Category: Covid-19

By Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN

(CNN) The US Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday suspended funding to EcoHealth Alliance, a virus research organization tied to controversy about the origins of the virus that causes Covid-19. The agency also proposed the group be blocked from receiving federal funds in the future, possiblyforyears.

Before Covid-19 emerged, a US government grant to EcoHealth had funded studies into bat coronaviruses at the lab in Wuhan, China. Although US-funded research at the lab has not been linked to the pandemic, the US suspended fundingto EcoHealth in 2020. The grant was later reinstated it. US funding to the Wuhan lab has since been blocked.

In a newletterto EcoHealth Alliance and its president, Dr. Peter Daszak, HHS lists 30 pieces of information, some dating back to 2013to support its decision.HHS said in amemothat EcoHealth failed to adequately monitor virus growth in experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, notify the National Institutes of Health that viruses studied there appeared to grow beyond permissible thresholds laid out in a grant or provide requested information in a timely manner.

HHS believes there is adequate evidence in the recordforthis debarment cause and that immediate action is necessary to protect the public interest, Henrietta Brisbon, an HHS suspension and debarment official, wrote in the letter.

In a statement, a spokeperson for EcoHealth Alliance said the organization is disappointed by HHS decision today and we will be contesting the proposed debarment. We disagree strongly with the decision and will present evidence to refute each of these allegations and to show that NIHs continued support ofEcoHealthAlliance is in the public interest.

AnHHS Office of the Inspector Generalreport last year found that despitepotential risks from research performed through the EcoHealth grant, the group was late to report information and the NIH failed to follow up. EcoHealth Alliance has said it wasunable to access the NIH reporting system because of technical problems, but in a new HHS action memo, it says a forensic report found the group was never locked out of the system.

Earlier this month, House lawmakers questioned Daszak about EcoHealths record on research and safety, including at the Wuhan lab. In astatementon Wednesday, Brad Wenstrup, the Ohio Republican who chairs the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, said its investigation into EcoHealth and the origins of Covid-19 is far from over.

The origin of the virus that caused Covid-19 continues to drive research and investigations by scientists, intelligence officials and lawmakers.Previous scientific studieshave suggested the virus that causes Covid-19 likely emerged naturally in a Wuhan seafood market, but they have not identified a specific origin. The US intelligence communityhas maintainedits plausible thatCovid-19originated in a laboratory or in the wild.

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US government suspends funding for virus research group at center of Covid-19 origin controversy - LocalNews8.com

Zhang Zhan, a journalist jailed for daring to tell the truth about what was going on in China during the early days of the Covid-19 outbreak, has disappeared. She was due to be freed from Shanghai womens prison on Monday after serving a four-year prison term but her whereabouts are unknown.

Her family said it was not convenient to reply to requests for information a form of words that in China is often taken to mean pressure from the authorities to stay silent.

Zhang risked her life to travel from her home in Shanghai to Wuhan, the epicentre of the Covid outbreak, on February 1, 2020, as China began belatedly to lock down. At that time the authorities were in denial about the scale

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Paranoid China must prove Wuhan reporter is safe - The Times

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May 15, 2024 at 10:37 p.m.

by Dale Ellis

Jurors in the trial of a Little Rock couple suing an Arkansas steakhouse heard from the man who said he was accosted by an angry group of tourists in 2020 during a disagreement over covid-19 restrictions.

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Plaintiff testifies about fight at LR steakhouse that began over covid-19 restrictions - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Graduation weekend is here for students in the class of 2024 at the University of Vermont and SUNY Plattsburgh, and it's an especially important year as many students in this year's graduating class will be walking the stage for the first time. The class of 2024 was once the class of 2020, graduating high school at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students recalled what should have been a special day of capping off their high school careers by wearing masks, social distancing and even receiving their diplomas from behind the wheel of their cars. We had like a runway show, basically. Everyone split up like 20 minutes apart. You didnt really see anyone," said Justin McKendrick, a UVM senior. "You kind of saw the cars drive in and the cars drive out.For students like McKendrick, "drive-thru" graduations were the only way to celebrate 12 years of hard work safely. It was super weird. It was upsetting. We had graduation in a parking lot in our cars, and everyone was like in the car, and we were just like honking, and I wore my gap and gown in my car," UVM senior Julia Helel said. And when they weren't in their cars, other students like Noah Ballin said his graduation took place the way most events would during the pandemic; virtually. It was just like a Zoom call essentially where they read off some names, did a couple speeches, and thats about it," Ballin said. That's why this year, they're looking forward to celebrating their college graduations the way they should have celebrated the end of high school with their friends and family all together, cheering them on. Since we didnt get that last one, it feels great to finally get some recognition after all the years of school. So, Im glad this one finally happened," Ballin said. Both UVM and SUNY Plattsburgh will hold university-wide commencement ceremonies starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 19.

