Facebook reverses course, won't ban lab virus theory

Yahoo – AFP, Rob Lever, May 27, 2021 

Facebook reversal of a ban on suggesting Covid-19 was man-made comes amid
renewed debate on the origins of the virus

Facebook has reversed its policy banning posts suggesting Covid-19 emerged from a laboratory amid renewed debate over the origins of the virus, raising fresh questions about social media's role in policing misinformation. 

The latest move by Facebook, announced late Wednesday on its website, highlights the challenge for the world's largest social network of rooting out false and potentially harmful content while remaining open for discourse. 

"In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of Covid-19 and in consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that Covid-19 is man-made or manufactured from our apps," the statement said. 

"We're continuing to work with health experts to keep pace with the evolving nature of the pandemic and regularly update our policies as new facts and trends emerge." 

The new statement updates guidance from Facebook in February when it said it would remove false or debunked claims about the novel coronavirus which created a global pandemic killing more than three million. 

The move followed President Joe Biden's directive to US intelligence agencies to investigate competing theories on how the virus first emerged -- through animal contact at a market in Wuhan, China, or through accidental release from a research laboratory in the same city. 

Biden's order signals an escalation in mounting controversy over the origins of the virus. 

The natural origin hypothesis holds that it emerged in bats then passed to humans, likely via an intermediary species. 

This theory was widely accepted at the start of the pandemic, but as time has worn on, scientists have not found a virus in either bats or another animal that matches the genetic signature of SARS-CoV-2. 

The lab-leak theory, meanwhile, is gaining increasing traction in the United States, where it was initially fueled by former president Donald Trump and his aides and dismissed by many as a political talking point. 

A recent Wall Street Journal report, citing US intelligence findings, said three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick in November 2019, a month before Beijing disclosed the existence of a mysterious pneumonia outbreak. 

Facebook has updated previous guidance on removing false or debunked claims
about the novel coronavirus -- saying it will no longer remove the claim that
Covid-19 is man-made or manufactured.

Pushback from the right 

Facebook's move, which could impact what some three billion users of its family of apps see, highlights the controversy over social media's aggressive efforts to root out misinformation on topics where facts may be evolving. 

The reversal may be "another exhibit for the possibility that there will be a swing back against the more heavy-handed moderation," tweeted Evelyn Douek, a Harvard University lecturer and researcher of online speech regulation. 

"When the pandemic started, there were many arguments that 'what platforms are doing for health misinfo, they should do for all misinfo all the time.' It was over-simplified then, and strikes me as untenable now." 

Facebook uses independent third-party fact checkers, including AFP, to debunk misinformation. Although the origins of the virus remain unproven, the lab leak theory has been subject to fact-checking. 

One fact checking organization, PolitiFact, reported last September that public health authorities had "repeatedly said the coronavirus was not derived from a lab" but earlier this month revised its guidance, noting: "that assertion is now more widely disputed," and saying it would continue to review the matter. 

The abrupt Facebook reversal prompted angry responses from conservatives and Trump supporters. 

"Wow! But they did suppress the story for a year, defaming Trump and Republicans for a 'conspiracy theory' blacklisting conservative press and banning us," tweeted Kelly Sadler, a blogger and former Trump aide. 

But Rebekah Tromble, director of Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics at George Washington University, said Facebook "is doing the right thing" by updating its guidance. 

"Information changes over time, and responsible organizations -- social media outlets and fact-checkers alike -- make decisions based on the best information available but remain open and willing to change their evaluations as new information arises," Tromble told AFP. 

"Facebook will undoubtedly receive blowback for this decision, as will fact-checkers. But that blowback will come from the same people and groups that have always been critical." 

Facebook in a separate statement said it was stepping up its efforts to curb misinformation by limiting the reach of users who "repeatedly" share false content. 

Until now, Facebook had only taken this action on individual posts, but now will clamp down on the users who are the largest spreaders of false content.

