Shi Zhengli worried about laboratory virus leakage

Reporter : Zhong Gusheng
Editor : Ming Xuan
Publisher : New Tang Dynasty Television
Ref : https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/04/28/a102834069.html
Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan
                                 / KUCINTA SETIA

Image : The picture shows Shi Zhengli's speech at Shanghai Jiaotong University in November 2018. (Web image)

International media focused on the origin of the virus SARS-CoV-2 responsible for the disease COVID-19, and the P4 laboratory of Wuhan Institute of Viology has attracted much attention. A few days ago, French media again questioned that the virus may have leaked from the laboratory, and mentioned that when the epidemic broke out in Wuhan last year, Shi Zhengli of Wuhan P4 Laboratory was once in anxiety and fear, claiming to have not closed her eyes for several nights.

The French newspaper Le Monde reported on 25 April 2020 that Shi Zhengli, the Head of the virus infection center of the P4 laboratory, had repeatedly recalled each of her research, every action, and kept asking herself if the virus leaked out from the laboratory. Shi Zhengli once told a reporter from the the American monthly Science, "This really messed my mind and I could not close my eyes."

Le Monde said that Shi Zhengli is not well-known abroad, but she is well-known in China because she is good at researching bats. She is called "bat woman" by mainland Chinese media.

The report also mentioned that there are multiple virus laboratories in Wuhan, and Shi Zhengli's research requires laboratories with P3 and P4 security levels. Among them, the P4 laboratory is located about 30 kilometres southwest of Wuhan. It is a light gray bunker, with towers and office buildings on the sides and woods behind. The address is difficult to find. Both the official website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Google Maps incorrectly locate it in the old virus research institute near East Lake.

The report said that in addition to Shi Zhengli, US diplomatic officials visited the Wuhan P4 laboratory in 2018 and were worried about the safety of the laboratory. The US believes that there is a lack of properly trained researchers and investigators there.

However, it was first suspected that the Chinese leaked the CCP virus in the laboratory. Starting from the low in January this year, Chinese netizens began to suspect the P4 laboratory and the Wuhan Center for Disease Control Center near the South China Seafood Market in Wuhan. The latter's security level is low, and its researcher Tian Junhua's video of capturing bats in caves was once circulating on the Internet. The China media also publicly admitted that people are easily infected by bat viruses when catching bats.

Cui Yongyuan, a former CCTV host in China, launched a 10-day poll on Twitter. Of the 10,000 people who answered, 51% believed that the CCP virus was accidentally leaked from the laboratory, and 24% thought it was intentionally spread. 12% of people think it is natural. In addition, the Chinese Communist Party also made major decisions, including sending military biological and chemical weapons major general Chen Wei to Wuhan at the end of January to take over the P4 laboratory.

The report said that about six people in Wuhan’s P4 laboratory had gone to the Laboratoire Jean-Mérieux laboratory in Lyon, France, for a three-week training, including thousands of exercises in diving suits to breathe, calculate movements, cut or link the gas supply valve. Before starting the experiment every time, be careful to avoid forgetting safety procedures. The Wuhan P4 laboratory, which is a Sino-French cooperation, also has multiple decompression air locks, which must be opened by a card reading system. There is also an anti-fouling shower at the exit.

The report also mentioned that there are a large number of students in and out of the Wuhan P4 laboratory, where researchers sometimes bring 20 students at the same time, while a French researcher can bring up to 3 students.

French neuroscientist Gernan Alexis Génin said that China’s scientific research projects are not transparent and sometimes do not comply with scientific medical ethics, which may lead to deviations. Moreover, in the pursuit of high productivity, many young researchers take turns to do experiments, which will increase the risk of operation errors and infection.

The report also mentioned that because of concerns about the risk of biological pollution, the French medical community often has reservations. However, the CCP is very fanatical. Its primary task of scientific research is to serve as a so-called "nationally powerful" tool. Therefore, laboratories in all research fields in China are competing.

