Posted on 12/30/2022 12:48:58 PM PST by lightman
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will consider sampling wastewater taken from international flights to track any emerging new variants coming from China.
The wastewater test policy is one of several options the CDC is considering to help slow the spread of new variants from other countries, the agency told Reuters.
Countries around the world are enacting testing requirements after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced an ease in border restrictions and international travel beginning Jan. 8.
The CDC announced on Dec. 28 that it will implement a negative COVID-19 test requirement for passengers flying to the United States from China, Hong Kong, and Macau while infections surge there.
A lack of transparency regarding reliable medical data from Beijing has raised many concerns regarding standard CDC testing policies.
World Prepares for Travelers
Other countries, like Italy and Japan, have instituted similar travel restrictions requiring negative COVID-19 tests for travelers coming from China.
U.S. testing requirements for travelers from China will begin on Jan. 5. The CDC also said that it would “periodically reassess” and reinstate testing requirements as required.
Passengers over the age of 2 must show a negative result from either a PCR or rapid antigen test performed or monitored by a licensed health professional within two days of departure, the CDC said.
Visitors could alternatively provide a document of recovery if they tested positive more than 10 days before their flight.
Beijing’s Lack of Transparency Concerns Health Analysts
The surge in cases in China is difficult for foreign observers to validate because of the CCP’s decision to restrict access to public health data and its redefining of pandemic-related fatalities to those caused by respiratory failure.
Carlos del Rio, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, commented on the situation in a Twitter post.
“What needs to be clear is what is the objective of this policy and how do we evaluate it. Also, if we are not trusting information coming out of china why would we trust the testing they will implement for passengers fling [sic] out of China?” del Rio wrote.
The CDC also expanded its voluntary genomic sequencing program at airports this week, adding Seattle and Los Angeles—which are major points of entry from China—to the program.
This will bring the total number of U.S. airports gathering information from positive COVID-19 tests to seven, but some scientists say this does not provide a meaningful sample size.
The CCP has said that most criticism of its virus statistics was groundless and that there was little risk of new variants. Beijing officials claim that any future virus mutations would likely be more infectious, but less severe over time.
Wastewater Testing Effective at Detecting Variants
CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund told Reuters that the CDC is burdened with a lack of transparency about the virus from Beijing, after it terminated its strict lockdown and testing policies, and wastewater testing is one option the agency is considering.
“Previous COVID-19 wastewater surveillance has shown to be a valuable tool and airplane wastewater surveillance could potentially be an option,” Nordlund said.
In July, researchers in California detected different variants of the CCP virus in samples of community wastewater in San Diego at least 14 days before the variants began showing up on nasal swabs, Reuters reported.
The same month, scientists in France reported that airplane wastewater tests proved that requiring negative pre-boarding COVID-19 tests did not protect countries from the spread of new variants.
The French team found the omicron variant in wastewater on two flights from Ethiopia to France in December 2021, despite every passenger being screened with tests before boarding.
Monitoring the genetic development of the virus and sampling wastewater could be helpful, but testing takes time, David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Reuters.
“I think we should be cautious in how much we expect those data will be able to truly inform our ability to respond,” he noted.
I used to always get ill after an airliner flight. Then, one day, I saw a youtube video explaining exactly why you should NEVER drink the coffee on an airliner. I used to get coffee all the time on flights. Ever since I stopped, I no longer get ill after flights. I don’t mean a little queasy, either. I mean sick for a day or two.
Don’t quit your day job ...
How about the hundreds of thousands of illegals peeing in the Rio Grande?
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will consider sampling wastewater taken from international flights to track any emerging new variants coming from China.”
The CDC must really HATE CHINA - perhaps it’s best to shut them down, at this point.
Will you F*CKING IDIOTS at CDC wake up???
BAN ALL FLIGHTS FROM CHINA!!!!
China is INTENTIONALLY spreading COVID to the World. If the infection rate in China is SO BAD, why are their international airports still open??
CDC, you can take your VAX, Masks, and Lockdowns and shove them up your collective asses SIDEWAYS.
I think the CDC should be tested for active brain waves...
No more coffee for you today…
:)
Calling Mike Rowe
This is a job for Faucci.
Yep. We should help him dive head first into this issue…
the CDC literally bee-essing about bee-ess. it fits them and their creepy, unconstitutional, unscientific snooping to a T. lol.
“will consider sampling wastewater taken from international flights to track any emerging new variants coming from China.”
Are you kidding? “Considering?”. They are not already treating it as the Bio-hazardous waste that it already is?
I agree its a shitty, but even if this information is gleaned it doesn’t sound cost effective for anything.
Consider, it might take a long time to find evidence of an infectious disease, can that be done in time to properly quarantine any travelers?
China lifts Covid restrictions
For us?
Who’s in charge ?
CDC is right on board with China. Hello
“In July, researchers in California detected different variants of the CCP virus in samples of community wastewater in San Diego at least 14 days before the variants began showing up on nasal swabs, Reuters reported.”
Sampling sewage waste in the north SF bay area has proved to be a valid Covid predictor of the newest variants ready to appear in the area, after being tested and sampled.
Don’t know how that would work with passengers from around the world flying into the bay area.
Leaving their stools and urine waste products/cultures into the plane’s human waste containers to be mixed with other passengers waste by products on their flights to this or any area.
Then, going to their homes/offices in different bay area cities/areas or out of California.
Can envision one of SOT Buttguy’s testers ... smells, looks like, tastes like Omnicron variant 1.5.
Are you kidding? “Considering?”. They are not already treating it as the Bio-hazardous waste that it already is?
They're testing it to detect new variants, not to treat it as a bio-hazard so they can burn the waste. Covid in a plane's wastewater tank is harmless, it's not like they're going to take it and spray it over a football game or something.
The last three years should have taught us that lockdowns and masks don't work. The only thing that really works is natural immunity, letting nature take it's course to build up immunity in the population combined with a gradual weakening of the virus through it's variants. Far too little attention was paid to treating the sick and proactive treatment was actively discouraged by the medical & political communities. Monoclonal antibodies worked wonders but was pushed to the back burner in favor of lockdowns, masks, and dubious vaccines. There's no telling how many lives could have been saved if the first line of treatment had been monoclonal antibodies instead of telling people to stay home and call us when you're ready to go on a respirator.
China's lockdowns didn't work and now they're forced to admit it. It's no surprise, they didn't work anywhere else either. As for why are China's international airports open, they belong to China so if they want to open them they'll do it.
“I think the CDC should be tested for active brain waves...”
Ladies and gentlemen (those that are not - ISGAS), we have here the winnah!
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