America's pandemic dead deserve accountability after Birx disclosure

[PTakacs + 59]

1 hour ago, Wombat said:

You dope. The CCP did not share the sequence. One of the scientists did. What do you mean by "it does not kill your enemies"?

Name calling is another sign of having no substance. 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/01/china-releases-genetic-data-new-coronavirus-now-deadly

https://www.who.int/csr/don/12-january-2020-novel-coronavirus-china/en/

And many more. Of course you could argue that the Chinese government is not related to the CCP ... 

[Boat + 1,325]

On 3/29/2021 at 2:19 PM, KeyboardWarrior said:

As I look around on my college campus and don't see a damned soul that would die from this virus, or who hasn't already had it. 

[EDIT] If you're old, stay home. I'm at SDSMT. This is Kristi Noem's solution to the problem, and frankly we've done just fine. Of course the authorities in academia are cowards, meaning that campus is the only place in Rapid City where masks are required. 

Cowards for wearing a mask eh? If you the man, suit up, gun up, and walk the streets of the Middle East. Bet you’ll find like minded enemies who would love to discuss cowerdness.

[Eyes Wide Open + 3,555]

8 minutes ago, Boat said:

Cowards for wearing a mask eh? If you the man, suit up, gun up, and walk the streets of the Middle East. Bet you’ll find like minded enemies who would love to discuss cowerdness.

LMAO...You are a the epitome of the google culture, wearing a mask in the any ME city...Boat you need to travel the world a bit. No mask is needed in a ME cities...just walk around the streets in all your glory...you will find a new meaning to White Privilege...Id suggest a Tony Bahama garb actually and Raybans of course.

Edited April 13, 2021 by Eyes Wide Open

[Wombat + 1,028]

4 hours ago, PTakacs said:

Name calling is another sign of having no substance. 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/01/china-releases-genetic-data-new-coronavirus-now-deadly

https://www.who.int/csr/don/12-january-2020-novel-coronavirus-china/en/

And many more. Of course you could argue that the Chinese government is not related to the CCP ... 

Well, you really are a dope. Read this and weep:

Coronavirus pandemic: How Australian scientists and doctors led the global fight against COVID-19 (afr.com)

Did you notice the bit where it says the CCP tried to HIDE the data? That is the truth you fool. That is why we will soon sink their navy and bomb the crap out of them.

[Wombat + 1,028]

On 4/3/2021 at 1:20 AM, Ward Smith said:

The CDC themselves have admitted that only 4% of the deaths attributed to Covid were soley Covid. In other words, 96% of the 500k "victims" died of something else including old age (averaging as they do, over 80 years old). So, for again country the size of the United States to have 20,000 deaths from Covid puts it at a mild flu season equivalent. Meanwhile deaths from the flu are nonexistent for some reason. I hope you're wearing three masks! 

Ward, you never cease to amaze me. One of the smartest fellows on this site but occasionally speak the greatest of crap! Are you really saying there were only 20,000 excess deaths in the USA in 2020?!? Love to see the official figures if you have them?

 

[Strangelovesurfing + 737]

On 4/10/2021 at 5:23 AM, PTakacs said:

All the countries that have not done well against the virus (mostly Western countries) failed largely because of playing politics. 

They failed because of abysmal nutrition guidelines and food mis-information which resulted in mass obesity directly leading to most deaths +/-85%. See the old food pyramid for an example of nutrition propaganda.

88% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy, this failure runs deep, wide and long. COVID just highlighted our pre-existing dire health situation.

Edited April 13, 2021 by Strangelovesurfing

[Strangelovesurfing + 737]

More good vaccine news, this time from the US Army, Hooah!

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2021/04/07/armys-own-vaccine-that-could-fight-covid-variants-begins-clinical-trials/

 

[RichieRich216 + 454]

I am so sick of these “2 minutes of Fame Experts” these assholes are no more an expert they ou or I, They take something never encountered and was most certainly a biological attack from China on the world and use previous developed models for long past diseases, try to fit new into old and are EXPERTS! Everyone handled this wrong with the exception of China who knew exactly what they were doing! Anyone that claims to be an expert is just another asshole like all other experts! All they do is give anything that they are “EXPERTS” in their best guess based on working in that field! 

[Bob D + 562]

11 hours ago, surrept33 said:

I don't think people discount the success of "Operation Warp Speed" or the administration's role in it. 

Pretty sure you're not being honest here although I do believe the first three words of this statement to be a very accurate assessment of the hindsight geniuses on the left.

