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“Progressive” Democrats have successfully turned a figurative septic tank into a literal one—the open sewage system that is left-controlled Portland is currently “grappling with” a “highly infectious illness that spreads through fecal matter” and if that isn’t the very definition of poetic irony, then I don’t know what is. Here’s the lede from a Fox News item published today:Portland, Oregon, is grappling with a cluster of a highly infectious illness that spreads through fecal matter and puts the city’s large homeless population at high risk, according to health officials.The “waste-borne illness” known as shigellosis is caused by the Shigella strain...

Did the European tremors of the banking crisis end with Credit Suisse? Overnight, investors asked themselves that question about Deutsche Bank — and clearly thought otherwise. A big spike in credit default swaps shows at least heightened concern about the viability of this financial giant, and has stock markets worried that the worst may not yet be over:Deutsche Bank shares fell by more than 14% on Friday following a spike in credit default swaps Thursday night, as concerns about the stability of European banks persisted.The German lender’s Frankfurt-listed shares retreated for a third consecutive day and have now lost more...

Norway's sovereign wealth fund had investments in SVB Financial Group and Signature Bank that were valued last week at a combined 2.8 billion Norwegian kroner ($263.3 million), it said Monday.

Remember Event 201? You might vaguely remember, but shortly before the first suspected case of Covid-19 showed up in China, global bureaucrats and academic elites convened for a “global pandemic” exercise; it was known as Event 201. The event was invite-only, and included representatives from the WEF, Johns Hopkins, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It was largely funded by the Open Philanthropy Project, which is closely aligned with the Clinton Foundation. According to the official website for this preparatory practice run: Event 201 was a 2.5-hour pandemic tabletop exercise that simulated a series of dramatic, scenario-based facilitated discussions,...

It’s pretty clear why it’s getting more contagious. It’s less clear why it’s getting less deadly.Yesterday the White House’s new COVID coordinator, Ashish Jha, shared some rare good news about the virus. Cases have been rising in the northeast for almost two months. But deaths haven’t.If you look at the case-fatality rate now in places like NY or MADown to 0.3% (that’s deaths today divided by cases 3 weeks ago)And given we’re missing lots of cases (because of home testing)CFR is even lowerRemember, throughout the pandemic, CFR has been closer to 1.6%— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@AshishKJha46) May 8,...

"Something historic will happen this week" was how we started to explain the process by which the collapse of Evergrande could spread contagiously across the world this week. One glance at global markets this morning suggests, at a minimum, that risk is being de-grossed across everything from European utilities to cryptos to US materials stocks. However, the biggest – and ultimate-est – contagion is that of China's sovereign risk itself… and that is starting to blow out…This sudden surge in default risk on China's sovereign debt is very significant in the context of China's constant reassurance to the rest of...

In my research for "Dragonslayers: Six Presidents and their War with the Swamp," I came across this book: "Arresting Contagion: Science, Policy, & Conflicts over Animal Disease Control." It is a very well researched academic book by Alan Olmstead, who is known as a solid agricultural historian, and Paul Rhode, and econ prof. Animal disease epidemics were growing in the 1800s. Many states passed livestock sanitary laws and blocked interstate commerce. This incited claims they were using health issues to protect their domestic competition. Some areas such as New Orleans continued to ship contaminated beef. The response to this was...

The new COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa poses an even greater risk than the highly infectious strain that turned up in UK patients, the British health secretary said on Monday. Secretary Matt Hancock called the South African variant a “very significant problem” in a Monday interview on BBC radio.

People need “immunity passports” if they want the economy reopened. At least, that’s the crazy idea The Washington Post decided to push. The Post published an insane op-ed advocating for this proposal by Vital Strategies Director of Public Health Law Aaron Schwid and Resolve to Save Lives CEO Tom Frieden. The two authors argued that “as more and more people are vaccinated, it’s time to carefully design a system of ‘immunity passports.’” As the op-ed stated, “These passports would serve as a form of proof of immunity, allowing people who have immunity to engage in some activities others cannot.” A...

