SARS-CoV-2
- See also: COVID-19
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), colloquially known as the coronavirus and previously known by the provisional name 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus. It causes the respiratory illness known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Quotes
- I think the president has made the right decisions for the right reasons. I think against the advice of many people, he closed the borders. And I think when the history of this is written, that’s going to have saved a lot of lives. I think that given the uncertainty that surrounded this and the possibility that it was so contagious that it would swamp our healthcare system, he supported the appropriate moves for a limited period of time
- William Barr, as quoted in AG Barr calls coronavirus restrictions 'draconian,' says they should be reevaluated next month (April 9, 2020) by Nicholas Wu, The Star Press
- And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.
And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.
And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.”- Kitty O’Meara, In The Time of Pandemic, The Daily Round, (16 March 2020)
- A pandemic has been declared, but not for the 24,600 who die every day from unnecessary starvation, and not for 3,000 children who die every day from preventable malaria, and not for the 10,000 people who die every day because they are denied publicly-funded healthcare, and not for the hundreds of Venezuelans and Iranians who die every day because America's blockade denies them life-saving medicines, and not for the hundreds of mostly children bombed or starved to death every day in Yemen, in a war supplied and kept going, profitably, by America and Britain. Before you panic, consider them.
- John Pilger, quoted in Here is what legendary journalist John Pilger said about coronavirus outbreak Pilger decries inattention to hunger, malaria and American wars and blockades, The Week, (12 March 2020)
- Three weeks ago, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee privately warned dozens of donors about the harrowing impact the coronavirus would have on the United States, while keeping the general public in the dark. In a secret recording obtained by NPR, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr is heard giving attendees of a club luncheon a much different message than most federal government officials, especially President Trump, were giving the public at the time... Sen. Burr sold off up to $1.56 million in stock on February 13th, as he was reassuring the public about coronavirus preparedness.
- There’s one thing that I can tell you about this... It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history... It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.... There will be, I’m sure, times that communities... have a transmission rate where they say, let’s close schools for two weeks, everybody stay home.
- There are two ways this could go. We could, as some people have done, double down on denial. Some of those who have dismissed other threats, such as climate breakdown, also seek to downplay the threat of Covid-19... Or this could be the moment when we begin to see ourselves, once more, as governed by biology and physics, and dependent on a habitable planet. Never again should we listen to the liars and the deniers. Never again should we allow a comforting falsehood to trounce a painful truth. No longer can we afford to be dominated by those who put money ahead of life.
- George Monbiot, Covid-19 is nature's wake-up call to complacent civilisation, The Guardian, (25 March 2020)
- The Coronavirus is serious enough but it's worth recalling that there is a much greater horror approaching, we are racing to the edge of disaster, far worse than anything that's ever happened in human history... the corona virus is a horrible... can have terrifying consequences but there will be recovery, while the others won't be recovered... If we don't deal with them we're done.
- When the UN security council and the G7 group sought to agree a global response to the coronavirus pandemic, the efforts stumbled on the US insistence on describing the threat as distinctively Chinese... the focus on labelling the virus Chinese and blaming China pursued by the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, helped ensure there would be no meaningful collective response from the world’s most powerful nations...
For some US allies, the fixation on words at a time when the international order was arguably facing its greatest challenge since the second world war encapsulated the glaring absence of US leadership. And that absence was illustrated just as vividly by news coverage of planes full of medical supplies from China arriving in Italy, at a time when the US was quietly flying in half a million Italian-made diagnostic swabs for use in its own under-equipped health system and Donald Trump was on the phone to the South Korean president pressing him to send test kits.
Virus characteristics
- Although the new (SARS-CoV-2) coronavirus is related to the virus that causes SARS, so far (as of 20 January 2020) it lacks the transmissibility of SARS.
- Yoshihiro Kawaoka (2020) cited in "New virus surging in Asia rattles scientists" on Nature, 20 January 2020.
- They have no evidence snakes can be infected by this new (SARS-CoV-2) coronavirus and serve as a host for it. There's no consistent evidence of coronaviruses in hosts other than mammals and Aves (birds).
- Paulo Eduardo Brandão (2020) cited in: "Why snakes probably aren’t spreading the new China virus" in Nature, 23 January 2020.
- I have thought for a long time that the most likely virus that might cause a new pandemic would be a coronavirus. We don't yet know how contagious it (SARS-CoV-2) is. We know that it is being spread person to person, but we don't know to what extent.
- Eric Toner (2020) cited in "The U.S. Scientist who Predicted Coronavirus could Kill 65 Million People–Three Months before the Outbreak in Wuhan, China" on Electroverse, 25 January 2020.
- Calm, calm down. The (SARS-CoV-2) virus has become rampant. Everyone here is anxious.
- Gao Fu (2020) cited in "China Urges Calm Over Virus During ‘Critical Period’" on The Wall Street Journal, 26 January 2020.