Graduation weekend is here for students in the class of 2024 at the University of Vermont and SUNY Plattsburgh, and it's an especially important year as many students in this year's graduating class will be walking the stage for the first time.

The class of 2024 was once the class of 2020, graduating high school at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students recalled what should have been a special day of capping off their high school careers by wearing masks, social distancing and even receiving their diplomas from behind the wheel of their cars.

We had like a runway show, basically. Everyone split up like 20 minutes apart. You didnt really see anyone," said Justin McKendrick, a UVM senior. "You kind of saw the cars drive in and the cars drive out.

For students like McKendrick, "drive-thru" graduations were the only way to celebrate 12 years of hard work safely.

It was super weird. It was upsetting. We had graduation in a parking lot in our cars, and everyone was like in the car, and we were just like honking, and I wore my gap and gown in my car," UVM senior Julia Helel said.

And when they weren't in their cars, other students like Noah Ballin said his graduation took place the way most events would during the pandemic; virtually.

It was just like a Zoom call essentially where they read off some names, did a couple speeches, and thats about it," Ballin said.

That's why this year, they're looking forward to celebrating their college graduations the way they should have celebrated the end of high school with their friends and family all together, cheering them on.

Since we didnt get that last one, it feels great to finally get some recognition after all the years of school. So, Im glad this one finally happened," Ballin said.

Both UVM and SUNY Plattsburgh will hold university-wide commencement ceremonies starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 19.

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Graduation do over: College graduates prepare to walk the stage for the first time after COVID-19 disrupted high school ... - WPTZ

The new variant of COVID-19, known as KP.2, has been making headlines globally with nearly 100 cases in India alone. But what does China have to say about it? According to the National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention, this variant is unlikely to cause a new surge in infections in the country anytime soon. As per the Xinhua News Agency, KP.2-sequenced cases only make up a tiny fraction of all locally sequenced cases reported each week in China, ranging from 0.05 per cent to 0.30 per cent. Experts from the administration consider this level "extremely low." KP.2, a descendant of the currently prevalent JN.1 variant, has been on the rise worldwide since February. Despite its increase, experts haven't found any significant changes in its ability to cause illness or evade the immune system. What does this mean for the public? Health experts advise continuing with good personal hygiene practices, wearing face masks when necessary, and maintaining a healthy diet.

Image: CANVA

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KP.2: This is what China has to say about the new COVID variant - The Times of India

This spring marks four years since the COVID-19 pandemic forced shutdowns nationwide.The University of Maryland Baltimore-Washington Medical Center honored health care workers and patients Thursday with a mural.The mural commemorates the shared experience between patients, workers, family members and the community and celebrates their courage."Such a beautiful work of art that will be here for generations to come, so that we will never forget," BWMC president Kathy McCullom said.The hospital began work on the mural in December. It was completed in six months.Workers and patients reflected on what it means to them. Nurse Iskra Gillis was a manager of the COVID-19 containment unit."It was very rough, it was hard not to be around family, but we had to be here," Gillis said. "We leaned on each other and we got through it."Craig Miyamoto had COVID-19 in October 2020 and was hospitalized for six weeks. He was sedated for four of those weeks."(The mural) commemorates all of the hardship we went through, to thank the workers here and to remind the community of the long trying time we went through," Miyamoto said.Carol Burke and her husband both had stays at BWMC. She was there for 31 days, on a ventilator for more than two weeks."It symbolizes that each person had a job to do in this hospital, and they all showed up during those times because they saw what it's like to have COVID-19, even with all the protective gear on, the courage that they all had," Burke said.The hospital collaborated with Art with a Heart to create the mixed media mural, which took 600 artists to create.

