Author of The Blackout Book and the online course Bloom Where You’re Planted
Things can always change in the wild world of viruses, but currently, more than one hospital is reporting that the COVID-19 virus is “declining both in virulence and infection rate.”
The World Health Organization, however, is unconvinced.
Italian doctors claim that COVID19 is weakening.
A physician in Italy said that COVID-19 is disappearing in the beleaguered country.
“In reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy,” said Alberto Zangrillo, the head of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan in the northern region of Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of Italy’s coronavirus contagion.
“The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago,” he told RAI television. (source)
Another doctor in Italy backed of Dr. Zangrillo’s claim, stating:
“The strength the virus had two months ago is not the same strength it has today,” said Matteo Bassetti, head of the infectious diseases clinic at the San Martino hospital in the city of Genoa.
“It is clear that today the COVID-19 disease is different.” (source)
And yet another Italian doctor offered positive news related about the virus.
A variant of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that is “extremely less powerful” than the one that is widely spread has been isolated in Italy’s Brescia of Lombardy region. Prof. Arnaldo Caruso, President of the Italian Society of Virology said that the virus they isolated took at least six days to start attacking cells, as opposed to the widely circulated strains of the novel coronavirus, which takes only two to three days. He said the usual SARS-CoV-2 virus “are biological bombs capable of exterminating target cells in 2-3 days,” as reported by HuffPost. (source)
The Italian government remains cautious.
“Pending scientific evidence to support the thesis that the virus has disappeared… I would invite those who say they are sure of it not to confuse Italians,” Sandra Zampa, an undersecretary at the health ministry, said in a statement. (source)
The World Health Organization disputes these claims.
World Health Organization experts and other scientists vehemently disagreed with Dr. Zangrillo on Monday, stating that there wasn’t any evidence to support his claim.
WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove, as well as several other experts on viruses and infectious diseases, said Zangrillo’s comments were not supported by scientific evidence.
There is no data to show the new coronavirus is changing significantly, either in its form of transmission or in the severity of the disease it causes, they said.
“In terms of transmissibility, that has not changed, in terms of severity, that has not changed,” Van Kerkhove told reporters. (source)
A reduced virulence could negate the need to come up with a vaccine that many have expected to become mandatory.
Despite the rebuttal, Zangrillo stood firm.
Zangrillo, well known in Italy as the personal doctor of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said his comments were backed up by a study conducted by a fellow scientist, Massimo Clementi, which Zangrillo said would be published next week.
Zangrillo told Reuters: “We have never said that the virus has changed, we said that the interaction between the virus and the host has definitely changed.”
He said this could be due either to different characteristics of the virus, which he said they had not yet identified, or different characteristics in those infected. (source)
Other scientists interviewed by Reuters sided with the WHO on the subject.
Meanwhile, doctors in the US are also seeing the virus weaken.
The University of Pittsburg Medical Center echoed the sentiment of the doctors in Italy, announcing that COVID19 “appears to be declining both in virulence and infection rate.”
“The virus may be changing,” Dr. Donald Yealy said Thursday during a news conference. “Some patterns suggest the potency is diminished.”
Yealy said UPMC has successfully treated more than 500 patients with coronavirus since March, and fewer patients are requiring ventilators to help them breathe.
People seem to be contracting the virus less easily and cases appear to be less severe than when the pandemic first began, he explained. (source)
While this doesn’t mean you should through caution to the wind, it is cause for optimism after a rather dismal first half of the new decade.
And we’ll soon know.
After weeks of protests have rocked the United States, first due to the lockdowns organized to lessen the outbreak of COVID19, and then in response to the killing of George Floyd in police custody, we should soon either see a massive second wave of infections…or not after these gatherings.
If we managed to avoid a second wave of illness and lockdowns, it would be a very welcome reprieve from the non-stop disasters of the year so far.
What do you think?
Do you think the virus has weakened? Why do you think the World Health Organization is disputing these claims? Share your thoughts in the comments.