[surrept33 + 612]

3 hours ago, Bob D said:

Pretty sure you're not being honest here although I do believe the first three words of this statement to be a very accurate assessment of the hindsight geniuses on the left.

Well, you can seperate Trump's actions on Warp Speed from the rest of the public health response.

I mean, you can see the ineptitude in his own words:

https://doggett.house.gov/media-center/blog-posts/timeline-trump-s-coronavirus-responses

 

The pandemic showed serious flaws in our system, which like any stress that doesn't kill you, will make you stronger.

Trump did not do anyone any favors by over politicizing things. He was not prepared as a leader for a pandemic at all. I guess he had not matured since being in NYC battling the NYC Fake News media whenever he got bad press. He was running a family firm back then, and the stakes were much less. The same criticism can be leveled against Xi's administration. 

Edited April 13, 2021 by surrept33

[Ward Smith + 6,615]

8 hours ago, Wombat said:

Ward, you never cease to amaze me. One of the smartest fellows on this site but occasionally speak the greatest of crap! Are you really saying there were only 20,000 excess deaths in the USA in 2020?!? Love to see the official figures if you have them?

 

I never brought up excess deaths period. My point was clearly articulated, the CDC website (mostly inadvertently) published a paper which showed the numbers of patients who died with Covid versus patients who died of Covid. Most of the people who died with Covid had many many things wrong with them. Was Covid the straw that broke the camel's back? Maybe, but most of these people weren't long for this world anyway (for instance tens of thousands with stage 4 cancer). I find statistics abuse interesting. Hardly anyone knows how to properly perform a Chi square distribution of the null hypothesis. They can't properly articulate the null hypothesis, no doubt because of all the statistical malpractice we're constantly exposed to. 

[PTakacs + 59]

9 hours ago, Wombat said:

Well, you really are a dope. Read this and weep:

Coronavirus pandemic: How Australian scientists and doctors led the global fight against COVID-19 (afr.com)

Did you notice the bit where it says the CCP tried to HIDE the data? That is the truth you fool. That is why we will soon sink their navy and bomb the crap out of them.

Another sign of lack of substance is evading a direct question. I was not discussing or assessing China's response to the virus -- you know what they say about everyone having an opinion ...

Rather, I was focusing on the hard facts that, per the statement from Moderna's CEO: 

1. the Chinese government provided the sequence of the virus on 1/11/20; and
2. both Moderna and the CDC were able to develop the formula for perhaps the most effective vaccine within 48 hours on 1/13/20. 

(I don't care if you think the Chinese providing the sequence on 1/11/20 is "slow", "fast", "hiding data", etc.)

Now, if you think these statements are not true, I highly encourage you to file (or lead) a class-action shareholder lawsuit against Moderna on at least two grounds:

1. Misstatement of material facts (i.e., the Chinese provided the sequence on 1/11/20, and Moderna came up with the vaccine formula on 1/13/20, which formula was identical to that developed by the CDC during the same time frame based on the same released sequence).
2. Manipulation of stock price (i.e., Moderna has the ability to develop the vaccine formula in 48 hours on 1/13/20 with just the sequence provided by the Chinese, having not received an actual sample of the virus).  This second point is especially relevant today, as J&J's "old-school" vaccine is being halted, and Moderna's stock price has risen significantly as a result.

A person with substance would take actions. If you truly believe that Moderna's CEO was lying, I beg you to find the best securities law attorney you can find and file your lawsuit today! The relevant link is provided below to support your case:

 https://www.yahoo.com/news/ceo-moderna-moment-first-realized-130100215.html

Edited April 13, 2021 by PTakacs

[Ezzyme + 4]

Fear mongering on the part of "experts" and CNN.

[waltz + 140]

On 4/13/2021 at 11:46 AM, Ward Smith said:

I never brought up excess deaths period. My point was clearly articulated, the CDC website (mostly inadvertently) published a paper which showed the numbers of patients who died with Covid versus patients who died of Covid. Most of the people who died with Covid had many many things wrong with them. Was Covid the straw that broke the camel's back? Maybe, but most of these people weren't long for this world anyway (for instance tens of thousands with stage 4 cancer). I find statistics abuse interesting. Hardly anyone knows how to properly perform a Chi square distribution of the null hypothesis. They can't properly articulate the null hypothesis, no doubt because of all the statistical malpractice we're constantly exposed to. 