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Good ventilation key to stopping coronavirus spread: Dutch researchers

DutchNews, May 28, 2020

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Good ventilation in public places, such as trams and nursing homes, is crucial to slow down the spread of coronavirus, according to Dutch researchers. 

A team at the University of Amsterdam have found that small cough droplets, potentially containing virus particles, can float in the air in a room for many minutes, especially when the room is poorly ventilated. 

The results were published in the scientific journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine on Thursday. 

The researchers asked healthy human guinea pigs to speak and to cough, and used laser light to analyse the droplets that they produced. 

The light picked up large amounts of small droplets (between roughly one and 10 micrometres in size) during both speech and coughing. Larger droplets (up to one millimeter in size) were also produced during coughing. 

The larger droplets fall to the ground within one second and therefore have a much smaller probability of transmitting viruses, the researchers say. However, the small droplets only move very slowly due to the large amount of air drag they experience.

‘After a single cough, it takes about five minutes for the number of small droplets in the air to be halved,’ the researchers said. These tiny droplets are therefore much more dangerous when it comes to possible transmission of coronavirus. 

When the same experiments were repeated in a well-ventilated room, the results improved dramatically. With only mechanical ventilation turned on, half of the droplets disappeared within 2.5 minutes, but in a room that also had a door and window open, the number of droplets was halved after 30 seconds – ten times faster than in the unventilated room. 

Physical distancing 

The results show that despite keeping 1.5 metres apart, spaces like public transport and nursing homes can still be centres for spreading the virus if they are not properly ventilated. 

In addition, if droplets remain in the air for a long time, proximity tracing via smartphone apps will not give a true picture of contact moments, the researchers said. 

The authorities should, the researchers say, consider recommendations to ensure adequate ventilation wherever possible in public spaces to reduce the risk of the virus spreading in droplets. 

Dutch public heath institute RIVM says on its website that aerosols – or showers of droplets – have not yet been shown to have a role in spreading the virus. The virus primarily spreads through ‘large droplets which do not stay in the air long,’ the RIVM says. 

A spokesman told broadcaster NOS that the guidelines are regularly revised. ‘Our experts will look at this research and see if the guidelines should be adapted,’ the spokesman said.

“Virus Truths” – (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

Kryon.com, April 14, 2020

This live channelling was streamed live for the World-Wide Channeling Retreat

Lee Carroll

To help the reader, this channelling has been revisited [by Lee and Kryon] to provide even clearer understanding. Sometime information is even added or condensed. Often what happens live has implied energy within it, which carries a kind of communication that the printed page does not. So enjoy this enhanced message which was streamed live for the World-Wide Channeling Retreat.

Greetings, dear ones, I am Kryon of Magnetic Service. We come to you at this time, and we know what kind of a time it is. Mid-April 2020 it is, and we know what you’re going through. We have said this so many times, dear ones: Spirit knows your name, knows your situation, knows your feelings, knows your anxieties, and knows your fears. It’s like we stand off to the side, sometimes, watching you cry, and we stand there waiting, waiting – and we’ve talked about it so often and given it in names – a time where we are waiting for you to take our hand. That’s the spiritual free choice of humanity: to see it or not see it; to feel it or not feel it.

We’ve said it so many times: This planet acknowledges one God, a beautiful, loving God, and it acknowledges this all over, yet, there seems to always be a wall. It’s a wall that Humans have built and designed that’s always between us, yet, that was not the design, dear ones, ever. You’re never alone. Your soul is filled with the essence of God. That means we are not somewhere else. This veil that you talk about is inside you. You realize this, don’t you? It’s not off in the sky somewhere. And I say this and preface this, so you’ll know why I’m going to give you the information that I’m giving you today.

Yes, I’m going to talk about the elephant under the table. Yes, I’m going to talk about that which is the virus. I’m going to talk about the aftermath that is coming. I’m going to talk about some things you should know that might be encouraging to some, and I’m going to give information that will make others roll their eyes and say, “Well, I don’t think so, Kryon.” You’ll see that in a moment.

