Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Mollick.R · Post by **Mollick.R** » 27 Apr 2020 14:08

Mollick.R · Post by **Mollick.R** » 27 Apr 2020 14:23

Massive 145% profiteering exposed in coronavirus rapid test kits sold to ICMR
Dispute between importer and distributor unravels super profits; Delhi HC strikes down sale price by 33 per cent
Rajeev Dubey | Vivek Punj New Delhi Last Updated: April 27, 2020 | 11:59 IST

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

The $3 per test SARS CoV-2 Antibody test kits are being imported from China's Wondfo

Its landed price, including air freight (Rs 20), to importer Matrix Labs is Rs 245 per test

ICMR placed an order to buy 5 lakh kits on March 27, 28 @Rs 600 (plus GST) per test

Importer Matrix Labs sells to distributor Rare Metabolics Life Sciences at Rs 400 per test

Rare Metabolics contracted to ICMR at the government approved rate of @Rs 600 (plus GST)

2.76 lakh have been delivered to ICMR; remaining 2.24 lakh tests are about to land

Rare Metabolics intends to sell 1 million kits; order was placed with Matrix for 5 lakh kits

Matrix Labs has an order to supply 50,000 kits to Tamil Nadu through dealer Shan Biotech and Diagnostics at Rs 600 per test

Of this, 24,000 have already been supplied; 26,000 more are yet to be delivered

https://www.businesstoday.in/current/ec ... 02066.html

Mollick.R · Post by **Mollick.R** » 27 Apr 2020 14:33

Twitter.
Dr. Dena Grayson @DrDenaGrayson. Apr 25
https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/statu ... 8735199232

Police cars revolving lightStudy of #COVID19 cases in #SouthKorea: 94 of 216 people working on the 11th floor of a call center were infected with #coronavirus, translating to an attack rate of 43.5(!).
Note that most of those infected (Blue circle) sat on the same side of the floor.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/8/20-1274_article

Interesting Paper

Synopsis
Coronavirus Disease Outbreak in Call Center, South Korea

Abstract
We describe the epidemiology of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in a call center in South Korea. We obtained information on demographic characteristics by using standardized epidemiologic investigation forms. We performed descriptive analyses and reported the results as frequencies and proportions for categoric variables. Of 1,143 persons who were tested for COVID-19, a total of 97 (8.5%, 95% CI 7.0%–10.3%) had confirmed cases. Of these, 94 were working in an 11th-floor call center with 216 employees, translating to an attack rate of 43.5% (95% CI 36.9%–50.4%). The household secondary attack rate among symptomatic case-patients was 16.2% (95% CI 11.6%– 22.0%). Of the 97 persons with confirmed COVID-19, only 4 (1.9%) remained asymptomatic within 14 days of quarantine, and none of their household contacts acquired secondary infections. Extensive contact tracing, testing all contacts, and early quarantine blocked further transmission and might be effective for containing rapid outbreaks in crowded work settings.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 27 Apr 2020 16:10

They should be checking the uninfected folks on the blue side as to why/how they didnt get infected.

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 27 Apr 2020 18:05

https://www.miamidade.gov/releases/2020 ... esults.asp

https://reason.com/2020/04/26/miami-dad ... tor-of-16/
Miami-Dade Antibody Tests Suggest Local COVID-19 Infections Exceed Confirmed Cases by a Factor of 16
The preliminary results imply an infection fatality rate of 0.2 percent, similar to estimates from two California studies

ICMR totally stopped anti-body testing because Chinese kits failed (Duh ... What a surprise!)

May be we need to get Korean kits and increase it. We are going nuts stopping whole economy screwing everything we have done for last 5 years. Is anyone in the Govt. thinking about it? Or is just flatten flatten flatten ...

Ashokk · Post by **Ashokk** » 27 Apr 2020 19:15

Chinese test kits: India cancels order, says due process followed

NEW DELHI: The health ministry on Monday said India is cancelling the order of rapid anti-body test kits from China over performance issues, adding that the government does not stand to lose a single rupee since due process was followed during procurement.
The health ministry's statement came after the country's apex health research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday asked states to stop using the Covid-19 rapid antibody test kits procured from two Chinese companies and return them to be sent back to the suppliers.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 Apr 2020 19:25

Indore Covid strain deadlier?

Doctors in Indore, which has emerged as the one of the major coronavirus hotspots in the country, fear that virus strain plaguing the city could be deadlier than that in other parts of the country and have decided to send the samples to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) to confirm their apprehension.

A strain is a sub-type of a virus characterised by different cell surface proteins, eliciting a different immune response from other strains.

saip · Post by **saip** » 27 Apr 2020 19:29

World infection rates:
April 2 - 1 million
April 15 - 2 million (13 days)
April 27 - 3 million (12 days)
So the growth (doubling rate) has slowed down?