JERUSALEM—Authorities are investigating after witnesses accused a local religious nut named Simon Peter and several others of hosting an unauthorized super spreader event in an enclosed room in Jerusalem. Experts say the event, which was not authorized by the local Jewish or Roman authorities, may put everyone in the area at risk for infectious diseases such as leprosy. "This is completely inexcusable," said local magistrate Biggus Tookus. "We have found that there were at least 11 people at this event. No one's address was recorded at the door and we don't know where they are now." One medical expert named...

Children can carry coronavirus in their noses for up to three weeks, according to a study from South Korea. Earlier studies have found the vast majority of children with the virus have mild or no symptoms. But these findings shed light on the unresolved question of how likely children are to spread the virus to others. The study emphasises the continuing role of social distancing and good hygiene as children go back to school. The president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Prof Russell Viner explains there are three separate, but linked questions about children and Covid-19:...

3:45 PM · Jun 15, 2020

Citing an American report on cats testing positive for the cornavirus, Israeli veterinarian Dr. Rafi Kishon says that there is no danger of the virus being transmitted from cats to humans. Kishon said that "this is a different strain of the coronavirus. It is common among cats and is easily transmitted from one cat to another but cannot...

Summary of Michigan coronavirus at link.

As the stock market implodes in response to COVID-19, there is an underlying economic virus that will soon be evident: America's grossly underfunded pensions.  With the market down 40% in from its high point (before rebounding March 24), many corporations may default on their pension promises.  consumption and thus gross sales will decline (further dampening corporate profits), and the widespread weakness of pensions will be exposed.  This in turn will cause a vicious cycle in which retirees and those planning retirement will have fewer disposable dollars and will divert more money to retirement savings — further weakening consumption and undermining the effectiveness...

With 45 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in Delaware, Governor John Carney is ordering everyone off the beach and will move to ban non-essential business early next week. In a third modification to his State of Emergency Saturday around lunchtime, Carney announced he's prohibiting public access to Delaware's beaches except for exercise or dog walking on beaches, where that's permitted. Carney hinted about closing the beaches in remarks made on WDEL Friday. The beach ban goes into effect at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 21, 2020. The restrictions are in place until May 15, 2020, or until the public...

The Trump administration is handling the coronavirus outbreak better than previous administrations addressed earlier emerging contagions, said Dr. Marc Siegel, professor of medicine at New York University, Fox News medical correspondent, and author of False Alarm: The Truth about the Epidemic of Fear. Siegel shared his analysis on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with special guest host Joel Pollak. “I’ve been handling these emerging contagions for about 20 years now, and I have to tell you, I’ve never seen one handled better,” said Siegel of President Donald Trump’s approach to the coronavirus outbreak. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) erred in...

The thing about R0 values is that they are averages. And to explain why that makes a difference, we need to talk about Coronaviruses. Before 2019-nCoV, the most notorious Coronaviruses were MERS and SARS. MERS, or Middle East respiratory syndrome, has had several small outbreaks since it was first discovered in 2012, and while very severe in terms of mortality (the case fatality rate is around 30 to 40 percent), the virus’s R0 is very low. And then there’s SARS. Because while SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, caused a huge uproar in its heyday of 2002-3, good old fashioned...

The case of a German adult who acquired novel coronavirus infection locally in Munich from a Chinese who hails from Shanghai is the second reported case of a person human-to-human transmission the incubation period...It also reports the first known case of fourth-generation transmission (assuming that the infection was transmitted to the Chinese lady by a close contact) of the novel virus outside China...Even more sobering is the fact that persons recovering from illness can have huge viral load. This raises “concern about prolonged shedding of the virus even after recovery,” writes Dr. Camilla Rothe, who is the first and corresponding...

The first case of a person contracting the novel (new) coronavirus from another person in the United States was confirmed on Jan. 30. The patient, who has not traveled to China, is a Chicago resident and is the spouse of the first confirmed travel-related case in Illinois. That patient was a woman in her 60s who returned from Wuhan on Jan. 13. Both patients are isolated and are in stable condition. The first patient is isolated at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Officials declined to say where the second patient is being treated. “This person-to-person spread was...