In mid-March, Stanford’s Nobel laureate Michael Levitt (biophysicist and professor of structural biology) discussed the “natural experiment” of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, a virtually perfect sealed petri-dish disproportionately filled with the most susceptible age and health groups.

Here, despite the virus spreading uncontrolled onboard for at least two weeks, infection only reached 20% of passengers and crew (an “upper bound” to infection levels?); Levitt concluded that we must have high levels of innate immunity that can clear the virus. And using very simple mathematics (not “15,000 lines of uncommented code” like Neil Ferguson) he demonstrated that the virus’s spread had never been exponential.....this guy was just flat out ignored both by governments and most media.

So essentially there has always been a fair level of innate immunity from this virus amongst the population and it's likely that early testing won't pick up on just how widespread that is.

[Link]

Edited by Stirlingsays (21 May 2020 9.14pm)

Your first sentence doesn't make much sense to me, as I rarely post at those I have no time for.

As for the second sentence....I think your views on moral responsibility somewhat differ in some areas to mine....so what you think doesn't resonate.

Edited by Stirlingsays (21 May 2020 8.43am)

You show your bias in the comments on Sadiq Khan. De Blasio has come over rather well in the presentations I have seen. Passionate, caring and committed. That he gave estimates that subsequently proved incorrect is a common phenomenon of this crisis. He would have not made them up but acted on the best advice available to him. Hindsight being what it is can make the really foolish seem wise, and the very clever seem foolish. We haven't needed the Nightingale Hospitals. Yet! But we have them now, ready for a second wave and so the NHS can resume some of it's currently paused work. I guess your Javits centre falls into the same category.

Yes, I dig at Trump because his performance during this crisis is a disgrace and it needs to be called out. Yes, he agreed to send the hospital ship, but made sure he was photographed as it left the dock so everyone would know. If he had refused to send it he would have been hung out to dry!

Edited by Wisbech Eagle (17 May 2020 12.15am)

He was ignored because our knowledge of covid-19 has moved on and claims that 20% may be an upper band does not align with the facts. Over 60% of those on this French ship tested positive: [Link] 36 out of 38 residents of this care home tested positive: [Link] 30 out of 34 in this home tested positive: [Link]

While clearly many people are asymptomatic, it unfortunately appears likely that most people have no natural immunity.

Edited by BlueJay (21 May 2020 10.32pm)