- In my view it is premature to conclude, on the basis of the evidence currently available (as of 29 January 2020), that the new (SARS-CoV-2) virus can be transmitted before symptoms appear.
- Mark Woolhouse (2020) cited in "Here's The Science on How Serious The Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak Actually Is" on Science Alert, 29 January 2020.
- The coronavirus in SARS or the coronavirus in MERS are in the same family of virus with the new (SARS-CoV-2) coronavirus.
- Yuen Kwok-yung (2020) cited in "China coronavirus: Hong Kong professor Yuen Kwok-yung says effectiveness of drugs could be judged within weeks, with tests due to start in city" on South China Morning Post, 29 January 2020.
- In the last few days the progress of the (SARS-CoV-2) virus, especially in some countries, especially human-to-human transmission, worries us (World Health Organization). Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak.
- Tedros Adhanom (2020) cited in "Coronavirus: Death toll rises as virus spreads to every Chinese region" on BBC News, 30 January 2020.
- The longest incubation period (of the SARS-CoV-2) is 14 days.
- Zeng Guang (2020) cited in "We must avoid losses caused by fear, overreaction: top epidemiologist" on Global Times, 30 January 2020.
- Based on the virus genome and properties, there is no indication whatsoever that it (SARS-CoV-2) was an engineered virus.
- Richard H. Ebright (2020) cited in "Experts debunk fringe theory linking China’s coronavirus to weapons research" on The Washington Post, 31 January 2020.
- What I am thinking might be happening here is not that people have been infected for some time with this (COVID-19) virus, but that it is finding a new niche rather more slowly and that could ultimately cause more of a problem than we have seen with other diseases because it is not so spectacular early on in its evolution.
- Trevor Drew (2020) cited in: "Virologist heading coronavirus vaccine efforts warns the killer disease could mutate and become even deadlier - as Qantas jet waits on standby to fly stranded Australians out of Wuhan" in Daily Mail, 31 January 2020.
- Because these (SARS-CoV-2) viruses have not been circulating in humans before, specific immunity to these viruses is absent in humans.
- Bart Haagmans (2020) cited in "The genetic code of the Wuhan coronavirus shows it's 80% similar to SARS. New research suggests a potential way to neutralize the virus." on Busines Insider Malaysia, 3 February 2020.
- Wuhan Coronavirus has three features: it is an RNA virus that mutates easily, it is more contagious than SARS, and it can spread from an asymptomatic person. This means that even someone who has recovered from the virus can transmit it, making it more difficult to curb its spread.
- Hsieh Shie-liang (2020) cited in "Coronavirus could be unkillable: top Taiwanese researcher" on Taiwan News, 3 Febfruary 2020.
- Research shows a (SARS-CoV-2) virus on a smooth surface survives for several hours. It can survive for days with suitable temperature and humidity. For example, it is suitable for it to live in a 20°C air-conditioned environment or in 40 to 50 percent humidity. Some researches have shown previously discovered coronaviruses can possibly survive for five days.
- Jiang Rongmeng (2020) cited in "No evidence of coronavirus transmitting via faecal-oral route: Expert" on Malaysiakini, 4 February 2020.
Vaccines for the virus
- Outbreaks of new viruses, such as the Wuhan Coronavirus, are a constant reminder of the need to invest in research in emerging virus biology and evolution, how they infect and interact with human cells, and ultimately, to identify safe and effective drugs to treat – or vaccines to prevent – serious disease.
- Connor Bamford (2020) cited in "Mystery China pneumonia outbreak likely caused by new human coronavirus" on The Jakarta Post, 18 January 2020.
- A vaccine for the coronavirus is still being developed and that the main treatment right now is supportive care.
- Chen Shih-chung (2020) cited in "Taiwan coronavirus patients in good condition: CDC" on Taiwan News, 2 February 2020.
- In essence, it (SARS-CoV-2) is a version of SARS that spreads more easily but causes less damage. This indicates that treatments and vaccines developed for SARS should work for the Wuhan virus.
- Ian Jones (2020) cited in "The genetic code of the Wuhan coronavirus shows it’s 80% similar to SARS. New research suggests a potential way to neutralize the virus." on Business Insider Malaysia, 3 February 2020.
- If everything moves smoothly, it takes 3-6 weeks to get to the point where you can start testing (the vaccine to treat SARS-CoV-2), then you look to see if they can raise an immune response, normally in an animal. You won't start to get human studies until about the beginning of the summer, probably July (2020). But, it's a bit of a moveable feast.
- Paul Kellam (2020) cited in "Coronavirus v SARS: How similar are the outbreaks?" on Sky News, 4 February 2020.
- BioCubaFarma... reports 1,500 COVID-19 patients having been cured by taking Interferon B and the drug will be used by the Chinese National Health Commission to combat the disease which attacks the respiratory system.
- Cuba rolls out first coronavirus-fighting drug in China, Haiti Sentiniel, 16 March 2020