In China, there are many people who study bat coronaviruses. One of the research priorities of Shi Zhengli and her team is to reinvent the virus and make them more contagious. CCP experts claim that the purpose of this is the so-called "test treatment".

Ref:
Shi Zhengli : Unexpact SARS-like coronavirus cross-species infection will occur in Wuhan, https://staygate.blogspot.com/2020/03/shi-zhengli-unexpect-that-sars-like.html

Cambodia reports 122 covid cases and exports cases to China

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                  / KUCINTA SETIA

Image : Cambodians wearing face masks in Phnom Penh. Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP via Getty Images

According to The Phnom Penh Post on 28 April 2020, Cambodia has a cumulative number of 122 covid cases. 119 Cambodians have recovered while three patients are hospitalized.

Although the number of covid cases is lower than cases in neighbouring countries, the disease risk level for virus transmission between individuals is at an "alarming rate", Cambodia Healthy Ministry spokesperson Or Vandine warned.

“Cambodia’s coronavirus scenario is classified as being at an early stage of the pandemic because of ongoing transmissions worldwide. A second wave can occur at any instance,” she responded to The Phnom Penh Post.

Meanwhile, there are reports of Cambodia exporting undetected covid cases to China by Cambodian airlines. On average there are up to five cases weekly to China since the beginning of  April.

Cambodia Angkor Air, JC Airlines, Sky Angkor Airlines and Lanmei Airlines operate scheduled flights to China. 

According to news reports quoting the Guangdong Province Health Commission, a 37-year-old Chinese national showed covid symptoms after arriving in Guangzhou from Cambodia on 10 April 2020.

On 22 April 2020, another Chinese national, 41, was diagnosed positive with covid after leaving Phnom Penh for Guangzhou.

The two cases are allegedly related to a 45-year-old businessman who was diagnosed with covid in China on 3 April 2020.

In a media conference on 13 April 2020, Vandine pointed out that the man who lives in Phnom Penh threw a dinner party just before he left the city, and that six close contacts, including two Vietnamese, a Cambodian couple, and a Chinese national were infected with covid.

Cambodia had five covid infection clusters- Muslim event participants, Viking boaters, French tourists in Sihanoukville, Thai migrant workers and the Chinese partygoers.

The authorities have investigated the clusters although they have yet to pinpoint the original source of Covid-19 for the Chinese cluster. They continue to follow-up on three remaining contacts.

To date, 11,576 samples have been tested at the National Institute of Public Health and Institut Pasteur Du Cambodge. The figure grew by some 1,500 from last week, with 723 samples per one million population being tested.

“Between 100 and 300 samples are taken daily by our 3,000 rapid response teams throughout the Kingdom. All of them are medically trained to take samples from suspected carriers,” Or Vandine said.

Or Vandine urged people in Cambodia to continue practising safe distancing and good hygiene practices.

Rabbi : Another virus will appear, deadlier than SARS-CoV-2

Publisher : Vision Times / Secret China
Ref : https://www.secretchina.com/news/gb/2020/04/28/931277.html
Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan
                                  / KUCINTA SETIA

Image : The world masked in the pandemic. Pixabay.

SARS-CoV-2 is ravaging the world. All countries in the world are studying corresponding solutions. In a group of seminal works of Jewish mysticism, about the Jewish mystic thoughts-Kabbalah's series "Zohar" (Zohar) not only predicted the covid pandemic, but also predicted that after the virus, there will be another  more terrible virus that will be rampant around the world.

A young rabbi in Judaism, Rav Yaakov Yagen, revealed a part of "Zohar" in a speech in March 2020. "Rabbi" is an expert, scholar, and wise man of Jewish law, and has a high status in Jewish society.

Image : Rav Yaakov Yagen. Video screenshot.

This part of the predictions mentioned by Yagen is: In the last stage of the last period, the world will be hit by a pandemic. "Zohar" predicts that after the initial disease, another disease will follow. Although it is similar to the first disease, it is more lethal.

