Chat message

Slack / Private Message Drop, pp.771-772 [SLACK_000985] · slack_pm:msg:08076

Date: 2021-05-10 15:08
Type: chat message · slack
recipient: Robert F. Garry, Edward C. Holmes, Andrew Rambaut
speaker: Kristian G. Andersen
Topics: Media strategy and public messaging WHO and international investigation Lab-leak / accidental release hypothesis

Recipients on this medium are inferred from channel membership, not per-message addressing.

!channel - trying to write something to Jim. Thoughts on this? ```This is on background - the letter doesn't add anything and the title is literally "Investigate the origins ofCOVID-19", which I think we can all agree on and is already being done. I can give you an on-the-record comment below, but there's nothing in the letter other than a false equivalence, no data, no testable hypotheses, and noadded knowledge. As for the "investigation" they're proposing (remember, what the WHO did wasn't an"investigation" - it was a mission. The WHO doesn't have the mandate, nor do they have the resources for an"investigation"). The authors don't specify how such an investigation would be conducted and stating that "Public health agencies and research laboratories alike need to open their records to the public. Investigators should document the veracity and provenance of data from which analyses are conducted and conclusions drawn, so that analyses are reproducible by independent experts." is hopelessly naive. I obviously agree that that would be great, but it's pure utopia and shows a clear lack of understanding the reality of the situation (none of the authors have direct experience working on emergence/outbreaks). As for the WHO mandate, if you haven't read this article, I can highly recommendit: https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/01/opinions/who-covid-19-origins-report-opinion-kavanagh/index.html.On-the-record - I agree with the authors that both hypotheses are possible, although as the WHO and others have concluded, not equally likely. To this day, no evidence has been presented to support a lab leak, which remainsgrounded in speculation. Instead, available data, including those derived from epidemiological, ecological, clinical, and genomic investigations, are consistent with a natural emergence of SARS-CoV-2 from a zoonotic reservoir, ashas been observed so many times in the past.```

Links shared

news https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/01/opinions/who-covid-19-origins-report-opinion-kavanagh/index.html.On-the-record

Extracted statements

Rule-extracted, not adjudicated. The grade says what may be done with each one; read the document above before relying on any of them.

Statement	Grade	Attribution	Stance
Thoughts on this? ```This is on background - the letter doesn't add anything and the title is literally "Investigate the origins ofCOVID-19", which I think we can all agree on and is already being done.	quoted / not their view	quoted_external sentence carries quotation marks	questions

Statement

Grade

Attribution

Stance

Thoughts on this? ```This is on background - the letter doesn't add anything and the title is literally "Investigate the origins ofCOVID-19", which I think we can all agree on and is already being done.

quoted / not their view

quoted_external sentence carries quotation marks

questions

In context

A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.

2021-05-10 14:55 Robert F. Garry open

Indeed - it's subtle. Intended to sound nefarious, but how else would the data have been collected? Nevertheless they are definitely accusing Shi et al of malfeasance not to mention killing to date over 3M people.
2021-05-10 15:00 Robert F. Garry open

@Kristian Andersen So just Don the prick's favorite cover? Sneaky Pete rips below the belt jab? Size Matters? [shared file(s): image.png]
2021-05-10 15:07 Kristian G. Andersen open

@Kristian Andersen Haha.
2021-05-10 15:07 Kristian G. Andersen open

@Kristian Andersen Oh, and his cap says "NORWAY".... Hmmmmmm. Suspicious.
2021-05-10 15:08 Kristian G. Andersen

!channel - trying to write something to Jim. Thoughts on this? ```This is on background - the letter doesn't add anything and the title is literally "Investigate the origins ofCOVID-19", which I think we can all agree on and is already being done. I can give you an on-the-record comment below, but there's nothing in the letter other than a false equivalence, no data, no testable hypotheses, and noadded knowledge. As for the "investigation" they're proposing (remember, what the WHO did wasn't an"investigation" - it was a mission. The WHO doesn't have the mandate, nor do they have the resources for an"investigation"). The authors don't specify how such an investigation would be conducted and stating that "Public health agencies and research laboratories alike need to open their records to the public. Investigators should document the veracity and provenance of data from which analyses are conducted and conclusions drawn, so that analyses are reproducible by independent experts." is hopelessly naive. I obviously agree that that would be great, but it's pure utopia and shows a clear lack of understanding the reality of the situation (none of the authors have direct experience working on emergence/outbreaks). As for the WHO mandate, if you haven't read this article, I can highly recommendit: https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/01/opinions/who-covid-19-origins-report-opinion-kavanagh/index.html.On-the-record - I agree with the authors that both hypotheses are possible, although as the WHO and others have concluded, not equally likely. To this day, no evidence has been presented to support a lab leak, which remainsgrounded in speculation. Instead, available data, including those derived from epidemiological, ecological, clinical, and genomic investigations, are consistent with a natural emergence of SARS-CoV-2 from a zoonotic reservoir, ashas been observed so many times in the past.```
2021-05-10 15:13 Robert F. Garry open

@Kristian Andersen Indeed - Norway exports frozen fish some of which is quite tasty.
2021-05-10 15:13 Edward C. Holmes open

Great work Kristian! Perfect. No need to say anything more.
2021-05-10 15:17 Robert F. Garry open

@Kristian Andersen Apparently Sneaky Pete likes the small Norwegian sardines. [shared file(s): image.png]
2021-05-10 15:21 Robert F. Garry open

Agreed - reminding him that in fact there is a LOT of available data in clear support of a natural spillover - contrary tothis group of - I dunno - "Americites."

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