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 28 Apr 2020 01:10

I have a question for the Doctors and others here with medical knowledge. There have been several reports about re-infections from various parts of the world, and it seems recovering from a Covid-19 infection may not provide immunity to the patient. What does that mean for the possibility of a potential vaccine being developed? If full blown infection does not provide immunity how will a Vaccine do the same?

nam · Post by **nam** » 28 Apr 2020 01:47

I am frankly very surprised that even after 4 months, since this thing has exploded on the human race, destroyed world economy, we still don't know much about it!

Humanity's technology and best brains have still not been able to figure out a rapid testing kit which can give results in minutes or some preventive medicine to improve our chances against this virus. Or even simplify figure out how does it kill? Why does it effect men the most, people with hyper tension or kidney issue?

Absolutely no answer.

If the virus had higher killing power, say like the Spanish flu, I have lost hope that even this technology achievement, humans could have found a way out.

We have truly been caught with pants down....

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 28 Apr 2020 02:33

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52363791
Coronavirus: How India will play a major role in a Covid-19 vaccine

One of them is Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced and sold globally. The 53-year-old company makes 1.5 billion doses every year, mainly from its two facilities in the western city of Pune. (It has two other small plants in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.) Around 7,000 people work for the firm.

The company supplies some 20 vaccines to 165 countries. Some 80% of its vaccines are exported and, at an average of 50 cents a dose, they are some of the cheapest in the world.

Now the firm has stitched up collaboration with Codagenix, an American biotech company, to develop a "live attenuated" vaccine, among the more than 80 reportedly in development all over the world.

Mr Poonawalla's firm has also partnered to mass produce a vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and backed by the UK government. A genetically engineered chimpanzee virus would form the basis for the new vaccine. Human clinical trials began in Oxford on Thursday. If all goes well, scientists hope to make at least a million doses by September.

"It's pretty clear the world is going to need hundreds of millions of doses, ideally by the end of this year, to end this pandemic, to lead us out of lockdown," Prof Adrian Hill, who runs the Jenner Institute at Oxford, told the BBC's Health and Science correspondent James Gallagher.

This is where Indian vaccine makers have a head start over others. Mr Poonawalla's firm alone has an extra capacity of 400 to 500 million doses. "We have lots of capacity as we have invested in it," he says.

Looks like they can produce 400 to 500 mill vaccines by year end

Can we make sure we deny it to scums @BBC/WaPo/NYT/NDTV/IndiaToday/Economist/CNN ...

nam · Post by **nam** » 28 Apr 2020 02:49

The oxford vaccine is been produced in 2 places in UK & 1 in Europe, 1 India, 1 China. So it is not exclusive to India...

But good to know that we can do war scale production, if there is a will. Time we show up, what we can do.

Hope our masks & PPE manufacturers are upping their game. Noticing major shortages of masks & PPE in at-least UK and only available from China.

srai · Post by **srai** » 28 Apr 2020 02:55

srai wrote:
srai wrote:https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Date: April 2, 2020
1 million cases
50,000 deaths

5% death rate average
...
Date: April 15, 2020
Over 2 million cases today
134,000 deaths

6.7% death rate average (known cases and deaths)

Known cases doubled in two weeks.

Date: April 27, 2020
Coronavirus Cases: 3,055,498
Deaths: 211,035
Recovered: 918,184

Another million in 12-days. Recovered inching towards a million (1/3 of known infections).

disha · Post by **disha** » 28 Apr 2020 03:05

Mollick.R wrote:Massive 145% profiteering exposed in coronavirus rapid test kits sold to ICMR
Dispute between importer and distributor unravels super profits; Delhi HC strikes down sale price by 33 per cent
Rajeev Dubey | Vivek Punj New Delhi Last Updated: April 27, 2020 | 11:59 IST

I think the headline and the way the numbers are put together is non-sense.

First of all I do not see any profiteering. Second, journos and politicos do not know any business. Having grown up on rent-seeking, they think that is the way to go about. Also many Indians are *not* entrepreneurs. They do not understand anything called "supply chain" or do not know how to manage supply change. Forget finances. For many Indians, finances is when you collect money from rent seeking, invest in either gold or real estate and propagate more rent seeking.

Now I will break this down for you:

1. ICMR puts an order with Rare Metabolics under a legal contract.

2. Rare Metabolics obtains from Matrix Labs

3. Matrix labs obtain from China's Wondfo (or whatever).

This is actually a very tight chain. One may ask, why not cut the supply chain out? Why not ICMR put a direct order to WondFo?

Let's say ICMR puts a direct order with WondFo.

1. WondFo will charge some amount upfront. Say 25%. Another 50% is due on delivery and another 25% within 15 days of delivery. That is ICMR as a buyer has to pay up 100% within 15 days of delivery. Maybe a large order and it is due 30 days.

2. It is an international order, so by law ICMR has to float an international tender. If wondfo is the single supplier, there is vendor lock in and the tender itself will be a failure.

Let's say that technicality is also removed. ICMR has limitless money and cuts the cheque.

