Tag Archives: Wuhan

New DARPA Docs Confirm COVID-19 Was Created In China?!

Do new DARPA documents confirm that the COVID-19 coronavirus was created in China by EcoHealth Alliance at the Wuhan Institute of Virology?!

Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Claim : New DARPA Docs Confirm COVID-19 Was Created In China!

People are sharing a post on X (formerly Twitter), which claimed or suggested that new DARPA documents confirm that the COVID-19 coronavirus was created in China by EcoHealth Alliance at the Wuhan Institute of Virology!

The video attached to the post shows an American attorney, Thomas Renz, calling for criminal investigations.

Jack Straw : #BREAKING NEWS: DARPA Unclassified documents confirm SARS-CoV-2 was created by EcoHealth Alliance at the Wuhan Institute of Virology coordinated by Peter Daszak. It was designed to be deliberately virulent and humanized resulting in 6.5 million deaths. Anthony Fauci was involved.

{Matt} $XRPatriot : #BREAKING NEWS: DARPA Unclassified documents confirm SARS-CoV-2 was created by EcoHealth Alliance at the Wuhan Institute of Virology coordinated by Peter Daszak. It was designed to be deliberately virulent and humanized resulting in 6.5 million deaths. Anthony Fauci was involved.

The story was also covered by Leading Reports:

Leading Reports : Newly Unclassified DARPA Docs Confirm SARS-CoV-2 Was Created by EcoHealth Alliance at the Wuhan Institute of Virology

Recommended : Did US Intentionally Release COVID Virus In Wuhan?!

 

Truth : No DARPA Docs Confirm COVID-19 Was Created In China!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created / circulating on X (formerly Twitter), and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Video Was Posted In December 2022

Let me start by pointing out that the video isn’t “breaking news”. It was actually posted by many Twitter users (example) in December 2022.

Fact #2 : DARPA Docs Not Mentioned In Video

If you watch the video, Thomas Renz does not actually mention any new DARPA documents, much less claim that they prove that the COVID-19 coronavirus was created in China by EcoHealth Alliance at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Fact #3 : No Evidence COVID-19 Was Created

Despite attempts to obfuscate its origins, the overwhelming evidence shows that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in Wuhan, China.

That said – it is still unknown where the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from, or how it started infecting humans.

It remains plausible that this novel coronavirus may have accidentally leaked from a lab – the Wuhan Institute of Virology remains suspect. It also remains plausible that the virus may have evolved in an animal vector that made the jump to humans due to close contact.

However, there is currently no evidence that the COVID-19 coronavirus was intentionally created by EcoHealth Alliance at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, much less designed to be virulent.

Recommended : Did GSK Make COVID-19 In Their Wuhan Lab?

Fact #4 : Major Joe Murphy Letter Was From 2021

It is uncertain what new DARPA documents people are alluding to. The Tom Renz video certainly said nothing about old or new DARPA documents, much less claim that they proved that the COVID-19 coronavirus was created in China.

It is possible that they are all referring to a letter by Major Joe Murphy, which was the basis for Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis) to demand more information from Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Lloyd Austin and Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu.

However, that Major Joe Murphy disclosure was from August 2021 – more than two years ago! Even the Ron Johnson letter was sent on 12 January 2022 – more than 1.5 years earlier!

Fact #5 : Major Joe Murphy Left DARPA

Interestingly, Major Joe Murphy stated that he left DARPA before he wrote his analysis.

While his report (PDF) appears to be printed on the DARPA letterhead, his email to an unnamed Captain stated that he wrote the analysis after leaving DARPA the previous month.

I’m reaching out to communicate some information relative to COVID that I don’t believe xxxxx or your director is aware of. You probably saw earlier this week that more official documents linking NIH and EcoHealth Alliance to the Wuhan Institute of Virology were published by The Intercept. I came across additional incriminating documents and produced an analysis shortly after leaving DARPA last month. This report was routed to the DOD IG office.

Fact #6 : Major Joe Murphy Did Not Provide Any Evidence

On top of that, the major does not appear to have actually provide any DARPA documents, or other kinds of evidence, to back up his analysis.

I should point out that that Major Joe Murphy’s degrees appear to be in general and systems engineering, and not biology, virology, or immunology. Therefore, it is unknown how accurate his analysis was, since he did not appear to include any supporting documents or evidence.

Recommended : Did COVID-19 Leak From Gilead Sciences Lab In Fort Detrick?

Fact #7 : DARPA Never Funded WIV Research In 2018

On 27 October 2022, the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions posted “An Analysis of the Origins of the COVID-19 Pandemic” (PDF).

It specifically noted the March 2018 proposal by a consortium of research entities which included the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and was led by EcoHealth Alliance, to conduct research and experiments on SARS-related coronaviruses. Ultimately, DARPA chose not to fund that project.

By 2018, the WIV showed interest in finding SARS-related coronaviruses that used human ACE2
receptors to enter cells in order to determine whether SARS antibodies would effectively neutralize those
viruses.

This research effort is described in a March 2018 grant proposal submitted to the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) by a consortium of research entities, including the WIV,
led by the U.S.-based non-governmental organization EcoHealth Alliance. The group proposed to collect
and conduct genetic recombination experiments on SARS-related coronaviruses possessing specific traits
making them “high-risk” for zoonotic spillover into animals and humans.

Notably, the proposal describes the WIV’s intent to search for SARS-related coronaviruses with
potential to bind to human ACE2 receptors and that have naturally occurring furin cleavage sites in Yunnan
Province, China.

According to the proposal, if WIV researchers were unable to find a SARS-related virus
with these traits during sampling expeditions, they then proposed to manipulate the ACE2 receptors of
SARS-related coronaviruses to increase binding affinity to human lung tissue and to insert furin cleavage
sites at the same location where one appears in SARS-CoV-2. This proposal was not ultimately funded
by DARPA.

To be clear – DARPA has never funded any actual coronavirus research by EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2018. So it is unlikely that there would be any new or old DARPA documents which would actually prove that the COVID-19 coronavirus was created at the Wuhan Institute of Virology by the EcoHealth Alliance.

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Did US Intentionally Release COVID Virus In Wuhan?!

Did the US government intentionally release the COVID-19 virus in Wuhan, to trigger a global pandemic so that people will accept vaccines?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

 

Claim : US Intentionally Released COVID Virus In Wuhan!

People are sharing an article by The Standard newspaper in Hong Kong, in which David Martin claimed that the US government intentionally released the COVID-19 virus in Wuhan, to trigger a global pandemic so that people will accept vaccines!

The article is being shared not only by anti-vaccination activists and conspiracy theorists, but also pro-CCP netizens and the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) as “evidence” that the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by the United States, and not China.

Here is an excerpt from the article. It’s long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

US ‘intentionally released Covid virus in Wuhan’ EU summit told

The Covid-19 coronavirus was “intentionally released” by the United States in Wuhan, China, with the target to trigger a global pandemic to raise public acceptance of vaccines, a US businessman specializing in patent auditing said.

David Martin, the founding chairman of M Cam asset management company, said at an International Covid Summit organized by the European Parliament in Brussels earlier this month that the US was responsible for the making of both coronaviruses causing the outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome – or SARS – in 2003 and the Covid-19 pandemic in the past three years.

Recommended : Why International COVID Summit III Criticised Vaccine!

 

Truth : US Did Not Release COVID-19 Virus In Wuhan!

This appears to be yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp and social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter, and here are the reasons why!

Fact #1 : International COVID Summit III Was Not Organised By EU Parliament

The article wrongly states that the International COVID Summit III was organised by the European Parliament.

As I explained in my previous article, the International COVID Summit III was not an official EU Parliament event. It appears to be a private conference organised by COVID-19 conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccination activists.

Held in the Anna Lindh room of the European Parliament, it was not an official EU or European Parliament event, and only 5 MEPs attended as “co-hosting members” of the event.

In other words – the speakers at this event was only “testifying” to the few attendees in the room, and to the event’s livestream, not to the European Parliament.

You can read all about the ICS3 in my earlier article, Why International COVID Summit III Criticised Vaccine!

Fact #2 : This Was The First International COVID Summit

The article also wrongly called it the “third edition of the summit”. The first International COVID Summit, and International COVID Summit 2 do not appear to exist!

What actually existed were the Global COVID-19 Summit, and the 2nd Global COVID-19 Summit, but they are both completely unrelated to this International COVID Summit III. Those were official events involving heads of states and governments, as well as heads of international organisations, NGOs, and industries across the world.

So why would this International COVID Summit jump to its “third” iteration, when this was really the first time it was held? Could it be trying to mislead people into thinking that it was the third version of the Global COVID-19 Summit?!

Fact #3 : Coronavirus Was First Isolated In 1930s

David Martin said that the first coronavirus as a model of a pathogen was isolated in 1965. Well, I have no idea what he meant by “as a model of a pathogen”, but that’s wrong on several counts.

  • first coronavirus sample (IBV) was isolated in 1930s
  • second coronavirus sample (MHV) was isolated in 1947
  • third coronavirus sample (B814) was isolated in 1961
  • fourth coronavirus sample (229-E) was isolated in 1966
  • all four virus samples were determined to be from same group, and named “coronavirus” in 1967

You can read more about this in my earlier article – Did US + UK Create COVID-19 As Bioweapon?!

Fact #4 : Vaccines Work Even When Virus Mutates

All viruses can mutate when they replicate, just like how all animals evolve through reproduction. Just because a virus mutates does not mean that vaccines stop working.

Vaccines are training programs that teach our immune system how to identify the actual virus, and make its own antibodies against it. It’s like training your army by showing them how the enemy soldiers look like and behave, so they can train and prepare for war.

The vaccines do not stay in your body to fight the COVID-19 virus. They only teach your immune system how to do that, and they do that regardless of whether the virus has mutated or not.

As viruses evolve, they may get better at evading the antibodies that your immune system developed to defeat them. But that doesn’t mean they are immune. The antibodies may not be as effective, but they will still offer some protection, reducing the risk of severe disease and death.

