Theories COVID-19 created in lab ‘remain viable’ says group of 18 leading scientists

 

A group of prominent scientists have agreed not to rule out the possibility that the coronavirus was man-made in a laboratory, pending additional information needed.

Until there is proof that signals otherwise, the theory that COVID-19 got created in a Chinese laboratory and it somehow leaked onto the rest of the world is something to take into serious consideration, the scientists say, Reuters reported.

In its earliest development, the virus was first reported to be in China in 2019, however, like Ravindra Gupta, a clinical microbiologist at the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease at the University of Cambridge, said: “More investigation is still needed to determine the origin of the pandemic.”

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Germany classifies UK coronavirus risk region due to rise of Indian Variant

The UK has one of the fastest vaccine rollouts in the world. But the emergence of a highly infectious variant first discovered in India has caused concern.


UK – Indian variant: Second jabs could be brought forward to tackle rise

Second vaccine doses could be brought forward and local restrictions introduced to help tackle the Indian variant in the worst-affected areas, the UK government has said.

Minister Nadhim Zahawi said steps could also include vaccinating younger people in multi-generational households.

Meanwhile, a top scientist has warned lifting restrictions on 21 June is in doubt because of the Indian variant.

Cases in the UK have more than doubled to 1,313, Public Health England said.

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In many countries, including Canada, dissatisfaction with governments’ COVID-19 pandemic response is growing, study finds

A global study involving more than 540,000 people shows that vaccine hesitancy and concerns about safety have declined steadily over the past year, but people in many countries, including Canada, have become more unhappy with how their governments have handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers at Imperial College London have been tracking people in 29 countries since April, 2020, to gauge how the public has responded to the virus. The latest findings, released Friday, showed polling results from 14 countries, including Canada, that have been surveyed most regularly.

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Partially vaccinated Canadians can socialize outdoors this summer, Tam says

Canadians who have been vaccinated with one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can socialize with close family and friends outdoors over the summer months, Canada’s chief public health officer said today.

With the vaccine supply ramping up, virtually all Canadians will have access to at least one vaccine dose by June. Dr. Theresa Tam said that extra layer of protection will allow some of the more stringent social distancing measures to be relaxed — but Canadians must continue to avoid indoor gatherings altogether until more people are fully vaccinated.

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Covid Gulag: Canada unlikely to follow U.S. approach to easing COVID-19 masking rules

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to wear masks outdoors and in most indoor settings, but one of Canada’s top public health officials suggests a different approach would be taken here.

“We have more of what I’d call a collective or community approach,” Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief public health officer, told a briefing in Ottawa on Thursday. “So it’s not about what an individual should be able to do with one or two doses.”

Excuse me Doctor, but F&ck You.

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Ontario reports 2,362 new Covid cases … and… Rejoice! No fun for Toronto this summer!

Ontario reports 2,362 new Covid cases … and… Rejoice! No fun for Toronto this summer!

Ontario reports 2,362 new COVID-19 cases, 26 more deaths

Ontario reported more than 2,300 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and 26 additional deaths, as the seven-day rolling average of infections continues to drop.

Provincial health officials logged 2,362 new coronavirus infections today, down from 2,759 on Thursday.


All major summer events, including CNE, Caribbean Carnival, cancelled again this year, city says

The city has confirmed that all major events in Toronto this summer, including the Caribbean Carnival and the Canadian National Exhibition, will once again be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March, the city cancelled all events and permits through to June 30 and today’s announcement means events typically held in Toronto in July, August, and over the Labour Day weekend will also not proceed in person.

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Ohio Residents Could Win $1 Million For Getting Vaccinated

“Two weeks from tonight on May 26th, we will announce a winner of a separate drawing for adults who have received at least their first dose of the vaccine. This announcement will occur each Wednesday for five weeks, and the winner each Wednesday will receive one million dollars,” DeWine wrote. “The pool of names for the drawing will be derived from the Ohio Secretary of State’s publicly available voter registration database. Further, we will make available a webpage for people to sign up for the drawings if they are not in a database we are using.”

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No self-respecting person can see Trudeau’s ‘one-dose summer’ as anything other than an admission of failure

The government had repeatedly said everyone who wanted a vaccine (and they were talking about two-doses, not just one), would have them by the end of September.

But now, in what is an obvious admission of failure, Trudeau (or more likely some advisor,) came up with the talking point of a “one-dose summer.”

Amazingly, he says it as if it is some sort of accomplishment, as if we should thank him for failing to meet his earlier promise.