While this is good news for Italy if it’s actually true, there’s just so much we don’t know about this virus yet. There’s clearly thousands of mutations to the genetics of this virus already, but what has been spreading across Europe is a distinct version from what has been spreading across the US as seen on the nextstrain project link below:
https://nextstrain.org/ncov/global
Even if we somehow manage to avoid a Miami-spring-break superspreading event as a result of these protests, it’s probably not time to let our guard down against a second wave.
If this is indeed happening, it’s great news for sure. Typically, viruses do mutate and become both more infectious yet less lethal. So if this is happening, it kind of makes sense.
However….further down in that article is the key phrase that many people are sort of passing over.
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-who-transmission/who-and-other-experts-say-no-evidence-of-covid-19-losing-potency-idUKKBN23837C
“The result was unambiguous: an extremely significant difference between the viral load of patients admitted in March compared to” those admitted last month, Zangrillo said.
So the question is…why the difference in the “viral load?” It’s been known since almost the beginning that the greater the viral load a person has, the greater the probability of getting on the “wrong track” that leads to hospitalization or death. The higher viral load a person is exposed to, the more difficulty the body has in producing antibodies for it since the higher viral load allows the virus to replicate itself far more quickly.
To me, as a non-scientist, it seems that one of the most likely reasons for people having “reduced viral loads” – and thus not getting as severely sick – is because of social distancing, being outside where the virus is diluted by air flow and, gasp, by people wearing masks. All these are proven to reduce the viral load people pick up when exposed to the virus. Reduced viral loads = reduced covid-19 serious illnesses/deaths.
Further studies on this will be interesting, to say the least. As for now, though, color me skeptical! Especially since social distancing is breaking down and the numbers of people wearing masks also seems to be slowly falling.
I’m hopeful for sure that the virus is losing potency. Dr. Chris Martenson @PeakProsperity has a thesis, since the virus is probably lab created by turbo forced-evolution w/gain of function research, w/a foreign insert protein enabling binding w/the human Ace2 receptor; it’s quite likely the virus is “unstable’, and it very well could be naturally declining. As you and many have said, we’re gonna know for sure in a few wks, by the end of June for sure.
As for why the WHO NWO DNC MSM Fed Reserve Treasury US Gov etc would want to continue the fear mongering and pray for the dreaded “2nd wave”? My guess would be to keep the Fed bubble-pumping wealth-transfer gravy train going to the top 0.1%. And it’s racist sexist etc to dare oppose or stand in their way (SARCASM)! Oh and can’t forget that Bill & Melinda Gates say we’re going to need BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF VACCINES TO RETURN TO NORMAL. Never forget that either.
Who knows if this is just a result of thousands of unregistered infections that took place without or few symptoms. I could imagine that especially in the countries with extremely high infection rates (italy and the US), there was/is also a high number of unreported cases. So there might be some herd immunity already and the diminished severity of infections could just be the “second time” for people who already had it before.
The fewer numbers of the newly infected just shows thet measures taken were successfull. We´ll see in a while if the new freedoms and mass gatherings bring on a second wave. Certainly in Germany church and restaurant openings resultetd in several new clusters within 14 days.
Totally agree that we know very little about this virus yet and that it is too early to let our guard down.
However, hopefully thorough investigation will be conducted into why is seems that the virus behaves less virulent. We certainly would deserve some good news finally….
What this proves is that the Medical “experts” can’t agree, thus they are not “experts”.
Just another set of Opinionated fools, giving their personal opinions.
So it is good news, if you believed them in the first place.
Common sense and History are far better guides than “expert” opinions, especially when they are driven by a media frenzy.
Now in the light of Prepping, this shows us that the Government overly relies on these opinions of “experts” , which are so often wrong.
So the first lesson to be learned here is not to trust the Government or the media when SHTF, ( or at any other time). Common sense is a far better guide.
The second one is much like it: Do not listen to the “experts” in survival and prepping circles.
Take every thing they say and do your own research.
There is so much bad, wrong and poorly thought out info that is out there. So you better be checking and double checking it. Especially if it does not line up with common sense.