This isn’t just theory. During the pandemic, the first vaccines only targeted the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. But it continued to offer robust protection against the Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants that came after.

Fact #5 : No Evidence US Released COVID-19 Virus In Wuhan

Claims that the US released the COVID-19 in Wuhan to create the pandemic has been circulating since 2020, but until today – there has been ZERO EVIDENCE of that.

Pro-CCP netizens and the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) accused US soldiers like Maatje Benassi of spreading the COVID-19 virus while participating in the 2019 Military World Games. They even spread a fake video (see below), claiming to show an American soldier spreading the COVID-19 virus in a subway in Wuhan.

However, all of those claims have long been proven to be completely false. More importantly, David Martin himself did not offer any actual evidence that the US released the COVID-19 virus, intentionally or otherwise, in Wuhan.

Recommended : Was COVID-19 Created In Fort Detrick Bio Lab?

Fact #6 : Most COVID-19 Vaccines Developed By Foreign Companies

The claim that the US government would create a pandemic to drive demand for vaccines is ludicrous. For one thing – big pharmaceutical companies are public-listed companies, and many are based outside of the United States.

More importantly – most COVID-19 vaccines were developed by foreign companies:

  • Only the Moderna Spikevax vaccine was developed in the United States
  • The Pfizer COMIRNATY vaccine was developed by German company, BioNTech
  • The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was developed by Oxford University, and AstraZeneca is a UK company.
  • The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was developed by Janssen Vaccines in the Netherlands.
  • The Sinovac, Sinopharm, CanSino COVID-19 vaccines were developed in China.

So the conspiracy theory that the United States created the COVID-19 pandemic for profit is absurd…

Fact #7 : Vaccines Are Cheaper Than Cures

I should also point out that prevention is always better and CHEAPER than the cure. Vaccines may seem expensive, and a way for Big Pharma to make billions of dollars. But vaccines are still better and CHEAPER than the cures.

Vaccines prevent you from developing severe COVID-19, thus negating your need to be hospitalised – which is expensive. Sure, Big Pharma now has drugs to treat COVID-19, like PAXLOVID, but they are much more expensive.

When it comes to dollars and common sense, vaccines are cheaper and better because they prevent hospitalisation. Big Pharma would make far more money selling you everything from expensive new drugs like PAXLOVID, or machines and drugs to keep you alive in the ICU!

Recommended : Do COVID-19 Vaccines DOUBLE Heart Attack Risk?!

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!

 

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Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Did Singapore autopsy confirm COVID-19 is not a virus?!

Did Singapore conduct an autopsy that confirmed COVID-19 is not a virus, but a bacterium that causes blood clotting?!

Take a look at this new viral message, and find out what the FACTS really are!

Updated @ 2021-09-13 : Updated with Chinese version, and some small updates.
Updated @ 2021-08-23 : Updated with additional information.

Originally posted @ 2021-06-10

 

Claim : Autopsy in Singapore confirmed COVID-19 is not a Virus!

This new WhatsApp message claims that an autopsy in Singapore has finally proven that COVID-19 is not a virus, but bacteria that causes blood clotting!

It’s rather long, so skip to the next section for the facts!

Singapore has become the first country in the world to perform an autopsy (post-mortem) for a Covid-19 corpse. After a thorough investigation, it was. discovered that Covid-19 does not exist as a virus, but rather a bacterium that has been exposed to radiation and causes human death by coagulation in the blood.

Recommended : Singapore Advice On Omicron XBB Fact Check

 

Singapore COVID-19 Autopsy : Same Bullshit, Different Country

If you thought this viral message was familiar, that’s because it’s the SAME BULLSHIT that went viral earlier, just swapping out Russia for Singapore and some other changes.

Like 95% of viral messages on COVID-19 – this is yet another piece of FAKE NEWS based on some facts. Let’s examine each claim and find out what the facts really are!

First COVID-19 autopsies were conducted in China

Wuhan was the epicentre of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, and it was there that the first patients died, and where the first autopsies were conducted.

A forensics team from the Tongji Medical College of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology conducted the first autopsy of a COVID-19 patient on 16 February 2020.

By 24 February 2020, they conducted a total of nine autopsies – the results of which was published in the Journal of Forensic Medicine.

There is no WHO protocol forbidding autopsies

There is no WHO protocol that forbids autopsies of any person who died from COVID-19, or any other disease.

The World Health Organisation is an international advisory body. It has no power over individual countries, and therefore, cannot ban post-mortem autopsies in any country.

In fact, the WHO itself published guidelines on how to perform autopsies and manage the bodies of dead COVID-19 patients.

Recommended : Were self-assembling nano-structures found in mRNA vaccines?!

COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus

COVID-19 is technically not a virus. COVID-19 is the disease caused by a new coronavirus, which was initially called 2019-nCoV, before being officially named as SARS-CoV-2.

SARS-CoV-2 is a real virus

We know that the SARS-CoV-2 is a real virus, because Chinese scientists isolated it and with the help of the University of Sydney in Australia, released a draft sequence of its genome on 10 January 2020.

The complete genome of approximately 30 kilobytes in length was published on 3 February 2020.

You can look at the entire SARS-CoV-2 viral genome that was released by Chinese scientists here.

SARS-CoV-2 genome diagram. Credit : Rohan Bir Singh, MD

A virus is not a bacterium

Any half-decent student of biology can tell you that a virus is not a bacterium. They are completely different.

A virus, for example, is not even a living organism. It is just RNA or DNA encapsulated within a protein or lipid shell, and can only replicate within a host cell.

A bacterium, on the other hand, is a single-celled microorganism that can multiply by itself. It is also much more complex, with intracellular organelles and even extracellular appendages.

SARS-CoV-2 – the COVID-19 coronavirus – is a virus, not a bacterium.

Apronik does not exist

The drug, Apronik, that was mentioned in the viral message does not exist!

Recommended : Can AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine give you monkeypox?!

There is currently no cure for COVID-19

As of 13 September 2021, there is no cure for COVID-19. Only vaccines that can help prevent it.

Antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, or anti-coagulant medication cannot cure COVID-19.

Hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin cannot cure COVID-19.

Both aspirin and paracetamol are painkillers, and they won’t cure COVID-19.

Low-dose aspirin does not prevent COVID-19

100 mg is actually a low dose for aspirin, which is normally given in the form of 325 mg or 500 mg tablets to adults.

Many people already take low-dose aspirin (also called baby aspirin) – usually 81 mg – to reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes.

However, that has not prevented any of them from being infected with COVID-19.

COVID-19 can cause blood clotting

COVID-19 can cause a hypercoagulable state, in which a severe inflammatory response triggers localised blood clotting which can become generalised.

It is especially common in severe COVID-19 disease, and has nothing to do with a bacterium, or radiation.

When a COVID-19 patient presents with blood clots, they are treated with blood thinners like aspirin and heparin.

Recommended : Did study show mRNA vaccines cause autoimmune diseases?!

Now that you know the truth, please SHARE this fact check with your family and friends, so they won’t get fooled by this fake news.

COVID-19 is a dangerous disease. Protect yourself and your family – get vaccinated against COVID-19!

 

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Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Did GSK Make COVID-19 In Their Wuhan Lab?

Did GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) accidentally make COVID-19 in their Wuhan Institute of Virology laboratory?

Find out what this new viral claim (pun intended!) is all about, and what the FACTS really are!

 

Claim : GSK “Accidentally” Made COVID-19 In Wuhan Lab!

The British multinational pharmaceutical company, GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) is the new COVID-19 villain in town!

People are sharing the viral message below about GSK “accidentally” creating COVID-19 on WhatsApp, and promoting them on TikTok :

This viral message claims to expose their dastardly links to many of the world’s most evil people – Dr. Anthony Fauci, George Soros and of course, Bill Gates!

Check out the viral message below, and read on to find out what the FACTS really are!

THE SNAKES ARE COMING OUT .

The masks begin to fall off ! “The Chinese biological laboratory in Wuhan is owned by GlaxoSmithKline, which (accidentally) owns Pfizer!” (the one who makes the vaccine against the virus which (accidentally) started at the Wuhan Biological Lab and which was (accidentally) funded by Dr. Fauci, who (accidentally) promotes the vaccine ! �

“GlaxoSmithKline is (accidentally) managed by the finance division of Black Rock, which (accidentally) manages the finances of the Open Foundation Company (Soros Foundation), which (accidentally) manages the French AXA !”

Soros (accidentally) owns the German company Winterthur, which (accidentally) built a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan and was bought by the German Allianz, which (coincidentally) has Vanguard as a shareholder, who (coincidentally) is a shareholder of Black Rock, which (coincidentally) controls central banks and manages about a third of global investment capital. “Black Rock” is also (coincidentally) a major shareholder of MICROSOFT, owned by Bill Gates, who (coincidentally) is a shareholder of Pfizer (which – remember ? sells a miracle vaccine) and (coincidentally) is now the first sponsor of the WHO !

Now you understand how a dead bat sold in a wet market in China has infected the WHOLE PLANET !””

Now you know pass it on until whole world knows….

 

50 Cent Army “Accidentally” Wrote Fake Story On GSK Making COVID-19?

This looks suspiciously like another attempt by China’s 50 Cent Army to divert attention from the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic was a result of a lab leak.

Needless to say, this is completely FAKE NEWS, with a plot so convoluted that people won’t bother checking, and will just accept as true.

The truth is – EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE is a lie! It is as if the writer was paid by the lie… Interesting!

Here are the FACTS! Share them out, so we don’t become the “useful idiots” they think we are!

Fact #1 : GSK Is A Pharmaceutical Company

GSK is a pharmaceutical company. They conduct research into, and manufacture, drugs and vaccines.

There is no reason for them to operate, much less own, a Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory like the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Almost all BSL-4 facilities are operated by governments or universities, because of the high costs and strict regulations.

The two private BSL-4 labs that we know of are operated by the Merial Animal Health in Pirbright, England and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in Texas, USA.

Essential features of a NIAID Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory

Fact #2 : GSK Does Not Own Wuhan Institute of Virology

Most research institutes with BSL-4 laboratories are government-owned and -operated.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) is no different. It is owned and administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which reports to the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.

