s life by ignoring public health advice.'

"In the letter, Baber said, 'the lockdown isn’t working,' and says “it’s causing an avalanche of suicides, overdoses, bankruptcies, divorces and takes an immense toll on our children.' The letter goes against all of Ford’s policies on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and lists figures from a list of other diseases and illnesses such as cancer, overdose rates and mental health.

"'Covid is real, but the fear of Covid is exaggerated. While every death is tragic, after 10 months we learned that Covid is not nearly as deadly as first thought – it has a 99.98% infection survival rate,' said Baber in the letter....

"Baber responded shortly after Ford’s statement to being removed from the PC Party caucus and said: 'It’s a regretful decision since many colleagues agree with me … I don’t regret speaking out for millions of lives and livelihoods decimated by Public Health.'

"The Ontario government implemented a second state of emergency on Tuesday and a stay-at-home order came into effect on Thursday, previously the entire province had been put under lockdown on Boxing Day with some hotspot regions in lockdown since the end of November.

Thursday, January 14, 2021

Twitter doxxes wrong man as DC cop-killer

Trolls Wrongly Accused Retired Firefighter Of Capitol Riot Murder | Patch - Mark Konkol:

January 13, 2021 - "David Quintaville didn't do it. The retired Chicago firefighter from Mount Greenwood — whom social media trolls called a 'terrorist' and accused of fatally wielding a fire extinguisher that killed a cop as a mob of Trump-supporting insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 — was grocery shopping and celebrating his wife's birthday in Chicago, Patch has learned.

"Twitter exploded with unsubstantiated claims Tuesday that Quintavalle — who retired from the fire department in 2016 after 32 years — was the bearded '#extinguisherman' in a surveillance video wearing a 'CFD' stocking cap wanted for questioning and 'soon to be arrested' by the FBI regarding the fatal beating of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.

"Quintavalle, who shaved his beard before Christmas, told Patch that he wasn't in Washington, D.C., last week. He went grocery shopping at Aldi at 9 a.m. and made a home-cooked supper of filet mignon and lobster to celebrate his wife's birthday with their Chicago police officer son on the day rioters breached the Capitol. The next morning, Quintavalle made a trip to Home Depot. A self-proclaimed paperwork hoarder, Quintavalle says he has receipts to prove his whereabouts that his attorney presented with other evidence to the FBI on Wednesday to clear his name.

"Quintavalle, who doesn't have social media accounts, learned that he had been accused of being a cop-killing terrorist from a Twitter-savvy pal.... 'Some woman from British Columbia showed the [surveillance] picture of the guy wearing CFD stocking cap and a beard like I've had, and file footage when I was protesting the city inappropriately scoring the fire lieutenants exam, and said, "This is the guy." And the ball started rolling. Everybody started saying, "Here's the guy."'

"The unconfirmed reports quickly spread. Soon, social media filled with details about Quintavalle's personal life.... Unable to find Quintavalle's nonexistent social media feeds, someone dug up a 2017 post written by his estranged brother accusing the retired firefighter of being a 'bum' who fraudulently acquired their mother's home. By Tuesday night, Quintavalle began getting angry calls from people saying he's a 'f------ murderer' who belongs in jail. TV news reporters had staked out his house. Chicago police dispatched a patrol car to keep watch overnight, as well, his lawyer said.

"Some folks got ridiculed for tweeting that Quintavalle wasn't 'the guy' and his facial features don't match those of the man wanted for questioning by the FBI. One post claimed that tweets disputing Quintavalle's involvement in the U.S. Capitol insurrection were pushed by trolling Twitter 'bots with practically no followers coming out of the woodwork'.....

"Attorney John Nisivaco told Patch on Wednesday he's presented the FBI and U.S. Justice Department with evidence that Quintavalle isn't the person depicted in the video at the U.S. Capitol. 'I expect the federal government will soon shed light on this case of mistaken identity,' Nisivaco said. 'Social media has killed David Quintavalle. This has been an absolute disaster to him personally and his family. There's a cop car outside his house. It's over a picture that kind of looks like him because people sitting behind a keyboard with no proof or evidence are throwing out these tweets, and they're wrong. Holy smokes, it's eye-opening how terrifying social media can be when something like this happens."

Update: The Patch story has been updated with a paragraph at the end: "On Thursday, the FBI announced a Pennsylvania man was facing three felonies and was accused of throwing a fire extinguisher at a Capitol police officer. Robert Sanford, 55, formerly of the Chester Fire Department, was arrested Thursday morning."

Pages