Covid-19 - is this the end of the world?

[Caute_cautim]

We face many threats within this world:  Not just AI, Quantum Technologies but biological as well.

There has been great debate as to whether the COVID virus was a result of a biological research laboratory leak in China.

The backstory is very murky.

One of the principal researchers working on the COVID virus “fell off’ the research laboratory roof.

Whether he committed suicide or it was an accident or whether he was pushed is open for debate.

The real concern here is that China may be researching biological weapons under the guise of understanding how COVID viruses are spread.

On the 10th of January 2024 a research paper published in medRxiv ,the reprint server for biology, stated that they had developed a Covid variant that may cause 100% mortality to humans.

“SARS-CoV-2-related pangolin coronavirus GX_P2V(short_3UTR) can cause 100% mortality in human ACE2-transgenic mice, potentially attributable to late-stage brain infection. This underscores a spillover risk of GX_P2V into humans and provides a unique model for understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2-related viruses.

https://lnkd.in/g7Z9CiSj

Put simply somewhere in China researchers have developed COVID variant that may be 100% lethal to humans and could see the end of human life of this planet ,and the future on the human species is in the hands of the research laboratory technicians and their quality assurance system to ensure that this Virus does not leak out into the general community which may signal the end of the human race.

You can’t make this stuff up and after more than 50 years designing and auditing QA /QC systems in Medical Device and Pharmaceutical facilities I can say with some authority that it is not a case of “if but when “this virus will be leaked into the general community .

The fact that we humans made it on the assumption that it would help us to understand how viruses may jump from animals to humans is just madness.

We made something man-made in a laboratory in China that can wipe out human life.

All COVID viruses are airborne and NZ an isolated nation like NZ could be a safe haven in the event of a lethal Global COVID pandemic if we have a pandemic mitigation strategy in place.

Does your organisation have a mitigation strategy?

Regards

Caute_Cautim

[Early_Adopter]

I don’t know, but personally I’m going to lobby very hard for the extermination of all pangolins to save the adorable transgenic mice, with their tiny opposable thumbs and human level problem solving…

[ericgeater]

"Does your organisation have a mitigation strategy?"

To put it mildly, if we're talking about something that's 100% lethal, the last thing I'm interested in is whether my org has a mitigation strategy.  Luckily, that's not how genetics and mutations work.

It does not matter at all whether SARS-CoV-2 was released from a lab or a wet market, because COVID's transmissibility was increased because humans live in dense population centers, and accelerated because we have rapid transportation.  That's it, full stop.

As long as we trade money for goods, we must interact with humans.  Self-reliance is the only defense against something that's 100% lethal -- which, again, is not likely to be a thing.

[denbesten]

I concur with @ericgeater.  I too would classify this as "Next Guy's (if any) problem".

That said, I see great value in a generic mitigation strategy that addresses most risks....  Hire smart people that are intellectually curious, have a calm demeanor in a crisis, will overcome any obstacle to help a colleague, and are willing to listen/compromise.  Then give them a decent budget.