This spring marks four years since the COVID-19 pandemic forced shutdowns nationwide.

The University of Maryland Baltimore-Washington Medical Center honored health care workers and patients Thursday with a mural.

The mural commemorates the shared experience between patients, workers, family members and the community and celebrates their courage.

"Such a beautiful work of art that will be here for generations to come, so that we will never forget," BWMC president Kathy McCullom said.

The hospital began work on the mural in December. It was completed in six months.

Workers and patients reflected on what it means to them. Nurse Iskra Gillis was a manager of the COVID-19 containment unit.

"It was very rough, it was hard not to be around family, but we had to be here," Gillis said. "We leaned on each other and we got through it."

Craig Miyamoto had COVID-19 in October 2020 and was hospitalized for six weeks. He was sedated for four of those weeks.

"(The mural) commemorates all of the hardship we went through, to thank the workers here and to remind the community of the long trying time we went through," Miyamoto said.

Carol Burke and her husband both had stays at BWMC. She was there for 31 days, on a ventilator for more than two weeks.

"It symbolizes that each person had a job to do in this hospital, and they all showed up during those times because they saw what it's like to have COVID-19, even with all the protective gear on, the courage that they all had," Burke said.

The hospital collaborated with Art with a Heart to create the mixed media mural, which took 600 artists to create.

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Mural dedicated to health workers, patients at Baltimore hospital - WBAL TV Baltimore

Rare but deadly blood clots tied to <-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbHref":"bbg://securities/JNJ%20US%20Equity/BICO","_id":"0000018f-7f01-de3b-adcf-ffa3b69c0000","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">Johnson & Johnson and <-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbHref":"bbg://securities/AZN%20LN%20Equity/FA","_id":"0000018f-7f01-de3b-adcf-ffa3b69d0000","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">AstraZeneca Plcs Covid-19 shots were caused by an autoimmune reaction that some people are predisposed to, researchers found, a discovery that they say will shape development of future vaccines.

Adenovirus-based vaccines, like the J&J and AstraZeneca shots that were later <-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbDocId":"RVS5NBDWRGG0","_id":"0000018f-7f01-de3b-adcf-ffa3b69d0001","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">pulled from the market, contain a component that, in genetically susceptible people, can trigger the production of unusually structured antibodies against a protein involved in blood clotting, scientists said Wednesday in a letter to the <-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbHref":"bbg://securities/1217748D%20US%20Equity","_id":"0000018f-7f01-de3b-adcf-ffa3b69e0000","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers plan to identify the culprit and ...

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Rare Blood Clot From J&J, Astra Covid Shots Tied to Genetics (1) - Bloomberg Law

The blood-retinal barrier is designed to protect our vision from infections by preventing microbial pathogens from reaching the retina where they could trigger an inflammatory response with potential vision loss. But researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine have discovered the virus that causes COVID-19 can breach this protective retinal barrier with potential long-term consequences in the eye.

Pawan Kumar Singh, PhD, an assistant professor of ophthalmology, leads a team researching new ways to prevent and treat ocular infectious diseases. Using a humanized ACE2 mice model, the team found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can infect the inside of the eyes even when the virus doesnt enter the body through the surface of the eyes. Instead, they found that when viruses enter the body through inhalation, it not only infects organs like lungs, but also reaches highly protected organs like eyes through the blood-retinal barrier by infecting the cells lining this barrier.

This finding is important as we increase our understanding of the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection, said Singh. Earlier, researchers were primarily focused on the ocular surface exposure of the virus. However, our findings reveal that SARS-CoV-2 not only reaches the eye during systemic infection but induces a hyperinflammatory response in the retina and causes cell death in the blood-retinal barrier. The longer viral remnants remain in the eye, the risk of damage to the retina and visual function increases.

Singh also discovered that extended presence of SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen can cause retinal microaneurysm, retinal artery and vein occlusion, and vascular leakage.

For those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, we recommend you ask your ophthalmologist to check for signs of pathological changes to the retina, Singh said. Even those who were asymptomatic could suffer from damage in the eyes over time because of COVID-19 associated complications.

