CONFIRMED—the very infectious #P1 variant is cause of @Canucks outbreak, team’s general manager confirmed. He also said P1 variant is why its hockey players were hit harder than other NHL—the virus “buckled” & sickened many of the players #COVID19. 🧵 cbc.ca/news/canada/br…
2) “What was different with our situation is with the regular COVID it seemed that after 10 days players were ready to get back on the ice and start working out and performing," he said. "But we had players that when they did that, they still had symptoms."
3) Benning said the virus "buckled" some of the players, and that three or four regulars likely won't be ready when games resume.
Head coach Travis Green, who also contracted COVID-19, has yet to return to practices.
4) 'Guys were not healthy'
"Guys were just not healthy enough to play.… I think a lot more guys will be ready to go on Sunday."
"Some haven't been on the ice for three weeks," he said. "We don't want them to be judged."
5) The captain of @Canucks has a message for the masses: take #COVID19 seriously. Bo Horvat, one of 21 Vancouver players recovering from the outbreak, said he unwittingly infected his wife with the virus.
"I'm not going to lie, it was tough to know my family got it from me."
6) some perspective — consider that the hockey had huge safety budget to minimize risk yet they still caught it!
9) it is speculated the #P1 is almost likely more severe based on early Brazil data. The CFR sharply rose in 1-2 months in an area that wasn’t hit by P1 before - but then was.
VACCINE IRONY: "It's almost paradoxical, that on the one hand, they want to be relieved of the restrictions, but on the other hand, they don't want to be vaccinated."
"It just almost doesn't make any sense."
Vaccinate = *more freedom* to live safely.
2) The irony is incredibly insane. Trump-dominated voter districts are much less likely to be vaccinated.
Co-infection is bad news—Scientists in Brazil have identified two cases where people were simultaneously infected with two different variants of #COVID19. Co-infection raises the likelihood of *recombination* admixture that generates more variants. 🧵 cnn.com/2021/03/11/ame…
2) According to the study, co-infection raises the possibility of recombination of the genomes of the different strains, which can generate new variants of the coronavirus.
3) "Although there are a few reported cases of reinfection, the possibility of co-infection by E484K adds a new factor to the complex interaction between immune response systems and SARS-CoV-2 Spike mutations," wrote the authors.
So tragic—tweeting for his life. This could be anyone. I worry for all the places out there without enough vaccines and a robust healthcare system—which even then can be overwhelmed. This is no joke, and the world is now in it’s worse surge. Stay safe. #COVID19
SEQUENCING CLUES—#COVID19 spread on an international flight, in a hotel corridor and then to household contacts despite efforts to isolate & quarantine patients, New Zealand reports. Careful genomic tracing confirmed the spread among 9 patients. cnn.com/travel/article…
2) “One of those infected had spent 14 days in quarantine after being evacuated on a chartered 747 jet from India to New Zealand last August and had tested negative twice.
Others were infected on flight, even though 1/3 full and passengers were spaced apart from one another.”
3) in Singapore, some travelers tested negative during quarantine and then through routine tests they were found to be positive—serological (antibody) test results were positive too. moh.gov.sg/news-highlight…
Wow—$1.7 billion investment in fighting #COVID19 variants just announced by Biden Administration to help states and other jurisdictions more effectively fight these mutations—including $1 billion for ramping up gene sequencing! That’s 🇺🇸 leadership. 🧵 whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
2) “An essential component of the response to the emerging COVID-19 variants is increasing the country’s genomic sequencing — process by which COVID DNA is decoded and potentially deadly mutations in the virus are detected.”
3) Many places not sequencing enough. But some places like BC 🇨🇦 is refusing outright to sequence new cases regularly. Instead they will only do sparse background sequencing. Here was BC’s final sequencing report before regular sequencing stopped.
HOTEL ROOM CROSS-INFECTION: Australia 🇦🇺 hotel outbreak suggests #COVID19 jumped between hotel rooms—7 returned travellers cases arriving from different countries at different times have same genetic sequence—likely jumped between neighboring hotel rooms. theguardian.com/world/2021/apr…
2) “The seven cases came from two family groups who arrived from different countries on different days. They stayed in adjacent rooms on the 12th floor of the Adina Apartments Hotel at Sydney’s Town Hall.
3) “Staff who worked on the floor when the original case was believed to have been infectious – between 8 and 11 April – are self-isolating.”
It’s possible it was either transmitted via hotel staff or via the air.