Coronavirus thread

[MusicTurner]

They did some ~PCR testing on various locations, apparently about 100,000 of tests, and also provided very quick results, because the analyzing procedures were skipped. Basically it just took an associated doctor's verifying signature. They're supposed to have made SEK 100 mio on this scam, but now arrests are being made, 3 of 6 people have been caught. The company was called 'Doktorgruppen', and the main protagonists seem to have been a doctor, now wanted  - Hamman al Saaid, 33 years old, who'd been engaged in dubious health companies and tax fraud before - and another, 55-year old doctor.

Obviously, despicable and very concerning for both individual and societal safety, since many actual virus cases would then remain undiscovered, or undiscovered for too long.

Source, in Swedish
https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/coronaviruset/100-000-svenskar-kan-ha-lurats-av-falska-covid-test/

[Harry]

Well after the second jab of Astra Zeneca I can report that I got the same issues as with the first jab. Flu like Symptoms. muscle pain, and a disgruntled stomach. Did not sleep well either. Not everything is a bed of roses it seems. Will fight my way through obviously, but I did not expect this to be honestly.

[Que]

Well after the second jab of Astra Zeneca I can report that I got the same issues as with the first jab. Flu like Symptoms. muscle pain, and a disgruntled stomach. Did not sleep well either. Not everything is a bed of roses it seems. Will fight my way through obviously, but I did not expect this to be honestly.

I've heard from more people that they experienced something resembling a heavy flu after an AstraZeneca shot.

BTW I'm getting my first shot this morning, which will be Pfizer or Moderna.

[Harry]

I've heard from more people that they experienced something resembling a heavy flu after an AstraZeneca shot.

BTW I'm getting my first shot this morning, which will be Pfizer or Moderna.

I hope you get the Pfizer, to my knowledge that is the vaccin that gives minimal issues. Moderna in the first shot is pretty harmless, but the second shot gives the same symptoms as Astra Zeneca. Not great problems though, but rather unpleasantness.
Good luck!

[Que]

I hope you get the Pfizer, to my knowledge that is the vaccin that gives minimal issues. Moderna in the first shot is pretty harmless, but the second shot gives the same symptoms as Astra Zeneca. Not great problems though, but rather unpleasantness.
Good luck!

Thanks.    It was indeed Pfizer. Sofar just a little bit of stiffness in the upper arm, which is to be expected.

[aligreto]

Not what you'd usually associate with Scandinavia:

Swedish police investigating a likely case of fraud, with 100,000 false PCR-tests showing a negative test result, each made for the price of SEK 1500 including travel documents, or around 150 Euros, for the individual customer, the newspaper Aftonbladet reports. Tests simply weren't analyzed. The protagonists have fled. An employee warned the authorities.

It never ceases to amaze me how low some people will stoop. Scum of the Earth.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

They did some ~PCR testing on various locations, apparently about 100,000 of tests, and also provided very quick results, because the analyzing procedures were skipped. Basically it just took an associated doctor's verifying signature. They're supposed to have made SEK 100 mio on this scam, but now arrests are being made, 3 of 6 people have been caught. The company was called 'Doktorgruppen', and the main protagonists seem to have been a doctor, now wanted  - Hamman al Saaid, 33 years old, who'd been engaged in dubious health companies and tax fraud before - and another, 55-year old doctor.

Obviously, despicable and very concerning for both individual and societal safety, since many actual virus cases would then remain undiscovered, or undiscovered for too long.

Source, in Swedish
https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/coronaviruset/100-000-svenskar-kan-ha-lurats-av-falska-covid-test/

That's incredible...hard to believe that people could be so corrupt and uncaring.    Do they have a list of people and contact info so that they can contact them?  Any idea what the penalties will be for those who purchased these results and travel documents?  Sorry, but I can't read Swedish.

PD

[MusicTurner]

That's incredible...hard to believe that people could be so corrupt and uncaring.    Do they have a list of people and contact info so that they can contact them?  Any idea what the penalties will be for those who purchased these results and travel documents?  Sorry, but I can't read Swedish.

PD

More info will turn up in the next days, but a court case will take a long time. The story seems to break internationally too now; apparently, 'Aftonbladet' came first, but that was only yesterday ... the protagonists may have fled out of the country, with that amount of money involved. I guess it was pretty obvious that such a scam would be discovered at some point, so they've probably conceived an escape plan.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

More info will turn up in the next days, but a court case will take a long time. The story seems to break internationally too now; apparently, 'Aftonbladet' came first, but that was only yesterday ... the protagonists may have fled out of the country, with that amount of money involved. I guess it was pretty obvious that such a scam would be discovered at some point, so they've probably conceived an escape plan.