That is why you can see the acronym CAS behind the name Wuhan Institute of Virology emblazoned on the institute’s facade (see picture below).

Fact #3 : Wuhan Institute of Virology Was Established In 1956

The WIV was actually established back in 1956 as the Wuhan Microbiology Laboratory, under CAS.

It was later renamed as the South China Institute of Microbiology in 1961, the Wuhan Microbiology Institute in 1962, and the Microbiology Institute of Hubei Province in 1970.

It finally adopted its current name – the Wuhan Institute of Virology – in June 1978.

For context – China did not initiate their economic reforms – the Opening of China – until December 1978. And the privatisation of state-owned industry did not happen until the late 1980s and 1990s.

So even history shows that it is IMPOSSIBLE for GSK to own the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Fact #4 : GSK Does Not Own Pfizer

GSK and Pfizer are both publicly-listed multinational pharmaceutical companies, which means that they are both owned by their shareholders, not any one particular conglomerate.

In any case, the claim that GSK owns Pfizer is ludicrous because GSK is much smaller than Pfizer!

With a market capitalisation of about US$95 billion, GSK is much smaller than Pfizer which has a market capitalisation of over US$215 billion!

In fact, GSK is only the tenth largest pharmaceutical company, while Pfizer is the largest pharmaceutical company in the world.

Fact #5 : NIH, Not Dr. Fauci, Gave WIV A Grant

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) gave the Wuhan Institute of Virology a grant through the non-profit EcoHealth Alliance.

The EcoHealth grant partially funded WIV’s research into bat specimens collected from caves in China, to study their potential for infecting humans.

This funding was given in the aftermath of the 2002-2004 SARS epidemic, which originated from bats.

However, the grant does not involve gain-of-function research by the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Fact #6 : BlackRock Does Not Manage GSK

BlackRock is the world’s largest asset management company, and they own about 7.5% of GSK shares (as of 29 January 2021).

However, BlackRock does not manage GSK, which has its own board (helmed by Jonathan Symonds) and its own management team (helmed by CEO Emma Walmsley).

Fact #7 : BlackRock Does Not Manage Open Foundation Company

First of all, there is no such thing as the Open Foundation Company. The fake news creator is probably referring to the Open Society Foundations, which was founded by George Soros.

Secondly, the Open Society Foundations is completely owned by George Soros, and is currently the world’s largest PRIVATE funder of charities and NGOs.

The Open Society Foundations is most certainly NOT managed by BlackRock. It is illogical to make this claim because managing OSF does not allow BlackRock to make a profit for their clients.

Fact #8 : Open Society Foundations Does Not Manage AXA

AXA is a publicly-listed French multinational insurance company, obviously with their own management team.

There is simply no logic (never mind evidence!) in claiming that a private grantmaking group is managing a public-listed company.

Fact #10 : Winterthur Was A Swiss Insurance Company

First of all, Winterthur is not a German company, as the fake news creator claimed. Winterthur is a Swiss company.

Secondly, Winterthur is an insurance company, and thus has no business building laboratories anywhere in the world, much less the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s laboratories.

Fact #11 : Winterthur Was Purchased By AXA

Winterthur was purchased by AXA in 2006, and is today known as AXA Switzerland. It was never owned by George Soros.

Fact #12 : Vanguard Is An Investment Management Group

The Vanguard Group is a private investment management company, that manages funds provided by their customers. In fact, they created the first index fund.

Therefore, it is no surprise that they own shares in Allianz, as well as BlackRock. They basically buy into any company that meets their criteria for profit or indexing.

Fact #13 : BlackRock Does Not Control Central Banks

Central banks are national institutions that are controlled by their respective governments, with different regulatory powers and structures.

There is simply no evidence that even a mega asset management company like Black Rock can control a single central bank, much less central banks all over the world.

In fact, BlackRock was hired by the US Federal Reserve in 2020 to help them manage commercial mortgage-backed securities. In other words, they were working under the control of a central bank, not the other way around!

Fact #14 : BlackRock Does Not Manage ⅓ Of Global Capital

It is true that BlackRock manages A LOT of money globally – US$9 trillion, as of 19 April 2021.

However, that is only 9.5% of the global equity market, which grew to US$95 trillion in 2019.

No matter how you slice and dice it, BlackRock does not manage ⅓ of the global market capital.

Fact #15 : Bill Gates Does Not Own Microsoft

Microsoft has been a public-listed company since 1986, so its shareholders are the owners, not Bill Gates.

Bill Gates himself ceased to be its largest individual shareholder since 2014. When he stepped down from the Microsoft board in 2020, he only owned 1.3% of Microsoft shares!

Fact #16 : Pfizer Is A Public-Listed Company

It is no surprise that Bill Gates is a Pfizer shareholder. Pfizer is a public-listed company, which means ANYONE can purchase Pfizer shares and become a Pfizer shareholder!

Fact #17 : WHO Is A UN Agency

The World Health Organisation is a United Nations agency, established on 7 April 1948, and funded by UN member countriesIt was not sponsored by Pfizer now or then.

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Did COVID-19 Leak From Gilead Sciences Lab In Fort Detrick?

Did a lab assistant expose how Gilead Sciences covered up the leak of COVID-19 from their Fort Detrick laboratory?

Take a look at the viral farewell note exposing this cover-up, and find out what the FACTS really are!

 

Claim : COVID-19 Leaked From Gilead Sciences Lab In Fort Detrick!

A document with the filename “Covid -19 Truth_Confession Exposed.pdf” is being shared on WhatsApp, together with this message :

👆The farewell note by an Ex-Gilead Sciences Fort Derrick Lab assistant who confessed COVID-19 leaked from the lab in Maryland. CDC covered up the facts. Her supervisor Prof Frank Plummer and others who know the facts were all killed and she now fears for her life. Virus was transported to Wuhan by seafood. She apologized to the world.

The PDF document contains the screenshot from an August 2020 post by one “Samantha Hill“, together with a diagram.

Sorry, we played an evil part in the outbreak of COVID-19

I am anonymous, I used to be an American, but I am more of an Indian. I learnt in the University of Manitoba and did some trivial work in the Fort Detrick Laboratory after graduation. My supervisor and I know almost everything about COVID-19, and that’s why he was killed. Now I came back to India. I gather myself up and decide to tell the truth, hoping I will still be alive when all of you learn the truth.

Note : We added the FAKE overlay to prevent the diagram from being further abused.

 

No, COVID-19 Did Not Leak From Gilead Sciences Lab In Fort Detrick!

This is yet another FAKE STORY that appears to be part of a Chinese propaganda effort to shift the blame for COVID-19 to the United States.

Let me show you why this is completely made up, and is nothing more than Chinese propaganda.

Fact #1 : This Fake Story Was Posted In August 2020

This fake story was originally posted on a new Facebook account with the name “Samantha Hill” on 11 August 2020.

The writer tried to frame himself as an American of Indian descent, even using Hindi hashtags. But her post gained little traction on Facebook. It was only widely shared on Weibo by Chinese netizens.

It appears to have been resurrected after the United States under President Biden started an earnest look at whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus might have accidentally been leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Fact #2 : The Writer Is Not A Scientist Or American

The writer, Samantha Hill, claimed to be an American who worked as Gilead Sciences lab assistant at their Fort Detrick Laboratory.

However, the Facebook post is rife with numerous scientific and linguistic mistakes, like :

  • virusology : the proper term is virology
  • breeding : viruses are not living organisms – they do not breed. They replicate, and we manufacture them in host cells.
  • villagers : a common term in China, but have you seen Americans call anyone a villager?
  • SARS II : this is a nonsensical name. The official name for the COVID-19 virus was nCoV-2019, before it became SARS-CoV-2 on 11 February 2020.
  • practitioners : Americans call them scientists…

These linguistics mistakes suggest that the writer is most likely a layperson of Chinese origin, not Indian and certainly not American.

Fact #3 : Screenshot Was Taken By Creator

The Facebook account was deleted, but the screenshot is now being circulated in June 2021 in the form of a PDF document.

Interestingly, this new screenshot can only come from the person who created the Samantha Hill post.

We know this because the screenshot shows the Facebook privacy selector (marked in red below), which only appears for the post creator!

Only the person who created the post would be able to take that screenshot.

Fact #4 : 赵盛烨 (Zhao Shenye) Could Be The Creator

Samantha Hill claimed to be an American of Indian ethnicity. But I will now show you why “she” is most likely a Chinese man called 赵盛烨 (Zhao Shenye).

As I noted in Fact #3, the screenshot can only be taken by the post creator, “Samantha Hill”.

If you look at the bottom right corner of the screenshot, you will find a watermark – the Weibo handle of 赵盛烨 (Zhao Shenye), who also goes by the name xodn.

And if you take a look at Zhao Shenye’s Weibo page, the latest post (on 14 February 2021) is about Gain of Function (GOF) virus modification by Professor Baric and Dr. Peter Daszak!

Looks like we hit pay dirt! Zhao Shenye could be the mysterious Samantha Hill…

Fact #5 : Fort Detrick Belongs To US Army

Fort Detrick is a massive 13,000-acre campus that belongs to the United States Army.

It is home to the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) laboratory, which China has suggested leaked the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Fort Detrick is completely owned and managed by the US Army Futures Command, and that includes the USAMRIID laboratory.

There are NO PRIVATE laboratories inside Fort Detrick. So Gilead Sciences cannot possibly operate one inside Fort Detrick.

Fact #6 : Gilead Sciences Does Not Have Labs In Maryland

Gilead Sciences Inc. does not own or operate any laboratory in the state of Maryland. Here are the current locations of their US laboratories :

  • Foster City, California : headquarters and antiviral research facilities
  • Miami, Florida : respiratory research and clinical development activities
  • Seattle, Washington : respiratory research and clinical development activities

Fact #7 : Fort Detrick Sterilisation Plant Failed But Posed No Risk

The CDC temporarily shut down the US Army lab at Fort Detrick on 2 August 2019, after finding “biosafety lapses” there.