Yagen said: "This may be a very dangerous thing, it should spread, this may be the end. But God guards us, we must work harder by respecting God more, and the rest Everything is left to God, and God protects us. "

Yagen pointed out that prayer is one way to protect the public from plague and disease. He said, "Israeli sages talked about public prayers, salutes to synagogues and other similar important things that saved us from the (plague) epidemic. Therefore, the more we work in these areas, the less we have to panic , We can remain calm and believe that God will be with us. "

Later, Yagen quoted "Zohar" (page 172 b) to explain, "Ultimately, in the Messianic era, first of all, a virus will spread around the world and people will exercise some control over it. After that, there will be another virus, which is similar to the first virus, but more deadly than the first virus. This will be God's way of purifying the world so that the Messiah can come. "

According to "Zohar", mankind has come to an end, but instead of waiting for the end, it greets the arrival of the Messiah at the end. He hopes that people can sincerely confess and pray, over the end, toward a pure and bright future.

Image : Rabbi Pinto. Video screenshot.

In February 2020, Breaking Israel News reported that a Jewish rabbi named Yosef Pinto had spoken about the severity of covid earlier.

The report said that in early January of this year, when Wuhan pneumonia was not widely known, the internationally renowned Rabbi Pinto, who lives in Morocco, announced that he saw a terrible sight on Sabbath.

Pinto told his followers in a recorded speech that shocking events will occur in this world, no less than the assassination of world leaders or the terrorist attacks of 9/11. He said, "This world will experience a shocking event, it will be loaded into the annals of history and become one of the worst events in history."

Pinto confirmed in a statement issued in February that what he saw was indeed related to covid. He said that this wave of epidemic originating from China will develop into a catastrophe all over the world and will impact every corner of the world.

Pinto said, "Since the outbreak, tens of thousands of people have died in China, millions of people have been quarantined for several weeks, and those who have not died of disease are starving to death."

Pinto noted in Chapter 30 of the Book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament of the Bible, God promised, "I will vent my anger on Sin." In modern Hebrew, "Sin" means China.

Pinto said he knew that what he said would make people feel scared, but everyone must pray for the world, light candlelight, and seek God's forgiveness.

Different US airlines' policies on wearing face masks

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                  / KUCINTA SETIA

Image : Web Screenshot

According to a CNBC news report, all passengers and flight attendants on JetBlue must wear face masks from 4 May 2020. This is the most stringent regulation among US airlines on containing the spread of SARS-CoV-2. 

American Airlines and Delta Airlines said earlier on Monday that they would require thousands of employees to wear face masks and provide masks for passengers but American Airlines and Delta do not force passengers to wear masks.

American Airlines said it will begin issuing face masks and disinfectant wipes to passengers in May 2020, and requires about 30,000 flight attendants to wear masks while working.

Delta Airlines said that from 28 April to 30 June 2020, if the distance cannot be maintained within six feet, employees must wear face masks. "Therefore it strongly encourages passengers to wear masks. Delta will provide masks at ticket offices, gates and inflight.

Earlier, United Airlines and Frontier Airlines also required flight attendants to wear masks. United is the first major airline to require flight attendants to wear masks.

New vaccine allows plasmodium parasites to destroy themselves

Reporter : Tang Yichen
Publisher : China Science Daily
Ref :http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2020/4/438787.shtm
Translation using Google

Image : New research has discovered an antibody, usually found in children with natural immunity to severe malaria, which attacks a special malaria protein called PfGARP. Image source: Kurtis Lab / Big Ocean

On 22 April 2020, a study published by Nature showed that researchers screened blood samples of children with innate immune resistance to severe malaria and found an antibody against the special malaria protein PfGARP protects children from severe malaria.

Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes that kills nearly 500,000 people every year. Previous efforts to develop anti-malarial vaccines have had only limited success.

The study lasted nearly 20 years and began with an epidemiological study led by Michal Fried and Patrick Duffy of the National Institute of Health. Since 2001, they have begun to recruit a group of children in Tanzania. These children were included in the study as soon as they were born, and the researchers followed them for many years to see who among them had a naturally acquired immune response to malaria.