Ah, I put some of the article through google translate.  So, the people who purchased these documents didn't know that they were getting "sketchy" results and thusly shouldn't have received their travel documents from him?

PD

[MusicTurner]

Ah, I put some of the article through google translate.  So, the people who purchased these documents didn't know that they were getting "sketchy" results and thusly shouldn't have received their travel documents from him?

PD

No, the results were worthless, but claimed to be fully legitimate and impeccable by the scammers. The profit they got was from skipping a correct handling of tests & not involving any laboratory procedures. I guess ~test equipment can be had in rather primitive and cheap versions, if you really want to save money, and the - usually young - employees just need a quick introduction & probably don't dig into company issues. In DK I think they get a 3-hour course for a start, but with more experienced staff also being present at proceedings. In DK, PCR-tests and Nose-tests are done by the health sector itself and especially two major, established companies, as I understand it. The testing had to grow from 0 to now maybe 300,000 per day, in a relatively short time span here. The number is going down now, however, due to more vaccinations and a current, continued virus decrease.

With the 100,000 fake tests, and the virus being more present in Sweden than in quite a few other places, this scam is quite likely to have cost lives, I think. It was done in the Stockholm-area, which has had a high virus density. People are known to have become very sick in just a few days, and the Swedish health sector has had problems coping with it.

[MusicTurner]

After initial experiments, more systematic sewage testing in Copenhagen, called "a super-weapon against corona", will begin next week, the city being divided in 12 regions of around 50 smaller areas. The good thing about this method is that it discovers any outbreaks earlier. Later, the method will become nation-wide.

[Harry]

After initial experiments, more systematic sewage testing in Copenhagen, called "a super-weapon against corona", will begin next week, the city being divided in 12 regions of around 50 smaller areas. The good thing about this method is that it discovers any outbreaks earlier. Later, the method will become nation-wide.

That's what they do in the Netherlands, started with it when the second wave came over us. A very good method to discover outbreaks in an early stage.

[Florestan]

the main protagonists seem to have been a doctor, now wanted  - Hamman al Saaid, 33 years old, who'd been engaged in dubious health companies and tax fraud before -

The doctor's name is indeed

Not what you'd usually associate with Scandinavia:

Sorry, couldn't resist.   

[MusicTurner]

The doctor's name is indeed

Sorry, couldn't resist.   

Hard to disagree with that one.
Not exactly a household Folkhemmet name.

[Karl Henning]

The Delta ("Indian") variant is on the march - Lisbon in full lockdown:

Lisbon ringed off at weekends as Portugal fights virus surge

Travel in and out of the Lisbon metropolitan area is to be banned over coming weekends as Portuguese authorities respond to a spike in new COVID-19 cases in the region around the capital.

Ouch!

[Karl Henning]

My 17 year old granddaughter had her first jab yesterday. Thankfully no reaction yet as she was reluctant but we encouraged her to get it done.   

Very good.

[Karl Henning]

Models predict U.S. coronavirus infections could surge this fall if vaccination rates lag, former FDA chief says

[Que]

What the Delta variant could mean for Covid-19 in the United States (CNN)

I guess the good news is that current vaccines are still, though less, effective against the Delta variant.

The bad news is you need a higher threshold for group immunity.
This article mentions a vaccination rate of 86% to stop further spread, which might unachievable for many parts of the US.

[Karl Henning]

What the Delta variant could mean for Covid-19 in the United States (CNN)

I guess the good news is that current vaccines are still, though less, effective against the Delta variant.

The bad news is you need a higher threshold for group immunity.
This article mentions a vaccination rate of 86% to stop further spread, which might unachievable for many parts of the US.

I wonder if even 50% vaccination is possible in MAGA nation. idiots!

[Que]

I wonder if even 50% vaccination is possible in MAGA nation. idiots!

That is worrying....  Vaccination hesitancy in general is: it will prevent the protection of those that cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, like infants, the sick and the very elderly, and it will increase the chance of the spread of variants that are immune to the vaccines.

Vaccination hesitancy in the EU overall is now estimated at around 25%, which is still too high. Hopefully at least another 10% can be persuaded to be vaccinated. I hope that reaching out to the poorly informed and less educated, combined with travel restrictions for the more affluent anti vaxxers will do the trick...

Current vaccination rates in the EU: 54,8% has received at least one dose, with 31% fully vaccinated.

https://vaccinetracker.ecdc.europa.eu/public/extensions/COVID-19/vaccine-tracker.html#uptake-tab

Here in the Netherlands expectation is that mid August anyone willing will be fully vaccinated.