---
type: Conversation
title: Private channel session 1355
description: "slack conversation, 21 messages, 2021-05-11."
tags:
  - conversation
  - slack
medium: slack
message_count: 21
started_at: "2021-05-11T12:49:05"
ended_at: "2021-05-11T13:49:00"
duration_seconds: 3595
sources:
  - { id: slack_pm, resource: /sources/slack-pm.md, title: Slack / Private Message Drop, author: "process:senate-hsgac-release" }
generated: { by: randpaul-corpus-pipeline/1.0, at: "2026-08-01T12:42:27Z" }
status: stable
---

A slack conversation of 21 messages spanning 0h 59m.

# Metadata

- **Started:** 2021-05-11T12:49:05
- **Ended:** 2021-05-11T13:49:00
- **Duration:** 0h 59m
- **Participants:** 4
- **Source:** [slack_pm](/sources/slack-pm.md)
- **Pages:** 777-779

# Participants

* [Andrew Rambaut](/people/andrew-rambaut.md)
* [Edward C. Holmes](/people/edward-c-holmes.md)
* [Kristian G. Andersen](/people/kristian-g-andersen.md)
* [Robert F. Garry](/people/robert-f-garry.md)

# Transcript

**[2021-05-11T12:49:05] Robert F. Garry:** Alina complaining that Tucker put words in her mouth. https://twitter.com/Ayjchan/status/1392167148185923594 Hmmmmm A lesson I never really learned too well. "Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it."

**[2021-05-11T12:59:58] Kristian G. Andersen:** "I've never said that SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 virus was designed for human-to-human transmission." I don't know man - she might not have said those words directly, however, she has pretty much said this very thing over and over again...

**[2021-05-11T13:07:00] Robert F. Garry:** Yip - over and over and over.

**[2021-05-11T13:09:44] Edward C. Holmes:** Serves her right. The Aus govt have just announced that our borders will be closed until mid-2022 so I won't be going to a CCP holiday camp any time soon.

**[2021-05-11T13:12:52] Andrew Rambaut:** Mid 2022? Is that instead of vaccinating?

**[2021-05-11T13:21:20] Edward C. Holmes:** The vaccine roll-out is going really slowly....glacial. People feel safe on our isolated island with no COVID. It's obviously ridiculous because we'll never eradicate the virus and so will have to bite the bullet at some point, but closed borders and no COVID is a huge vote winner. Totally fucks the universities though.

**[2021-05-11T13:28:53] Robert F. Garry:** Sucks - US has literally more vaccine than they know what to do with, but few Republicans want to take it because -who knows why? - Fauci is a bad man?

**[2021-05-11T13:31:06] Andrew Rambaut:** If you open a travel corridor with China (who have zero covid, obviously) then you will be sorted.

**[2021-05-11T13:40:30] Edward C. Holmes:** Perhaps I just should suggest that online? Cheap flights to Xinjiang.

**[2021-05-11T13:45:03] Andrew Rambaut:** Students into Unis, Profs off to China for all expenses jollies as guests of CCP

**[2021-05-11T13:47:57] Edward C. Holmes:** Everyone's a winner!

**[2021-05-11T13:49:00] Robert F. Garry:** Makes sense - China and Australia probably the safest spots on the planet, excepting the really really cold bits. SLACK_000992

**[2021-05-11T13:49:00] Edward C. Holmes:** @Andrew Rambaut did you look at the gamey taste price list in that figure I sent? Some great BBQ opportunities.

**[2021-05-11T13:49:00] Edward C. Holmes:** Dominic's view on that Science letter - which I suspect is the WHO teams view - is that it is lightweight and has nounderstanding of how things work in China

**[2021-05-11T13:49:00] Kristian G. Andersen:** The letter is hopelessly naive.

**[2021-05-11T13:49:00] Edward C. Holmes:** Hopelessly

**[2021-05-11T13:49:00] Robert F. Garry:** I could be wrong but from what I gather few have any idea what it's like to work in any foreign country whatsoever (unless you count North Carolina).

**[2021-05-11T13:49:00] Robert F. Garry:** Certainly most are naive when it comes to outbreaks....but very disappointed that Worobey decided to go FOMO.

**[2021-05-11T13:49:00] Andrew Rambaut:** @Eddie Holmes Yes. Centipede tastes just like shrimp I have heard (probably).

**[2021-05-11T13:49:00] Edward C. Holmes:** They will come to regret this.

**[2021-05-11T13:49:00] Robert F. Garry:** *a liitlre cleanerEarly appearance of two distinct genomic lineages of SARS-CoV-2 in different Wuhan wildlife markets suggests SARS-CoV-2 has a natural origin* Robert F. Garry1.2 *Introduction* Our previous commentary on the Proximal Origins of SARS-CoV-2 (Andersen et al., 2020) concluded that, "SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus." The possibility of a laboratory release or Lab Leak was also considered, but it was determined that a natural origin of SARS-CoV-2 is much more likely. Recently, a team of scientists under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO) reached similar conclusions (WHO, 2021). Other groups have speculated that…