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Coronavirus: Tech firms summoned over 'crackpot' 5G conspiracies By Leo KelionTechnology desk editor 5 April 2020 Share this with Facebook Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with Email Share TTY IMAGES The culture secretary is to order social media companies to be more aggressive in their response to conspiracy theories linking 5G networks to the coronavirus pandemic. Oliver Dowden plans to hold virtual meetings with representatives from several tech firms next week to discuss the matter. It follows a number of 5G masts apparently being set on fire. The issue will test the companies' commitments to free speech. Earlier in the week, blazes were reported at masts in Birmingham, Liverpool and Melling in Merseyside. A spokesman for Vodafone's mobile network told the BBC there had been a total of four further incidents over the past 24 hours at both its own sites and those shared with O2, but did not identify the locations. "We have received several reports of criminal damage to phone masts and abuse of telecoms engineers apparently inspired by crackpot conspiracy theories circulating online," a spokeswoman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport told the BBC. "Those responsible for criminal acts will face the full force of the law. We must also see social media companies acting responsibly and taking much swifter action to stop nonsense spreading on their platforms which encourages such acts." DCMS has yet to confirm which tech companies are being summoned. 'Complete rubbish' False theories are being spread on smaller platforms such as Nextdoor, Pinterest and the petitions site Change.org as well as larger ones including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok. Scientists have said the idea of a connection between Covid-19 and 5G is "complete rubbish" and biologically impossible. Several of the platforms have already taken steps to address the problem but have not banned discussion of the subject outright.

FWIW: ANTI-PARASITIC DRUG KILLS CORONAVIRUS CELL CULTURES IN 48 HOURS "WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT NOW WHETHER THE DOSAGE YOU CAN USE IT AT IN HUMANS WILL BE EFFECTIVE — THAT'S THE NEXT STEP." BY VICTOR TANGERMANN / APRIL 03 2020 A team of Australian researchers at Monash University in Melbourne have found that Ivermectin — an FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug that has been used to effectively fight viruses including HIV, Influenza, and Zika — was able to stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus from growing in cell cultures. While promising, the drug has yet to be shown to have the same effect inside the human body, because the Australian research was conducted “in vitro,” meaning it was in a Petri dish at a lab. The researchers are still trying to nail down funding for pre-clinical testing and clinical trials, after which they’d have to start the long approval process for the trials themselves. The results, though, are promising. In just 48 hours, the scientists say, all genetic material of the virus was eradicated. “We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it,” Kylie Wagstaff, lead researcher and co-author of the study published today in Antiviral Research, said in a statement. “Ivermectin is very widely used and seen as a safe drug,” Wagstaff said. “We need to figure out now whether the dosage you can use it at in humans will be effective — that’s the next step.” “As the virologist who was part of the team who were first to isolate and share SARS-COV2 outside of China in January 2020, I am excited about the prospect of Ivermectin being used as a potential drug against COVID-19,” Leon Caly, senior medical scientist at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) at the Doherty Institute, said. A vaccine for COVID-19 is likely still at least a year out, despite research teams across the world fast tracking work on potential vaccines. But that doesn’t mean we’re doomed. “In times when we’re having a global pandemic and there isn’t an approved treatment, if we had a compound that was already available around the world then that might help people sooner,” Wagstaff said in the statement. “Realistically it’s going to be a while before a vaccine is broadly available.”

In the mid-70's, the Bomber d-line was so inept that Jack Matheson named them "four on the floor". Loved it.

Well, he can promise that everyone who follows his dictates will absolutely go to heaven on the express escalator and no one has yet come back to demand a refund.

I always thought that referred to the bottom half of a skimpy bathing suit.

He should be arrested and forced to work without PPE in a COVID ward for all long as it takes for the pandemic to pass.

My faith and ethics state that I ought not to wish ill for any person, but Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are ones I would consider making exceptions for.

