Master debunker Michael Fumento casts shade on the virulence of the Coronavirus; Look at the Numbers, Not the Hysteria

Mike Konrad wrote an informative article saying that, even if the Coronavirus is as serious as the media says, we Americans have good medical care, including antibiotics for secondary infections and steroids to control some of the worst symptoms. Now Michael Fumento, debunker extraordinaire, says that, on the available evidence, the newest virus is (a) just another virus and (b) not likely to ravage American shores.

The media is flogging the Coronavirus as if it’s the new Ebola. That’s very fertile soil because we have locked in our memories horrific images out of Africa, showing people lying dead in the streets and, in one particularly disturbing scene on some news show, a three-year-old boy shunned by everyone in his village, including his parents, until he lay down and died, alone, in the dirt.

But this isn’t Ebola. China isn’t Africa. And we, thank goodness, are neither China nor Africa. One of the blessings of life in 21st century America is that we have ways of dealing with diseases that were once deadly.

Michael Fumento blames the media for the hype and proceeds to debunk the scare on the facts. After describing a masked CNN reporter standing in total isolation, something that makes the mask pointless, Fumento explains why someone would do something so silly:

It’s called “drama,” which is badly needed, because there appears to be nothing very special about this outbreak of the 2019-nCoV or Wuhan virus. It should actually be called the DvV, or Déjà vu Virus, because we have been through these hysterias before. Over and over. Heterosexual AIDS, Ebola repeatedly, the H1N1 swine flu that was actually vastly milder than the regular flu and, especially, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003.

[snip]

That is, knowingly, intentionally, and with malice aforethought, setting out to do so, using other people as the killers. How much easier then to have an oopsie with an engineered virus?

But what reason would the Chi-coms have today for purposely infecting their own country with an engineered virus that they can’t seem to control and that may have devastating impact on their economy and unlike the atrocities and mass killings you mentioned, don’t seem to be targeting specific groups of people that the Chi-coms might like to see eliminated.

Add to that the fact that it has spread to other countries including the US, there is reason to believe we’d be able to figure out the origin and whether it was “engineered” or not.

Or “how much easier is for viruses to do naturally what they do and have done for thousands of years?”

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30251-8/fulltext

Findings

The ten genome sequences of 2019-nCoV obtained from the nine patients were extremely similar, exhibiting more than 99·98% sequence identity. Notably, 2019-nCoV was closely related (with 88% identity) to two bat-derived severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like coronaviruses, bat-SL-CoVZC45 and bat-SL-CoVZXC21, collected in 2018 in Zhoushan, eastern China, but were more distant from SARS-CoV (about 79%) and MERS-CoV (about 50%). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 2019-nCoV fell within the subgenus Sarbecovirus of the genus Betacoronavirus, with a relatively long branch length to its closest relatives bat-SL-CoVZC45 and bat-SL-CoVZXC21, and was genetically distinct from SARS-CoV. Notably, homology modelling revealed that 2019-nCoV had a similar receptor-binding domain structure to that of SARS-CoV, despite amino acid variation at some key residues.

Interpretation

2019-nCoV is sufficiently divergent from SARS-CoV to be considered a new human-infecting betacoronavirus. Although our phylogenetic analysis suggests that bats might be the original host of this virus, an animal sold at the seafood market in Wuhan might represent an intermediate host facilitating the emergence of the virus in humans. Importantly, structural analysis suggests that 2019-nCoV might be able to bind to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor in humans. The future evolution, adaptation, and spread of this virus warrant urgent investigation.

“Nearly died. But first rate treatment and 4 days in isolation and I walked out fine. I was 100% within several weeks after.”

The guy in Seattle is in isolation. A two-bed room away from the rest of the hospital. Guards. He is in stable condition.

I’m not sure what happens if/when two more people get the virus (put a mattress on the floor?). (Or ten. Or 100.)

“Even if (and that’s a BIG if) China wanted to honestly report the true numbers, they couldn’t.”

The doctor from John Hopkins said that with SARS, the tests weren’t all that reliable.

He posted a twitter post (I know) that said they tested this virus on a person showing symptoms numerous times. The third test (5 days?) finally showed a positive result.

Of the 400 people reported to no longer have 2019 nCoV, 187 recovered and 213 died.

Number of fatalities divided by total cases resolved yields a net result of 53% fatalities.

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

From a quick search, the City of Wuhan has a population density of 17,979 people per square mile.

NYC is 27,759 people per square mile.

However, I would probably fly to NYC for medical care before I went to Wuhan.

However, In Taiwan I had a minor injury. It was nothing, but the client insisted I go to the hospital. They treated me like I was the most important person in Taiwan. I felt bad as they rushed me in, in front of locals in much worse shape.

All of the tests they were running, several x-rays, etc, I was thinking “Boy I’m glad I took out that travel medical insurance!”

They gave me the bill. It was $80 or something! And the client (Taiwan Government) paid.

“Johns Hopkins has changed that graph so that the axes are different. Looks like it’s levelling off now.”

So are the numbers actually leveling off - or is it just the change in the axis?

Like Mark Twain said.

“Lies. Damned lies. And statistics.” (Or - how the statistics are displayed.)

I’m not playing. SARS killed about 10% of its victims in China and Hong Kong. This bug appears to be killing at a rate of over 50% - again, over there - if you compare official number of deaths to the official number of case resolved one way or the other.

So to just snort at this bug and not expect it to kill of some of its victims — certainly not 50 to 60%, but some smaller, significant portion - is insane. Fumento the debunker is officially debunked!

So, as I’m over 50, I’m trying to get my pneumonia and shingles shots, because if I don’t and I catch this bug, and secondary pneumonia and shingles infections rage as a consequence, I could very well not be long for this world.

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