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Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

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Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#231
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on where you are. The US has significantly improved testing (I work for a COVID-19 testing company) but people don't socially isolate or wear their damn masks. We had issues in the election yesterday of poll workers not wearing masks. People just don't get it, and this behavior clearly isn't "fixed" as the winter surge is well under way.

A question: Why aren't we running randomized survey testing to determine the extent of infections?

Denmark is. Besides very easy and rapid access to free testing for everyone who suspects they might be infected, the government has also sent out requests to random people to get tested.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#232
post #201
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most viruses breed in “reservoir” populations, then cross species with unpredictable effect. This is why we had a “bird flu” or “pig flu”, and so on. Coronaviruses cross between mammals all the time, mutate, and create new strains. This is why there is no cold vaccine (and why the flu vaccine changes each year, and is usually only 60-80% effective). So, to answer your questions: (1) It is not any more worrisome than…

> the food chain would collapse It's necessary for the world to realize breeding livestock like we do now is unsustainable. Either we go vegan, lab meat or hybrid agriculture. But the current industry is the dead end.

Livestock breeding isn't inherently unsustainable. E.g. you can have closed-off poultry or pork farms with greenhouse-fed animals, all powered by wind or solar, with sewage processing to ensure there's no external pollution. This isn't sci-fi, it exists today in e.g. the denser parts of western Europe.

Yes it's costlier than beef from the developing world raised on cut-down rainforest land, but growing lab is a lot more expensive.

You can argue that it's inefficient, sure, but so is a vegan eating an avacado instead of white rice. Things can be relatively inefficient and still be sustainable.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#233
post #207
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the food chain would collapse It's necessary for the world to realize breeding livestock like we do now is unsustainable. Either we go vegan, lab meat or hybrid agriculture. But the current industry is the dead end.

I wasn’t talking about an agricultural collapse. I mean the natural food chain will collapse. If you kill all the mammals, then the birds of prey will go extinct, and stuff the mammals eat will overrun what’s left. If you don’t, then the mammals will keep spreading all sorts of pandemics. For example, if you live in Silicon Valley, start feeding the squirrels in the woods near you. Eventually, they’ll give you the Bu…

> If you kill all the mammals, then the birds of prey will go extinct

Birds of prey eat a lot more than just mammals, e.g. fish, reptiles, other birds etc. So no, if there magically weren't any mammals tomorrow most species of birds of prey would survive.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#234
post #29
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Denmark is not a socialist/communist/marxist country, it is not the Danish state's function to provide jobs for people.

You don't have something simulator to Norways social services? In Norway they will help you find a new job, and offer re-education. You also gets up to 80% of your former salary provided by the government until you do.

"You also gets up to 80% of your former salary provided by the government until you do."

Also when you were self-employed, and/or if you quit your job? In Norway can you quit your job for no reason and get 80% of your salary while you look for another (or not)?

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#237
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mention the IFR but what about the long term implications of so many people catching COVID and having reduced lung capacity or long term damage? Can we please address this fact that scares a lot of us? We already know the death rate is low for groups that are not at risk but it seems even healthy people are suffering from "long COVID" with serious long term implications.

Please provide a number instead of ‘so many’ and ‘it seems’. I’ve seen ‘so many’ alarmist stories on this but no statistics at all, this is turning me rather skeptical.

We simply do not know right now. I think ARDS and the risk of permanent lung damage is one of the main reasons that we named this SARS pandemic "COVID".

For the previous SARS pandemic I believe it was about half of every infected person who developed long term respiratory problems. This strain shares around 80% of its genome with the previous SARS-1 strain.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Furs can still be collected and sterilized maybe?

Are you volunteering to be the one to work with bodily fluids and aerosol droplets carrying Covid-20?

only if the furs can be claimed from dead minks several days later

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#239
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would wait until the Danish health authorities actually publicate their findings. This is not a statement made by pseudo-scientists. While I don't know his credentials I don't see why I should trust him more than Statens Serum Institut. So I guess the question is if Denmark is alarmist or if this person is the opposite.

Arguably so should the Danish government, because SSI has not said anything in particular about this decision. They did publish a statement last week regretting they didn't properly mail the mink farmers to ask them about how Covid was going, but said that this failure wasn't important for the monitoring or spread of the disease. If they then knew anything about mink order 66 coming, that's some poker face.

The director of the center of infectious diseases at SSI Kåre Mølbak was at the press conference, so it is clear I think that while they have not written and published their findings they gave shared them with the government.

Re: Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please provide a number instead of ‘so many’ and ‘it seems’. I’ve seen ‘so many’ alarmist stories on this but no statistics at all, this is turning me rather skeptical.

We simply do not know right now. I think ARDS and the risk of permanent lung damage is one of the main reasons that we named this SARS pandemic "COVID". For the previous SARS pandemic I believe it was about half of every infected person who developed long term respiratory problems. This strain shares around 80% of its genome with the previous SARS-1 strain.

If you don’t know, bringing it up as an established fact is dishonest. But again, if the claim is really so many people are experiencing an obvious issue, yet they are so hard to find we still don’t have an idea I’m rather skeptical.
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