Year: 2020
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Declining COVID-19 deaths: We need vigilance, not fear
This article was originally published by The Philippine Daily Inquirer on August 20, 2020. See https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/368963/declining-covid-19-deaths-we-need-vigilance-not-fear/#ixzz6ViZGio1e. The high infection numbers reported by the Department of Health (DOH), while instructive, are misleading. It is resulting in all kinds of misplaced, repressive and destructive policies. Farr’s Law, a fundamental law in the science of epidemics, advises us…
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Big Pharma firm will not be held responsible for side effects of COVID-19 vaccine
AstraZeneca, one of the 25 pharmaceutical companies testing their COVID-19 vaccines on humans has received immunity from future claims of damage due to the vaccine. Ruud Dobber, an executive officer of the company, says that indemnification has been added in all the contracts the company cannot take the risk of possible side effects showing years…
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WHO: Pandemic has changed, now driven by 20s, 30s, 40s
More people below 60 are testing positive for the coronavirus and the WHO is concerned. In a news report published August 18, 2020 by Reuters, Takeshi Kasai said that people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, many of whom are asymptomatic, are increasingly driving the spread of the virus. Kasai also expressed concerns that this could…
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One-size-fits-all strategy cannot work for the coronavirus
In this article for Asia Global Institute, Bryane Michael, senior fellow at the Asian Institute of International Financial Law and economic advisor to various countries, says that the best way to minimize the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic is to utilize a localized risk-based approach instead of universal and indiscriminate policies. The article, published last…
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New study found pre-existing SARS-CoV-2 immunity in general population
Findings of a new study published by Nature suggests that infection and exposure to coronaviruses induces long lasting memory T cells. Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School in collaboration with the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, the Singapore General Hospital, and the National Centre for Infectious Disease, found SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells…
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Lockdown and social distancing could make our immune system weaker
In this article for The Daily Mail, author Jack Wright reports on Sunetra Gupta’s theory that prolonged lockdowns and social distancing could actually weaken our immune system. According to Gupta, as people are cocooned inside their homes, they do not develop theory defenses against germs – defenses, she says, which are essential for fighting future…
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New CBCP pastoral letter calls for the end of lockdowns
This new pastoral letter released by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) calls on educators, seminary professors and seminarians, the Catholic faithful and the non-Catholics to discern the truth behind the appearance of seemingly unstoppable increase in SARS-CoV-2 infections. The CBCP reminds us that we are naturally endowed with a powerful defense against…
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Countries once praised for their handling of pandemic now suffering from “new” outbreaks
In this August 3, 2020 article by Emma Reynolds and Tara John for CNN, we see that several countries are now grappling with increasing infection rates, even with lockdowns and strict social distancing rules. Australia, which relaxed its social distancing measures in July was forced to reinforce lockdowns in early August as it recorded new…
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Sweden’s COVID-19 experience from the eyes of a Swedish doctor
In his article posted August 4, 2020 in his blog, Dr. Sebastian Rushworth says that the pandemic is over in Sweden. He says that he hasn’t seen a single COVID patient in over a month and at the time he wrote his article, Sweden was registering 5 COVID deaths per day in the entire country…
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Another frontliner doctor pushes back against censorship
This video from The High Wire features Dr. Lisa Koche who was inspired by the press conference at Capitol Hill by America’s Frontliner Doctors [read Read it yourself: Transcript of the first press conference of America’s Frontline Doctors]. Dr. Koche, a triple board certified physician, expresses her dismay at the censorship faced by America’s Frontliner Doctors…