I’m going to give you information, just a little bit, about what you’re seeing that’s so sad, yet, it doesn’t have to be sad. It’s all about this microbe, this virus, that you say is taking so many lives. I’m going to give you some information right now that is not that new. It is something that has already been considered by some on the planet already. It is being worked on, but I want to push it forward, so many of you will understand and know that this virus itself is not taking your lives. It’s something else, dear ones.

Oh, the virus gets you to that place where you’re very close to either death or recovery, but then, suddenly, something else takes place and I want to talk about that “something else” right now. I want to speak of this because I want science to know and I want medicine to know. This scenario has already been considered by those already working the puzzle and, yet, they’re not really certain what they’re seeing. What I’m going to tell you next, dear ones, I hope is taken to heart by those who may be listening here. Those who would listen to channelling are not necessarily the frontline scientists of the planet, and I’m aware of that. Let us turn to what the facts are showing right now.

The virus is not killing you.

The virus will often take someone, perhaps, who is weaker, to a level that is dangerous. With that danger, the doctors will put them into a hospital and give the best care that they know how to give. Some of the patients go into that which you call the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). Surrounded by ICU specialists and doctors and nurses who care about them and are doing their best to save their lives, these health care professionals watch their efforts fail. Instead of seeing that which is a normal response within an ICU protocol, or that which is normal for a virus of this kind, they observe something completely different.

They watch a dramatic and quick downturn, and, sometimes, an almost immediate death. They are mystified, since there shouldn’t be this scenario happening, and they’re scratching their heads and saying, “that should not have happened.”

Dear ones, they are correct. Indeed, it should not be that way, and so, there’s another component to this – there is something else happening. This is factual, dear ones, and you can ask the physicians on the front lines and the nurses who have watched and seen those who are put on the ventilators who seem to be recovering, and then they lose them.

There is something else going on, dear ones, and now I will tell you what it is – and it’s not sinister or esoteric. It’s just chemistry. What I tell you now, hopefully, will lead to an understanding, so that, in the future, this virus does not have to be the “killer flu.” It will only be “the flu.” I’m telling you now the potential of what will be discovered and, if you roll your eyes at this, talk to me in a few years and see if you are going to roll your eyes then.

Number One:

Dear ones, your immune system has never seen this. Most of you have a robust immune system, but for those who don’t, your system will overreact to the virus. You might say that the immune system is what is killing the Human Beings, not the virus. The virus will take the dysfunction of your body to a certain level, and then the immune system, which has never seen this before, will completely overreact and cause quick death.

Now, I just gave you a key: If your medical science could encapsulate that immune system so it will not overreact, this flu will never kill another Human. You absolutely know the flu season is coming back. However, it will simply be the flu and it won’t be a killer flu anymore, because you will have figured it out. I just gave you something to work on and to know, and, if you think I am wrong, simply ask those doctors in the ICU if they have seen this phenomenon. They will say, “Yes, and we know there’s something else. We wish we knew what it was.”

Concentrate not on the virus vaccine, but on the immune system. Figure out why this reaction is taking place and work the puzzle of the immune system, so that there is no devastating horror for so many and hurt for so many hearts. Inappropriate death, it is.

You have gone into a habit of looking for an outside cure to always come forward and give you protection. Realize, dear ones, that this is an “add on” to an already wonderful immune system that begs for help. What if you, someday, have no need for any vaccine, and instead, you become super-strong in your resistance? What if everything can be solved and cured by enhancing YOUR system instead of something from the outside? What if this strength comes from organic substances and enhanced support for your own system instead of going to a pill? This would be a new paradigm for mainstream health.

That’s number one.

Number Two.

I would like to give you some information that may seem cryptic, but it’s information about the aftermath. This information all falls within previous channels, which speak of a coming energy of change. Let’s get away from the health right now and take a look at the economies of the planet.

