New coronavirus losing potency, top Italian doctor says
ROME, May 31 (Reuters) - The new coronavirus is losing its potency and has become much less lethal, a senior Italian doctor said on Sunday.
"In reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy," said Alberto Zangrillo, the head of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan in the northern region of Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of Italy's coronavirus contagion.
"The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago," he told RAI television.
Italy has the third highest death toll in the world from COVID-19, with 33,415 people dying since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21. It has the sixth highest global tally of cases at 233,019.
However new infections and fatalities have fallen steadily in May and the country is unwinding some of the most rigid lockdown restrictions introduced anywhere on the continent.
Zangrillo said some experts were too alarmist about the prospect of a second wave of infections and politicians needed to take into account the new reality.
"We've got to get back to being a normal country," he said. "Someone has to take responsibility for terrorizing the country."
The government urged caution, saying it was far too soon to claim victory.
"Pending scientific evidence to support the thesis that the virus has disappeared ... I would invite those who say they are sure of it not to confuse Italians," Sandra Zampa, an undersecretary at the health ministry, said in a statement.
"We should instead invite Italians to maintain the maximum caution, maintain physical distancing, avoid large groups, to frequently wash their hands and to wear masks."
A second doctor from northern Italy told the national ANSA news agency that he was also seeing the coronavirus weaken. "The strength the virus had two months ago is not the same strength it has today," said Matteo Bassetti, head of the infectious diseases clinic at the San Martino hospital in the city of Genoa.
"It is clear that today the COVID-19 disease is different." (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Giles Elgood)
C8 wrote:New coronavirus losing potency, top Italian doctor says
...This happens quite often BTW. Some of the virus mutates into a less deadly form. Since the mildly infected don't feel as sick, they continue meeting people and spreading the weaker virus. Those who get the deadlier virus self quarantine or are hospitalized because they don't feel well or don't want to infect others. This give the weaker version of the virus a competitive advantage to spread over the deadlier version. The weaker version acts like a vaccine.
C8 wrote:We now return you to our regularly scheduled program: conspiracy theories.
But there is no guarantee that future mutations will make the virus less deadly.
jedrider wrote:I posted on the Coronavirus thread how Chinese officials, it seems, knew about this virus on November 1st, 2019. A laboratory origin would not surprise me in the least.
Of course, Trump had fired CDC scientists stationed in China who could have pre-warned us about this Coronavirus.
Two dictatorial regimes, and we're caught in the middle.
They were ignoring this virus all the way through February pooh pooh it as just another flu and telling you to go hug a Chinese and party in China town.
shortonoil wrote:The flu is not much to get exited about, unless you catch it. Most people then go home, and romance a Kleenex box for a few days.
dissident wrote:This is your smoking gun, is it. Wow, what a low threshold. Not only Chinese officials were aware of a new virus doing the rounds back in the November. The question you and the rest of you sanctimonious always victims is what were your leaders on all levels doing. They were ignoring this virus all the way through February pooh pooh it as just another flu and telling you to go hug a Chinese and party in China town.
Plantagenet wrote:C8 wrote:We now return you to our regularly scheduled program: conspiracy theories.
The science of epidemiology is not a "conspiracy theory."
In dealing with disease outbreaks and global pandemics it is important to identify the source of the outbreak.
C8 wrote:New coronavirus losing potency, top Italian doctor says
ROME, May 31 (Reuters) - The new coronavirus is losing its potency and has become much less lethal, a senior Italian doctor said on Sunday.
This happens quite often BTW. Some of the virus mutates into a less deadly form.
C8 wrote:Look at all the international riots over the Minnesota incident. Does this make any sense?
ROME, May 31 (Reuters) - The new coronavirus is losing its potency and has become much less lethal, a senior Italian doctor said on Sunday.
diemos wrote:C8 wrote:Look at all the international riots over the Minnesota incident. Does this make any sense?
Humans love an excuse to feel self-righteous while smashing shit.
Outcast_Searcher wrote:diemos wrote:C8 wrote:Look at all the international riots over the Minnesota incident. Does this make any sense?
Humans love an excuse to feel self-righteous while smashing shit.
Really? At some point I grew out of behaving like an 8 year old, or even a 12 year old.
Maybe you did, OS, but not everybody does.
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