Finally, the Kurtis team selected 12 drug-resistant and 14 susceptible children from the Tanzania cohort. The researchers observed blood samples collected from children around the age of two, and children of this age appeared to have naturally acquired immunity. The researchers used a complicated method to introduce malaria proteins into each blood sample one by one in order to find any antibodies for specific proteins present in the immune sample rather than the susceptible sample, and found that PfGARP is a potential for resistance factor.

Laboratory tests have shown that PfGARP antibodies seem to activate the self-destructive mechanism of malaria, causing parasites parasitic in human red blood cells to undergo a programmed cell death. The researchers then tested whether the antibody response to PfGARP was related to immunity in a large sample of 246 children. They found that children without anti-PfGARP antibodies were 2.5 times more likely to have severe malaria than children with antibodies.

Researchers say that human vaccine trials may be years away, and it is impossible to determine whether it will be effective. However, the research team said that there is reason to believe that this new strategy may succeed where others fail. This is because it attacks the parasite at different times than other vaccines during the infection cycle.

An existing vaccine aimed at the first stage, aimed at preventing liver infections, has limited effectiveness. Kurtis said that part of the reason is that the time window for intervention is too small. "The parasite takes only 5 minutes from the mosquito to the liver," he said. "Because it is very fast, it needs a lot of antibodies to stop it. If only one spore enters, you have malaria."

This new vaccine is aimed at the trophozoite stage, which can last up to one day. The researchers hope that the longer the intervention, the less antibody will be needed to kill the parasites, and a more effective vaccine will be developed.

Related paper information: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2220-1

Severe covid patients under 'nucleic acid test turned negative' claim discharged and transferred to another

Reporter : Zhong Gusheng
Editor : Ming Xuan
Publisher : New Tang Dynasty Television
Ref : https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/04/27/a102833060.html
Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan
                                 / KUCINTA SETIA

Image courtesy : Severe covid cases discharged and transferred to another hospital face exorbitant treatment charges. The Epoch Times.

On 26 April 2020, the China Communist Party announced that Wuhan had no hospitalized patients with covid, and was questioned again for "political zeroing." On the same day, serious family members reported to The Epoch Times that their father discharged was transferred to another hospital a few days ago and could no longer be contacted directly. Although his father continued to receive rescue, the doctor told the test to be "negative" and the father no longer a confirmed patient.

At the press conference of the Joint Defense and Joint Control Mechanism of the State Council of the CPC on the 26th, Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health and Health Commission of the Communist Party of China, declared that the number of covid patients hospitalized in Wuhan has reduced to "zero".  Like the previous "zeroing" of Wuhan square cabin hospitals and the "zeroing" of newly confirmed cases, this "zeroing" was again questioned by the outside world.

On the same day, The Epoch Times published an interview with Ms. He, the daughter of a severe covid patient in Wuhan, unveiling some of the truth about the “zeroing” of Wuhan ’s inpatients. Recently, Ms. He asked for help online to expose her family's tragic experience. In an interview with The Epoch Times, she recounted the details of her father's forced transfer to hospital and losing contact.

Ms. He said that after her diagnosis in January this year, her father was transferred to Jinyintan Hospital, which specializes in treating infected patients, during which time her condition deteriorated and she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Because of the isolation treatment, the family could not see the father, and they used to contact each other via mobile phone. But more than a month ago, his father suddenly stopped answering the phone. The nurse answered the phone and said that my father had lost consciousness in shock and was being rescued. After that, the family lost contact with their father.

On 11 April, her father was suddenly transferred from Jinyintan Hospital to (Wuhan University) Zhongnan Hospital, and the family was notified afterwards. Ms. He only read the news to know that this time, the official discharged and transferred most of the remaining serious illnesses patients from Jinyintan Hospital to Zhongnan Hospital. She also contacted a critically ill family member afterwards. His father was also transferred from Jinyintan Hospital to Zhongnan Hospital on the same day.