The case in point being Bugging In.
Look at what we are witnessing with these riots. Now if there was an Economic collapse or any other scenario and there was no police to stop them. Do you really think we would still have much of any of our cities still standing?
If there was no Fire dept to put out and control the fires that they start? What then?
Selco and some of these other people that lived through SHTF scenarios, did not have to deal with the Racial diversity and the pent up rage that exists in the minority populations, in our communities.
So our experience in a SHTF scenario will be very different, here in the US.
Yet almost none of those who promote Bugging in, sufficiently deal with how to handle this kind of thing , if they bother to deal with this at all.
But if they (you name the group), burn down your home or Apt building or burn your farm ( like Antifa is said to be planning to do), then you will lose almost every thing and either bug out with nothing or be forced to rely on whatever handouts you can get, in order to survive.
But this ugly reality is not one that is covered by these people.
So be very careful in what you accept as truth and believe.
“did not have to deal with the Racial diversity and the pent up rage that exists in the minority populations, in our communities” swap “racial” for “ethnic” then look into what caused the war he found himself in.
I think the WHO isn’t done with this crisis yet, and therefore isn’t likely to admit that it is a big nothing burger, and nothing more is going to happen. They still want us fearful so they can carry out their nefarious deeds.
Exactly.
The coronavirus’s environment has changed. It’s Spring.
if history is a valid guide, covid19 will become less virulent over time. while seems too soon to make statements to that effect, it would certainly be welcome. i rather expect we will remain sheltered in place until more time has passed and more research is done. sure glad the pantry and the shelves were full when this started. wish i had more propane and wish i could get library books–kindle works ok for novels, but is a poor substitute for a how-to-do-it text and it can’t reproduce pix well at all. another thing that has been reinforced for us is that, during an emergency, we should plan on other important things going wrong. in our case, the bathroom plumbing started leaking and invisible critters munched the cucumbers and the green beans, causing a scramble for replacements. 🙂
My library allows you to go online and put a “Hold” on the books that you want to check out. You then show up and they will put the books in the trunk of your car. Check online or call your library to see if they do this, or something similar.
The virus is weakening? Tell that to the people in Brazil, Alabama, F!orida, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota – I think they’d disagree.
I live in Florida and don’t know where you are getting your information about our state but it seems to not be too dependable. Our numbers have continually been going down. We have friends and family throughout the state and it is the same. Interesting how the media said our numbers would severely spike when our state started opening up and nothing of the sort happened. Interesting how they do not report how well our state has been doing. Also, they spew out these numbers of cases without comparing it to the population. If they did, it would paint a much different picture. When you really look into it, we’ve had more cases of the seasonal flu. The fear mongering has got to stop.
It’s possible the virus has been weakened. It makes sense this would be the logical course. I think the virus has infected a large majority of people and we just don’t know it. The ones most susceptible have been hit the hardest. The virus is still circulating, but now the the most vulernable have already been infecting.
I gotta tell you I’ve no idea what to believe or who anymore when it comes to the virus.
I’ve caught flak for doing to much, for being overly prepared, not GIVING away my N95s to medical staff and being paranoid.
So the question remains of did I overreact? Maybe, probably and yes. One thing I learned in the Army was that if I called in artillery but then found out we probably coulda handled it in a different manner it (A) was still a job done and (B) less of mine got hurt or killed given the potential of risk.
Was I successful in my efforts? I have no idea and probably never will. Everyone is alive and well not only at home but in my job that we took astronomical efforts to stay clean.The thing is I can look into my mirror and say I did the best I could. It’s a lot easier than looking into it and trying to figure out why you didn’t do more because something has happened.
The only thing I know to do is keep my preparations up, keep using common sense and do the best I can. There was comfort in knowing I had a lot of food, water, ammo etc. There was comfort in knowing I had a good medic on the preparedness team and others who are skilled at various things. There was comfort in knowing my neighbors were onboard and just as worried as I was and that together we could face challenges. There was comfort in knowing that we had trained with one another and knew our strengths and weaknesses.
