COVID-19/corona virus mega thread/prepping thread

[dogmush]

Don't you think maybe questioning the ventilator protocols used at the time that seems correlated to so many deaths is a good thing?  Perhaps the ventilators were needed but they used them incorrectly out of ignorance.  Or once ventilator therapy was started, steroids or Remdesivir should not be given.  Or they need different prophylactic antibiotics.  I'm glad someone is studying it and hope it doesn't just degenerate into a "we conducted a thorough examination of ourselves and determined that we did nothing wrong"

Sure, but we did that questioning when this particular farcical theory popped up back in 2020.  I read up on how ventilators work, I am lucky enough to have a wife and several friends that work in ICU's in several hospitals in the region and professionally use Vents before during and after the COVID waves so I got to talk to them about this as well as reading technical papers. Hospitals, Doctors, and panels with significantly more technical knowledge that I also did that questioning.  The answers were already found.

Ventilators are not super new and experimental tech.  There are folks that have lived on vents for literally decades.  The idea that COVID makes your lungs somehow more likely to be damaged by mechanical ventilation, or that huge numbers of health care workers were being outsmarted by a pretty common piece of hospital gear doesn't stand up to even a little it of reasonable research.
THis was one of those theories put forward so that people could pretend that Wave 1 of COVID-19 wasn't killing the numbers it was.  It was pretty obvious this was a BS theory by sep or so of 2020, and I've seen no new data to indicate a change in that status.

[Ben]

Man, she is an awful, awful woman:

Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩‍🎓
@rweingarten
·
Follow
Sadly, not a surprise based on prior research… When will we learn? School closing does nothing for the kids in the closed schools.

https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2023/05/29/randi-weingarten-complaining-about-school-closures-hurting-kids-no-really-backfires-spectacularly/

[Bogie]

Vents do come with a risk, however... And early on, in at least some places, they were using them on every presented patient. Why?
 
"You can filter out the virus from the exhalations. It's safer for our brave front line workers."
 
What do  you think they'll use to try to shut down the economy the next time?

[dogmush]

Vents do come with a risk, however... And early on, in at least some places, they were using them on every presented patient. Why?*
 
"You can filter out the virus from the exhalations. It's safer for our brave front line workers."
 
What do  you think they'll use to try to shut down the economy the next time?

*Citation Needed

[Perd Hapley]

https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2023/05/30/the-medical-field-is-erasing-its-own-covid-era-history-n554277

More than 300 COVID-19-related articles have been retracted — long after they’d done their damage — due to a lack of scientific truthfulness and ethical guidelines, according to Retraction Watch, a website that monitors retractions of science-related articles.

[dogmush]

https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2023/05/30/the-medical-field-is-erasing-its-own-covid-era-history-n554277

Not trying to assume your motivations here, but did you read the list of retracted papers?  Because they seemed to be the more fringey stuff, not masks and lock downs.

There were 18 hits on a ctrl+F "Ivermectin" search and the first five retracted Ivermectin papers were all positive towards the drug as treatment or prevention of COVID. The vaccine hits were retracting papers linking vaccines to things like myocarditis, spontaneous abortions, allergic reactions and other cardiac events.

A couple of retracted papers on the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine.

One on the effectiveness of diaphragmatic breathing relaxation training for improving sleep quality among nursing staff during the COVID-19 outbreak.

At least one retracted paper on the usefulness of Vitamin D to treat COVID.


Stuff like that.  Not really what the Hot Air article seemed to be implying.

[Perd Hapley]

What they're implying, or saying, is that "follow the science" was bad advice. A lot of the science was shoddy, and is now being retracted. That becomes more clear if you go back into other articles they're citing, aside from just the list:

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/kevindowneyjr/2023/05/28/unfollow-the-science-300-covid-articles-pulled-many-over-lack-of-ethical-standards-n1698691

https://www.theepochtimes.com/over-300-covid-19-papers-withdrawn-for-not-meeting-standards-of-scientific-soundness_5293140.html

[dogmush]

Follow the science always included reading at least the abstract of whatever you were espousing,  not just some blog about it.

Saying that 300 papers were retracted,  most of which seem to be in pre-publication anyway is not the own you and those articles seem to think it is.  Basically those articles say that everyone that globbed on to a non reviewed paper that seemed to support whatever new miracle drug, vitamin, or correlation on treatment reactions was wrong and jumping to conclusions. As much as I despise the man, the retracted articles aren't the Fauci side of the argument.

[Perd Hapley]

Oh, so you’re just going to go ahead with the motivation-assumption, then. I didn’t say anything about owning anyone.

Follow the science always included reading at least the abstract of whatever you were espousing,  not just some blog about it.

Not so much. “Follow the science,” in most cases, meant “do as you’re told, and stop questioning the approved narrative.” And that is the way I used it, above.