However, that was not because viruses actually leaked from the facility, but rather :

  • the lab was no longer able to decontaminate wastewater from its highest security labs.
  • their steam sterilisation plant was damaged in a flood in May 2018, and they had been using a chemical decontamination method instead.
  • no disease-causing materials were found outside authorised areas

Fact #8 : Wuhan Was Epicentre Of COVID-19 Outbreak

China’s continuous suggestions that there may have been a leak at the Fort Detrick laboratory is illogical.

If SARS-CoV-2 leaked from Fort Detrick, the city of Frederick in Maryland would have been the epicentre of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, not Wuhan.

Now, this does not mean that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It merely means the Chinese claim about Fort Detrick is nonsensical.

Fact #9 : Remdesivir Is Pretty Much Useless Against COVID-19

GS-5734 is the development code name for Remdesivir, and it is pretty much useless against COVID-19.

There were promising early results which led to the US granting it emergency use authorisation on 1 May 2020 for severe COVID-19.

However, by September 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued guidance NOT to use remdesivir in people with COVID-19, as “there was no good evidence of benefit”.

So the idea that Gilead Sciences created the SARS-CoV-2 virus to sell remdesivir is idiotic.

Fact #10 : Gilead Sciences Does Not Own BlackRock

BlackRock is the world’s largest asset management company, and is more than 50% larger than Gilead Sciences by market capitalisation.

BlackRock is certainly NOT a subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, as Samantha Hill claimed. In fact, BlackRock owns about 8.9% of Gilead Sciences shares (as of 29 January 2021)!

Fact #11 : Dr. Frank Plummer Died Of A Heart Attack

Dr. Frank Plummer was not assassinated while flying from Kenya to China.

He died of a heart attack in Kenya on 5 February 2020, where he was attending the 40th anniversary of the HIV research collaboration between the University of Manitoba and the University of Nairobi.

Fact #12 : SARS-CoV-2 Was Detected By Chinese Doctors

The SARS-CoV-2 virus was detected by Chinese doctors, not by “Chinese epidemic prevention departments”.

It appears that Dr. Ai Fen was the first Chinese doctor who “discovered” SARS-CoV-2 when she treated two patients who presented with symptoms of COVID-19.

The test at that time came back as “SARS coronavirus”, so she reported it to the hospital’s public health department and infectious diseases department.

She took a picture of the report, circled the word “SARS” and sent it to a colleague at another hospital in Wuhan. The picture circulated until it reached Dr. Li Wenliang – the famous whistleblower doctor, who sent it forward as a warning to former classmates on WeChat.

Both Dr. Ai Fen and Dr. Li Wenliang were reprimanded for spreading rumours. So the claim that COVID-19 was caught by Chinese epidemic prevention departments is nonsense.

Fact #13 : No Evidence COVID-19 Spread Through Frozen Food

It is plausible that the SARS-CoV-2 can be contracted through fomites – contaminated items or surfaces. That would include food items, both fresh and frozen.

However, WHO points out there has been NO SPECIFIC REPORTS of anyone getting COVID-19 through fomite transmission.

The US CDC also has a specific page on fomite transmission of COVID-19, whether they concluded that as of 5 April 2021…

  • People can (potentially) be infected with SARS-CoV-2 through contact with surfaces.
  • Based on available epidemiological data, the risk surface transmission is considered to be low.
  • Cleaning surfaces using soap or detergent is enough.
  • Risk of fomite transmission can be reduced by wearing masks, good hand hygiene and cleaning.

In addition, imported frozen seafood are sold all over China. If COVID-19 was intentionally seeded through frozen seafood by the United States, it would have sparked multiple outbreaks, not just in Wuhan.

There is also the inconvenient fact that it was discovered later that the first COVID-19 case in Wuhan had NOTHING to do with the Huanan seafood market!

 

Why Would China Push Fake Gilead Sciences Claim?

With China’s aggressive foreign policy moves in recent years, it is not uncommon to see fake pro-China, anti-America stories being created and shared.

Many believe it’s part of a concerted attempt to burnish China’s image overseas, and drown out negative coverage of China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative, and their aggressive moves in the South China Sea..

China has also been blamed for not handling the initial COVID-19 epidemic better, and unfairly – for being the origin of this new virus.

Hence, they have been trying their best to deflect blame by casting aspersions unto others, using aggressive Wolf Warrior diplomacy tactics, propaganda outlets like Global Times and CTGN, and their 50 Cent Army.

 

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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China : Was COVID-19 Created In Fort Detrick Bio Lab?

China keeps suggesting that COVID-19 was created as a bioweapon by the US Army bio lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Find out what why China wants the world to believe this, and what the FACTS really are!

 

China : Was COVID-19 Created In Fort Detrick Bio Lab?

For more than a year now, Chinese spokespersons and media have aggressively promoted the claim that the SARS-CoV-2 virus did not originate in Wuhan.

Instead, the virus was created as a bioweapon by the US Army at their bio lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Their evidence? The fact that the CDC shut down the Fort Detrick lab on 2 August 2019 after finding “biosafety lapses” there.

But how did the SARS-CoV-2 virus get from Maryland in the United States to Wuhan, China?

They claimed that the US Army sent their soldiers to spread COVID-19 in Wuhan during the 2019 Military World Games held there from 18 to 27 October 2019.

They even spread a fake video, claiming to show an American soldier spreading the COVID-19 virus in a subway in Wuhan.

The theory heavily promoted by Chinese media and even Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, who asked, “When did patient zero begin in the US? It might be the US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan!

They also spread the fake story that Japanese Nobel laureate Professor Dr. Tasuku Honjo confirmed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was created at the Fort Detrick lab.

Recommended : Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo confident US created COVID-19?

 

Fort Detrick COVID-19 Origin : Just Chinese Propaganda

The Fort Detrick origin story of COVID-19 is really nothing more than Chinese propaganda.

And here are the FACTS…

Fact #1 : SARS-CoV-2 Is Natural, And Related To Bat Coronaviruses

Genomic analysis have proven that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is natural, for these reasons :

  • an artificial virus would have to be created from existing viruses
  • the SARS-CoV-2 virus has components that have never been seen before
  • it is very similar to existing bat coronaviruses.

Therefore, it is unlikely to be created in a biological lab like the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases lab at Fort Detrick; or the Wuhan Institute of Virology, for the matter.

Fact #2 : Multiple Strains Denote A Later Time Line

Viruses mutate and create new strains over time. A novel virus like SARS-CoV-2 would start with a single strain and evolve into multiple strains as it spreads globally and mutate over time.

Hence, the very fact that there are five strains in the United States would actually refute it as the source of SARS-CoV-2 – the COVID-19 coronavirus.

In fact, by analysing the genomic changes of these strains, scientists have pretty much concluded that SARS-CoV-2 did indeed originate in China.

Fact #3 : Fort Detrick Sterilisation Plant Failed

The CDC temporarily shut down the US Army lab at Fort Detrick on 2 August 2019, after finding “biosafety lapses” there.

However, that was not because viruses actually leaked from the facility, but rather :

  • the lab was no longer able to decontaminate wastewater from its highest security labs.
  • their steam sterilisation plant was damaged in a flood in May 2018, and they had been using a chemical decontamination method instead.
  • no disease-causing materials were found outside authorised areas

USAMRIID Steam Sterilisation Plant at Fort Detrick, when it first became operational in May 2012 | Photo Credit : US Army Corps of Engineers

Fact #4 : Wuhan Was Epicentre Of COVID-19 Outbreak

China’s continuous suggestions that there may have been a leak at the Fort Detrick laboratory is illogical.

If SARS-CoV-2 leaked from Fort Detrick, Maryland would have been the epicentre of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, not Wuhan.

Now, this does not mean that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It merely means the Chinese claim about Fort Detrick is nonsensical.

 

Why Would China Push Fake Fort Detrick Claim?

With China’s aggressive foreign policy moves in recent years, it is not uncommon to see fake pro-China, anti-America stories being created and shared.

Many believe it’s part of a concerted attempt to burnish China’s image overseas, and drown out negative coverage of China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative, and their aggressive moves in the South China Sea..

China has also been blamed for not handling the initial epidemic better, and unfairly – for being the origin of this new virus.

Hence, they have been trying their best to deflect blame by casting aspersions unto others, using aggressive Wolf Warrior diplomacy tactics, propaganda outlets like GlobalTimes and CTGN, and their 50 Cent Army.

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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Nobel laureate Tasuku Honjo confident US created COVID-19?

Nobel laureate Professor Dr. Tasuku Honjo allegedly said that he is confident that the US created the COVID-19 coronavirus, which is not a natural virus based on his research.

Find out what he said, and if it’s true that the US created the COVID-19 coronavirus!

Updated @ 2020-11-28 : Added the Chinese variant of the story, including other updates.

Originally posted @ 2020-04-27

 

Claim : Tasuku Honjo Confident US Created COVID-19!

This is the article that has been going viral on social media since April 2020.

SHOCKING⤵️
令人震惊 日本的生理学和醫學教授本庶佑(Tasuku Honjo)博士証明新冠狀病毒來自美国

Japan’s professor of Physiology & Medicine, Professor Dr Tasuku Honjo, created a sensation in front of the media today by saying that the corona virus is not natural. If it is natural, it wouldn’t have adversely affected entire world like this, as per nature.
日本的生理学和醫學教授本庶佑(Tasuku Honjo)博士 (註一)今天在媒体面前製造了轟動,他说冠狀病毒不是天然的。如果這是自然的,根據性質, 它不會對整個世界造成這樣的負面影響。

Temperature is different in different countries. if it is natural, it would’ve adversely affected only those countries having same temperature as China. Instead, It is spreading in a country like Switzerland, in the same way it is spreading in the desert areas.
不同的國家有不同溫度。如果它是自然的,它只會對那些與中國溫度相同的國家產生不利影響。相反,它正在瑞士這樣的國家傳播,就像它在沙漠地區傳播一樣。

On 25 April 2020, Mir Monaz Haque, the Editor-In-Chief of Asia Today, posted this variant on his Facebook page (now deleted) without comment, lending further credence to the story :

SHOCKING⤵️

Japan’s professor of Physiology or Medicine, Professor Dr Tasuku Honjo, created a sensation in front of the media today by saying that the corona virus is not natural.

