Slack / Private Message Drop — page 75

Gotta say - NYT did a good job on this story about D614G: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/science/coronavirus-mutation-genetics-spike.html [2020-06-12 15:05:16] [Eddie Holmes] Yes, looks good. Doubtless the Korber paper will be in Cell soon. I hear there may be more pangolin viruses. We'll see. I really want to what George Gao has up his sleeve. [2020-06-12 15:08:28] [Kristian Andersen] Would be so friggin' awesome if George could pull this one off... Would make my life a lot easier :wink:. The US is getting spanked by China so badly these days, so this would be the ultimate slap! This is a pretty big slap too... https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31278-2/fulltext (the US abstract version would be "it'll be fine, let's just wait and see". [2020-06-12 15:14:23] [Eddie Holmes] And the NAS continues to tarnish itself by allowing shitty papers to get published... [2020-06-12 15:15:21] [Kristian Andersen] Oh no, what now? [2020-06-12 15:17:25] [Eddie Holmes] https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/10/2009637117 [2020-06-12 15:20:44] [Kristian Andersen] I think they must mean 'droplet'... [2020-06-12 15:21:16] [Kristian Andersen] It should be clear though - airborne transmission is definitely a risk with SC2, but I highly doubt it's dominant. [2020-06-12 15:42:08] [Eddie Holmes] I was worried about conclusion being made on whether people use/don't use face masks. Australia and NZ have had 2 of the most successful control policies globally. Hardly anyone where's a mask here. [2020-06-12 15:46:21] [Kristian Andersen] I think the data is shifting pretty strongly towards mask wearing being (potentially highly) beneficial. But it's definitely not the only way - Denmark is the same. One concern I have about the success Down Under - what's the effect of weather? I hope NZ and Australia won't sleep on their laurels as winter approaches. [2020-06-12 15:52:14] [Eddie Holmes] Oh, I don't disagree with the conclusion at all (I completely agree that face masks are hugely important), but the analysis is dire. There's no weather effect in any of this: climatic conditions play a secondary role when the population is completely susceptible - that's the key factor. Look at Brazil and Chile is kicking off. Seasonality may well evolve as immunity kicks in, but it's not there yet. [2020-06-12 15:53:02] [Eddie Holmes]