As I said, the article cited other sources besides the list of retracted studies. For example:

https://lens.monash.edu/@medicine-health/2022/10/17/1385133/retraction-inaction-how-the-pandemic-has-exposed-frailties-in-scientific-publishing

Three significant examples

Those big three examples of suspected fraudulent or unverifiable data comprise the bulk of the citations for the 212 retracted papers. They are:

•   A paper published in The Lancet in May 2020 claiming the drug hydroxychloroquine increased the chances of death from COVID-19 at a time when the drug was largely untested. The paper was retracted after two weeks.

•   A paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 2020 claiming a link between heart disease and an increased risk of death from COVID-19, but with no elevated risk from certain heart drugs previously thought to be harmful. This paper was retracted after five weeks.

•   A preprint paper published in April 2020 claiming a link between COVID-19 deaths and low Vitamin D, in SSRN Electronic Journal, which despite using bogus data and mysterious authors was cited by the British Medical Journal and the British Heart Foundation, and reported as a media story by The Sun (UK) and The Daily Mail. This paper was removed after two months.


“With COVID,” says McDonald, “we saw this push to get information out quickly, and with many more people doing and rapidly publishing COVID research, there’s been a spike in retractions. The number of retracted COVID publications is now more than 250. It’s true there was definitely a need to get information out there, but in doing so publishing processes were often compromised.”

Medical journals became vulnerable to haste. 

That's medical journals - not whatever blog it is you're talking about.

And another source for the article:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/over-300-covid-19-papers-withdrawn-for-not-meeting-standards-of-scientific-soundness_5293140.html

Some 90,000 to 300,000 COVID-19 papers have been lodged since the start of the pandemic, dwarfing that of other pandemics “by orders of magnitude”.
An investigation by Monash University reported that even after papers were retracted, they continued to be cited.

“Among the more than 270,000 COVID-19 papers that have been lodged online since the start of the pandemic, 212 retracted papers investigated were cited 2,697 times, a median of seven times per paper,” the university said in Oct. 2022.

And a third one:

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/kevindowneyjr/2023/05/28/unfollow-the-science-300-covid-articles-pulled-many-over-lack-of-ethical-standards-n1698691

The lion’s share of these articles was released in smaller publications, but the prestigious Lancet got nailed a few times as well.

FACT-O-RAMA! The Lancet used fraudulent research when stating that hydroxychloroquine caused an increased risk of heart arrhythmia and even death in patients with COVID-19. This publication was eventually retracted but not until the Norwegian government and the World Health Organization (WHO) used this article as a reason to stop their research into the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine on COVID. Both have since resumed testing.

A paper published by the University of Manchester “found” that COVID was associated with vertigo, hearing loss, and tinnitus. Two years later they did a 180 and admitted that they assumed this to be the case.

“We know that viruses such as measles, mumps, and meningitis can damage the auditory system,” lead author Dr Anisa Visram stated. “It is also well known that COVID-19 can affect our sense of smell and taste, so it was reasonable to assume it might also affect our sense of hearing.”

Another reason many COVID papers — like the University of Manchester paper — have been plucked is that the researchers were eager to investigate all things COVID and moved too quickly.

“Many previous studies were published rapidly during the pandemic but lacked good scientific rigor.” University of Manchester professor Kevin Munro stated. “There was an urgent need for this carefully conducted clinical and diagnostic study to investigate the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the auditory system.”

I don't think anyone's getting owned here. It's just a word of caution about carelessly following just any old thing that people call "the Science."

[Bogie]

I know I saw that some outfits were pushing ventilators "for safety" for the caregivers.
 
Can't find that stuff now. Then again, wouldn't put it past folks to be scrubbing.
 
When I first saw the stuff, and saw how the data was being manipulated, I got skeptical.
 
I'm still skeptical. A long time ago, in a different career, I was the guy who the head of research pointed to, and said "When Chuck says he understands it, then you can show it to the accountants." I'm the guy who could call directors, and say "hold the presses - I'm seeing something that doesn't add up." And I wouldn't be wrong. I see patterns. I geek on patterns.
 
And I hate being lied to.

[De Selby]

I know I saw that some outfits were pushing ventilators "for safety" for the caregivers.
 
Can't find that stuff now. Then again, wouldn't put it past folks to be scrubbing.
 
When I first saw the stuff, and saw how the data was being manipulated, I got skeptical.
 
I'm still skeptical. A long time ago, in a different career, I was the guy who the head of research pointed to, and said "When Chuck says he understands it, then you can show it to the accountants." I'm the guy who could call directors, and say "hold the presses - I'm seeing something that doesn't add up." And I wouldn't be wrong. I see patterns. I geek on patterns.
 
And I hate being lied to.

The fact that you used to have some non scientific role in a pharma company is not authority to make proclamations about medical treatments.

This ventilator thing is pure bs. It’s like blaming tourniquets for blood loss deaths.