 

Tasuku Honjo confident US created COVID-19? Complete Bullshit

This story is such complete bullshit and appears to be a bastardised version of the original hoax which blamed China.

  • Professor Tasuku Honjo issued a statement refuting those claims.
  • Professor Tasuku Honjo does not work on viruses, and has never said that the virus is artificial.
  • Genomic analysis have proven that SARS-CoV-2 is a natural virus that is very closely-related to bat coronaviruses.
  • Multiple strains in the USA would prove that it is not the origin of COVID-19 virus.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic started in Wuhan, China… not Maryland, USA

 

Tasuku Honjo Confident USA Created COVID-19 : The Facts

For those who are thinking to themselves, “How do you know it’s fake? You were NOT there!“, here are the reasons why we know for sure…

Fact #1 : Viruses Can Spread In Cold + Warm Climates

While certain viruses spread easier in warmer climates, other viruses spread better in colder climates.

The susceptibility of a virus to humidity and temperature depends on whether it has a lipid bilayer envelope or not.

The COVID-19 coronavirus is enveloped, and is thus more likely to spread better in cold, dry climates. But that doesn’t mean it cannot spread well in warm, humid climates.

Fact #2 : SARS-CoV-2 Is Natural, And Related To Bat Coronaviruses

Genomic analysis have proven that the COVID-19 is natural, for these reasons :

  • an artificial virus would have to be created from existing viruses and their genetic data
  • the SARS-CoV-2 virus has components that have never been seen before
  • it is very similar to existing bat coronaviruses.

Fact #3 : Professor Honjo Does Not Work On Viruses

Tasuku Honjo is a professor of Immunology and Genomic Medicine. He has only worked on immunology, not virology.

His 2018 Nobel Prize, in particular, was for his work on stimulating the immune system to attack tumour cells in cancer.

Fact #4 : Tasuku Honjo Issued A Statement Refuting The Claim

Professor Honjo issued this statement through one of his PhD students :

Prof. Honjo never gave any such statement. Each and every sentence of this post is completely false and has no connection with truth.

Prof. Honjo never worked in Wuhan laboratory. He never called there. He did not work on virus origin and functions and other related issues.

All the contents are just concocted and nothing else.

Fact #5 : Tasuku Honjo Said COVID-19 Originated In China

In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review on 10 April 2020, Professor Tasuku Honjo said that COVID-19 originated in China, but also that it will be the first country to recover from it.

However, he never said that it was manufactured or created by China. Originating in a country, is quite different from creating it.

Fact #6 : Multiple Strains Denote A Later Time Line

Viruses mutate and create new strains over time. A novel virus like COVID-19 would start with a single strain and evolve into multiple strains as it spreads globally and mutate over time.

Hence, the very fact that there are five strains in the United States would actually refute it as the source of SARS-CoV-2 – the COVID-19 coronavirus.

In fact, by analysing the genomic changes of these strains, scientists have pretty much concluded that SARS-CoV-2 did indeed originate in China.

Fact #7 : Earliest COVID-19 Death In US Was In February 2020

The CDC did not wrongly diagnose COVID-19 deaths in the US from July to December 2019.

The earliest death from COVID-19 in the US was revised on 22 April 2020, with the diagnosis of three COVID-19 deaths in Santa Clara, California :

  • a 57 year-old woman on 6 February 2020
  • a 69 year-old man on 17 February 2020
  • a 70 year-old man on 6 March 2020

Fact #8 : Fort Detrick Was Closed Because Of Sterilisation Plant Failure

The CDC temporarily shut down the US Army lab at Fort Detrick on 2 August 2019, after finding “biosafety lapses” there.

Conspiracy theorists pounced on that as “evidence” that COVID-19 may have leaked from Fort Detrick, but a quick check would reveal that :

  • the shutdown was ordered because the lab was no longer able to decontaminate wastewater from its highest security labs.
  • the lab’s steam sterilisation plant was damaged in a flood in May 2018, and they had been using a chemical decontamination method instead.
  • no disease-causing materials were found outside authorised areas
  • if SARS-CoV-2 leaked from Fort Detrick, Maryland would have been the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak, not Wuhan.

Fact #9 : SARS-CoV-2 Is Just ONE Of Many Coronaviruses

Conspiracy theorists keep saying that coronavirus deaths were reported long before SARS-CoV-2 appeared in Wuhan.

But the fact of the matter is – SARS-CoV-2 is merely one of many coronaviruses in the world, including SARS and MERS!

The earliest cases of COVID-19 have so far been traced back to Wuhan, China.

 

Why Would Someone Create This Fake Story?

With China’s aggressive foreign policy moves in recent years, it is not uncommon to see fake pro-China, anti-America stories being created and shared.

Many believe it’s part of a concerted attempt to burnish China’s image overseas, and to drown out negative coverage of China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative, and their aggressive moves in the South China Sea..

This COVID-19 was made in the US is also part of the narrative China has been trying to push, after US President Donald Trump blamed them for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whatever the reasons may be, it is our duty as global citizens to stop the proliferation of such fake stories.

Please share this fact check with your friends, so they know the truth!

 

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Fact Check : Tasuku Honjo Bets Nobel Prize On China Creating COVID-19

Professor Dr. Tasuku Honjo allegedly bet his 2018 Nobel Prize that the COVID-19 coronavirus was created by China, based on his knowledge and research.

Find out what exactly he said, and if it’s true that the COVID-19 coronavirus was really created by China!

Updated @ 2020-05-11 : Added two new facts about the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine that Professor Dr. Tasuku Honjo won.

Originally posted @ 2020-04-27

 

Claim : Tasuku Honjo Says COVID-19 Was Created By China!

Mir Monaz Haque, the Editor-In-Chief of Asia Today, posted this on 25 April 2020 :

Japan’s Nobel prize winning Professor of Medicine, Professor Dr Tasuku Honjo (Tasuku Honjo is a Japanese physician-scientist and immunologist. He shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology and is best known for his identification of programmed cell death protein)

Tasuku Honjo created a sensation today by saying that the Coronavirus is not natural.

“If it is natural, it wouldn’t have adversely affected the entire world like this. Because, as per nature, temperature is different in different countries. If it is natural, it would adversely affect only those countries having the same temperature as China. Instead, it is spreading in a country like Switzerland, in the same way it is spreading in the desert areas. Whereas if it were natural, it would have spread in cold places, but died in hot places.

I have done 40 years of research on animals and viruses. It is not natural. It is manufactured and the virus is completely artificial. I have worked for 4 years in the Wuhan laboratory in China. I am fully acquainted with all the staff of that laboratory. I have been phoning them all, after the Coronavirus surfaced. But all their phones are dead for the last 3 months. It is now understood that all these lab technicians have died.

Based on all my knowledge and research till date, I can say this with 100% confidence – That the Coronavirus is not natural. It did not come from bats. China manufactured it. If what I am saying today is proved false now or even after my death, the government can withdraw my Nobel Prize. China is lying and this truth will one day be revealed to everyone”.

 

Our Verdict : Complete Bullshit

This story is such complete bullshit and it is truly shocking that the Editor-In-Chief for Asia Today would post this without fact-checking. The fact of the matter is :

  • Professor Tasuku Honjo issued a statement refuting those claims.
  • Professor Tasuku Honjo does not work on viruses, and has never been to the Wuhan laboratory.
  • Genomic analysis have proven that SARS-CoV-2 is a natural virus that is very closely-related to bat coronaviruses.
  • The Nobel Prize was not awarded by any government, and cannot be withdrawn.

 

 

Tasuku Honjo Says COVID-19 Created By China : The Facts

For those who are thinking to themselves, “How do you know it’s fake? You were NOT there!“, here are the reasons why we know for sure…

Fact #1 : Viruses Can Spread In Cold + Warm Climates

While certain viruses spread better in warmer climates, other viruses spread better in colder climates.

The susceptibility of a virus to humidity and temperature depends on whether it has a lipid bilayer envelope or not.

The COVID-19 coronavirus is enveloped, and is thus more likely to spread better in cold, dry climates. But that doesn’t mean it cannot spread well in warm, humid climates.

Fact #2 : The COVID-19 Virus Is Natural, And Related To Bats

Genomic analysis have proven that the COVID-19 is natural, for these reasons :

  • an artificial virus would have to be created from existing viruses and their genetic data
  • the SARS-CoV-2 virus has components that have never been seen before
  • it is very similar to existing bat coronaviruses.

Fact #3 : Professor Honjo Does Not Work On Viruses

Tasuku Honjo is a professor of Immunology and Genomic Medicine. He has only worked on immunology, not virology.

His 2018 Nobel Prize, in particular, was for his work on stimulating the immune system to attack tumour cells in cancer.

Fact #4 : Professor Honjo Has Never Worked In The Wuhan Laboratory

Professor Tasuku Honjo has been working at the Kyoto University since 2005. He has never worked in Wuhan, much less the BSL-4 laboratory of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Fact #5 : Tasuku Honjo Issued A Statement On This Claim

Professor Honjo issued this statement through one of his PhD students :

Prof. Honjo never gave any such statement. Each and every sentence of this post is completely false and has no connection with truth.

Prof. Honjo never worked in Wuhan laboratory. He never called there. He did not work on virus origin and functions and other related issues.

All the contents are just concocted and nothing else.

Fact #6 : Tasuku Honjo Said COVID-19 Originated In China

In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review on 10 April 2020, Professor Tasuku Honjo said that COVID-19 originated in China, but also that it will be the first country to recover from it.

However, he never said that it was manufactured or created by China. Originating in a country, is quite different from creating it.

Fact #6 : The Nobel Prize Is Not Awarded By Any Government

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is NOT awarded by any government. It has been awarded by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet since 1901.

