The researchers were referring to early coronavirus patients in late 2019 whose home addresses were used to show that the cases were geographically centred around the market.
02:03
Mystery illness outbreak in Wuhan, China
Mystery illness outbreak in Wuhan, China
Despite their criticism of data analysis methods, the statisticians did not offer theories about how or where the pandemic started.
Neither [the 2022 study] nor our statistical analysis could be used to support or reject the zoonosis hypothesis, they said, referring to an infectious disease that jumps from an animal to humans.
The paper was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society on January 16. It was first uploaded to the preprint server arXiv in August 2022 ahead of peer review, one month after the 2022 study described by Stoyan and Chiu as a prominent study was published.
Through mapping, statistical analysis and analysis based on the distribution of the citys population density, they found that early cases lived near to and centred on the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan.
They also found that early patients who did not have links with the market resided significantly closer to the market than those who worked there, indicating that they had been exposed to the virus at or near the Huanan market.
Lead author of the 2022 study Michael Worobey said he was working with a colleague on a scientific response to the paper written by Chiu and his then-PhD supervisor Stoyan.
Stoyan and Chius study is riddled with errors, both factual and statistical, said Worobey, a professor and department head of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona.
China delayed Covid-19 gene sequences publication, US congressional panel says
Scientists have been trying to find out its precise role in the outbreak, as the source of the initial transmission of the virus or as an amplifier of the outbreak. Understanding how the coronavirus emerged is considered key to preventing the next pandemic.
Many of the early cases were associated with the Huanan market, but a similar number of cases were associated with other markets, and some were not associated with any markets, the report said.
The joint missions report said transmission in the wider community in December 2019, along with the presence of early cases unrelated to the Huanan market, could suggest the market was not the original source of the outbreak.
In their recent paper, Stoyan and Chiu said the assumption that a centroid [centre point] of early case locations or another simply constructed point is the origin of an epidemic is unproved and that a statistical test used to conclude that no other location than the seafood market can be the origin is flawed.
Chiu said that even if the seafood market could be established as the centre of the cases, it did not imply causality.
We do not agree that the centre location of early cases entails where the explosive outbreak started because the source of the infectious disease could be moving, he said.
Chiu and Stoyan mapped out the residential addresses of 155 early coronavirus cases used in the 2022 study and found that other landmarks could also be at their centre.
In the context of statistics, the Wanda Plaza may be more suspicious than the market, which is neither more nor less likely to be the origin than the other landmarks, they wrote.
They said that in terms of statistics the market is not more likely to be the origin when compared to other nearby landmarks.
China says WHO criticism politicised search for Covid origins
[The 2022 study] excluded all landmarks because they claimed that no other location except the Huanan market [is] clearly epidemiologically linked to early Covid-19 cases, Chiu and Stoyan wrote.
In other words, according to [their] approach, if epidemiological links can be found between the cases and any of these landmarks, then these landmarks will be equally likely to be the origin of the pandemic, they wrote.
They said possible alternative centres could include the Wuhan Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the Hankou railway station and the Wanda Plaza shopping complex, noting that they do not hypothesise that any of these landmarks is the origin of the pandemic.
We do not aim to refute any hypothesis, whether zoonosis or lab leak. While we pointed out the statistical analysis in the previous study was unconvincing, we did not prove or disprove its conclusion, Chiu said.
From the point of view of a statistician, the origin of Covid-19 remains an unanswered question.
02:50
World Health Organization announces Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency
World Health Organization announces Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency
Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist and medical statistician at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong and who was not involved in either study, said he found Stoyan and Chius argument compelling. He said they do not provide any inference on where the pandemic emerged.
I think it would be very difficult now to find any new data relating to the origins of Covid-19, but as explained by Stoyan and Chiu we cannot draw strong inferences from the data that are available, Cowling said.
Cowling said any analysis of the early cases, which were all severe, might not capture the full picture of the early epidemic.
Only about 5 per cent of Covid-19 cases were severe at that time, so for every case that was identified probably there were at least another 19 cases that were not identified. In addition, not every severe case was identified.
Chinas poor Covid transparency led to no consensus on its origin: US
He outlined the two main hypotheses about the role of the Huanan market.
There is a hypothesis that the earliest human infections occurred here (in October or November [2019]), perhaps in people who worked in the market or frequently visited the market, and that is why the earliest recorded cases (in December) were clustered around the market, Cowling said.
