Slack / Private Message Drop — page 885

So, big outbreak at WIV but it's all kept quiet in November. And this cover-up would be going on for even longer if they knew back in September and so took their database offline. [2021-05-27 15:02:28] [Kristian Andersen] Yup, that's what happened. [2021-05-27 15:03:04] [Robert Garry] So what we have is a failed CDC Director speculating in an area of virology he does not understand, A CNN science anchor tagging on, two failed exNYTimes authors seeking relevance or just looking for an income stream with a book, a failed Intelligence officer David Asher (who now Batman to Steve Quay's Robin_ who own deputy secretary pulled the plug on the investigation (apparently unbenown to the WSJ, but clear even to Fox), and a couple of old Nobelists also proving they are long past their prime (redeem yourself DB). Mix this with a Republican toxic stew and an few ill-considered Fauci quote. Mix in Angie's opportunists, dilettantes, racist/misogynist assholes, and trolls and shit decisions at the journal call "science" and this is where we're at. [2021-05-27 15:35:03] [Robert Garry] At this moment probably about as good as it gets from the NYT - it could be worse. [shared file(s): Scientists Don't Want to Ignore the Wuhan 'Lab Leak' Theory, Despite No New Evidence - The New York Times.pdf] [2021-05-27 15:56:38] [Eddie Holmes] Not great though. What do you make of this? Surely nobody is reading Yan's report? [shared file(s): Screen Shot 2021-05-28 at 8.54.53 am.png] [2021-05-27 15:58:54] [Robert Garry] https://cnnphilippines.com/world/2021/5/25/WHO-China-overlooked-data.html Good guy Nick Paton Walsh, CNN also doing some - well - reporting . It relevant to the 2-3 cases from David Ashers "intel" "Leaked documents reported by CNN revealed the flu outbreak in December of 2019, showing a significant spike in Wuhan but also other cities in Hubei at the end of that year. The cause and consequences of the outbreak of influenza-like illnesses remains unclear. The source said the spike showed "there was a large influenza outbreak happening more or less at the same time" as the emergence of the coronavirus. The simultaneous emergence of the influenza outbreak with the first cases of the virus "explains the difficulties of identifying Covid cases in December and early January," said the source. It remains unclear the impact the influenza spike had on detecting the first cases of the novel coronavirus." [2021-05-27 16:00:21] [Eddie Holmes] Yes, I might have a chat to Nick. [2021-05-27 16:03:46] [Robert Garry] THat's a good idea - one of the few no nonsense types left (Ed Yong waiting for you to get your hands "dirty")- Tell him the Science editorial staff are acting irrationally....:slightly_smiling_face: [2021-05-27 16:44:52] [Eddie Holmes] This is extraordinary: https://www.smh.com.au/national/where-did-covid-come-from-the-case-for-a-leak-of-a-virus-e ngineered-in-a-wuhan-lab-20210526-p57vgt.html [2021-05-27 16:45:44] [Eddie Holmes] This statement "In particular, we know from her published work that Shi had successfully been inserting furin cleavage sites into viruses to make them more infective" strikes me a bare-faced lie.