Ward, you seem to be playing a game of semantics.  Excess deaths, though you may not have mentioned it, will be observable in the coming years.  It appears that death has been pulled forward for roughly half a million Americans.  If this is true the numbers should revert back to lower than the pre-COVID-19 years for some short period of time, factoring in age of the population.  We will have to see how the Brazilian/South African variants affect these numbers as well as any future variants.

I wonder why it is okay to reference Brazilian or South African variant but somehow saying China virus has been deemed unacceptable?  I mean let’s give credit where it is due.

      waltz 

Edited April 15, 2021 by waltz

[turbguy + 1,554]

It is a pity that there seems to be a major conflict between public health and the perceived loss of liberties.

This will not be the last pandemic.

I feel that continued advancement in genetic science will eventually be able to react with greater flexibility and even greater speed. This may not need be limited to vaccinations, but advanced therapeutics as well.  They could even have petroleum-derived formulations.

It seems that the trials/testing duration (to ensure safety and effectiveness) will be most difficult to shrink.

As with all "drugs", there can be side effects.  The number of drugs on the market that list one of the side effects as "blood clots" is mind-boggling.

I recall sitting in on a first-day course for Pharmacy majors.  The very first action from the prof was to walk up to the blackboard and write in large letters:

 

DRUGS = POISONS

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by turbguy

[notsonice + 1,266]

On 4/13/2021 at 2:28 AM, Wombat said:

Ward, you never cease to amaze me. One of the smartest fellows on this site but occasionally speak the greatest of crap! Are you really saying there were only 20,000 excess deaths in the USA in 2020?!? Love to see the official figures if you have them?

 

One of the smartest fellows on this site ???? You really are not very smart if you think Ward is smart.

[Hotone + 412]

On 4/13/2021 at 4:12 PM, Wombat said:

Well, you really are a dope. Read this and weep:

Coronavirus pandemic: How Australian scientists and doctors led the global fight against COVID-19 (afr.com)

Did you notice the bit where it says the CCP tried to HIDE the data? That is the truth you fool. That is why we will soon sink their navy and bomb the crap out of them.

The article is behind a paywall, so can't access it and not going to pay.  Besides, articles coming from China's enemies such as Australia can't be believed.  However, I am inclined to believe that there had been secrecy on the part of local Chinese officials because of corruption.

[Boat + 1,325]

On 4/12/2021 at 11:21 PM, Eyes Wide Open said:

LMAO...You are a the epitome of the google culture, wearing a mask in the any ME city...Boat you need to travel the world a bit. No mask is needed in a ME cities...just walk around the streets in all your glory...you will find a new meaning to White Privilege...Id suggest a Tony Bahama garb actually and Raybans of course.

Travel was so pre pandemic. Safety first when your woke.

[QuarterCenturyVet + 312]

2 hours ago, Hotone said:

The article is behind a paywall, so can't access it and not going to pay.  Besides, articles coming from China's enemies such as Australia can't be believed.  However, I am inclined to believe that there had been secrecy on the part of local Chinese officials because of corruption.

Maybe its behind a paywall for you, because you're in the chinese web. It would make sense because the article shows that the genome sequence was released 1 day before the official CCP release, by an Australian. 

[PTakacs + 59]

15 hours ago, waltz said:

Ward, you seem to be playing a game of semantics.  Excess deaths, though you may not have mentioned it, will be observable in the coming years.  It appears that death has been pulled forward for roughly half a million Americans.  If this is true the numbers should revert back to lower than the pre-COVID-19 years for some short period of time, factoring in age of the population.  We will have to see how the Brazilian/South African variants affect these numbers as well as any future variants.

I wonder why it is okay to reference Brazilian or South African variant but somehow saying China virus has been deemed unacceptable?  I mean let’s give credit where it is due.

      waltz 

Sometimes it is better to look at the consequences/effects to judge the meaning of certain rhetoric (or for that matter, expressions, actions, etc.).

Plenty of Asian-Americans have been called "Chinese Virus" or "Wuhan Virus" in a most derogatory manner. Someone said that to my wife (who is Asian) in a Costco parking lot the other day -- fortunately I wasn't there, otherwise I may not be able to post here at this moment. I am getting personal here because discrimination is a personal matter.  I don't blame the CCP on this one, because that person would have passionately supported the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 or the Japanese Internment Camps during WWII (and may still do so if given the opportunity). 

I have yet to see many Hispanic-Americans being called the "Brazilian Variant", or any British-Americans (i.e., Americans of British heritage) the "British Variant".  Note that there are far more Hispanic-Americans or Americans of British heritage in the US than Asian-Americans. 