A separate hypothesis is that the earliest human infections occurred elsewhere, but there were just a small number of cases in the early weeks of the epidemic until one of the cases went to the Huanan market and caused a superspreading event in the market, and that is why so many of the detected early cases were linked to the market.
Key Takeaways
The list of common COVID-19 symptoms hasnt changed much over the course of the pandemic: fever, cough, fatigue, congestion, loss of smell and taste, etc. But some people with the virus can also experience symptoms and complications that many others dont.
Now, new research published in the journal Medicina breaks those rare complications down. For the study, researchers analyzed data from 55 research articles and 42 case studies, looking at four major organ systems to see how they were impacted by someone having COVID-19.
After the analysis, the researchers came up with a list of atypical COVID-19 complications, as well as how often they happened in patients.
The researchers grouped complications by the organ system impacted: the gastrointestinal system, neurological system, renal system, and cardiovascular system. Heres what they foundand what it means in simple terms.
Seven research studies highlighted several gastrointestinal symptoms:
To learn more about the outcomes of these symptoms, researchers turned to case reports. Among 19 patients with gastrointestinal complications from COVID observed in 14 case reports, nine patients died, five were cured, and four were still hospitalized and undergoing treatment when the study period ended.
Neurological complications of COVID-19 were reflected in 14 research studies:
Again, researchers relied on case reports to learn about potential outcomes of these neurological symptoms. Of the 11 patients observed in 10 case reports, seven patients were cured, and two were still hospitalized and receiving treatment at the end of the study period.
The renal systemalso known as the urinary systemconsists of the kidneys, bladder, ureters, and urethra. Researchers observed renal system complications in 16 studies:
The data about potential outcomes of these symptoms is reflective of only seven patients across seven case studies. Of those, five were cured or improved, one patient died, and one patient was discharged but wasnt completely cured.
Eighteen research studies explored cardiovascular system complications of COVID:
Based on limited data from 11 case reports of people who experienced these complications, five patients improved or were cured, and two died.
These findings are valuable for doctors because they help clinicians understand the full scope of what the virus can do to a person, infectious disease expertAmesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Verywell.
Whats not clear from the findings is whether being vaccinated against COVID-19 lowered the odds of developing these rare complications.
"I anticipate that vaccination might prevent these complications from occurring, William Schaffner, MD,an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told Verywell. Some of these are quite serious.
But Adalja said that its difficult to know for sure.
[Vaccine protection] will vary depending upon the actual causes of the symptoms, because many symptoms are the result of the immune response to the virus combined with the direct actions of the virus, he said.
The researchers urged healthcare practitioners in the study to monitor COVID-19 patients for these complications and not focus exclusively on treating respiratory symptoms.
Post-COVID effects should be monitored, and follow-up of patients should be performed on a regular basis to check for long-term complications, the researchers wrote.
These complications of COVID-19 are still relatively rare. However, if you are struggling with your health after having a COVID-19 infection or you are developing new symptoms, talk to your doctor. They should be able to give you a full evaluation to see what could be behind your symptoms.
The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.
By Korin Miller Korin Miller is a health and lifestyle journalist who has been published in The Washington Post, Prevention, SELF, Women's Health, The Bump, and Yahoo, among other outlets.
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The health ministry reported 60,268 new COVID-19 cases for the week ended Jan. 21, marking the ninth consecutive seven-day period of increase.
Preliminary figures released Jan. 26 reflect the situation at 5,000 or so select medical institutionsnationwide, which translates into an average of 12.23 cases of the novel coronavirus per institution.
This is approximately 1.36 times the number of cases reported the previous week when there were 8.96 cases. The number of hospitalized patients also doubled from the end of last year.
The number of cases per medical institution has not exceeded 10 since the week of Sept. 18-24 when there were 11.01 cases.
The highest number of cases by prefecture was 18.99 in Fukushima, followed by 18.33 in Ibaraki and 17.33 in Aichi. Tokyo had 8.33 cases, followed by Osaka with 7.96 and Fukuoka with 10.40.
The number of cases increased in all 47 prefectures.
AUGUSTA (WJBF) Out of an abundance of caution, Paine College chose to close Monday due to a high number of positive COVID-19 cases.
About 250 students attend the historically Black, Methodist college.
No word on how many people are affected by the coronavirus or what protocol is in place to try and stop the spread.
According to a spokesperson for Paine College, We are conducting campus wide testing and contract racing [Monday] and through [Tuesday]. Once we have all the data, we will be able to determine when to return to normal operations.