This was first stated by Jared Kushner and this is probably an echo designed to take heat off Kushner. We need to keep in mind that there is no depth to which Trump and his cronies are willing to sink to and they are governing like an army of occupation. There is every indication that Trump wants to rule as a dictator and what he is doing now will pale in comparison to what he will do if re-relected.

President Donald Trump on Saturday spent much of his daily press briefing on the coronavirus raging against perceived enemies, from the media, to the Ukraine whistleblower, to the recently ousted commander of a Navy aircraft carrier. On the same day the U.S. death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic surpassed 8,000, Trump opened the briefing with a slam at the media, which he accused of “spreading false rumors.” “Get this over with, then go back to your fake news,” Trump said. While acknowledging that the nation will likely see “a lot of death” in the coming weeks, the president repeatedly reiterated his calls for the country to “get back to work” and ease up on protective restrictions. And then he let loose on critics. Asked about his Friday night firing of intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson, who notified Congress of the whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to his impeachment, Trump slammed both Atkinson and the whistleblower. “Frankly, somebody oughta sue his ass off,” the president said of the anonymous intelligence whistleblower, adding that Atkinson, a Trump appointee, “did a terrible job.” Trump also slammed Captain Brett Crozier, who was relieved of his duty commanding the USS Theodore Roosevelt after writing a letter warning about the spread of the coronavirus on his ship. While Crozier’s warnings were dismissed and his pleas for help to Navy leadership were met with punishment, more men on his ship wound up testing positive for the virus, with 137 cases as of Saturday.

The scary thing for the US is that Trump is taking almost all his information from Fox News and regurgitating it word for word. Apparently commercial distributors in the US are buying up as much of the critical supplies as possible, marking them up substantially and then essentially selling them to the highest state bidders. It is the free enterprise system at its worst.

Contrary to the pronouncements by the Trump Administration, the COVID 19 crisis will not be over in May, not even close. Let´s be realistic It is far more realistic to plan on 5-6 months of very, very restricted public life. That means no open restaurants, no non-essential business, no schools during that time period. And, owing to the incredible gaps in the U.S. health care and health insurance systems, the loss of life may reach approximately two million by September in the United States alone. In the second quarter, the U.S. economy will contract by at least 12% on a quarterly basis. 12%! In the third quarter, that number might reach a collapse of 30%. Unemployment will reach 30-40%. Not even in the 1930s did the United States experience such a situation (it peaked at 25%). We will see massive corporate and personal bankruptcies in June. They will be higher than anything we have ever experienced. No CARES Act will cure this

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Nobody is ready for what is coming. Already there are stories in the newspapers and on TV questioning the White House estimates of 100,000 to 240,000 dead. The White House officials who devised those models won't provide the assumptions that went into them, and none of the models contained an endpoint for when the virus might run its course and the dying will stop. I just saw a public health expert from the University of Minnesota on MSNBC who dismissed the White House models out of hand and said we're looking at more than a million deaths from COVID-19 before the end of the year. More than a million.

The most optimistic estimate about the CORVID19 virus mortality rate puts it about 1.8%- and that is 3X higher than most flu's. That alone is enough to warrant great caution.

He is real familiar with "zero". It represents his IQ and empathy.

Since Trump already asked Alex Rodriguez for advice on how to handle the pandemic, I guess this is the next logical step. Probably hoping to get golf tips, though.

We also do not have an idiot as leader of our country supported by idealogues who are willing to sacrifice anyone to hold onto power, nor do we have as many religious nuts who believe that their clergy can save them from anything so long as they believe real hard and keep those tithes rolling in.

Another principled civil servant who dared to speak the truth.

Hallelujah!!!

Trump doesn't give a damn about how many get ill or die anywhere in the US, let alone Canada. This is an FU gesture to make him look good.

China will be whatever suits their goals, or rather, they will present themselves as such. To me, it seems that they have found out how to harness the power of the ant hill as ruled by an autocracy. They can and have become wealthy and powerful by economic means rather than military, and thus, why would they destroy or cripple their markets? It is in their interests to keep us buying their stuff and borrowing money to do so.