Fact #7 : The Nobel Prize Cannot Be Revoked / Withdrawn

Under the Nobel Foundation statutes, the Nobel Prize may not be revoked or withdrawn after it is awarded.

 

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Did The Chinese Use Tea To Cure COVID-19 In Wuhan?

Did the Chinese use tea to cure COVID-19 in Wuhan? Together with chloroquine, it’s the latest miracle cure for COVID-19 circulating on the Internet.

Let’s take a look at the claim, and find out if it’s true that the Chinese are using tea to cure COVID-19!

 

Claim : Dr. Li Wenliang Discover Tea As COVID-19 Cure…?

Credit for this discovery that tea cures COVID-19 is being attributed to Dr. Li Wenliang, the famous whistleblowing doctor, who sadly passed away from the new coronavirus…

Breaking News from CNN :-

Dr. Li Wenliang, China’s hero doctor who was punished for telling the truth about Corona Virus and later died due to the same disease, had documented casefiles for research purposes and had in the casefiles proposed a cure that would significantly decrease the impact of the COVID – 19 Virus on the human body.

The chemical Methylxanthine, Theobromine and Theophylline stimulate compounds that can ward off these virus in a human with atleast an average immune system.

Whats more shocking is that these complex words that were so difficult for people in China to understand is actually called Tea in India, YES, our regular Tea has all these chemicals already in it.

The main Methylxanthine in tea is the stimulant caffeine. Other Methylxanthines found in tea are two chemically similar compounds, Theobromine and Theophylline. The tea plant creates these chemicals as a way to ward off insects and other animals.

Who would have known that all the solution to these virus would be a simple cup of TEA. and that is the reason so many patients in China are being cured.

The hospital staff in china has started serving tea to the patients 3 times a day, And the effect is finally in Wuhan “The centre of this Pandemic” has been contained and community transmission has almost stopped.

Please Share this message to your friends and family to make them aware about this blessing in the form of TEA in your kitchen.

 

Why Dr. Li Wenliang Did NOT Discover Tea As COVID-19 Cure

Sadly, this is yet another Internet hoax. Dr. Li Wenliang did not document any case files for research purposes, or proposed any cure for COVID-19.

Neither are the Chinese using tea to cure COVID-19 patients in Wuhan. Here’s how we know that…

There Is No Such CNN News Report

A quick check of the CNN website and Google reveals that there is no such CNN news report, claiming that Dr. Li Wenliang proposed tea as a cure, or the the Chinese were using tea to cure COVID-19 patients in Wuhan.

Dr. Li Wenliang Was An Ophthalmologist

Dr. Li Wenliang, who was one of several whistleblowing doctors raising alarm about the new virus, was an ophthalmologist.

As such, he would have treated eye conditions like cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and the like. Not viruses like COVID-19.

His tale in this COVID-19 tragedy was raising the alarm first set off by ER doctor, Dr. Ai Fen, who shared a patient’s report with her former classmates and colleagues.

Methylxanthines Are Found In Chocolate, Coffee & Tea

Methylxanthines (or methylated xanthines) are a group of chemicals which include caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine. They are found not only in tea, but also chocolate and coffee.

Theophylline is predominant in tea, while theobromine is abundant in chocolate, and caffeine is the main methylxanthine in coffee.

If methylxanthines are really the “cure” for COVID-19, why didn’t the writer suggest eating chocolate and drinking both coffee and tea for maximum effect?

Tea Cannot Cure / Prevent COVID-19

The Chinese drink a prodigious amount of tea, consuming almost 18 billion US dollars worth in 2017.

If tea can cure or prevent COVID-19, they would literally be immune to COVID-19.

Yet, China currently has the most COVID-19 cases in the world, as of 24 March 2020 – over 18 thousand infected, with over 3,200 deaths.

There Is Currently No Cure For COVID-19

As of 24 March 2020, there is no known cure or treatment for COVID-19.

To make it clear to everyone, the US FDA issued a statement on 19 March, reiterating once again that “there are no FDA-approved therapeutics or drugs to treat, cure or prevent COVID-19.

 

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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COVID-19 Coronavirus : Why Snakes Are Not Hosts!

Many people believe that snakes are the hosts and source of the COVID-19 coronavirus (SAR-CoV-2), but that’s based on a flawed understanding of early research by Chinese scientists.

We will explain what those Chinese scientists discovered, and why snakes are NOT the source or origin of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

 

COVID-19 | SARS-CoV-2 : A Quick Explainer

First of all, we should clarify that SARS-CoV-2 is the official name of 2019-nCoV, in recognition of how closely it resembles the SARS virus, genetically.

The disease it causes is called COVID-19, which is short for Coronavirus Disease 2019.

COVID-19 should be used when you refer to the disease, and SARS-CoV-2 when referring to the virus. But for ease of understanding, we may use COVID-19 coronavirus to replace SARS-CoV-2.

Recommended : COVID-19 Coronavirus Symptoms Revealed In JAMA Study!

 

COVID-19 Coronavirus Originated From Snakes?

Every news outlet and pundit who claimed that the COVID-19 coronavirus originated from snakes based their reports and opinions on a single paper by Wei Ji et. al. published in the Journal of Medical Virology on 22 January 2020.

Before we look into their findings, you will need a quick primer on how viruses adapt to their host.

Unlike bacteria, viruses cannot multiply by themselves. Instead, they hijack the host’s cells to manufacture copies of themselves.

To replicate more efficiently in what’s really an alien organism, they can evolve over time to use the codons (RNA / DNA instructions for amino acids) preferred by their host.

When Wei Ji’s team analysed the COVID-19 coronavirus, they discovered that it favoured codons that are most similar to those used by two snakes :

  • Bungarus multicinctus (the many-banded krait), and
  • Naja antra (the Chinese cobra)

They therefore concluded that “snakes could be the most likely wildlife animal reservoir for the 2019-nCoV“.

Everyone assumed that because it was published in a journal, it was therefore conclusive. However, scientists publish papers like this all the time, so that their findings can be debated, criticised, or verified by other scientists.

The fact of the matter is – their paper is merely suggestive. It is not conclusive. And it was wrong for any publication or person to state unequivocally that the COVID-19 coronavirus originated or evolved in snakes.

And here’s why…

 

Why Snakes Are Unlikely To Be Source For COVID-19 Coronavirus

SARS-CoV-2 Is A Betacoronavirus

The COVID-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been confirmed to be a Betacoronavirus, a genera of coronaviruses that mainly infects bats, and to a lesser extent – humans, camels and rabbits.

Incidentally, MERS and SARS are also Betacoronaviruses. SARS has been conclusively traced to bats, and scientists believe MERS also originated from bats.

SARS-CoV-2 Is Most Closely Related To SARS

Analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 genome showed that it was most closely related to two SARS-like coronaviruses of bat origin.

And guess who was the culprit for the human SARS virus? Horseshoe bats living in a remote Yunnan cave.

Hence, bats are likely to be the origin of the COVID-19 coronavirus, not snakes.

Coronaviruses Infect Only Mammals + Birds

Coronaviruses are a very large family of viruses, but they have so far been able to only infect mammals and birds. Basically, they are “warm-blooded” viruses.

It would be very unlikely for SARS-CoV-2 to evolve to infect snakes, which are cold-blooded reptiles.

Intermediate Hosts Have So Far Been Mammals

Let’s look at the last two novel coronavirus outbreaks – SARS and MERS, both from the same Betacoronavirus genera as SARS-CoV-2.

They spread to humans through intermediate hosts – civet cats for SARS, and camels for MERS. Not from the act of eating them, but from close contact.

This is further evidence that the intermediate host for SARS-CoV-2 is much more likely to be a mammal, rather than a reptile.

Codon Adaptation Does Not Always Happen

While scientists use codon adaptation as a way to identify hosts and trace the evolutionary history of a virus, it does not always happen.

Codon adaptation happen by genetic mutation – by happenstance – and multiple codons code for the same amino acids.

So viruses can evolve codon preferences that are different from the host, and yet efficiently replicate in its cells.

Some viruses also “choose” not to adopt the host cell codon preferences, favouring a slower replication rate.

This phenomenon, known as survival-of-the-flattest, is an adaptation strategy that presumably helps to avoid triggering the immune system or killing the host too quickly.

So it is possible that SARS-CoV-2 did not evolve to favour the codon preferences of its intermediate host.

Codon Adaptation Takes Time

Even if codon adaption did happen, it takes a long time for viruses to evolve to adapt to the host’s codon preferences.

It’s very unlikely for SARS-CoV-2 to adapt so quickly to a snake’s codon preferences in the Wuhan market, because an infected snake would most likely be sold and killed before that happened.

Yet the COVID-19 coronavirus has not been found outside of the Wuhan Huanan seafood market, which is currently the known origin of the virus.

For codon adaptation to occur, the COVID-19 coronavirus should exist (and therefore be detectable) in the wild snake population for quite some time.

How long does codon adaptation take? We have no idea, but we can reasonably assume that codon adaptation in snakes would take as long as it would in humans.

Consider the fact that viral samples taken recently are genetically similar to samples taken from patients in December 2019.

That means there has been no codon adaptation to the new human host, even after the virus has infected thousands of people.

Two Antigenic Shifts Are Very Unlikely

Viruses mutate rapidly in order to escape detection by the host’s immune system though relatively minor changes called antigenic drift.

But they can also “mate” with other viruses to create a completely new virus that can infect a new host, or become highly virulent – a process called antigenic shift.

For example, an exclusively avian influenza virus can “mate” with a human influenza virus to create a highly virulent new virus that also infects humans.

Fortunately, antigenic shift doesn’t happen very often, because it requires different viruses to co-exist within the same host.

For SARS-CoV-2 to evolve enough to “jump” from bats (or some other mammal) to a snake, and then evolve again to “jump” to a human host – it would be like getting struck by lightning… twice.

 

What Do Experts Say About Snakes As COVID-19 Coronavirus Source?

Paulo Eduardo Brandão, virologist at the University of São Paulo, said,

They have no evidence snakes can be infected by this new coronavirus and serve as a host for it. There’s no consistent evidence of coronaviruses in hosts other than mammals and Aves (birds).