You can read their official statement below:
Dr. Cheryl Evans Jones, President, announced today that out of an abundance of caution and due to a number of recently confirmed COVID-19 cases among the student population, the Paine College campus is temporarily closed in the interest of safety.
This temporary closure will allow for accurate and thorough contact tracing, sanitizing, and testing to prevent the spread of the virus.
All in-person classeswill transition to online and virtual formats. Staff members are working remotely; however, some staff may be required to be on campus to perform essential duties.
Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to follow the campus guidelines, wear masks, and practice hygiene protocols to help mitigate the spread of the virus.
It is expected that normal operations will resume shortly.
This is a developing story.
Japan is likely to be experiencing a 10th wave of COVID-19 infections, as reported infection cases have increased for nine consecutive weeks, according to an infectious disease expert.
The spread is being driven by the highly contagious new JN.1 variant. Norio Sugaya, visiting professor of infectious diseases at Keio University, has warned the public to take precautions.
In May last year, Japan lowered the status of COVID-19 under the infectious disease law to Class 5, the same as seasonal influenza. The country also stopped counting all infected people and shifted to a monitoring method covering cases reported by about 5,000 chosen medical institutions nationwide.
Byron woman sentenced for stealing from COVID-19 relief: Ordered to repay over $550k
by BRANDON MCGOUIRK | WGXA News
FILE - In this April 23, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump's name is seen on a stimulus check issued by the IRS to help combat the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, in San Antonio. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in coronavirus relief payments have been sent to people behind bars across the United States, and now the IRS is asking state officials to help claw back the cash that the federal tax agency says was mistakenly sent. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
PEACH COUNTY, Ga. (WGXA) -- A Byron woman was sentenced to nearly three years in prison and ordered to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars of COVID-19 relief funds after pleading guilty to fraud.
Gladys Harun was charged with stealing almost $300,000 from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act's Paycheck Protection Program in July of 2022 after she provided "false and altered" supporting documents to a California-based lender.
Now, she has been sentenced to 60 months in prison and ordered by the court to repay over $552,000 in restitution.
Harun used her knowledge as a tax preparer to fraudulently obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds intended for small businesses struggling financially during the COVID-19 pandemic, said U.S. Attorney Jill Steinberg. Such greed-fueled theft from government programs hurts businesses legitimately in need of vital relief efforts.
Court records show that Harun was a tax preparation service franchisee with multiple locations throughout the state and admittedly lied to investigators from the Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General about applications she filed for herself and others, including customers, and had actually gained more than $550,000 in fraudulent funds from the California lender.
Gladys Harun was also ordered to serve an additional three years of supervised released following her time in prison.
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Covid-19 cases in the UK have been picking up since November, with a 39% increase in positive tests in the last seven days alone.
Research shows that the UK is currently in aseasonal spike of Covid-19 infections, with November to April estimated to exhibit high disease activity.
Yet another vaccine was recently added to the UKs fully approved line-up. In October 2023, Novavaxs prototype, Nuvaxovid, gained full marketing authorisation from the MHRA for use in individuals aged 12 and older. An updated vaccine was approved on 24 January. Nuvaxovid was originally greenlit under an emergency use authorisation in 2022.
Novavax CEO John Jacobs said in a 24 January statement announcing full approval of the updated vaccine: Todays MHRA authorisation is recognition of the role our vaccine can have in protecting the British public against Covid-19 this year.
Nuvaxovids inclusion marked the entry of another protein subunit-based vaccine to those available in the UK. It joins long-standing vaccines present from near the beginning of the pandemic, including Pfizer/BioNTechs Comirnaty and Modernas Spikevax, both mRNA vaccines, and Oxford/AstraZenecas viral vector-based Vaxzevria. Janssen and Valneva also have MHRA-approved vaccines.
GSK/Sanofis VidPrevtyn Beta, another protein-based Covid-19 vaccine, was approved for use as a booster in December 2022. HIPRA Human Healths Bimervax was approved in August 2023, becoming the ninth Covid-19 vaccine authorised by the MHRA.
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Amidst signs that Covid-19 will become a seasonally spiking virus, the UKs autumn booster programme aims to reduce hospitalisations in those most at risk from severe disease. In the current programme, those aged 65 years and over are eligible, along with those who meet certain criteria.
Omicron BA.2.86 has emerged as the dominant variant throughout winter. While early indications show that it is no more dangerous than other variants, data is limited and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) continues to monitor its circulation.