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How a fake whistleblower peddled lies about Florida’s COVID deaths

This is a story about Rebekah Jones, a former dashboard manager at the Florida Department of Health (FDOH), who has single-handedly managed to convince millions of Americans that Gov. Ron DeSantis has been fudging the state’s COVID-19 data.

When I write “single-handedly,” I mean it, for Jones is not one of the people who have advanced this conspiracy theory but rather is the person who has advanced this conspiracy theory. It has been repeated by others, sure: by partisans across the internet, by unscrupulous Florida Democrats such as Nikki Fried and Charlie Crist, and on television, by MSNBC in particular. But it flows from a single place: Rebekah Jones. To understand that is to understand the whole game. This is about Jones, and Jones alone. If she falls, it falls.

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How Trudeau’s failed border controls could keep Canada in lockdown until winter

How Trudeau’s failed border controls could keep Canada in lockdown until winter

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been consistent in his criticism of the Trudeau government for being lax at international borders, a federal jurisdiction. In a May 12 tweet, Ford shared a National Post story, which reports that almost a third of international air travellers are exempted from the three day “mandatory” hotel quarantine. Federal authorities did not provide a breakdown of the reasons for the exemptions, although in general they apply to essential workers, diplomats, and others whose need to cross borders is deemed essential by the federal government, in addition to exemptions made on humanitarian grounds.

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Surge vaccinations could be used to fight UK spread of India variant

Surge vaccinations could be used to fight UK spread of India variant

A surge vaccination campaign could be targeted at areas where there has been a rise in cases of the coronavirus variant first identified in India, Downing Street has hinted, as the prime minister admitted he was “anxious” about how quickly the variant is spreading in the UK.

… The variant of concern – known as B.1.617.2 – is circulating in London and is “at least as transmissible” as the Kent variant that is now dominant across the UK, said Prof Paul Elliott, the director of the React programme at Imperial College London.

No word on its spread in Canada of late.

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Covid Gulag: Ontario extends stay-at-home order for an additional two weeks

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced that the provincewide stay-home-order will be extended for an additional two weeks to control the spread of COVID-19.

“Make no mistake, we’re not out of the woods yet,” Ford said during a news conference Thursday.

“Our hospitals are still under immense pressure. The spread of variants remains a major concern.”

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Ontario reports 2,759 new Covid cases … and who doesn’t want side effects from ineffective Mixy Matchy vaccines!

Ontario reports 2,759 new Covid cases … and who doesn’t want side effects from ineffective Mixy Matchy vaccines!

Ontario reports 2,759 new COVID-19 cases, lowest positivity rate in nearly six weeks

Ontario is reporting a slight increase in the number of new COVID-19 infections with more than 2,700 cases confirmed today but the province’s test positivity rate has now dropped to its lowest level in nearly six weeks.

Provincial health officials logged 2,759 new infections today, up from the 2,320 cases confirmed on Wednesday and 2,073 infections recorded on Tuesday.


Mixing COVID-19 vaccines appears safe — but no data on whether it works, U.K. study says

New preliminary data suggests that mixing Pfizer-BioNtech and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines is safe, but it’s still too soon to tell whether combining doses will provide protection against the virus.

The early results from a University of Oxford study found that mixing the two vaccines may increase the frequency of mild to moderate side effects. But the symptoms, referred to in the study as “reactogenicity,” were short-lived — lasting no longer than a few days — and there were no hospitalizations or other safety concerns.

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Doctor who said Canada doesn’t need COVID vaccine calls online critics ‘hyenas’ in $6.8M libel suit

When an Ontario doctor argued publicly that Canadians need neither a vaccine nor lockdowns to combat COVID-19 but should rely instead on a controversial malaria drug, some of the response was sharp.

Fellow physicians, academics and journalists called out Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill on social media last summer for peddling what they alleged was anti-scientific misinformation and conspiracy theory.

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Here in Washington D.C., Dr Fauci is a messianic figure

Here in Washington D.C., Dr Fauci is a messianic figure

Liberals’ worship of the Good Doctor has reached new extremes

Mask wearing and reverence for Dr. Anthony Fauci have become the twin pillars of Washington DC’s civic religion.

Consider what happened in the District earlier this month. Our mayor, Muriel Bowser, and the city’s public health officials decided that the time had come to lift the mask mandate. As of last Friday the city would allow fully the vaccinated to gather inside without a mask.

The order was rescinded almost immediately. 

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