According to the notice from Zhongnan Hospital, Ms. He's father is still receiving treatment in ICU of Zhongnan Hospital but because his father "nucleic acid detection has turned negative," the follow-up huge medical covid treatment requires family members to pay for the treatment at their own expense. The hospital is now urging more than 50,000 yuan in costs, which has left the family in trouble. The hospital told Ms He, "If you do not pay, your father will face the risk of dying after giving up treatment. If you continue to pay, even if you sell the property, he may not last long."

Ms. He questioned that even if her father "test turned negative," the result was detected at Jinyintan Hospital. Why did Jinyintan Hospital not ask them to pay the expenses, but another hospital is charging for treatment?

Regarding the “nucleic acid test turned negative” claimed by the hospital, Ms. He did not mention that her family had seen the test result.

According to a report on the Xinhua News Agency website on 12 April 2020, 14 severely ill and critically ill patients in the ICU ward of Jinyintan Hospital had “nucleic acid detection all turned negative”, of which 11 patients were transferred to hospitals such as Zhongnan Hospital that day, and 3 patients remained in Jinyintan were also removed from the ICU. This means that the ICU ward of Jinyintan Hospital has completed the "zeroing" of patients.

Anti-AIDS and anti-influenza drugs ineffective in treating adult patients with covid symptoms

Reporter : Feng Lifei
Publisher : China Science Daily
Ref : http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2020/4/438992.shtm
Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan
                                 / KUCINTA SETIA

The anti-AIDS drugs lopinavir / ritonavir (LPV / Kaletra) and the anti-influenza drug arbidol have also recently been used to treat covid caused by SARS-CoV-2 but according to a newly published exploratory randomized controlled study, among adult patients with mild to moderate symptoms of covid, the clinical results were not obvious compared with those receiving supportive therapy. Related research results were published in Med, a journal of Cell Press, on 17 April 2020.

Li Linghua, one of the corresponding authors of this study and the Deputy Director of the Infectious Diseases Center of the Eighth People's Hospital of Guangzhou, said, "We found that neither lopinavir / ritonavir treatment nor abidol treatment improved the patient's clinical outcome. There may also be some side effects. Although the sample size is small, we think this study can still remind everyone that these two drugs should be used more rationally and cautiously in the treatment of covid. "

"The reason why I chose lopinavir / ritonavir and arbidol for research is because these two antiviral drugs are listed as candidates for the treatment of COVID-19 in the "Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Diagnosis and Treatment Program (Trial Version 6)" on 19 February 2020 and have been supported by clinical data because of the effectiveness of the two drugs in the treatment of SARS and MERS, They have proved effective against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro cell tests.", Li said.

Previous researchers have found that lopinavir / ritonavir failed to improve the prognosis of patients with severe novel coronavirus pneumonia / COVID-19 (covid, in short), and Li Linghua pointed out, "Determine whether lopinavir / ritonavir is effective against covid / COVID -19 in patients with mild to moderate symptoms. If they are effective, it can be used to prevent mild to moderate disease from becoming severe, thereby helping to reduce mortality. "

A total of 86 patients with mild-to-moderate covid participated in this study. Among them, 34 patients were randomly selected to receive lopinavir / ritonavir treatment, 35 were treated with abidol, and the remaining 17 were used as control groups to receive antiviral medication. The clinical results of the three groups of patients were similar on the 7th and 14th days. Among the two groups of antiviral treatment, there was no difference in the fever reduction rate, cough symptom relief rate and chest CT image improvement rate, but these two groups patients had adverse reactions such as diarrhea, nausea, and loss of appetite during the follow-up period, while the control group had no obvious adverse reactions.

Li Linghua said, "This study shows that treatment must be carefully considered before deciding to use these drugs on patients. Researchers should indeed continue to work hard to find a truly effective solution for anti-viral treatment of covid, but before drawing any conclusions, scientific and rigorous clinical trials are required, and due care must be exercised. However, although no special anti-covid drugs have been found, the public / everyone need not panic, as long as strict isolation and good personal hygiene are maintained , we can largely avoid infection with SARS-CoV-2, and even if unfortunately infected, the vast majority of patients can return to health under the current comprehensive treatment. "

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.medj.2020.04.001