There are many who have said this situation is devastating to the economies. I will tell you something, dear ones, it is not devastating, it’s a pruning. Many have told you about the coming crash. Books have been written, futurists have said so, and the message is that the stock market itself has systemic problems and can’t survive. That means, in its very design, it’s going to fail. I told you some time ago that this didn’t have to happen, and the way around it would be an integration of new energy and alteration of policies so it wouldn’t fail.

Within that message was a lot of head scratching. “Kryon, what do you mean, integration?” I will tell you what it is: It’s the virus. It is integrating a full stop and a regroup. Because what is going to happen when the stock market comes back, and it will, is a rebound that is different from a surge. Dear ones, it is not set to fail. Already, it has started to leap forward with any kind of good news. On bad news, it doesn’t. Think about it: It’s not dead. However, many have said so, since they are seeing indicators that respond to an old system, not a situation that the planet has never seen. There is NO MODEL to fall back on to predict anything from here on.

What happens within the system and the commerce around the system is a reboot. This restart tends to correct the systemic problems that it had naturally from the stagnation that it was in. Some would say, “Well, what about the stores that are closed, where the companies are saying they’re not going to reopen? Isn’t that going to cause a crash?” Dear ones, listen: Many will not reopen because they shouldn’t have been open. Their very existence in a bloated market was about to cause the shift. A reboot is a pruning out of the things that should change, so that, when you rebound, those stagnant systemic issues are no longer there. So, systems that were not working, processes that were almost broken, will not be rebooted. When you come from zero and start coming back, those dysfunctional attributes will no longer exist. Do you see how this works?

Let me put it in another way: When a Human Being is in trouble, and really needs to have help with the systemic issues of their own mind, they perhaps find a health worker, a psychiatrist, or a psychologist. The Human mind often creates fear by itself. It overreacts. It brings itself down and often creates its own demise. It fears fear, and can’t crawl out of the hole it digs for itself.

A wise health worker will know what to say: They’re going to tell them: “You’ve got to stop everything and take a breath. Go to zero and recalibrate yourself. Stop everything and get away from what is ‘normal’ so you can get out of the loop of depression and anxiety and sameness.” Can you see where this is going? This is great advice, and it works.

Every lightworker knows how this works: You go to a place of meditation and zero point. All over the world, meditators know how this works. You have to stop everything. You stop going to work, you stop with your family, you stop everything, and you stand there, or you sit there, and pause for whatever length of time, and consider what is important to you and what is not.

You have to go to that place where nothing is moving. When you do, your intuition is free to come in and say, “Oh my – I see what’s wrong. I see this situation over here that doesn’t serve my life. I thought it did, but I was too busy to notice how dysfunctional it really was. Oh, I see this relationship over here, and I thought it was one thing, and now I realize it’s another. Maybe I ought to take another look. I was too busy with myself and my own issues. I was too afraid to change my established surroundings. No wonder I couldn’t see these things. No wonder I couldn’t sleep well.”

And so, just as Human to Human you know this works, you understand that what you have to do to correct yourself is to stop and take a breath. What happens is you start to balance yourself and breathe, meditate, take time. Then your intuition starts to flow in, and that intuition will be without all the busyness and without all the things that disturbed you before. It will be without all the fears or those who tell you this and that and have opinions that conflict your soul. It all goes away with the stop, and instead, the intuition flows in that is beautiful, from your own spirituality, from your own soul, from across the veil. It often speaks to you through the sunsets and the time alone. It will tell you the truth – Number One: You are dearly loved. Number Two: Take a hard look at the things around you because now is the opportunity to eliminate them and start afresh. Then, as you do, you’ll be healthier you’ll be a sweeter person – because you’ll understand what works and what does not.

As goes the Human, goes the planet.

Dear Human Being, the planet is in reboot mode right now. There has never been anything to create this kind of unity on the planet, not even the end of a world war. This is new. Take a look. It’s on purpose, you might say, from a virus, by the way, which came from nature but didn’t get to you naturally. I’ll talk on that some other time.