The one thing I do know is that I’ve much more work to do to be ready for this and other things.
Can’t push for mandatory vaccination if disease is going away.
They are pushing a bill in my state right now for ALL vaccinations. Obviously that would make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory. All kinds of privacy, parental rights and health department could come into my home. This could cause some major issues in this state as well as lawsuits.
It would be helpful to know what state you are talking about for greater audience awareness and knowledge. Please let us know. Thank you!
I am in Colorado. The bill is up for hearing on Sunday in the Health and Insurance Committee. The exemptions would be very difficult to get in addition to wide collection of data on me and my child.
It’s all about mandatory vaccination.
This is worth your reading time:
Mandatory/Forced Vaccinations a Blatant Violation of the Nuremberg Code
https://www.thelibertybeacon.com/mandatoryforced-vaccinations-a-blatant-violation-of-the-nuremberg-code/
Excerpt:
“The Nuremberg trials where 23 defendants, all medical doctors, were accused of having been involved in the horrors of Nazi human experimentation, procedures and exposures without the consent of those experimented on. The trial lasted eight months, from December 9, 1946, to August 20, 1947. Of the 23 defendants, five were acquitted, seven received death sentences, and the remaining received prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. Those sentenced to death were hanged on June 2, 1948, in Landsberg Prison, Bavaria.
What resulted from this was the ten points of the Nuremberg Code. Of these ten points the following [five] are most germane to this discussion…”
What is being proposed will be deadly to some. It’s not possible to test a vaccine for safety in the rush effort underway. Bill Gates shows no regret whatsoever for the countless children in 3rd world countries his vaccines have already killed. Just because what’s being proposed today has no Nazi involvement does not make it any less evil than what those 1940s Nazi doctors were either imprisoned or executed for after the 1946-47 Nuremberg trials.
–Lewis
I appreciate your perspective as I believe that you have a thinking and reasoning mind. Concerning Italy: Dr Joseph Mercola did a synopsis of why there were so many fatalities. It turns out that they were given a special batch of flu shots containing the H1N1 virus, a year prior to the Covid break out. Hmmm!
mercola.com
I was naively unaware of the ABSOLUTE power of our county and state health departments!!!
It’s clear to me that the Deep State has settled on this unconvincing plot device as the only way to quickly scuttle the “pandemic” story, same as Michael Crichton did when he couldn’t find a satisfying way to end “The Amdromeda Strain.”
Hey Jim, sorry to bust your bubble but being subjected to heavier loads makes little difference in incubation rates since the replication of infected cells is exponential. This means that just one cell infection with just one genome of the virus becomes two in usually about 20 mins. Then four in forty mins. Twenty to thirty cycles, that’s four to six hours makes your point moot. Eight hours or 40 cycles would theoretically produce a little over one trillion infected cells. Myriads of mutations could be causing this virus from being not as contagious as the one “accidentally or maybe purposely” released from the Wuhan lab. Man made changes of God’s creation are usually ventures of ineptitude.
I don’t trust anything that comes fro WHO. They have shown themselves to be just a propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist Party.
That data modeling firm in the state of Washington predicted 2 million deaths.which won’t be happening.
I have read they are also responsible for the global warming predictions which turned out to be false and have become very skeptical of the so called experts.
Or maybe it was never bad in the first place?
Infection rates an more importantly death rates are dropping.
So a “second wave” is questionable.
Those who have a monetary interest in developing a Vaccine need to have a market for it. So they don’t want to admit the virus id dying out before they can produce a vaccine.
The recent flare up in the US was to be expected. The opening up, after the shut down, was expected to make a flare up. However it was made much worse by the protest marches.
But even with the increased infections, the death rate is still sharply dropping.
So all they have left is to use the infection rate and the second wave threat as reasons to take their vaccine. So expect them to play this up, for all it is worth.
This is why you do not believe the Media, use common sense and forget the fear mongers. Watch the money trail.
If there is money to be made, expect fake news being spread in order to support that agenda.