3. WondFo supplies the kits. They may land in Delhi/Mumbai/Chennai/Kolkatta or at one place. ICMR has to now do warehouse management. That is take position of the goods. Safely transit it from the central landing zone and transport it to the destination. And the destination is all over the country. 3000 kits to Mumbai and 30 kits to Radhanpur and 100 kits to ChandanNagar. Maybe even to some places which you never knew existed.

What happens that after taking the possession the kits turn out to be faulty? Or have some issues (not entire set is faulty)? Will ICMR now spend time pursuing that with WondFo? What happens if WondFo rejects the claim and says that it is ICMR's fault in warehousing?

What if WondFo does not have a representative in India? Will ICMR send its representatives to Cheen to fight it out? What happens if WondFo simply states that all issues must be sorted out in Cheeni court?

So what does importer Matrix Labs provide?

Well Matrix Labs proxies all of the above. There is some more. ICMR went with Rare Metabolics or Shan Biotech. Why?

Here is what Rare metabolics provides the key piece in both supply chain management and workflow processes.

1. Rare metabolics will supply within its "territory" to nodes ICMR targets to be provided. If it is 10 in Ganganagar or 1000 in Haldoi, it does not matter. Rare metabolics has to manage the supply chain.

2. Rare metabolics has to manage any workflow processing. For example, ICMR may pay Rare metabolics 45 days (or sometimes 60 days or 90 days) after the kits are delivered and consumed. (Remember this is one of the sore points for SME's that they have to pay the GST on goods and services provided while its payment has been delayed by months or quarters!).

3. Rare metabolics generally is not just a supplier of "one-off" good (or service). It also provides services for a range of items. ICMR may request 100 other items and Rare metabolics might have a contract with ICMR on some of them. Think of it as your local kirana store. You do not get everything from the farmer.

Given this, seeing a 125% difference between landed cost to actual distribution cost is peanuts. It should have been 200-300%. And no there is no "price-gouging".

Added later: There is no such thing as a free service. The entire SCM in India exists for a reason. Infrastructure is rickety (it still is) and it shows up in productivity numbers.

For people who complain about price-gouging, I request them to get their kitchen sourced and serviced directly from farmers and tools manufacturers while holding down a 24x7 professional job. They should never ever step into a Kirana store. Or fancy grocery stores in high end malls.

Ashokk · Post by **Ashokk** » 28 Apr 2020 04:20

‘Fake news’: ICMR trashes claim it overpaid for test kits

NEW DELHI: The Indian Council of Medical Research dismissed as “fake news” the charge that it had paid Rs 4,500 for Covid-19 test kits it sourced from China as a controversy of sorts erupted over alleged profiteering by suppliers of the device crucial for the fight against the pandemic.
The ICMR also said it had paid no money for faulty kits procured from China. “This is fake news. Price range approved by ICMR is Rs 740-1,150 for RT-PCR and Rs 528-795 for rapid test. No test has been procured at Rs 4,500. Any Indian company wanting to supply at lower rates is welcome to contact ICMR or Ms Anu Nagar, JS Health Research (01123736222),” the ICMR tweeted.

@Dr_Uditraj This is Fake News. Price range approved by ICMR is ₹740-1150 for RT-PCR and ₹528-795 for Rapid Test. No… https://t.co/1w9GGaFifF
— ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) 1587959387000

The response, unusually strong for a staid professional body, came after Congress’s Udit Raj put out a tweet levell ing the Rs 4,500-a-kit charge. The former MP based the allegation on another tweet alleging hefty profits being extracted by a Gujarat company even as he himself kept a safe distance from it. “This is being circulated on social media. It is difficult to ascertain the truth,” Raj had posted.
Underlining that procurement decisions were made amid the cut-throat global scramble for the scarce test kits with various countries deploying “their full might, monetary and diplomatic, to acquire them”, the council said its first at tempt to procure rapid antibody kits did not elicit any response from the suppliers.
However, in its second attempt — which got adequate response — it identified kits from two firms (Biomedemics and Wondfo), taking sensitivity and specificity into account. Both had the requisite international certifications, ICMR said. “For Wondfo, the evaluation committee got four bids and the corresponding quotes received were Rs 1,204, Rs 1,200, Rs 844 and Rs 600. Accordingly, the bid offer of Rs 600 was considered as L-1,” ICMR said in a statement.
It said while it had tried to cut out the suppliers by trying to procure the kits directly from Wondfo in China through India’s consul general, the effort came to naught because the Chinese firm refused to give any commitment with regard to logistics, insisted on 100% direct advance without offering any guarantee.
Further, Wondfo refused to commit to timelines and quoted the rates in US dollars without any clause to factor in fluctuations in exchange rates, ICMR said. It was in this context that the council decided to go for Wondfo’s exclusive distributor in India for the kit, which quoted an all-inclusive price without any clause for advance, the body said.
Emphasising that India needed to procure kits, it said, “Testing is one of the most crucial weapons to fight Covid-19 and ICMR is doing everything it can to ramp up testing. This requires procurement of kits and supplying them to states.”

