Coronavirus appears to be declining in potency and people are contracting it less easily, US doctors reveal

Daily Mail ^ | 06/06/2020 | Megan Sheets

[SeekAndFind]

Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center say the coronavirus appears to be becoming less potent.

Dr Donald Yealy, chair of emergency medicine at UPMC, explained at a press conference on Thursday that people seem to be contracting the virus less easily and cases appear to be less severe then when the pandemic first took hold in the US early this year.

'The virus may be changing,' Yealy said. 'Some patterns suggest the potency is diminished.'

He noted that UPMC has successfully treated more than 500 coronavirus patients since March, and in recent weeks fewer patients are requiring ventilators to help them breathe.

Less than four percent of all tests and only 0.2 percent of tests in asymptomatic patients are coming back positive, he said, indicating that the virus is less prevalent in the communities UPMC serves.

The doctors' findings that the virus could be declining in potency came days after researchers in Italy announced that patients there were showing much smaller amounts of the virus in their system, compared to samples taken during the peak of the crisis in March and April.

Professor Alberto Zangrillo, head of intensive care at Italy's San Raffaele Hospital in Lombardy, went so far as to say that the virus 'clinically no longer exists' during a Sunday interview on state television.

But World Health Organization experts and a range of other scientists quickly rejected Zangrillo's claims on Monday, saying there is no evidence to support the assertion that the coronavirus has been losing potency.

'In terms of transmissibility, that has not changed, in terms of severity, that has not changed,' WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters.

It is not unusual for viruses to mutate and adapt as they spread.

[SteveH]

queue gomer pyle

[IrishBrigade]

‘Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center say the coronavirus appears to be becoming less potent.’

this is the kind of stuff that should be going viral, so to speak...

[neverevergiveup]

As per usual, and as predicted.

[shelterguy]

I drove by a WalMart in a Minneapolistan suburb today. The parking lot was full.

I still can’t go get a haircut. Just too dangerous they say.

I saw a guy out in his yard by himself watering flowers.....wearing a mask and gloves.

This leads me to believe that haircuts and flowers are the most dangerous places to be right now.

WalMart, Target, groceries stores are super safe.

But don’t go to church and especially don’t sing there. You will die immediately. And most likely you will get arrested.

[SeekAndFind]

HOW AND WHY CAN VIRUSES LOSE POTENCY OVER TIME?

Viruses are known to change over time because they are subject to random genetic mutations in the same way that all living things are.

These mutations can have various effects and many will only happen briefly and not become a permanent change as newer generations of viruses replace the mutated ones.

However, some of the mutations might turn out to be advantageous to the virus, and get carried forward into future generations.

For example, if a virus becomes less dangerous to its host - that is, it causes fewer symptoms or less death - it may find that it is able to live longer and reproduce more.

As a result, more of these less dangerous viruses are produced and they may go on to spread more effectively than the more dangerous versions, which could be stamped out by medication because more people realize they are ill, for example.

The mutation may then be taken forward in the stronger generations and become the dominant version of the virus.

In an explanation of an scientific study about HIV, the NHS said in 2014: 'The optimal evolutionary strategy for a virus is to be infectious (so it creates more copies of itself) but non-lethal (so its host population doesn’t die out).

'The "poster boy" for successful long-living viruses is, arguably, the family of viruses that cause the, which has existed for thousands of years.'

[neverevergiveup]

In other news, liberals continue to be the same self absorbed, destructive, clueless automatons that they’ve always been - except more aggressive and more willing to hurt others. Show me a liberal, and I’ll show you a hypocrite.

[Repeal 16-17]

The State governments and the Marxist Media will never admit the Coronavirus is under control, because then they lose a tremendous amount of influence.

[ThornJ56]

IF there are as high a number of asymptomatic cases as what optimistic assessments expect, and if the virus acts like all other vriuses, this makes sense. The virus could simply be running out of people to infect.

[DannyTN]

There are a lot of variables at play:

• Better treatments
• More use of HCQ + zinc and/or vitamin D
• Mask wearing, who knows if that is up or down?
• Summer and Vitamin D levels up
• Social distancing, is that up or down?
• People seeking care earlier?
• Virus spreading into more rural areas where people are healthier?
• Better protection of elderly, including nursing homes.

[Jim Robinson]

Praise God! Now we can lift the Democrats’ Iron Curtain that had descended all across America. Mr Mayor, Mr Governor, tear down this wall! Set our people free to work, produce, prosper, play and worship.

[SeekAndFind]

Pa. Doctor: Greater Risk of a Car Accident Than Catching COVID-19 from Asymptomatic Transmission

(EXCERPT)

Dr. Donald Yealy, chair of emergency medicine at UPMC, said fewer people are testing positive and those who do don’t seem to be getting as sick, Penn Live reports.

“All signs that we have available right now show that this virus is less prevalent than it was weeks ago,” Yealy said.

“We see all of this as evidence that COVID-19 cases are less severe than when this first started,” he said.

The doctor suggested that the risk of getting COVID-19 through asymptomatic infections is lower than health officials thought. He said it’s more likely that people were infected by someone with COVID-19 but doesn’t know they have it yet than someone who has it but has no symptoms.

Yealy said the risk of getting into a car accident on the highway in Pennsylvania is greater than being positive for the coronavirus by asymptomatic.

“Your risk of getting into a car accident if you go back and forth across the turnpike in Pennsylvania is greater than your risk of being positive for asymptomatic COVID-19 infection,” he said. “This should give you some reassurance that the risk of catching COVID-19 … from someone who doesn’t even know they have the infection, in our communities, is very small.”

Yealy’s observations apply to western and central Pennsylvania as well as New York and Maryland communities served by UPMC.

[Vendome]

WTF?

No

Really

Plandemic needs to be called off...

[Jim Robinson]

Put a sock in it.

[cloudmountain]

Duh.
This country and the rest of the planet have been plagued by Chinese viruses EVERY YEAR!
The Chinese are filthy and breed the viruses. We all know that.

[Pollard]

How convenient for the protester and rioters

[traderrob6]

‘The “poster boy” for successful long-living viruses is, arguably, the family of viruses that cause the, which has existed for thousands of years.’

WTF???

[DannyTN]

"'The "poster boy" for successful long-living viruses is, arguably, the family of viruses that cause the, which has existed for thousands of years.'"

I hate getting the,

[dp0622]

Would this news have come out if the riots weren’t going on?

I know, sounds tin foil hat, just wondering.

[A44MAGNUT]

Covid-19 just another bad flu bug that has burnt itself out. The Virus has all but disappeared from Italy. Blue state governors won’t be talking about this much. Doesn’t fit their narrative.