Professor Guizhen Wu, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said,

These data are consistent with a bat reservoir for coronaviruses in general and 2019-nCoV in particular.

Dr. Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance, said,

When you look at the genetic sequence of the virus, and you match it up with every known coronavirus, the closest relatives are from bats

Cui Jie, virologist at the Pasteur Institute of Shanghai, said,

Clearly this 2019-nCov is a mammalian virus.

We should note that Cui Jie was part of the team that traced the origin of the human SARS virus to the horseshoe bats in a remote Yunnan cave in 2017.

 

But Could Snakes Still Be Responsible For The COVID-19 Coronavirus?

Now this is important – no one should rule out snakes as an intermediary host for SARS-CoV-2 just yet.

Yes, there is no known coronavirus that infects a snake or any other reptile, but that doesn’t mean it will never or could not happen.

The key thing is to understand that science isn’t straightforward. It takes many studies – blood, sweat and tears – to investigate, verify and replicate – before we can reasonably draw a conclusion.

So everyone should stop jumping on every study as if it is conclusive evidence that snakes or civet cats or the animal of the week is responsible for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Rome wasn’t built in a single day, and evidence that conclusively identifies the culprit for SARS-CoV-2 won’t be found in a single study.

 

COVID-19 Coronavirus : How To Keep Safe!

The COVID-19 coronavirus is new and scary, but we are more likely to be infected and killed by the influenza virus.

We just need to practice a few simple steps to stay safe :

  • Avoid suspected cases or disease hotpots, like hospitals, if possible!
  • Keep our hands clean with soap or hand sanitiser
  • Keep our home, office, vehicles, etc. clean
  • If you need to wear a surgical mask, make sure you put it on and remove it properly!
  • Thoroughly cook your food, and boil water before drinking

Recommended : Hand Sanitiser or Soap : Which Should YOU Use?

 

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Surgical Mask : How To CORRECTLY Wear + Remove!

Wearing a surgical mask is CRITICAL in protecting yourself against influenza and the COVID-19 coronavirus, but many people do not actually know how to CORRECTLY wear and remove a surgical mask.

While most know better than to wear a surgical mask over their eyes, they still wear it incorrectly, and worse – take it off the wrong way, and infect themselves in the process!

In this guide, we will teach you how to WEAR and REMOVE a surgical mask, the right way… to avoid infecting yourself!

Please SHARE this with your family and friends, so they can stay protected!

Recommended : Hand Sanitiser vs Soap : Which Should We Use?

 

Make Sure You Use A 3-Ply Surgical Mask!

First, please make sure you buy and use 3-ply surgical masks, and not fashion masks, or 2-ply hygiene masks.

Fashion masks are reusable, made from washable cotton, and often lack a filter although some may boast activated charcoal filters – these are useless against viruses and bacteria.

A proper 3-ply surgical or medical mask, on the other hand, has three layers – each with very specific functions :

  • an outer hydrophobic layer, which repels water, blood and body fluids,
  • a middle filter layer that is designed to filter bacteria, and
  • an inner hydrophilic layer, which absorbs water, sweat and spit

The 3-ply surgical mask has been proven to be as effective as N95 respirators in preventing viral infections like influenza.

Finally, we have 2-ply hygiene face masks that are cheap and made from the same material – fabric or polypropylene or other kinds of non-woven material.

With NO FILTER layer, these hygiene masks are useless against haze, viruses and bacteria. They are commonly used in spas and restaurants.

Recommended : Yes! Surgical Masks Can Protect Us Against Influenza!

 

How To Wear A Surgical Mask Correctly

Here are some step-by-step instructions for wearing a surgical mask correctly :

  1. Clean your hands with soap and water, or hand sanitiser, before touching the mask
  2. Hold the mask with the stiff bendable strip on top, and the coloured side facing outwards.
  3. If the surgical mask has ear loops – hold the mask by the ear loops, and place a loop around each ear.
  4. If the surgical mask has ties – bring the mask to your nose and place the ties over the crown of your head, and secure by tying them in a bow.
  5. If the surgical mask has elastic bands – bring the mask to your nose and pull the top band over your head and let it rest on the crown of your head, and then pull the bottom strap over your head and let it rest on the nape of your neck.
  6. Mould or pinch the nose strip to conform to the shape of your nose.
  7. Pull the bottom of the surgical mask over your mouth and chin.

Recommended : COVID-19 Coronavirus : Can Face Masks Help Protect Us?

 

How To Remove A Surgical Mask Correctly

After use, the mask will be dirty / contaminated and must be removed and disposed of properly.

So please follow these instructions, to avoid infecting yourself while removing your mask :

  1. Clean your hands with soap and water, or hand sanitiser, before touching the mask.
  2. AVOID touching the front of the mask, because it is contaminated. Only touch the ear loops / ear ties / ear bands.
  3. If the surgical mask has ear loops – hold and unhook both ear loops and gently lift the mask away from your face.
  4. If the surgical mask has ties – untie the bottom bow first, followed by the top bow, before pulling the mask away from your face
  5. If the surgical mask has elastic bands – lift the bottom strap over your head first, and then pull the top strap over your head
  6. Holding the mask only by the ear loops / ear ties / ear bands, dispose of the mask in the trash.
  7. Clean your hands with soap and water, or hand sanitiser again, before touching anything else.

Recommended : Face Masks – Do They Really Help With Haze / Air Pollution?

 

Where To Buy Surgical Masks

Please make sure you only purchase proper 3-layer surgical masks, and not 2-ply hygiene masks or fashion masks. Here are some online purchase options :

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American Origin Of H1N1 Pandemic Hoax Debunked!

The H1N1 American Pandemic hoax keep surfacing again and again, every time China is criticised over how they handle the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic.

We debunked this earlier, but we have to address it again because the Chinese Foreign Ministry has just made the same false claim.

 

American Origin Of H1N1 Pandemic Is A Hoax

The fake H1N1 American pandemic story started as a series of social media posts, shared on Facebook and WhatsApp (ironic, I know), that later morphed into websites parroting the same false story.

Eventually, even Liu Xin from the Chinese news agency CGTN openly pushed the fake American origin of the H1N1 pandemic :

That culminated in a press conference on 5 March 2020, when the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the same pitch, as if they were all reciting from the same playbook.

Compare what Zhao Lijian said below, with what CGTN’s Liu Xin said in the video above. It was almost word-for-word the same statement!

The H1N1 flu that broke out in the US in 2009 spread to 214 countries and regions, killing at least 18,449 people that year alone. I don’t remember anyone asking the US to apologize.

Here are the facts…

 

American Origin Of H1N1 Pandemic Hoax Debunked!

Fact #1 : CDC Did NOT Admit It Originated In The US

They keep claiming that the CDC admitted that the 2009 swine flu pandemic originated in the US. That’s actually not accurate.

The CDC is a US agency, and was reporting on the 2009 flu pandemic from the US perspective. Their Q&A only mentioned that it was first detected in the US in April 2009.

In the first WHO report on the disease, it was pointed out that while the US reported seven confirmed cases on 24 April 2009, the Mexican government admitted that they already picked up cases from 18 March 2009 onwards.

In other words, the 2009 flu epidemic started in Mexico for more than a month, before spreading to the US and the rest of the world, creating a pandemic.

Fact #2 : The 2009 Flu Pandemic Started In Mexico!

The 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic actually originated in Veracruz, Mexico. That is over 500 kilometres from the nearest US border town of Brownsville, Texas.

Fact #3 : The Strain Is Called Pandemic Disease Mexico

After the 2009 H1N1 pandemic strain was confirmed to have originated in Mexico, it was known as the A(H1N1)pdm09, which is short for Influenza A (H1N1 subtype) Pandemic Disease Mexico 2009.

 

Conclusion : 2009 H1N1 Flu Pandemic Started In Mexico

Now, we mean no disrespect to Mexico, and Mexicans, but we must be very clear – the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic started in Mexico. This is beyond dispute.

So everyone has to stop promoting the fake story that the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic originated in the US. It will just make you look like stupid, because this is an easily verifiable fact.

 

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COVID-19 Coronavirus Symptoms Revealed In JAMA Study!

A new JAMA-published study by Dawei Wang et al reveals the key symptoms of patients infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Their study will serve as a useful guide for clinicians and public health officials trying to differentiate it from influenza.

Note : This article was originally published on 9 February 2020, and was updated and republished due to reader interest.

 

COVID-19 | SARS-CoV-2 : A Quick Explainer

First of all, we should clarify that SARS-CoV-2 is the official name of 2019-nCoV, in recognition of how closely it resembles the SARS virus, genetically.

The disease it causes is called COVID-19, which is short for Coronavirus Disease 2019).

COVID-19 should be used when you refer to the disease, and SARS-CoV-2 when referring to the virus. But for ease of understanding, we may use COVID-19 coronavirus to replace SARS-CoV-2.

 

COVID-19 Coronavirus : Key Symptoms!

The highly-anticipated study by Dawei Wang et al, titled Clinical Characteristics of 138 Hospitalized Patients With 2019 Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia In Wuhan, China was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on 7 February 2020.

It looked at the clinical characteristics of 138 patients who were hospitalised at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, from 1 January to 28 January 2020.

Top 5 Symptoms Of COVID-19 Coronavirus Patients

Their study showed that fever is the chief symptom, and there were very few reports of headache, dizziness, nausea or vomiting.

Dry cough was reported by just over half the patients, and only about ⅓ reported muscle pain. And no one reported a runny or stuffy nose.

This will help to clinically differentiate COVID-19 from the far more common influenza.

Here are the top 5 symptoms of the Wuhan coronavirus that the study identified from those 138 patients :

Top 5 Symptoms No. Of Patients % Of Patients
Fever 136 98.6%
Fatigue 96 69.6%
Dry Cough 82 59.4%
Myalgia
(Muscle Pain)
48 34.8%
Dyspnea
(Shortness of Breath)
43 31.2%

Top 5 Symptoms Of COVID-19 Coronavirus Patients Requiring ICU Care

Interestingly, they also looked at the symptoms that are more common in patients who ended up requiring ICU care.