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 28 Apr 2020 04:49

Kids are ending up in intensive care for COVID-related syndrome, British doctors say

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 28 Apr 2020 06:55

Please check out intl. success with Ozone Therapy.Italy,Spain,Portugal,even the US FDA is considering using it now. It is a v cheap answer to fighting CV.The Bisleri group has given 2 Bonbay hospitals Ozone chambers for their medical staff to sanitise them when ntering and leaving .OT,saline ozonated provides both oxygen to the blood and the saline kills the bug. The Ozone Foundation of India,Pune based has all the capability to carry out the therapy,but the asinine ICMR overlording any medical
procedure ,which only helps Big Pharma, is a stumbling block.
Seattle has designated OT as belonging to the " naturopathy" class of treatment therefore the Ayush ministry could authorise trials esp.in Maharashtra where cases are increasing.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 28 Apr 2020 10:03

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Testing: Status Update:
A total of 716733 samples have been tested as on 28 April 2020, 9 AM IST.

23 April 2020 - 500542
24 April 2020 - 541789
25 April 2020 - 579957
26 April 2020 - 625309
27 April 2020 - 665819
28 April 2020 - 716733

According to covid19india.org, 1561 confirmed cases were reported yesterday (27th).

Aarvee · Post by **Aarvee** » 28 Apr 2020 14:19

Primus wrote: I am not an immunologist so cannot speak to your point about immunity within the lungs.However, cells that service the immune system are everywhere, there are 'watcher' cells and 'helper' cells in all organ systems in abundance, some more than others of course. There is a lot that we do not fully understand about our own physiology. It is mind-blowing how much new stuff is being discovered every day. The role of the gut microbiome for example was never thought to be important, boy, were we wrong on that one! There are many such examples.

Thanks for your insight sir. May be we can have more active discussion in the life sciences/health sector thread, not necessarily about this but in general regarding medicine/biology, similar to the physics thread etc. Would make BRF truly multi dimensional.

Aarvee · Post by **Aarvee** » 28 Apr 2020 14:19

Manish_P wrote:
Hope this is not too layman.. came across it while helping my young nephew with his homework assignment

Sir, this is quite comprehensive

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 28 Apr 2020 14:45

It certainly educated me more than my nephew

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 28 Apr 2020 14:48

Question from a novice so please excuse its ignorance. WHO says that even if you have suffered and recovered from this infection you do not have any immunity from a second infection. If this is the case of what use can plasma from a previous suffer be. If you see my point.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 28 Apr 2020 15:08

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 28 Apr 2020 15:43

The Secret Group of Scientists and Billionaires Pushing a Manhattan Project for Covid-19

WALL STREET JOURNAL | By Rob Copeland
April 27, 2020 10:49 am ET

A dozen of America’s top scientists and a collection of billionaires and industry titans say they have the answer to the coronavirus pandemic, and they found a backdoor to deliver their plan to the White House.

The eclectic group is led by a 33-year-old physician-turned-venture capitalist, Tom Cahill, who lives far from the public eye in a one-bedroom rental near Boston’s Fenway Park. He owns just one suit, but he has enough lofty connections to influence government decisions in the war against Covid-19.

These scientists and their backers describe their work as a lockdown-era Manhattan Project, a nod to the World War II group of scientists who helped develop the atomic bomb. This time around, the scientists are marshaling brains and money to distill unorthodox ideas gleaned from around the globe.

They call themselves Scientists to Stop Covid-19, and they include chemical biologists, an immunobiologist, a neurobiologist, a chronobiologist, an oncologist, a gastroenterologist, an epidemiologist and a nuclear scientist. Of the scientists at the center of the project, biologist Michael Rosbash, a 2017 Nobel Prize winner, said, “There’s no question that I’m the least qualified.”

This group, whose work hasn’t been previously reported, has acted as the go-between for pharmaceutical companies looking for a reputable link to Trump administration decision makers. They are working remotely as an ad hoc review board for the flood of research on the coronavirus, weeding out flawed studies before they reach policy makers.

A copy of the 17-page report by the Scientists to Stop COVID-19.

The group has compiled a confidential 17-page report that calls for a number of unorthodox methods against the virus. One big idea is treating patients with powerful drugs previously used against Ebola, with far heftier dosages than have been tried in the past.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs have already implemented specific recommendations, such as slashing manufacturing regulations and requirements for specific coronavirus drugs.
National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told people this month that he agreed with most of the recommendations in the report, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the matter. The report was delivered to cabinet members and Vice President Mike Pence,head of the administration’s coronavirus task force.