The UKHSAs chief medical advisor, Professor Susan Hopkins, said in September 2023: The autumn vaccination programme started this month, and this new [variant] data shows once again how important it is that the most vulnerable among us are fully vaccinated in order to receive the greatest possible protection.
The UKHSA reported that last autumns booster programme resulted in patients being 53% less likely to be admitted to hospital with the disease in the 24 weeks following vaccination.
Away from prevention and looking at treatments, more than a million patients will soon gain access to Pfizers antiviral pill Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir). The drug is already recommended to an estimated 3.9 million people who meet certain criteria and, following recommendation by the National Institute of Care and Excellence, a further 1.4 million patients will be eligible.
Alongside Paxlovid, the NHS offers Veklury (remdesivir) from Gilead Sciences and MSDs Lagevrio (molnupiravir). GSK/Vir Biotechs Xevudy (sotrovimab) is a monoclonal antibody given to Covid-19 patients on the NHS who are unsuitable for antivirals.
Approved by the MHRA in December 2021, Paxlovid has been a source of high revenue for Pfizer. The antiviral saw peak global sales in 2022, totalling $18.9bn. Annual sales of the drug have since declined as the number of Covid-19 infections has fallen.
Paxlovid is currently transitioning to the US commercial market. The US commercial price for Paxlovid has been set at nearly $1,400 per five-day course nearly triple what the US Government paid.
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Should we panic? Social media users might after seeing online claims that researchers in China are concocting a disease thats deadlier than COVID-19.
Chinese scientists created (a) new COVID-19 strain (with) 100% fatality, a Jan. 21 Instagram posts captionread. Its not like biological (warfare) is real, so nothing to see here folks.
The Instagram post showed a report from conservative news outlets NTD News and The Epoch Times that claimed the coronavirus strain was biologically lab made. The report said all the mice tested in the study died from the infection and suggested this mutant coronavirus strain could also kill humans.
AnotherInstagram post, shared Jan. 22, made a similar claim about Chinese scientists creating a mutant covid strain (with a) 100% death rate.
When they injected this new strain into humanized mice, all of them died within eight days, the person in the video said. They created an even more deadly variant.
The post then linked this study to discussions by the World Economic Forum, a frequent target ofconspiracytheories, about preparation for Disease X. But the two arent related.Disease Xrefers to any undiscovered human disease that could lead to an international epidemic. Itsnot proofworld leaders are planning a new pandemic.
(Screenshot/Instagram)
These Instagram posts were flagged as part of Metas efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about ourpartnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Some news outlets, including theNew York Post,NewsNationandGB News, also ran headlines about the study that warned of a new fatal COVID-19 strain.
But virology experts both involved in and independent of the study said social media posts and news headlines have misconstrued the findings.
Dan Wilson, a molecular biologist and science communicator not involved in the study, said the panic the social media posts incited is unfounded. Wilson hosts Debunk the Funk with Dr. Wilson, aYouTube showthat covers science misinformation.
This is important research that simply highlights the threats that already exist in nature and attempts to learn about them before they become an immediate problem, said Wilson, who is also a senior associate scientist at Janssen, one of the pharmaceutical companies thatdeveloped a COVID-19 vaccine.
In the preprint study,published Jan. 4, 10 researchers in Beijing and Nanjing, China, tested a type of coronavirus to see whether it could cause disease in laboratory mice. As a preprint, this study has not undergone peer-review, in which other scientists with expertise comparable to the researchers read the research and evaluate its methodology and validity.
The studys researchers did not create a new COVID-19 strain, as social media posts and news articles claimed. They were working with a different coronavirus called GX_P2V, which the study said was discovered in 2017 in pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters.
GX_P2V is similar to SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19; both belong to the largecoronavirus family. But experts said GX_P2V is not a COVID-19 strain, variant or mutation.
Coronaviruses areknown to mutate rapidly, producing viral variants. Since its discovery, GX_P2V has adapted over many generations in cell culture, the study said.
For this study, the researchers cloned a cell-adapted variant of GX_P2V.
Scientistsoften use humanized mice, or mice engrafted with something from humans, in experiments because they can act as models for research on human diseases. In this case, the study said, the humanizedmice were genetically modified to expressACE2, the protein SARS-CoV-2 uses to enter cells in the human body. Without this mutation, the mice cant become infected, experts said.