[Perd Hapley]

The qualifications for the role of Internet Pope are notoriously ambiguous.

[MechAg94]

The fact that you used to have some non scientific role in a pharma company is not authority to make proclamations about medical treatments.

[Bogie]

Non-scientific?
 
You funny.
 
"Doc, I've been going over your article, and we've got some questions."
 

[MechAg94]

Horowitz: Confidential Pfizer document shows the company observed 1.6 million adverse events covering nearly every organ system
https://www.conservativereview.com/horowitz-confidential-pfizer-document-shows-the-company-observed-1-6-million-adverse-events-covering-nearly-every-organ-system-2661316948.html

https://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/pfizer-report.pdf

Not sure how much of this is new, but I thought I would pass it on.

[WLJ]

More trying to change history to fit the narrative

    No adult was forced to take any jab. Period. Everyone, except the children, had a choice. I’m tired of these adults saying they “had to do it.” No, they didn’t. 💉💉💉
    — Lauren Houston (@LegalizeitLala) June 26, 2023

https://twitchy.com/samj/2023/06/27/lauren-houston-n2384864

Sure no was forced by being told they would be fired if they didn't. 

[WLJ]

They need a distraction from Brandon and Son's troubles so it's time to PANIC! again

From CNN:

    It’s time to stock up on tissues, bingeable TV options and Covid-19 tests. Yes, many signs are pointing to a Covid-19 summer surge – although one that’s far less intense than what emerged the past few summers.

    Experts say they do not expect that cases will be severe or that the uptick will be prolonged, and there are early signs from wastewater data that this wavelet may already be leveling out.

    But data posted this week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that many Covid-19 indicators, including hospital admissions, emergency department visits and test positivity, are once again on the rise.

CNN pisses EVERYONE off pushing for more of that SWEET fear-mongering COVID traffic
https://twitchy.com/samj/2023/07/30/cnn-tries-pushing-covid-surge-n2385840

If you need me I'm be at Sam's buying 10 cases of toilet paper and 20 cases of paper towels.

[HeroHog]

"Covid" is rearing its head around here (Shreveport, La) again. (sigh)

[Ben]

I haven't heard a thing about new cases in these parts, even from the Karens at the local news outlets.

[MechAg94]

Fun stuff.  Things are bad enough when we think about the crappy Chinese labs we know about. 

Mysterious Chinese COVID Lab Uncovered in City of Reedley CA
https://californiaglobe.com/articles/mysterious-chinese-covid-lab-uncovered-in-city-of-reedly-ca/

“Reedley officials and personnel from CDPH and FCDPH executed a warrant on March 16 to inspect the warehouse at 850 I Street,” MidValley Times reported. “According to a declaration from Humero Prado, Assistant Director of Fresno County Public Health, which was filed in superior court, investigators discovered that one room of the warehouse was used to produce COVID-19 and pregnancy tests. In other rooms, investigators found blood, tissue and other bodily fluid samples. They also found thousands of vials that contained unlabeled fluids.”

And they found 900 genetically engineered mice, engineered to catch and carry COVID-19, living in “inhumane” conditions. 773 of the mice had to be euthanized, and officials found another 178 mice already dead.

CDC detects coronavirus, HIV, hepatitis and herpes at unlicensed California lab
The CDC found at least 20 potentially infectious agents at the warehouse in Fresno County.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officials-believe-fresno-warehouse-was-site-illegal-laboratory-rcna96756

Lab operating in Reedley shut down after officials found infectious agents and chemicals
https://abc30.com/reedley-lab-hazardous-materials-medical-waste-prestige-biotech/13555300/

[Bogie]

Here in urban STL, I'm still seeing masked solo drivers... Masked "low information" folks, mostly minorities. Young guys wearing masks, probably with warrants or intent... A few hipsters still virtue signaling.

[HankB]

Here in urban STL, I'm still seeing masked solo drivers... Masked "low information" folks, mostly minorities. Young guys wearing masks, probably with warrants or intent... A few hipsters still virtue signaling.

In the Austin, TX area, I rarely see a masked solo driver, but there are a few around. Masked individuals in places like grocery stores are almost - almost - entirely elderly people who don't look particularly vigorous.

I was at a wedding in early May as a "+1" and a couple of days later the lady I was with called me and told me she'd just tested positive for covid - symptoms were mild and she got over it OK. I didn't catch it - last time I had covid was March 2022 - it was no fun, but it felt like one of the mildest cases of flu I'd ever had.

[Jim147]

My daughter was at MO S&T a couple weeks ago. Her dorm mate was from St. Louis area. She wore a mask the whole time.

[K Frame]

I still see people wearing masks here in Northern Virginia.

Mostly older people, but oddly enough, mostly whites.

[grampster]

I still see a very occasional single person in a car with a mask on.  Oddly, when I see someone walking down the sidewalk in areas where there are stores etc. it's usually a younger person.