Dr. Cahill’s primary asset is a young lifetime of connections through his investment firm. They include such billionaires as Peter Thiel, Jim Palotta and Michael Milken—financiers who afforded him the legitimacy to reach officials in the middle of the crisis. Dr. Cahill and his group have frequently advised Nick Ayers,Mr. Pence’s longtime aide, and agency heads through phone calls over the past month.

No one involved with the group stands to gain financially. They say they are motivated by the chance to add their own connections and levelheaded science to a coronavirus battle effort that has, on both state and federal levels, been strained.

“We may fail,” said Stuart Schreiber, a Harvard University chemist and a member of the group. “But if it succeeds, it could change the world.”

Steve Pagliuca,co-owner of the Boston Celtics and the co-chairman of Bain Capital—as well as one of Dr. Cahill’s investors—helped copy edit drafts of their report, and he passed a version to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive David Solomon. Mr. Solomon got it to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The group’s members say they are aware that many of their ideas may not be implemented, and could be ignored altogether by the Trump administration.

This account is based on interviews with scientists, businesspeople, government officials, as well as a review of related documents.

Break out

Only two years ago, Dr. Cahill was studying for his M.D. and PhD. at Duke University, conducting research on rare genetic diseases and wearing $20Costcoslacks. He assumed he would continue the work after graduation.

Instead, he reconnected with a friend who introduced him to a job at his father’s company, the blue-chip investment firm the Raptor Group.

Dr. Cahill got hooked on investing, particularly in life sciences. He reasoned he could make a bigger impact by identifying promising scientists and helping them troubleshoot problems—both scientific and financial—than doing research himself.

After a stint at Raptor, he formed his own fund, Newpath Partners, with $125 million from a small group of wealthy investors, including Silicon Valley stalwart Mr. Thiel and private-equity founders like Mr. Pagliuca. They were attracted to his blunt approach, as well as his interest in tackling intractable problems.

In early March, as the Covid-19 death toll mounted, Dr. Cahill was intrigued and a little depressed with the state of research on the virus. “Science and medicine were the furthest things removed from everything happening,” he said.

His investors peppered him with questions about the virus, and he organized a conference call to share some against-the-grain ideas on how to accelerate drug development and the like. He expected about 20 people.

When Dr. Cahill tried to dial in the meeting, he was rejected because the call had reached capacity. Then his cellphone buzzed from a New York number. It was National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver. He, too, wanted the meeting’s access code. Dr. Cahill later gave him a personal briefing.

Newpath’s deep-pocketed investor base had spread word of the call, and hundreds of people were on the line, most of whom he had never met, including Mr. Milken.

When he finally got on the call, Dr. Cahill took a deep breath and said he had been working with friends to whittle down potential Covid-19 treatments to the most promising. He said he largely dropped his investing work to focus on a hunt for a cure.

After an hour, he hung up and found his email inbox full of ideas and offers to help, including from Mr. Milken’s team. “For the 50 years I’ve been involved in medical research I have never seen collaboration as we have today,” Mr. Milken said.

Dr. Cahill received a handful of notes from advisers to the vice president. They also had been on the call.

The scientist-investor had gained a platform. All he needed was a plan.

Tracing contacts

One of Dr. Cahill’s first calls was to Mr. Schreiber, a founder of several private companies. Mr. Schreiber looped in a longtime friend, Edward Scolnick,former head of research and development at pharmaceutical giantMerck& Co., where he helped develop 28 new drugs and vaccines. Dr. Scolnick was blunt: A vaccine would take at least 18 months to hit the market under normal circumstances, he told Mr. Schreiber, “if you’re damn lucky.”

Mr. Schreiber responded, “What about six months?”

The team drew up a list of roughly two dozen companies that could benefit from their recommendations and pledged to sell any shares in them immediately. One early member said he couldn’t and was kicked out.

Much of the early work involved divvying up hundreds of scientific papers on the crisis from around the world. They separated promising ideas from dubious ones. Each member blazed through as many as 20 papers a day, around 10 times the pace they would in their day jobs. They gathered to debate via videoconference, text messages—“like a bunch of teenagers,” Mr. Rosbash said—and phone calls.

Personal hygiene went by the wayside. Michael Lin,a Stanford University neurobiologist, began disabling the camera on his phone to protect his vanity. “A couple of days, I’ve had seven or eight Zoom meetings, which will itself I’m sure cause some kind of disease,” joked David Liu, a Harvard University chemical biologist.

Debates haven’t always been purely science. The group discussed, for instance, whether to suggest that public-health authorities rename the virus “SARS-2,” after the 2003 China animal virus. To them, the name sounded scarier and might get more people to wear face masks. They dropped it.

The team pledged to try to block out politics—not an easy task in the noise and fury of a presidential election year.

Hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug promoted by the president, was dismissed after the group’s resident expert, Ben Cravatt of Scripps Research in La Jolla, Calif., determined it was a long shot at best. The drug received only a passing mention in the group’s final report. The group also disparaged the idea of using antibody testing to allow people back to work if their results showed they had recovered from the virus. Mr. Cravatt, a chemical biologist, declared it “the worst idea I’ve ever heard.” He said that prior exposure may not prevent people from giving the virus to others, and that overemphasizing antibody testing might tempt some people to intentionally infect themselves to later obtain a clean bill of health.