While viruses and bacteria have been found to breach the blood-retinal-barrier in immunocompromised people, this research is the first to suggest that the virus that causes COVID-19 could breach the barrier even in otherwise healthy individuals, leading to an infection that manifests inside the eye itself. Immunocompromised patients or those with hypertension or diabetes may experience worse outcomes if they remain undiagnosed for COVID-19 associated ocular symptoms.

Now that we know the risk of COVID-19 to the retina, our goal is to better understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of how this virus breaches the blood-retinal barrier and associated pathological consequences in hopes of informing development of therapies to prevent and treat COVID-19 induced eye complications before a patients vision is compromised, Singh said.

This groundbreaking study entitled SARS-CoV-2 infects cells lining the blood-retinal barrier and induces a hyperinflammatory immune response in the retina via systemic exposure was recently published in PLOS Pathogens. In addition to Singh, the research team from the University of Missouri School of Medicine included Vaishnavi Balendiran, MD, vitreoretinal surgery fellow; Monu Monu and Faraz Ahmad, post-doctoral fellows in the Department of Ophthalmology; and Rachel M. Olson, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Laboratory for Infectious Disease Research at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

This research was supported through fundings from the University of Missouri and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Eye Institute (NEI) grant R01EY032495.

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COVID-19 Virus Could Damage Vision - MU School of Medicine - University of Missouri School of Medicine

Validating concerns AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) first raised in early 2021 about the work of EcoHealth Alliance and its president Dr. Peter Daszak on dangerous virus research in China, AHF fully supports the U.S. Department of Health and Human Servicesdecisionto suspend and debar the organization from receiving federal funding for failure to fully comply with transparency requirements.

AHF issued apress releaseon Feb. 9, 2021, raising concerns about conflicts of interest among a World Health Organization (WHO) team of scientists dispatched to Wuhan, China, to study the origins of COVID-19.

In part, the release stated: The alleged conflict of interest stems from the connection one of the investigators, a British zoologist and EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak, has with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).According to The Wall Street Journal, Dr. Daszak has worked closely with a leading virologist at WIV, Dr. Shi Zhengli, on the study of bat viruses, which from 2014, was in part funded by U.S. government grants. The institute is located just a few miles away from the wet market where Chinese authorities say SARS-CoV-2 first emerged.

Dr. Daszak has repeatedly and unequivocally dismissed the hypothesis that COVID-19 may have spread as a result of a lab accident in Wuhan. In 2020, he co-authored aLancet articlethat characterized hypotheses that diverged from the idea that COVID-19 originated in wildlife as misinformation and conspiracy theories. This dismissive position has been since repudiated by a number of scientists, and in 2022, theWHO released a reportadvocating for more research into the lab leak theory.

In March 2023, AHF issued a press release under the headline No NIH Money to EcoHealth Alliance, says AHF in response to the announcement that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was planning to resume funding Dr. Daszaks work. The grant was suspended in 2022 because,according to the NIH, EcoHealth Alliance had not been able to hand over lab notebooks and other records from its Wuhan partner that relate to controversial experiments involving modified bat viruses, despite multiple requests.

We have consistently called attention to the lack of transparency and attempts to dismiss outright the hypothesis that COVID-19 originated as a result of research at the Wuhan lab, said AHF President Michael Weinstein. The question has been politicized beyond measure on all sides, but our position and intention for raising it has always been and remains that we need to find out the truth for the sake of global public health. To do that, all evidence must be examined fully, transparently, and with an open mind. Whatever the origin of COVID-19, China and EcoHealth have not made answering this important question any easier. Until we know, we are flying blind.

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AHF World Still in the Dark on COVID-19's Origins - AIDS Healthcare Foundation

UK Covid Inquiry in Northern Irelandpublished at 09:29 09:29

Baroness Arlene Foster is set to appear before the UK Covid Inquiry in Belfast today.

She was Northern Ireland first minister from January 2016 to January 2017 and during the pandemic from January 2020 until she resigned on 14 June 2021.

You can watch a stream of the inquiry by clicking the play button above.

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Watch: Baroness Arlene Foster appears before the Covid-19 Inquiry - BBC.com