To be clear, as a principle, I am vehemently against classifying people by race, gender, national origin, etc. because that practice by default is racism, genderism, sexism, etc. -- I always thought that the law school/bar exam way, where exam takers are assigned numbers so that the professors/graders would not know the exam takers' identities, is fair. But unfortunately this is what we do here in the US, and many will discriminate against their fellow Americans using any excuses they can find. 

The only place I can recall where words are used exclusively for their plain meanings is legal contracts negotiated at arm's length (because you have two opposing parties). Even legislations use words colorfully to invoke the intended biases (if any) -- again please read the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (the hate was there way before PRC/CCP). 

Of course, you may have intended to argue that biases against Asian-Americans are somehow good for this country ... 

[PTakacs + 59]

21 minutes ago, QuarterCenturyVet said:

Maybe its behind a paywall for you, because you're in the chinese web. It would make sense because the article shows that the genome sequence was released 1 day before the official CCP release, by an Australian. 

It's paywall here in the US. I tried to read it when it was initially posted. Did you forward that article to Moderna or the CDC? Neither mentioned any release by any Australian.

As I said before, if you find any misstatement of material facts or manipulation of stock price (Moderna is still very up) by Moderna's CEO in that interview, file a class-action shareholder lawsuit -- I am talking about a billion-dollar case, free publicity (most shareholder lawsuits can be published for free on multiple platforms, including Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Fidelity research, Merrill research etc.), and most importantly, it is the right thing to do. 

Don't waste time posting here (apologies to the forum) -- find a lawyer and file the lawsuit!

Edited April 16, 2021 by PTakacs

[waltz + 140]

41 minutes ago, PTakacs said:

Of course, you may have intended to argue that biases against Asian-Americans are somehow good for this country ... 

My last comment was meant as a quip, I recognize the use of “Brazilian” or “South African” as a descriptor, opposed to use of “China virus” by some.  My view of the last President can be found in my past posts here; hint, they were not positive in most respects.  His intent in using term may not have be malicious nor was it solely descriptive.

Sorry about your wife’s experience, probably best for your family if you stay out of a cell.  Often times it is difficult to convey ones tone in writing, I clearly failed here.

      waltz 

Edited April 16, 2021 by waltz

[QuarterCenturyVet + 312]

35 minutes ago, PTakacs said:

It's paywall here in the US. I tried to read it when it was initially posted. Did you forward that article to Moderna or the CDC? Neither mentioned any release by any Australian.

As I said before, if you find any misstatement of material facts or manipulation of stock price (Moderna is still very up) by Moderna's CEO in that interview, file a class-action shareholder lawsuit -- I am talking about a billion-dollar case, free publicity (most shareholder lawsuits can be published for free on multiple platforms, including Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Fidelity research, Merrill research etc.), and most importantly, it is the right thing to do. 

Don't waste time posting here (apologies to the forum) -- find a lawyer and file the lawsuit!

I don't care. Filing a lawsuit against Moderna for a vaccine that's saving lives because of a 1 day difference doesn't sit well with me. That would be a little nit-picky, don't you think. 

Besides, as a Canadian, I dont have the same rights as you do in the United States. Although, the border crisis would suggest otherwise, if I were of Latin descent. 

 

36 minutes ago, PTakacs said:

 

 

[QuarterCenturyVet + 312]

46 minutes ago, PTakacs said:

It's paywall here in the US. I tried to read it when it was initially posted. Did you forward that article to Moderna or the CDC? Neither mentioned any release by any Australian.

As I said before, if you find any misstatement of material facts or manipulation of stock price (Moderna is still very up) by Moderna's CEO in that interview, file a class-action shareholder lawsuit -- I am talking about a billion-dollar case, free publicity (most shareholder lawsuits can be published for free on multiple platforms, including Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Fidelity research, Merrill research etc.), and most importantly, it is the right thing to do. 

Don't waste time posting here (apologies to the forum) -- find a lawyer and file the lawsuit!

It was 52min, not a day. 

51 minutes ago, PTakacs said:

It's paywall here in the US. I tried to read it when it was initially posted. Did you forward that article to Moderna or the CDC? Neither mentioned any release by any Australian.

As I said before, if you find any misstatement of material facts or manipulation of stock price (Moderna is still very up) by Moderna's CEO in that interview, file a class-action shareholder lawsuit -- I am talking about a billion-dollar case, free publicity (most shareholder lawsuits can be published for free on multiple platforms, including Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, Fidelity research, Merrill research etc.), and most importantly, it is the right thing to do. 

