Wuhan virus 2020

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

The UK has imposed a ban on non-UK citizens coming from Denmark amid concerns over a new coronavirus strain that has spread from mink to humans.

UK citizens will be able to return to Britain from Denmark - but will have to isolate along with all members of their household for 14 days.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54851042

A new mutation spread from mink to humans? What am I missing here, are they saying it all started when mink went to China on vacation and brought back a strain of COVID which has mutated and infected humans? I could've swore everyone was already aware that all animals have ACE2 receptors making it possible for infections to spread in the animal kingdom. Such as from bats to humans - humans to cat - cat to mink - mink to human again. On a side note: from what I've read its thought ferrets seem less susceptible to infection. Dowly should be happy about that.

[Skybird]

The mutation in Danish minks has stronger resistance than the known variations that are currently in the wild. The big danger is that the mutated mink virus gains further resistance - and by that, if gettign set free, ruins all vaccinations there are in testing currently. A reserve of that virus surviving in this and other animal groups must at all cost be avoided.

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...cientists-warn

Its heartbreaking, I like animals and do not liketo kill them easily. But these poor creatures were doomed anyway. Man should not treat other species like this, industrial minimum-space lifestock farming I mean. Since I became my house block's squirrel warden , my attitude on all this is shifting, and I discover some soft spots in me that I previously ignored - and ignored too much, maybe.

[Rockstar]

An over reaction but I think its prudent during a pandemic to take action and cull those poor unfortunate critters. However at the moment we are far from saying with any certainty it is (or not) a more resistant strain

Despite the virus’s sluggish mutation rate, researchers have catalogued more than 12,000 mutations in SARS-CoV-2 genomes. But scientists can spot mutations faster than they can make sense of them. Many mutations will have no consequence for the virus’s ability to spread or cause disease, because they do not alter the shape of a protein, whereas those mutations that do change proteins are more likely to harm the virus than improve it (see ‘A catalogue of coronavirus mutations’). “It’s much easier to break something than it is to fix it,” says Hodcroft, who is part of Nextstrain, an effort to analyse SARS-CoV-2 genomes in real time.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02544-6

[Jimbuna]

One pathetically small positive being the fact that the local ASDA store is well stocked with TP.

[mapuc]

It has turned into a totally politics in this Mink-corona case.

I would call it Mink-gate.

What disgust me most is..the Danish politician couldn't care less how these animal is treated in captivity, they only see an opportunity to earn votes.
(I know this is about the Corona pandemic)

Markus

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by mapuc

[...] ..the Danish politician couldn't care less how these animal is treated in captivity, they only see an opportunity to earn votes. [...]

It is politics, but abusing animals and slaughter them for luxury purposes alone is idiotic and cruel. No one needs a fur to keep him warm today.
It is one thing if you kill an animal to save your life in Alaska or wherever the situation is dire, but to do this on industrial scale is disgusting.
Yes we eat pigs, cows etc., wear leather shoes and clothing and no one thinks a second about how those animals were bred and treated, until you really see it. Even if one is not interested in the wellbeing, it is a pool of rot and decay, spreading all kinds of diseases.
With the second industrial revolution currently happening mankind should calmly rethink its role and behaviour on this tiny planet.

[Skybird]

Excurison:

Found a dead squirrel today, beautifully coloured fur, no visible injuries or anything. The fur so soft like down feathers. Wrapped it in coloured maple leafs and burried it on a calmer part of the place I was at, which was a bit difficult since the ground was hard and I only had a Swiss pocket knife as tool. I was not happy, and shortened the bicycle tour, it had lost the right mood. I know nature is cruel and does not care, but I did not want to let it lie there, the memory would have stuck on my mind.

I definitely have grown some emotional links to this species.

Over the past 4, 5 years, I more and more moved away from former levels of meat consuming, it happened all by itself, slowly, and without pressing myself. Even chicken now seems to be on its way out, while I am more and more into fish. I find that more and more often my compassion overrules my appetite. Since I do it without any ideological food agenda or health concerns and do not need to force me, but find it to be a natural development in me, it feels very good to simply stay on this way and see where it leads me, without forcing the direction.

Lasting change of habits are to come only this way. Force needs compliance, and even if it enforces it, compliance this way always is limited. Sooner or later you run out of it. Everbyody telling you he tried a hundred differen diets, will knowingly or unknowingly illustrate to you the truth in that.

And if you come across red squirrels in Europe seeking help, help them, set up nut feeder boxes, water, and a box with antural wool. They bring joy in your life if you allow them, and their needs are very many, have grown in the past 3, 4 years. Their death rate is horror. 80% do nto m ake their first year. 90% do not last until their third birthday. Not even one in an hundred surioves five years. While this species can live for up to 12-15 years, if treated well!

Saw a film on slaughterhouses some mon ths ago. In it they showed a farm in I think Wales, or Denmark, I am not certain. When a cow or bull was ready for getting slaugtered, they did not transport it and caused stress or anything. Instead somebody walked into the corral or on the meadow, with a rifle with silencer, and shot the animal right in place. No noise, no stress, no pain, no fear, no nothing. Afterwards a special tractor moved it out. The other animals stood around, watched, did not realise what it means, and everything was peaceful.

To me the ideal solution if you need to slaughter lifestock although even this is, of course, a betrayal of trust. Mass lifestock is no longer acceptable to me. I know the consequences, but I do not accept it anymore.

I changed my mind on these things over the past 5-10 years, slowly but substantially, and again without being pressed by others or pressing myself. I consider it a process of ethical ripening.


I do not eat vegan meat surrogate "food", and do not consider myself to be a vegan or vegetarian. Its awful stuff, a lousy surrogate for meat, and healthwise it often is controversial at best, in my view. All attempts I made with these kind of foods, always resulted in getting to the waste bin. "Vegan meat" simply is a term that should not be used.

End of excursion.

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

Wales' 17-day 'firebreak' lockdown has ended and new rules have come into force.

New virus tests being trialled in Liverpool could be a "major breakthrough" says the government.

In the US, President-elect Joe Biden is to make tackling the pandemic his top priority following his win over Donald Trump.

Meanwhile some disabled people in the UK are struggling to obtain medication and breathing equipment, research suggests.

In the UK, 20,572 new cases were announced on Sunday and 156 further deaths.

The global number of confirmed cases passes 50 million, while 1.25 million people have died.

[Jimbuna]

Hungary is imposing a partial lockdown for at least a month in a bid to stem fast-rising coronavirus infections.

The west African country of Ghana has seen its daily coronavirus cases rise from an average of 25 to 130 over the past two weeks, raising concerns about a possible second wave of the virus.
Ghana’s active cases have increased to 1,139 from 398 over the last three weeks. The country has so far registered 320 deaths as of Friday.

[Jimbuna]

The first effective coronavirus vaccine can prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19, a preliminary analysis shows.

The developers - Pfizer and BioNTech - described it as a "great day for science and humanity".

Their vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns have been raised.

The companies plan to apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of the month.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54873105

[Platapus]

This is good news