I would like to tell you right now that, when this situation is over, and it starts to come back, it’s going to come back a different way. Say goodbye to “normal.” It’s going to come back fresher. It’s going to come back with systems that are correcting themselves because they’re starting over. New ideas will abound. Industries may disappear, not because of the virus, but because of the stop. They will be recognized as no longer necessary. New industries and new inventions are going to pop up because of this.

I’m telling you that, whatever you think is going to happen, you’ll be wrong. This is the reboot regarding the energy shift we have talked about for many years. When all around the naysayers say, “Well, recovery really can’t happen with the economy we have.” They’re right! It can’t! It simply can’t happen with a stock market the way it is. You see, nothing will be “as you currently have” when it returns.

You are at zero right now, and you’re going to come rebounding back differently. There is so much hope for this planet because of this. I tell you these things in love and compassion because you’ll see, with time, that it’s true. You may have difficulty understanding why this had to happen or why that had to happen. It’s the salvation of humanity. It’s the beginning of a higher consciousness and understanding and togetherness of humanity.

You let a microbe bring you to your knees. What if, instead, the next time, it’s love? What if, next time, it’s understanding and compassion for one another? That could sweep over this planet with health, with love, and make things happen that never happened before. This is not what you think.

I give you these things, in love, to tell you there is not only hope for the future, there is hope for a different future. You’re not going to return to the same-old, same-old, and that goes for politics, and that goes for broadcast news, and that goes for what you are going to find out later – what really happened with the “outbreak” of what you call Covid-19. These things will happen because you need them, and you will correct things because of what you discover. This will be a much better planet to live on, believe me. You are not returning to the old world ever again.

I am Kryon, in love with humanity, and I’ll be back.

And so it is.

KRYON

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Madagascar virus potion scorned because it's from Africa: president

Yahoo – AFP, May 11, 2020

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina sips Covid Organics, which he
touts as a remedy for coronavirus (AFP Photo/RIJASOLO)

Antananarivo (AFP) - Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina on Monday batted away criticism for promoting a homegrown "remedy" for COVID-19, charging that the West has a condescending attitude toward traditional African medicine.

"If it wasn't Madagascar, and if it was a European country that had actually discovered this remedy, would there be so much doubt? I don't think so," he told French media in an interview.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly warned that the Covid-Organics infusion, which Rajoelina has touted as a remedy against the deadly coronavirus, has not been clinically tested.

The drink is derived from artemisia -- a plant with proven anti-malarial properties -- and other indigenous herbs.

"African scientists... should not be underestimated," he told France 24 and Radio France International (RFI).

"I think the problem is that (the drink) comes from Africa and they can't admit... that a country like Madagascar... has come up with this formula to save the world," said Rajoelina, who claims the infusion cures patients within 10 days.

Already Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Niger and Tanzania have taken delivery of consignments of the potion, which was launched last month.

"No country or organisation will keep us from going forward," Rajoelina said in response to the WHO's concerns.

He said proof of the tonic's efficacy was in "the healing of our sick".

Madagascar has officially reported 183 coronavirus infections and 105 recoveries, with no deaths.

"The patients who were cured were cured through the administration of Covid-Organics alone," the president said.

He referred to the remedy as "an improved traditional medicine", adding that Madagascar was not conducting clinical trials but "clinical observations" in accordance with WHO guidelines.

Related Article:

WHO cautions against use of Madagascar anti-virus potion

WHO cautions against use of Madagascar anti-virus potion

Yahoo – AFP, Philippe Alfroy, May 7, 2020

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina drinks a sample of Covid Organics which
he touted as a remedy for coronavirus (AFP Photo/RIJASOLO)

Johannesburg (AFP) - The World Health Organization on Thursday advised governments to clinically test a herbal drink touted by Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina as a remedy against coronavirus.

The Covid-Organics infusion is derived from artemisia -- a plant with proven anti-malarial properties -- and other indigenous herbs.

Rajoelina hopes to distribute the infusion across West Africa and beyond, claiming it cures COVID-19 patients within 10 days.

Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Niger have already received consignments of the potion. Others such as Tanzania have expressed interest.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly warned that there are no published scientific studies of the herbal tea and that its effects have not been tested.

"We would caution and advise countries against adopting a product that has not been taken through tests to see its efficacy," WHO Africa Director Matshidiso Moeti said in a press briefing on Thursday, calling on Madagascar to take the drink "through a clinical trial".

Moeti said that in 2000, African governments had committed to taking "traditional therapies" through the same clinical trials as other medication.

"I can understand the need, the drive to find something that can help," Moeti said. "But we would very much like to encourage this scientific process in which the governments themselves made a commitment."

Rajoelina defended his tonic during a coronavirus screening campaign in Madagascar's eastern city of Toamasina on Thursday.

"The WHO has indicated that artemisia could lead to a cure for coronavirus," the president said, promising to submit the drink to clinical trials.

Scepticism remains

Earlier this week, the WHO recognised artemisia as a "possible treatment" for COVID-19. But the organisation also repeated its calls for more rigorous testing.

South Africa's Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Wednesday said Madagascar had reached out for "help" with scientific research.

"Our scientists would be able to assist with this research," Mkhize tweeted, adding that South Africa would only "get involved in a scientific analysis of the herb".

The country has the highest number of coronavirus cases in sub-Saharan Africa, with 7,808 infections and 153 fatalities recorded to date.

Neighbouring eSwatini -- a tiny landlocked nation wedged between South Africa and Mozambique -- said it would not consider Rajoelina's tonic for the time being.

"It is important as a country to first ascertain where such herbal products have been tested," she said Health Minister Lizzie Nkosi on Thursday.

"We have to do adequate proper research and be sure that the product works."

To date eSwatini has reported 123 cases of coronavirus, including two deaths.

Meanwhile, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has debunked claims that it had ordered a package of Covid-Organics from a "third country".

"We are aware that several claims of a COVID-19 cure have been made in different parts of the world," ECOWAS said in a statement on Wednesday.

"But we can only support and endorse products that have been shown to be effective through scientific study."

Study investigates if mother’s milk could protect against the coronavirus

DutchNews, April 24, 2020 - By Senay Boztas

Photo: Depositphotos

Researchers at the UMC teaching hospital in Amsterdam are studying whether antibodies in mother’s milk could have a preventative effect against the coronavirus. 

Britt van Keulen, a doctor at its mother’s milk bank is recruiting 30 breastfeeding mothers who have had the coronavirus and who are willing to donate some of their milk for testing. 

‘We know that mother’s milk protects newborns against respiratory infections, because it contains antibodies,’ she said in a press release. ‘By breastfeeding, the mother passes on her own antibodies to her child.’ 

She expects that coronavirus antibodies would also find their way into breastmilk, based on reports of a pregnant woman during the SARS epidemic in 2003. ‘This woman was seriously ill with the SARS virus and gave birth to a healthy baby at 38 weeks,’ she said. ‘Her breastmilk contained antibodies against the SARS virus. The coronavirus is very similar to the SARS virus – it is in the same family – so I think that corona antibodies will also be passed along into mother’s milk.’ 

However, even if enough antibodies are found in the breastmilk of mothers who have developed immunity to the coronavirus, the team will then have to test whether these survive a necessary pasteurisation process. This is a standard process for donor milk which is given to premature babies, for instance. 

She said that if this is the case, the milk could be given as a preventative medicine for vulnerable groups such as newborn babies or even older people. ‘It might be a strange image having old people drink mother’s milk as protection,’ she added. ‘But it is still logical, because antibodies in the milk would protect them against the coronavirus.’ 

She told the Parool that if a newborn baby is given a glass of milk a day, older people might need more to represent their greater body weight. 

‘Why would we joke about this?’ she reportedly added. ‘Milk in the supermarket comes from someone else, namely a cow who walks with muddy udders through a meadow. We have simply accepted this image, so why would milk from a clean mother’s breast be such a crazy notion?’ 