Beijing University of Chemical Technology professor and researcher Lihua Song, who was involved with the study, told PolitiFact the research originally intended to test the mices immune responses to the virus, not to mimic human infection.
All four mice infected with GX_P2V unexpectedly died within eight days, likely because of severe brain infection, the study said.
Typical mice and human brains have low levels of the ACE2 protein, Song said.
But the humanized mice used in this experiment, which Beijing SpePharm Biotechnology Co. developed, had a high expression of ACE2 in their brain and lung tissues, which made them more susceptible to infection, Song said.
The experimental results obtained with this model cannot be extrapolated to suggest similar infections in humans, Song said.
Some of the misinformation around this study seems to have come from the study itself. The preprint studys first version incorrectly stated there is a spillover risk of GX_P2V into humans, Song said.
We have no data to support this, he said.
After misinterpretations of the study spread online, SongpostedJan. 17 on the research forum Science Cast to clarify the findings. On Jan. 21, Song and his colleaguesreleasedan updated version of the study that was, Song told PolitiFact, revised fundamentally to state the fact that these animal results are not applicable to humans.
The updated study said GX_P2V could help determine whether vaccines and drugs can effectively protect against COVID-19 and its future variants. For example, researchers could vaccinate the humanized mice for COVID-19 and then infect them with GX_P2V to evaluate whether a COVID-19 vaccine could protect against other coronaviruses, Song said.
Instagram posts claimed Chinese scientists created (a) new COVID-19 strain (with) 100% fatality.
Researchers in China cloned and tested a cell-adapted variant of GX_P2V, a coronavirus that was discovered in 2017, on humanized mice. The researchers did not create GX_P2V and it did not originate from SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.
All four mice infected with the virus died in the experiment, but researchers said the findings dont apply to humans.
We rate this claim False.
This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. See the sources for this fact check here.
As the four-year anniversary approaches since a novel coronavirus originating in China arrived in New York, the disease it causes COVID-19 continues to infect Long Islanders, although rates have continued to slowly fall since Christmas. The latest variant,JN.1, is similar to its more recent cousins and has not led to a spike in serious illness.
Heres the latest about the virus.
As of Jan. 26, there were 450 patients hospitalized, which amounts to 15.85 per 100,000, according to the New York State Department of Healths COVID-19 tracker. The rate had been rising since mid-November, with about 200 patients a day and 6.48 per 100,000, appearing to peak around early January, with about 650 patients and 23 per 100,000.
At St. Francis Hospital in Flower Hill, rates of COVID-19 hospitalization are trending down but not by much, according to Dr. Alan Bulbin, director of infectious disease.
Maybe its diminished a little bit, but unfortunately, still seems rather widespread and prevalent, still requiring a number of admissions daily, Bulbin said. So, maybe flattening to some degree, but still concerning in the overall number.
He said the hospital still gets several admissions per day for COVID-19, a number that excludes those who come for treatment at the emergency room or as outpatients.
Sean Clouston, a professor and epidemiologist at Stony Brook University, said overall hospitalization rates peaked right after Christmas but have slowly dropped ever since.
Theyre generally on the decline, he said.
The figures are for those hospitalized because of COVID-19, notfor patientstreated in the emergency room for something separate but who alsohappen to be positive. Hospitals, he said, are generally no longer performing COVID-19 tests absent symptoms.
Its called JN.1, and isa variant of SARS-CoV-2. It's currently themost widely circulating variant in both the United States and globally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (JN.1 was first detected in the United Statesin the fall.) Clouston said that in the past, cases had seen a quick drop-off after Christmas. But with this variant, its plateaued, or more slowly dropped off. Its kind of lingering more, Clouston said of new cases.
As of Jan. 26, 551 people tested positive 19.4 cases per 100,000, with 26.9 cases per 100,000 on the seven-day average, according to the health department. On Nov. 16, there were 339 people who tested positive, 11.9 cases per 100,000 and 11.4 cases per 100,000 on theseven-day average. On Jan. 2, there were 2,096 positive people, 73.8 cases per 100,000 and 54.1 per 100,000 on the seven-day average.
Bulbin said the JN.1 variant hasnt led to overall more serious disease.
Its basically similar to its prior omicron cousins who predated it, he said. So, if any good news, its not leading to any more severe disease.
Especially if a person is older than 65, immunocompromised, has underlying medical problems or some combination: Stay current on vaccines, and consider avoiding crowds and group gatherings, Bulbin said.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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