Covid-19 News & Updates

[GroveHillWanderer]

FWIW, a recent study carries some interesting data showing that metformin, a safe, easily-available and cheap medication appears to have a favorable effect on COVID-19 viral load and subsequent outcomes.

According to this study:

Metformin reduced the odds of hospitalizations/death through 28 days by 58%.

https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-ar ... 59/7660393

Favorable Antiviral Effect of Metformin on Covid-19 Viral Load

[PeteC]

Covid infections see sharp rise

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... sharp-rise

Covid-19 cases last week jumped by at least 900 on the previous week, with one fatality recorded each day, the Public Relations Department’s Covid-19 Information Centre revealed.

According to its report published on Monday, 2,762 people were hospitalised for Covid-19 treatment from June 2–8, an average of 395 people a day.

The number increased by 48.3%, from May 26–June 1, in which 1,863 hospitalised cases, or 266 cases a day, were recorded............

[PeteC]

New highly-transmissible Covid strain will elude vaccines

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... nes-expert

The KP.2 strain of Covid-19 will become dominant in Thailand, according to a renowned virologist. It will be more transmissible and vaccines will be hard-pressed to keep up with its mutations, but its symptoms will not be more severe that those of previous strains of the virus......

[PeteC]

I think this finally puts to rest any theory that it originated in the Wuhan laboratory. More disturbing is that the wild animal trade is still flourishing unregulated, which makes a repeat pandemic of some kind almost a certainty.

Genetic ghosts suggest Covid’s market origins

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8095xjg4po

A team of scientists say it is “beyond reasonable doubt” the Covid pandemic started with infected animals sold at a market, rather than a laboratory leak.

They were analysing hundreds of samples collected from Wuhan, China, in January 2020.

The results identify a shortlist of animals – including racoon dogs, civets and bamboo rats – as potential sources of the pandemic.....

[pharvey]

Personally, I don't think it truly puts anything to rest regarding the Wuhan Lab or numerous other potential sources of Covid or other diseases. The disease(s) originate (in the most part) from Mammals (Bats in the case of Covid) and the lab in Wuhan is widely known for making tests on these "Mammals" and (enhancing?) the diseases they carry.
This report simply highlights the huge dangers of the out of control "Animal Trade". The issue is massively unhygienic "Wet Markets" and Market places in the likes of China and Hong Kong (well, Kowloon really) - I won't go into the horrors I've seen in India, but China as a whole is worse mainly due to the corruption and Mafia wannabes involved in the Animal Trade, which in turn involves all Market places and hence the transition to humans via food. There's an infamous marketplace in Kowloon where exotic (and endangered) animals/mammals/birds/fish are sold - it's not in full view, Tourists will never know it's there (the police do, as do locals) and it's literally in the same building as a food market.

Nature created it, humans most certainly had a huge part to play in it's "enhancement" and spread.

When you look at the state of the World these days, the Wars, the Crime, the Politics, do you really think the whole "Wuhan Lab" thing was a Conspiracy Theory, or is there the likelihood of countries weaponising viruses?

[Suua]

Here's another take on this......

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/0 ... for-covid/

This is just a short snippet from the short article.....sums things up nicely.

"The new paper’s reasoning demands that a single infected raccoon dog somehow souped up a bat virus enough to spark a global human pandemic without sparking even a single other case among, er, raccoon dogs – and then vanished into thin air."

"There are thousands of markets selling raccoon dogs all over China and south-east Asia. Yet by spectacular bad luck, the virus turned up only in the one city in the whole of Asia that has a laboratory focused on collecting, studying, growing and genetically manipulating SARS-like viruses and infecting humanised mice with them: Wuhan."

[PeteC]

Yes, unfortunately I think we need to revive this thread, hopefully for the short term. See the Booster Vaccine thread as well.

Covid drug output boosted as cases surge in Thailand

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... n-thailand

.......Officials said on Monday that 53,597 new cases and five additional deaths had been recorded in Thailand from May 18-24, bringing total fatalities this year to 46......

[PeteC]

Note: Some schools have gone to on-line already, and the wearing of masks is now prevalent everywhere once again.

[Big Boy]

The increase in cases is partly due to public gatherings and the rainy season, with Covid-19 now considered an endemic disease.

A.K.A. Post Songkran surge.

[Lost]

Note: Some schools have gone to on-line already, and the wearing of masks is now prevalent everywhere once again.

Hope it's not primary school students. The shutting of schools for children was probably the most deplorable act of all the weirdness during the start of it all.

[caller]

Seems like the Govt. is telling schools to stay open

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... pite-covid

[Big Boy]

This will help Thailand's visitor crisis.

Highly infectious new Covid strain hits three holiday destinations with symptoms alert

The WHO has warned over a surge in Covid cases with the new variant now responsible for more than 10 per cent of all infections.

The World Health Organisation has designated the new strain NB.1.8.1 as a 'variant under monitoring' amid concern about the sharp rise in cases.

By late April 2025, NB.1.8.1 comprised roughly 10.7% of all submitted sequences – up from just 2.5% four weeks before. It is already the dominant strain in Hong Kong and China. Lara Herrero Associate Professor and Research Leader in Virology and Infectious Disease, at Griffith University said thanks to multiple mutations the new strain ' may infect cells more efficiently than earlier strains'.

This strain has been identified in several countries, including Australia, the US, and it is suspected to be present in the UK as well.

But importantly, the WHO has not yet observed any evidence it causes more severe disease compared to other variants. Reports suggest symptoms of NB.1.8.1 should align closely with other Omicron subvariants.

"Common symptoms include sore throat, fatigue, fever, mild cough, muscle aches and nasal congestion. Gastrointestinal symptoms may also occur in some cases."

A World Health Organisation report warned: "SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve, and between January and May 2025, there were shifts in global SARS-CoV-2 variant dynamics. At the beginning of the year, the most prevalent variant tracked by WHO at the global level was XEC, followed by KP.3.1.1.

"In February, circulation of XEC began to decline while that of LP.8.1 increased, with the latter becoming the most detected variant in mid-March. Since mid-April, the circulation of LP.8.1 has been slightly declining as NB.1.8.1 is increasingly being detected."

The new strain is being detected in significant numbers in the Eastern Mediterranean, which includes popular tourist destination Egypt, as well as in South East Asia, including Thailand and the Maldives.

According to the WHO, recent increases have also been observed in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

The report advises: " WHO recommends that countries remain vigilant, adapt to evolving epidemiological trends, and leverage COVID-19 management strategies to strengthen systems for all respiratory disease threats. Member States should continue offering COVID-19 vaccines in line with WHO recommendations.

"Based on the current risk assessment of this event, WHO advises against imposing travel or trade restrictions."

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/20 ... toms-alert?