Don't waste time posting here (apologies to the forum) -- find a lawyer and file the lawsuit!

(It was released by the CCP 52min after the Australian released it, not 1 day.)

Modesty has its limits and on this anniversary of Australia’s first COVID-19 case, it’s time to tell the story of how our scientists took a bold leading role, bringing the world with them, as the pandemic began.

For the first three months, through preparedness and agility, they were able to bestow a number of scientific gifts that would help the world manage COVID-19.

In early January 2020, there was increasing chatter in the global infectious disease community about an unusual “pneumonia” in Wuhan.

Edward Holmes, a renowned and somewhat rebellious virologist from the University of Sydney was the only Westerner working on this, with his Chinese colleagues.

A few scientists in China were busy sequencing the genome of the virus behind this "pneumonia", but by January 5, Holmes' Chinese research partner had completed the sequence and they began writing a paper on it.

Both he and Professor Yong-Zhen Zhang from Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre and School of Public Health, Fudan University, felt compelled to publish the sequence but there was pressure not to do so from Chinese authorities trying to maintain control of information about the virus.

So, they lodged the sequence in the vault of the official US database at GenBank under embargo. Two days later, they submitted the paper to the journal Nature, knowing it would take some time to be published.

But Holmes couldn’t sleep.

“I felt like the gatekeeper. It was clear something very much like SARS was emerging and this information had to get out. But I didn’t want to cause trouble for Zhang at home.”

After wrestling with angst all week, at 8am on Saturday, January 11, he picked up the phone in his study at home and called Zhang, urging him to release the sequence.

 

 

Advertisement

In Shanghai, Zhang was on the runway in a plane headed to Beijing. He wanted to think about it. A minute later, as the plane taxied, he called back. "Release it".

As the plane lifted off, he asked a colleague in China to send it to Holmes.

Almost trembling, Holmes called a colleague in Edinburgh, who ran the website virological.org, and gave him the news. “I was shaking as I pressed send, and off it went."

It took 52 minutes from receiving the code from China to publishing it globally. In a tweet, Holmes then alerted the virology community around the world that the genome code was available.

 

“Within seconds people responded with phrases like “we’re off” or “here we go”. It was a kind of ground zero for science. Researchers could start work.”

The next day, they were remarking on the virus’ close relationship to SARS and its pandemic potential.

Not only did the sequence enable the rapid development of diagnostic tests, it was the first-time people at Moderna, Pfizer and Oxford had seen the sequence. Moderna later said it downloaded it and began designing its vaccine that weekend.

China officially published its genomic data the following day, on January 12.

Holmes’ only regret is that he was not able to release the sequence earlier. There were consequences. Zhang’s lab was quoted as experiencing “rectification”, although his work has now been widely recognised and he has received a number of awards. In October, Holmes was named NSW Scientist of the Year.

 

Advertisement

Positive test

A week later, the Chinese national from Wuhan who would become Australia’s first COVID-19 case landed at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport, setting the ground for two local scientists to make another global move.

By Friday morning, January 24, the man was at Monash Medical Centre, feverish and having difficulty breathing. Just after lunch, a nostril swab of his arrived at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL).

Once testing was under way and the first test looked positive, Dr Julian Druce, head of virus identification and known for his green thumbs, began growing the virus in case it was the new coronavirus.

 

Chance favours the prepared: Julian Druce and Mike Catton at VIDRL. Joe Armao

In the early hours of Saturday, the man’s positive result was confirmed and later that morning the country learnt the novel coronavirus had arrived. It was January 25; the gong had sounded but no one knew what it signified.

All through that Australia Day weekend, Druce and Dr Mike Catton, director of VIDRL, watched their seedlings. By Tuesday, January 28, the test read-out was “rip-roaringly strong” and they knew they’d done it.

Like Holmes, they felt the pressing responsibility to share the knowledge, but shipping specimens of live virus around the world is a complex logistical process with stringent safety and security conditions.

VIDRL is part of The Doherty Institute, which swung into action. By Thursday, frozen samples were being couriered to the airport.

The pair learnt that many others had tried and failed to grow it. More requests than they could possibly meet, began arriving. As it happened, NSW had been growing it too but was a day behind because it needed to send its specimens to VIDRL to confirm results.

 

Advertisement

As the first samples were being shipped, the world clocked 1753 positive cases of the virus. With so many cases elsewhere, why were the Australians so awake and ahead?