The group’s initial three phases of recommendations, contained in its report, center on leveraging the scale of the federal government. For instance, buy medicines not yet proven effective as a way to encourage manufacturers to ramp up production without worrying about losing money if the drugs fail. Another is to slash the time required for a clinical review of new drugs to a week from nine months or a year.

The group next needed to get their recommendations to the right people in the Trump administration. For that, Dr. Cahill tapped another well-placed billionaire.

An introduction

Brian Sheth,co-founder of private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners, and a Democrat, had been watching the effort gather steam from his home in Austin, Texas. He was an early investor in Dr. Cahill’s fund and had been on the first call. His expertise was technology, though, not immunology.

He had become friendly with Thomas Hicks Jr.,the Dallas businessman and co-chairman of the Republican National Committee. Mr. Sheth introduced Mr. Hicks to Dr. Cahill’s group.

The connection cinched ties between a group of mostly liberal scientists from left-leaning institutions with a Republican stalwart who hunts birds with Donald Trump Jr.

In his first chat with the group, Mr. Hicks said, “I’m not a scientist. Make it clear enough for me, and then tell me where the red tape is.”A major concern of the scientists was the FDA. The scientists had in their research identified monoclonal antibody drugs that latch onto virus cells as the most promising treatment. But to make the medicine in sufficient quantities, one drugmaker,Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.,would have to shift some of its existing manufacturing to Ireland. FDA rules required a monthslong wait for approval.

Mr. Scolnick, who had tussled with bureaucracy during the AIDS epidemic, tried reaching the FDA. The call ended poorly after the bureaucrats told the group they already had the pandemic under control. In a group call afterward, one of the scientists said, of the FDA: “They’re the problem here.”

Dr. Cahill got in touch with Mr. Ayers. Once the group briefed the vice president’s aide on the bottleneck, Mr. Ayers said he knew who to call. That evening, March 27, Regeneron received a call from the FDA. They had permission, starting immediately, to shift production to Dublin.

“That was proof positive that what we were doing was starting to work,” Mr. Rosbash said.

The group also made inroads with the VA, the largest health care system in the U.S. The scientists pushed the division’s medical staff to allow veterans with Covid-19 to join existing studies in such areas as prostate cancer, to see if already-approved drugs might be effective against the virus. They spoke to the VA’s chief medical officer and secretary about the proposal and learned the initiative was being fast-tracked.

Mr. Pagliuca spoke to Charles Baker,the Republican governor of Massachusetts, on the phone about the report. The governor, Mr. Pagliuca said, planned to adopt elements of the plan.

With much of their scientific proposals under advisement, or already in the process, the group has an eye on the post-Covid-19 world. Mr. Pagliuca pushed the scientists to add a fourth phase to the plan—reopening America.

The ideas include development of a saliva test, and scheduling tests at the end of the workday so results are available by morning. They also have suggested a nationwide smartphone app that requires residents to confirm each day that they don’t have any of 14 symptoms of a cold or fever.

Group members have continued their discussions with administration officials in recent days, hoping their confidential plan turns to action.

“We need the entire nation—government, business and science—to unite to defeat this,” Mr. Pagliuca said.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 28 Apr 2020 15:49

^^ Sorry to be cynical, but have seen so much of this "our geniuses are going to save the world" stuff from US media that its hard to not see all this as PR by the US to regain its mindspace. Meanwhile several countries with a fraction of the PR, seem to be going along. Most countries are doing exactly what the above bunch of geniuses are supposed to be doing.

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 28 Apr 2020 17:35

Virus has mutated into 10 types, one now dominant across regions

The novel coronavirus, first reported in China in December 2019 019, has mutated into 10 different types and one of them — A2a — has nearly replaced all the others to become dominant across geographical regions says a global study by an Indian institute.

The novel coronavirus with the A2a mutation is highly efficient in entering human lung cells in larger numbers .. The study is crucial as it provides vaccine manufacturers with a specific target.

srai · Post by **srai** » 28 Apr 2020 18:12

April 27, 2020
One million cases in the US.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

United States

Coronavirus Cases:
1,010,507

Deaths:
56,803

Recovered:
139,162

Raveen · Post by **Raveen** » 28 Apr 2020 20:07

disha wrote:
Mollick.R wrote:Massive 145% profiteering exposed in coronavirus rapid test kits sold to ICMR
Dispute between importer and distributor unravels super profits; Delhi HC strikes down sale price by 33 per cent
Rajeev Dubey | Vivek Punj New Delhi Last Updated: April 27, 2020 | 11:59 IST
I think the headline and the way the numbers are put together is non-sense.

