Coronavirus good news thread

One of the more unusual bits of potential good news I guess, though very preliminary.

Llama antibodies could help us defeat CoVid-19
According to a new study published in the journal Cell Tuesday by an international team of researchers, antibodies found in the blood of llamas were able to stave off COVID infections.
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I read this and began to think, "Why llamas?" - are they just another animal species that can be used in trials or is there something specific about them, that makes them different?

The article hints at this, but doesn't give the full picture. So I looked at the scientific research paper on this and it turns out that llamas, along with other camelids and sharks, produce a distinctly different class of antibody to almost any other species on earth.

The paper explains it as follows (apologies for the technical language):
In addition to conventional antibodies, camelids also produce heavy-chain-only antibodies (HCAbs), which contain a single variable domain (VHH) instead of two variable domains (VH and VL) that make up the equivalent antigen-binding fragment (Fab) of conventional immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies.
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It goes on to say that these VHH antibodies are not necessarily more powerful than regular antibodies but:
VHHs can easily be constructed into multivalent formats and they have higher thermal stability and chemostability than most antibodies. [...] Their advantageous biophysical properties have led to the evaluation of several VHHs as therapeutics against common respiratory pathogens ...

The use of VHHs as biologics in the context of a respiratory infection is a particularly attractive application, because the highly stable VHHs can be nebulized and administered via an inhaler directly to the site of infection. Moreover, because of their stability after prolonged storage, VHHs could be stockpiled as therapeutic treatment options in case of an epidemic.
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They're talking about getting rid of VAR for the time being because they don't want everyone crowded round together in a little room making decisions. It seems to me that they could very easily put the monitors in a bigger room, but we're talking about people who thought it would be a good idea to look at every goal for 5 minutes to see if they could disallow it, so they probably aren't the brightest sparks.

I'm also looking forward to the press conference where Trump suggests injecting yourself with a llama.
 
Sheriff_John_Bunnell_ret said:
They're talking about getting rid of VAR for the time being because they don't want everyone crowded round together in a little room making decisions. It seems to me that they could very easily put the monitors in a bigger room, but we're talking about people who thought it would be a good idea to look at every goal for 5 minutes to see if they could disallow it, so they probably aren't the brightest sparks.

I'm also looking forward to the press conference where Trump suggests injecting yourself with a llama.
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A Camel could be equally effective.
 
A new tuberculosis vaccine (as distinct from the old BCG vaccine previously mentioned) that could help against SARS-CoV-2:

The scientists in Hanover are also confident. "We think this new VMP1002 tuberculosis vaccine is a promising approach," says Bosch. "The vaccine should improve the human body's non-specific immune response and thus be effective against SARS-CoV-2 viruses, but we will have to wait for the results of the clinical trials."
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New TB vaccine
 
I've done a deep dive today looking for good news as a distraction from Boris' bull**** and I've come up with a fair bit

https://corona.fo/news/417/covid-19-no-more-active-cases-in-the-faroe-islands?_l=en

Faroe Islands although small have no active cases.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12330988

New Zealand moving to level 2 alert status. Lots of places reopening.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...rly-march-idUSKBN22N03X?utm_source=reddit.com

Tunisia records no new cases for first time since March.
 
According to an article in the Telegraph that I think gives overall, positive news (despite a headline putting a really negative spin on things by saying that a vaccine "may never be found") the Oxford University Vaccine trial is being expanded into what sounds a lot like phase 2 trials:
On April 23, a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed at the University of Oxford began human trials.

Now a study involving up to 510 healthy volunteers between 18 and 55 is under way in Oxford and Southampton, with three further sites likely to be added.

Scientists working on the vaccine have said they could know within six weeks whether it will work.
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Coronavirus vaccine trials latest
 
Evil said:
No news outlets will make that a main story though will they.
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Absolutely correct.

I would also hazard a guess that government are fully aware of the findings by these Oxford University scientists and are keeping it under their hats so as not to "excite" the public. Same can be said of the whole "vaccine may never be found" rhetoric they have been trotting out since Sunday.
 
RandySavage said:
Absolutely correct.

I would also hazard a guess that government are fully aware of the findings by these Oxford University scientists and are keeping it under their hats so as not to "excite" the public. Same can be said of the whole "vaccine may never be found" rhetoric they have been trotting out since Sunday.
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I am not too confident that I have a grasp of the numbers and statistics and their relationship to good/bad Covid19 situation but wouldn't such a small number of infection's sit uncomfortably with the number of deaths recorded?
 
hopesoboro said:
I am not too confident that I have a grasp of the numbers and statistics and their relationship to good/bad Covid19 situation but wouldn't such a small number of infection's sit uncomfortably with the number of deaths recorded?
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Look what happened last weekend when the government drip fed the media that "lockdown was been loosened", load of people went batshit. More people went out and about, streets organized parties etc.
What do you think would happen if every media outlet print and digital reported that the country was no longer in an epidemic tomorrow morning?
I'm starting to believe a lot of the moves recently have been very deliberate. Do you seriously believe that people in power would send kids back to school of they were at a high risk of dying from virus? Whatever we think about Tories a basic human instinct would kick in and say no we aren't going to do that.
 
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RandySavage said:
Absolutely correct.

I would also hazard a guess that government are fully aware of the findings by these Oxford University scientists and are keeping it under their hats so as not to "excite" the public. Same can be said of the whole "vaccine may never be found" rhetoric they have been trotting out since Sunday.
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The Telegraph are reporting it.

Where did the 40 per 100000 = epidemic come from? 1000 cases across the UK of meningitis has been classified as an epidemic. I can't find a definition anywhere for Covid-19. SARS was considered an epidemic in a lot of countries with very few cases. Any links?

The good news is that hospital deaths peaked on 8 April and care homes on about 22 April.
 
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RandySavage said:
Look what happened last weekend when the government drip fed the media that "lockdown was been loosened", load of people went batshit. More people went out and about, streets organized parties etc.
What do you think would happen if every media outlet print and digital reported that the country was no longer in an epidemic tomorrow morning?
I'm starting to believe a lot of the moves recently have been very deliberate. Do you seriously believe that people in power would send kids back to school of they were at a high risk of dying from virus? Whatever we think about Tories a basic human instinct would kick in and say no we aren't going to do that.
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Absolutely right, there's no way the Chief Scientific Advisors would say "yes, let them go back to school" if there was any risk of the NHS getting in trouble.

Imagine if the R rate went and sky rocketed because of their decisions?

The media and public would go mad.

They're already going to struggle to get relected. Especially as Starmer has already conducted himself in a better manner for Labour than Corbyn ever could in this situation.
 
Evil said:
Absolutely right, there's no way the Chief Scientific Advisors would say "yes, let them go back to school" if there was any risk of the NHS getting in trouble.

Imagine if the R rate went and sky rocketed because of their decisions?

The media and public would go mad.

They're already going to struggle to get relected. Especially as Starmer has already conducted himself in a better manner for Labour than Corbyn ever could in this situation.
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It's all Jeremy's fault!
 
Evil said:
That's not at all what I was alluding to - I am saying Starmer is doing a better job as a Labour leader in this situation than Corbyn would have.
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I agree. Corbyn would have got into the cult of personality slanging match that Fuhrer Johnson thrives on.

Starmers measured analytical dissection of what’s wrong with the government approach is what we need right now
 
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