They are more likely to lose significant weight and suffer shortness of breath, compared to patients who did not require ICU care.

Here are the top 5 symptoms in patients requiring ICU care. Note that a P value of < 0.05 is considered statistically significant.

Symptoms ICU Non-ICU P Value
Anorexia 66.7% 30.4% < 0.001
Dyspnea
(Shortness of Breath)
63.9% 19.6% < 0.001
Dizziness 22.2% 4.9% 0.007
Pharyngalgia
(Pain in Pharynx)
33.3% 11.8% 0.003
Abdominal Pain 8.3% 0.0% 0.02

Dr. Li Wenliang, one of 8 doctors who blew the whistle on the Wuhan coronavirus

 

COVID-19 Coronavirus : What Treatments Did The Chinese Try?

The study also looked at the treatments the Chinese tried with those 138 patients.

While they noted that many patients received antibiotic cover, the key treatments they trialed against the Wuhan coronavirus were Tamiflu (oseltamivir), oxygen support, and glucocorticoid therapy.

Treatment No. Of Patients % Of Patients
Antiviral (Oseltamivir) 124 89.9%
Oxygen 106 76.8%
Glucocorticoid 62 44.9%

Just before the report was released, they did a final follow-up on 3 February 2020, and found that :

  • 47 patients (34.1%) recovered, and had been discharged
  • 85 patients (61.6%) were still hospitalised
  • 6 patients (4.3%) died

Recommended : Hand Sanitiser or Soap : Which Should YOU Use?

 

COVID-19 Coronavirus : How To Keep Safe!

The COVID-19 coronavirus is new and scary, but we are more likely to be infected and killed by the influenza virus.

We just need to practice a few simple steps to stay safe :

 

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Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

COVID-19 : Protect With Surgical Mask + Eyewear!

Here are the scientifically and medically-recommended ways to protect yourself against the COVID-19 virus. Please ignore the many FAKE NEWS and FAKE ADVICE!

Please read and SHARE this article with your family and friends, and please ignore trolls who tell you that Vitamin C or rasam will cure or prevent infection by this virus!

 

COVID-19 | SARS-CoV-2 : A Quick Explainer

First of all, we should clarify that SARS-CoV-2 is the official name of 2019-nCoV, in recognition of how closely it resembles the SARS virus, genetically.

The disease it causes is called COVID-19, which is short for Coronavirus Disease 2019.

COVID-19 should be used when you refer to the disease, and SARS-CoV-2 when referring to the virus. But for ease of understanding, we may use COVID-19 coronavirus to replace SARS-CoV-2.

Recommended : COVID-19 Coronavirus Symptoms Revealed In JAMA Study!

 

COVID-19 : Protect With Surgical Masks + Eyewear!

For those who just want a quick and simple summary, this is what you need to do :

Recommended : Surgical Mask : How To CORRECTLY Wear + Remove!

 

Face Masks vs Surgical Masks vs N95 Respirators

It is very important for us to differentiate face masks from surgical / medical masks, and N95 respirators.

Face masks are generally worn for fashion, although their users may believe that they can filter out dust. They are usually reusable, being made from washable cotton, and often lack a filter.

A proper 3-ply surgical or medical mask, on the other hand, has three layers – each with very specific functions :

  • an outer hydrophobic layer, which repels water, blood and body fluids,
  • a middle filter layer that is designed to filter bacteria, and
  • an inner hydrophilic layer, which absorbs water, sweat and spit

There are also 2-ply face masks that are usually made from the same material – fabric or polypropylene or other kinds of non-woven material. There is NO FILTER layer. These are usually used in the spa or food industry.

Finally, we have N95 respirators that are designed to form a tight seal over your mouth and nose, and will filter 95% of particles with a median diameter of 0.3 microns.

Recommended : Face Masks – Do They Really Help With Haze / Air Pollution?

 

Surgical Masks Are As Effective As N95 Respirators

N95 respirators are all the rage in Asia, because they are the only effective personal filtration solution for the haze.

However, a new CDC-sponsored study, published in JAMA on 3 September 2019, showed that surgical masks are as effective as N95 respirators in preventing influenza infections amongst healthcare workers.

While studies will need to be conducted to determine how effective surgical masks are against the COVID-19 coronavirus, we do know that it is larger than, or as large as, the influenza A virus

Based on the influenza test results, it is likely that the COVID-19 coronavirus will be as effectively blocked by a 3-ply surgical mask.

Surgical masks also help reduce infections by preventing users from touching their faces with dirty / infected hands.

This is important because many people do not get infected by breathing in viral particles floating in the air, but by touching their mouth and nose with their contaminated hands.

So please make sure you wear your surgical mask properly, and regularly wash your hands with soap!

However, please note that unless you are living in a COVID-19 hotspot, there is NO NEED to wear surgical masks!

Recommended : Hand Sanitiser vs Soap : Which Should We Use?

 

Where To Buy Surgical Masks

Before you rush out to buy surgical masks, please make sure they are proper 3-layer surgical masks, and not 2-ply face masks or fashion masks. Here are some online purchase options :

 

Eyewear May Be Needed Against COVID-19

Wang Guangfa, a Chinese respiratory specialist was infected by COVID-19, despite taking precautions including wearing an N95 respirator.

He believes it may have infected him through his eyes, a possibility that is being investigated but has yet to be confirmed.

Out of an abundance of caution, healthcare workers who are in direct contact with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases are wearing protective eyewear.

At the moment, the scientific consensus is that there is no need for the public to wear protective eyewear.

However, if one of your family members may be infected with COVID-19, you should wear protective eyewear as a precaution.

Recommended : Rasam Antidote For Wuhan | Nipah | SARS Viruses Debunked!

There is no need to purchase specialised medical eyewear. Just use whatever you have at home – workman’s protective glasses, spectacles, sunglasses or even swimming googles.

But if you really want a cheap, cool-looking protective glasses that cover both ocular orbits, this is what I’m using – the Honeywell A700 safety glasses.

Here are some online purchase options if you are interested to get the Honeywell A700 as well :

 

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Hand Sanitiser vs Soap : Which Should YOU Use?

To keep your hands clean of nasty bacteria and viruses, should you use a hand sanitiser or just soap and water?

Find out what are the advantages and disadvantages of both options, and WHICH we should use!

 

Hand Sanitiser vs Soap : Which Should YOU Use?

The double whammy of a particularly bad influenza season, and the new Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, has seen people stocking up on surgical masks as well as hand sanitisers.

But is it really better to use a hand sanitiser, or is plain soap and water good enough to stave off even the Wuhan coronavirus? Let’s find out…

 

Hand Sanitiser vs Soap : TLDR Summary

Here is a quick summary for those who just want to know what they should use :

  • Where possible, wash your hands with soap and water
  • When using soap and water, scrub your hands thoroughly with soap for at least 20 seconds before rinsing off with water
  • Only if soap and water are not available, should you resort to a hand sanitiser
  • Use a hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol – anything less will not kill microbes
  • When using a hand sanitiser, rub it all over the surfaces of your hands until they dry completely

For those who wish to learn more about why soap and water is better in most situations than hand sanitisers, please continue below.

We will also share with you when hand sanitisers will come in handy, and why you need to use one with high alcohol content!

 

Why Soap Is Superior To Hand Sanitiser In Most Situations

Reason #1 : Soap Cleans Your Hands!

The key reason why soap and water are better than using a hand sanitiser in most situations is that it removes bacteria and viruses, as well as dirt and grease, from your hands.

Another point to note – washing your hands also removes harmful chemicals like pesticides and heavy metals that you may have accidentally (and unknowingly) touched.

Reason #2 : Soap Eliminates Microbes That Hand Sanitisers Cannot Kill!

Alcohol-based hand sanitisers can quickly kill the number of microbes on your hands, but they have difficulty killing certain microbes (like Cryptosporidium, novovirus, and Clostridium difficile).

Washing your hands with soap and water is the only way to effectively get rid of those microbes.

This is why doctors and nurses do not use hand sanitisers but wash their hands with soap and water instead, before performing surgeries.

Reason #3 : Hand Sanitisers Are Not Effective With Dirty / Greasy Hands

Hand sanitisers work well in clinical settings like in a hospital, where your hands may come into contact with microbes but are otherwise not dirty or greasy.

Their effectiveness in killing microbes is greatly reduced when used on dirty or greasy hands. That is why it is recommended that you wash your hands with soap where possible.

 

Bar Soap vs Liquid Soap : Which Should You Use?

Using liquid soap is more hygienic because it is served from a sterile container. A bar soap, on the other hand, will harbour microbes from previous users.

Of course, when you wash your hands with bar soap, the microbes it transfers to your hands will get washed away.

So, using a bar soap is better than no soap at all. But where possible, use liquid soap.

More importantly, learn how to properly wash your hands using this pictorial guide!

 

Hand Sanitiser : When Should You Use One?

Now, the hand sanitiser has its uses. That’s why hospitals, airports, malls and other public places offer them.

Where soap and water are not readily available, or convenient to use, a hand sanitiser will quickly kill microbes on your hands.

Make sure you follow this guide, and properly rub the hand sanitiser all over your hands until they are both completely dry.

 

Hand Sanitiser : Alcohol Or Alcohol-FREE?

For a hand sanitiser to be effective at killing a significant amount of microbes, it needs to have an alcohol content of 60% to 95%.

Top healthcare authorities like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the World Health Organisation (WHO), recommend using alcohol-based hand sanitisers over any other type of hand sanitiser.

This is partly because non-alcohol hand sanitisers use an antibiotic like Triclosan or Triclocarban, which not only exacerbate antibiotic resistance, but may also cause health problems with long-term use.

It is true that alcohol-based hand sanitiser can dry out your hands. But many alcohol-based hand sanitisers now include moisturisers to prevent that. Here are some options you can buy online :

Malaysia

Singapore

United States

United Kingdom

Australia

If you are concerned about dry skin, just apply some moisturiser after rubbing the alcohol-based hand sanitiser dry on your hands.

 

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