First of all I do not see any profiteering. Second, journos and politicos do not know any business. Having grown up on rent-seeking, they think that is the way to go about. Also many Indians are *not* entrepreneurs. They do not understand anything called "supply chain" or do not know how to manage supply change. Forget finances. For many Indians, finances is when you collect money from rent seeking, invest in either gold or real estate and propagate more rent seeking.

Now I will break this down for you:

1. ICMR puts an order with Rare Metabolics under a legal contract.

2. Rare Metabolics obtains from Matrix Labs

3. Matrix labs obtain from China's Wondfo (or whatever).

This is actually a very tight chain. One may ask, why not cut the supply chain out? Why not ICMR put a direct order to WondFo?

Let's say ICMR puts a direct order with WondFo.

1. WondFo will charge some amount upfront. Say 25%. Another 50% is due on delivery and another 25% within 15 days of delivery. That is ICMR as a buyer has to pay up 100% within 15 days of delivery. Maybe a large order and it is due 30 days.

2. It is an international order, so by law ICMR has to float an international tender. If wondfo is the single supplier, there is vendor lock in and the tender itself will be a failure.

Let's say that technicality is also removed. ICMR has limitless money and cuts the cheque.

3. WondFo supplies the kits. They may land in Delhi/Mumbai/Chennai/Kolkatta or at one place. ICMR has to now do warehouse management. That is take position of the goods. Safely transit it from the central landing zone and transport it to the destination. And the destination is all over the country. 3000 kits to Mumbai and 30 kits to Radhanpur and 100 kits to ChandanNagar. Maybe even to some places which you never knew existed.

What happens that after taking the possession the kits turn out to be faulty? Or have some issues (not entire set is faulty)? Will ICMR now spend time pursuing that with WondFo? What happens if WondFo rejects the claim and says that it is ICMR's fault in warehousing?

What if WondFo does not have a representative in India? Will ICMR send its representatives to Cheen to fight it out? What happens if WondFo simply states that all issues must be sorted out in Cheeni court?

So what does importer Matrix Labs provide?

Well Matrix Labs proxies all of the above. There is some more. ICMR went with Rare Metabolics or Shan Biotech. Why?

Here is what Rare metabolics provides the key piece in both supply chain management and workflow processes.

1. Rare metabolics will supply within its "territory" to nodes ICMR targets to be provided. If it is 10 in Ganganagar or 1000 in Haldoi, it does not matter. Rare metabolics has to manage the supply chain.

2. Rare metabolics has to manage any workflow processing. For example, ICMR may pay Rare metabolics 45 days (or sometimes 60 days or 90 days) after the kits are delivered and consumed. (Remember this is one of the sore points for SME's that they have to pay the GST on goods and services provided while its payment has been delayed by months or quarters!).

3. Rare metabolics generally is not just a supplier of "one-off" good (or service). It also provides services for a range of items. ICMR may request 100 other items and Rare metabolics might have a contract with ICMR on some of them. Think of it as your local kirana store. You do not get everything from the farmer.

Given this, seeing a 125% difference between landed cost to actual distribution cost is peanuts. It should have been 200-300%. And no there is no "price-gouging".

Added later: There is no such thing as a free service. The entire SCM in India exists for a reason. Infrastructure is rickety (it still is) and it shows up in productivity numbers.

For people who complain about price-gouging, I request them to get their kitchen sourced and serviced directly from farmers and tools manufacturers while holding down a 24x7 professional job. They should never ever step into a Kirana store. Or fancy grocery stores in high end malls.

Exactly! Indian judiciary and a percentage of the populace is against legitimate business it seems.

Mollick.R · Post by **Mollick.R** » 28 Apr 2020 20:08

Iran: Over 700 People Die After Drinking Methanol To Cure Coronavirus
Written By Zaini Majeed | Mumbai | Updated On: April 28, 2020 13:04 IST

An adviser to the Iran ministry, Hossein Hassanian said that victims died outside of hospital admission, and therefore, death toll is higher than reported.

In Iran, more than 700 people have reportedly died after they ingested toxic methanol, a disinfectant agent, thinking that it would cure them of the coronavirus, a health official confirmed on April 27.
.
.
According to a government report released earlier in April, the deaths from toxic methanol poisoning in Iran have surged tenfold since the past year during the pandemic. It has claimed over 728 Iranians lives between Feb. 20 and April 7. However, the figures skyrocketed lately, whereas the deaths reported last year stood at near 66, an agency report confirmed.

https://www.republicworld.com/world-new ... virus.html

Jal zeera Link

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/ ... 29629.html

Mollick.R · Post by **Mollick.R** » 28 Apr 2020 20:12

disha wrote:
Mollick.R wrote:Massive 145% profiteering exposed in coronavirus rapid test kits sold to ICMR
Dispute between importer and distributor unravels super profits; Delhi HC strikes down sale price by 33 per cent
Rajeev Dubey | Vivek Punj New Delhi Last Updated: April 27, 2020 | 11:59 IST
I think the headline and the way the numbers are put together is non-sense.