Around 3,500 Dutch women between 25 and 40 are confirmed to have had the coronavirus, reports the Parool, although it is not known how many are breastfeeding. 

DutchNews.nl has contacted the UMC for a comment.

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Blood samples to be tested to track immunity to coronavirus

DutchNews, March 19, 2020 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Blood banks in the Netherlands are to test samples for coronavirus in order to track the level of immunity in the population. 

Blood bank operator Sanquin said the tests would be carried out regularly on incoming blood and plasma donations to monitor the presence of antibodies, which indicate that a person has developed resistance to the virus. 

There are around 331,000 blood and plasma donors in the Netherlands, of whom 10,000 give blood weekly. Plasma donors are particularly interesting because they donate on average five times a year, which allows researchers to track the spread of immunity. 

Prime minister Mark Rutte said on Monday night that building up ‘herd immunity’ was one way of protecting people from the virus unitl a vaccine can be developed. 

His statement was criticised in some quarters for suggesting that the government was deliberately allowing people to be exposed to Covid-19. The disease control agency RIVM has since clarified that herd immunity is not ‘an aim in itself’. 

Microbiolologist Hans Zaaijer at Sanquin said around 99% of donors had given permission for their blood samples to be tested. The data will be stored anonymously. 

He told AD: ‘Around 2000 blood donors come to the blood bank every day. That’s a good representative sample of people aged between 18 and 79 across the country. 

‘We will measure the first samples this week and if all goes well we will measure the entire stock two weeks from now. We’ll begin with the 10,000 people in the Netherlands who donate blood in one week.’

What the new coronavirus measures in the Netherlands mean for you

DutchNews, March 13, 2020 

Empty shelves in a Dutch supermarket. Photo: DutchNews.nl 

The Dutch government on Thursday announced new nationwide measures to try to contain the coronavirus epidemic in the Netherlands. Here’s what you need to know. 

Social contacts

• If you have a cold, a cough, sore throat or a fever stay home. Avoid contact with others. Only call your doctor if your symptoms get worse. 
• Gatherings of more than 100 people have been cancelled. This includes public places such as museums, concerts, theatres, professional and amateur sports events and matches. 
• Churches and mosques are also cancelling their services 
• There are currently no restrictions on visiting a cafe or restaurant, as long as you do not have any symptoms 
• Work from home if possible or stagger your working times. 
• Try to avoid close contact with the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. 
• In particular, elderly people and those with weakened immune systems are asked to avoid large gatherings and public transport. 
• Healthcare workers are being asked to stay home only if they have symptoms including a fever. They are also being asked not to travel abroad. 

Education

• Universities and hbo colleges have been requested to offer online lectures and the university and college associations have said they will stop all physical forms of education for the time being, including exams. 
• Children who have a cold, cough or fever should stay at home. 
• Primary schools, secondary schools, secondary vocational schools (MBO) and childcare centres will remain open as usual. This, the government says, is because children and young people are not high-risk groups and closing schools would have a major impact on society without contributing significantly to reducing the spread of coronavirus. 

The measures apply up to and including March 31. 

Hygiene 

The Dutch public health institute RIVM and World Health Organisation say everyone should follow these instructions to prevent infection: 

• Avoid shaking hands and physical contact 
• Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap or alcohol rub 
• Sneeze into a tissue or  your elbow 
• Use paper tissues and dispose of them immediately 
• Stay away at least one metre away from people who are sneezing or coughing 
• Avoid touching your face with your hands, which may have picked up the virus 

The RIVM says face masks should only be worn by medical staff. Most of the paper masks used by the general public are worthless and offer a false sense of security, officials say. 

Coronavirus in the Netherlands, the questionsyou want answered 

Tests 

Tests for coronavirus can only be requested via the local health board or a hospital and it takes around 24 hours for the test results to come through. 

Testing is currently only being carried out on people who have worsening symptoms and have been in an at risk area or in contact with people who have coronavirus. 

The RIVM has an interactive map showing where corona infections are being confirmed. 

Can I still go on holiday? 

