Here’s some good news, putting together two widely separate news items in time and space.
Item #2 reported today comes from the hardest-hit region of Italy, Lombardy. A doctor reports a much weakened virus:
“In reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy.”
“The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago.”
How does that happen? How do viruses weaken? They mutate. Pieces of their genetic codes alter within us and outside us. Let’s move to item #1, dated May 5, 2020. This is a report of research that examined closely “all 30,000 chemical letters of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, or genetic code.”
“Out of the 382 nasal swab samples the researchers examined from coronavirus patients in the state, a single sample was missing a significant chunk of its genome. Eighty-one of the letters were permanently deleted…” The same thing happened to the SARS virus in 2003. As it mutated, it weakened. This instance was a drop in the bucket, but over time further weakening may occur. That’s 26 days ago in Arizona.
Put 2 and 2 together. Italy’s virulent outbreak started sooner and the doctor says the strength of late is very small. Why not expect a similar thing elsewhere? New Zealand hasn’t had a new case in 7 days.
The efficacy of the virus over time merits continual examination.
An official end to COVID-19 anxiety should be declared now. There should be official ends announced now to all the component threads of this virus event. This crazy business should end about waiting forever and a day until a vaccine is found. Normal life should be resumed with only maintenance of the same kinds of normal cautions we exercise against any virus. The exception is that elderly people and people with health problems should shield themselves for a longer time. And the clouds hanging over HCQ and early treatments that employ HCQ should be lifted. The CDC should advise doctors not to be biased against HCQ.
The emergency should be declared lifted, so that everyone who wants to can go back to work. It should be declared over to eliminate that as a source of trouble, anxiety and depression for 1/3 of Americans.
9:16 pm on May 31, 2020