First of all I do not see any profiteering. Second, journos and politicos do not know any business. Having grown up on rent-seeking, they think that is the way to go about. Also many Indians are *not* entrepreneurs. They do not understand anything called "supply chain" or do not know how to manage supply change. Forget finances. For many Indians, finances is when you collect money from rent seeking, invest in either gold or real estate and propagate more rent seeking.

Now I will break this down for you:

1. ICMR puts an order with Rare Metabolics under a legal contract.
.
.
.

Dhyanawad saar,
for giving new perspective to the so called profiteering.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 28 Apr 2020 21:04

Lisa wrote:Question from a novice so please excuse its ignorance. WHO says that even if you have suffered and recovered from this infection you do not have any immunity from a second infection. If this is the case of what use can plasma from a previous suffer be. If you see my point.

The unknown is what level of antibodies are required to confer protection. With Dengue, people get reinfected with more severe disease the second time round once antibodies generated by a previous infection fall below some threshold.

Scientists solve a dengue mystery: Why second infection is worse than first

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 28 Apr 2020 22:45

Karan M wrote:^^ Sorry to be cynical, but have seen so much of this "our geniuses are going to save the world" stuff from US media that its hard to not see all this as PR by the US to regain its mindspace. Meanwhile several countries with a fraction of the PR, seem to be going along. Most countries are doing exactly what the above bunch of geniuses are supposed to be doing.

Agree. This is one of the background stories. I’m sick and tired of seeing western celebrities in their homes “supporting” the medical and front line workers. More self promotion crap during a crisis. The same crass individuals take charter flights to remote beach spots with 5-star resorts for the wealthy and post their selfies.

nam · Post by **nam** » 29 Apr 2020 00:31

The US death to recovery rate is phenomenally high. It is around 30% death to 70% recovery for cases where there are results!

That would lead to 300K deaths to 700K recovery based on the 1M infection reported so far!

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 29 Apr 2020 01:03

From https://www.covid19india.org/ the data does not look good, granted it is crowdsourced, but still discouraging news from MH. Even GJ and MP aren't looking too good.

nam · Post by **nam** » 29 Apr 2020 01:30

So majority of the cases are in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Indore & Delhi. As expected, major cities. Now need some hard isolation methods in these cities.

It is good and bad. Good as the spread are in cities, hence better access to Medical care. Bad, they are in cities so the spread will be large.

srai · Post by **srai** » 29 Apr 2020 02:49

Karan M wrote:^^ Sorry to be cynical, but have seen so much of this "our geniuses are going to save the world" stuff from US media that its hard to not see all this as PR by the US to regain its mindspace. Meanwhile several countries with a fraction of the PR, seem to be going along. Most countries are doing exactly what the above bunch of geniuses are supposed to be doing.

That article basically reads like a typical capitalist success type of stories. Rich infusing money to geniuses and connections to who’s who’s list making things happen while elements of the public sector vilified with their red-tapism. Hero, guardian angel and evil with a story arch ... makes a good story for the mass elitists.

KL Dubey · Post by **KL Dubey** » 29 Apr 2020 07:42

Karan M wrote:^^ Sorry to be cynical, but have seen so much of this "our geniuses are going to save the world" stuff from US media that its hard to not see all this as PR by the US to regain its mindspace. Meanwhile several countries with a fraction of the PR, seem to be going along. Most countries are doing exactly what the above bunch of geniuses are supposed to be doing.

I agree. This sounds like BS.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 29 Apr 2020 08:47

nam wrote:So majority of the cases are in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Indore & Delhi. As expected, major cities. Now need some hard isolation methods in these cities.

It is good and bad. Good as the spread are in cities, hence better access to Medical care. Bad, they are in cities so the spread will be large.

Is it mostly among the peaceful community or the general populace?

darshan · Post by **darshan** » 29 Apr 2020 09:09

Coronavirus in Gujarat: Ahmedabad Congress leader Badruddin Shaikh dies due to COVID-19
https://m.businesstoday.in/story/corona ... 02076.html

Shaikh was a corporator from the Danilimada area in Ahmedabad, which is also one of the coronavirus hotspots in Ahmedabad. Since 2010-2015, Shaikh had been the leader of opposition in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation

.

https://mobile.twitter.com/DeshGujarat/ ... 202304?p=v

https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/ ... 64844/?amp

Deans · Post by **Deans** » 29 Apr 2020 09:17

hanumadu wrote:
nam wrote:So majority of the cases are in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Indore & Delhi. As expected, major cities. Now need some hard isolation methods in these cities.

It is good and bad. Good as the spread are in cities, hence better access to Medical care. Bad, they are in cities so the spread will be large.
Is it mostly among the peaceful community or the general populace?

In Ahmedabad, Indore, Hyderabad and Jaipur its mostly peacefuls. Not sure about Delhi and Mumbai (where I believe its widespread)