The Dutch foreign affairs ministry has up-to-date advice on foreign travel and has set up a red to green coding system for coronavirus. Currently China, Iran and Italy should be avoided for all but essential travel. The Dutch government website has more information in English. 

The US has imposed a travel ban on all incoming flights from the EU from Saturday. 

Official information sources in English 

Dutch public health institute RIVM 
Dutch government website 
The government has also published flyers in a variety of languages about the recommended hygiene measures.

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The Netherlands cancels big events, but won’t close schools in corona clampdown


"Kryon on Corona", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar 13, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis) - New

Italy closes schools as death toll hits 107

Yahoo – AFP, Dmitry ZAKS, March 4, 2020

Italy has borne the brunt in Europe of a disease that is now spreading across the 

world faster than it is in the central Chinese region where it was first detected (AFP 

Photo/Miguel MEDINA)

Rome (AFP) - Italy on Wednesday closed all schools and universities until March 15 as the number of deaths from the new coronavirus in the Mediterranean country hit 107.

The measure is the most restrictive response to COVID-19 of any European nation and tougher than the closure of schools -- but not universities -- taken by fellow Group of Seven (G7) member Japan.

Italy reported 28 more deaths on Wednesday -- the highest single day total to date. The nation of 60 million people has now recorded over 3,000 cases and only trails China in terms of total fatalities.

The government's other measures included an unpopular month-long nationwide ban on fan attendance at football matches and other major sporting events.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti told the nation that Italy was able to handle the current number of cases but needed a firmer response to keep things from spiralling out of control.

"As long as the numbers are low, the health system can assist (people) effectively," Conti said in a video message posted on Facebook.

"But in case of exponential growth, not just Italy but any other country in the world would not be able to manage the situation."

First death in south

Italy has borne the brunt in Europe of a disease that is now spreading across the world faster than it is in the central Chinese region where it was first detected late last year.

The problem for the Italian government is that existing restrictions -- including a quarantine of 11 towns with 50,000 people in the north -- have failed to stop the outbreak.

The overwhelming majority of the fatalities have occurred in Milan's Lombardy region and the neighbouring northern area around the cities of Bologna and Venice.

Most of Italy's deaths have occurred in Milan's Lombardy region and the neighbouring 

northern area around the cities of Bologna and Venice (AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

But 21 of the 22 regions have now had cases and infections are slowly reaching Italy's less wealthy and developed south.

The government reported the first death south of Rome on Wednesday. It came in the Puglia region that surrounds the city of Bari in the heel of the Italian boot on the map.

Top government minister spent hours huddling Wednesday to chart a way out of a health crisis that threatens to tip Italy's wheezing economy into recession and overwhelm hospitals.

Most of the steps adopted involve ways to avoid crowds and keep people from coming in contact with each other outdoors.

Crowd control

The new instructions urge people to stay at least a metre (three feet) apart and to avoid crowded places whenever possible.

Traditional greetings of kissing on the cheeks or shaking hands are strongly discouraged.

Exhibits and shows will be rescheduled -- a measure that will be especially painful for Italy's already hard-hit hotel and restaurant industry.

Some of the government's more mundane and common-sense measures include advice to cough and sneeze in a handkerchief to avoid hands coming in contact with "respiratory secretions".

Italians are also being urged to avoid sharing bottles and not to drink from the same cups and glasses.

The crowd-control measures will most directly affect football matches and could cause the most resentment in the sports-mad nation.

Italy's Serie A has already been thrown into disarray by two weeks of postponements that have seen some clubs not play at all and others play multiple matches in a week.

Fans are even being prohibited from attending the training sessions of top teams such as Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus in Turin.

The government also recommended to those over 75 to stay indoors and to avoid public places. The advice extends to those who are at least 65 and suffer from other ailments.

A top civil protection official told AFP that most of those who have died in the past few days were in their 80s and 90s and were already suffering from other pathologies.

All these measures are meant to stay in place for a month and be reviewed and possibly fine-tuned after two weeks.