Year: 2020
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Philippines to conduct human trials for China-developed COVID-19 vaccine
The Philippines will soon be joining either Phase Two or Phase Three of the clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech. According to Science and Technology secretary Fortunato Dela Pena, the trials will likely begin September 2020. The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has recently approved the country’s participation in at least five…
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Scientific fraud at top medical journals affect world COVID-19 policy
In late May, the World Health Organization (WHO) halted the use of hydroxychloroquine in clinical trials for possible COVID-19 treatments. This came after The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published a paper showing that people who took hydroxychloroquine were at higher risk of complications due to COVID-19 which could then lead to…
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Science clear: Lift lockdowns
It has been three months since the pandemic has been declared, what do we now know about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19? Integrating information from the many researches being done around the world, authors from the Swiss Policy Research offer a more objective picture of the state of the coronavirus pandemic. They show us that there is…
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Open Advisory to the IATF and Media Editors: UP Projections Flawed, Ignore It and Remove Lockdown
Yesterday, Independence Day, the front page of The Manila Times newspaper headlined a study from the University of the Philippines. It said: “Covid transmission significant – experts. 40,000 cases seen in June”. [efn_note]https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/06/12/news/headlines/covid-transmission-significant-experts/731127/[/efn_note] The “experts” advised not to lift the lockdown. For many, this news headline was the last thing they wanted to see. Instead…
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Vaccines: Trojan Horses for Global Sterilization and Surveillance
This article is Part 2 of the series Vaccine: Salvation or Damnation. See Part 1 here. In Part 1, we saw many political leaders warning that the lockdown will not be lifted unless we have the necessary vaccines. One very prominent voice that has articulated that point of view is Bill Gates. In his own blog…
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Vitamin D levels play a role in COVID-19 severity
Utilizing global data from 10 countries, researchers from Northwestern University found that patients from countries with high COVID-19 mortality rates had lower levels of vitamin D compared to patients from countries that were not as severely affected. Vadim Backman, lead researcher for this study said that their team discovered a strong correlation between vitamin D…
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Dr. John Lee: We have no idea how many lives have been lost due to COVID-19
In this article for The Spectator, pathologist Dr. John Lee talks about the changes in UK’s death certification which happened early on in the pandemic. Dr. Lee says that for COVID-19 only, one doctor’s certification is necessary (whereas previous guidelines required two doctors to certify death). Care home providers, many of whom are not medically trained,…
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WHO: Asymptomatics aren’t driving the spread of the coronavirus
In a video statement released by the World Health Organization yesterday, June 8, 2020, it said that asymptomatic spread is very rare. According to Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, this finding has several policy implications. In light of this discovery, Dr. Van Kerkhove says that the more important…
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Schools in the Netherlands are reopening, and children do not have to maintain social distance
This May article published by Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland reports that when schools reopen in the country, children up to 17 years do not need to maintain social distance at school. This decision comes as the Dutch National Institute for Public Health has discovered that less than 1% of COVID-19 patients in the country and around the world…
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The hidden danger of lockdowns: Indoor air pollution
As lockdowns were imposed in countries around the world, news of improved environmental conditions started flooding social media feeds. In the the US, air pollution was reported to have dropped by 30%. Meanwhile, levels of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds inside homes increased by 15 to 30%. In this article for Scientific American, Emily Anthes…
