Lab Alert: Changes to CDC RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 Testing

CDC is providing this advance notice for clinical laboratories to have adequate time to select and implement one of the many FDA-authorized alternatives. Such assays can facilitate continued testing for both influenza and SARS-CoV-2 and can save both time and resources as we head into influenza season. Laboratories and testing sites should validate and verify their selected assay within their facility before beginning clinical testing.

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Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

Doctors Raise Awareness on Ivermectin Treatment for COVID-19

 

A health worker shows a box containing a bottle of Ivermectin, a medicine authorized by the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (INVIMA) to treat patients with mild, asymptomatic or suspicious COVID-19, as part of a study of the Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases Studies, in Cali, Colombia, on July 21, 2020. (Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images)

They found «large, statistically significant reductions in mortality, time to clinical recovery, and time to viral clearance.» The authors also said that studies on the prevention of COVID-19 reported significantly reduced risks of the disease with regular use of the drug. Members of the FLCCC Alliance have developed various protocols for the prevention and early treatment of COVID-19, instead of having patients wait until they develop a severe illness to receive treatment at the hospital. These treatment protocols including one for the management of long COVID are being used globally. The current standard protocol for COVID-19 positive patients is to isolate at home, avoid dehydration, rest, and take over-the-counter medications for fever, headache, cough, and body pain.

Conrad Black: Canada's self-esteem problem

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Daily COVID Deaths in Sweden Hit Zero, as Other Nations Brace for More Lockdowns

Image Credit: Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

France’s approach is unique, but it’s just one of many countries around the world imposing new restrictions as fears grow over a new variant of COVID-19. One country not making much news is Sweden. Sweden, of course, was maligned in 2020 for foregoing a strict lockdown. The Guardian called its approach «a catastrophe» in the making, while CBS News said Sweden had become «an example of how not to handle COVID-19».

Lockdown hysteria did more harm than COVID-19

 

There has been no substantial evidence that lockdowns prevented coronavirus deaths amid the pandemic, compared to the avanclance of science proving otherwise. Christopher Sadowski

They misled the public about the origins of the virus and the true risk it posed. Ignoring their own carefully prepared plans for a pandemic, they claimed unprecedented powers to impose untested strategies, with terrible collateral damage. We still have no convincing evidence that the lockdowns saved lives, but lots of evidence that they have already cost lives and will prove deadlier in the long run than the virus itself. A few scientists and public-health experts objected, noting that an extended lockdown was a novel strategy of unknown effectiveness.

Excess Mortality across Countries in 2020

 The total amount of excess mortality will also depend on the age structure of a population. Countries with age structures weighted towards an older population will experience higher mortality than a country with an age structure weighted towards a younger population. We calculated the expected mortality for each country by taking the average of the past 5 years . We calculated sex-specific age-adjusted excess mortality rates by standardising to the European Standard Population using age-groups of .

Lockdowns killed more Canadians under 65 than COVID-19: Statscan

 

Over the same time period, 1380 Canadians in the same age group died because of COVID-19 itself. «Beyond deaths attributed to the disease itself, the pandemic could also have indirect consequences leading to an increase or decrease in the number of deaths due to various factors, including delayed medical procedures, increased substance use, or a decline in deaths attributable to other causes, such as influenza,» the report says.