“Chance favours the prepared mind,” says Catton from Melbourne. He helped to establish The Doherty as a place where public health capacity and research capacity were brought together under one roof.

In most places these are found in separate institutions, which is why others may have struggled to grow the virus. When the sample was brought to the public health laboratory at The Doherty, it could be diagnosed and cultured in the same laboratory, under high containment conditions.

The cells were fresh, just hours old, and Druce always has flasks prepared and waiting, in case something needs to be cultured.

Although he has decades of culturing experience, including world firsts, he says along with an element of luck, this time everything was aligned.

Capacity to pivot

Meantime Dr Steve Webb, an intensive care doctor from Royal Perth Hospital, was feeling the pressure too and was about to lead an international team in a massive effort to generate evidence so people with severe COVID-19 lung problems in ICU could be better treated.

In 2013, he and three colleagues had established an innovative trial platform that was able to simultaneously test several therapies for pneumonia.

The platform had an inbuilt capacity to pivot should the need arise. On January 17, 2020, it arose.

“I was sitting in the British Airways lounge at Heathrow, scrolling through my emails when I saw a confidential early alert, saying there was evidence of human-to-human transmission in Wuhan.

 

Advertisement

“I knew we had to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic and on the plane home, I literally started work on the adaptations we needed to do to accommodate this virus.”

Although this global trial platform has 300 hospitals, the engine room where all the planning and execution occurs is based at Monash, where Webb holds an academic position.

 

"I knew we had to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic," says Steve Webb.  

For the past few years, he’s been leading the project funded by Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation.

That early alert was five days before the official transmission announcement, and since then the platform has delivered results for about five treatments. Two of them – corticosteroids and immune modulators – are effective for severe lung disease.

Identifying treatments that don’t work – some antivirals, blood thinners, and convalescent plasma – is equally important.

To date, this is the only trial to have identified the effective treatment of more than one agent for COVID-19.

It’s called the RemapCap which is mercifully short for “Randomised embedded multifactorial adaptive platform Community acquired pneumonia.”

Webb says there are lots more treatments in the testing pipeline, “although we never know what’s going to come out next".

Chance favours the prepared

 

Advertisement

While he was adjusting the RemapCap platform, researchers at The Doherty, Melbourne University and the Royal Melbourne Hospital were about to publish the first account in the world of how the immune system responds to COVID-19.

No one yet knew what was happening with this disease at the immune level, and in March, they published an account in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine.

They mapped the immune responses from a female patient in her 40s patient, showing her body’s ability to fight the virus and recover from the infection.

Once again, chance favoured the prepared. They had a platform that enables a biological sampling to take place in returned travellers in the event of an unexpected infectious disease outbreak.

Known as SETREP-ID, short for Sentinel Travellers and Research Preparedness for Emerging Infectious Disease, it has ethics and protocols in place, so when COVID-19 appeared, it was ready to go.

Single national approach

By the end of March, Australia was also ready to go with another innovation that the World Health Organisation, Canada, Germany and other countries are now following.

Australia was already a world leader in developing "living guidelines". These are based on the best up-to-date evidence and are regularly revised, almost in real time, to guide the care of patients.

They are very different to traditional clinical guidelines that take two years to develop and are then revised every five years or so.

 

The new guidelines are updated weekly and move at a speed never anticipated, says Professor Elliott Justin McManus.

 

Advertisement

Associate professor Julian Elliott, who leads the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce, says as the pandemic was gaining momentum, many organisations within Australia were developing their own guidelines and protocols for managing the disease.

“We were seeing a lot of duplication and conflicting guidelines which often produce confusion and anxiety in healthcare workers."

To head off impending disaster, the Taskforce moved quickly to develop a single true national approach. It started by drawing on the expertise of four peak professional groups.

Now there are 32 groups that work on a 100 per cent consensus model to create well targeted, nuanced recommendations that provide clear guidance, to those treating all forms of COVID-19 on the front line in Australia.

These COVID-19 guidelines are updated weekly and move at a speed never anticipated, in a new environment that is constantly changing.

Before March was out, the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia had taken a global lead too, by developing the first quality assurance program to ensure accuracy of laboratory testing for COVID-19. It created a model since followed by many other countries.

Over these three crucial months, Australia demonstrated a readiness and a dexterity in science that has not been widely recognised.

[QuarterCenturyVet + 312]

Here's another link. It worked for me. 

https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/how-australian-scientists-and-doctors-led-the-global-fight-against-covid-19-20210121-p56vrd