doublejj
Well-Known Member
i once bent a car fender using only my right foot......
Lockdowns don't work.
- Thread starter abandonconflict
- Start date
Rob Roy
Well-Known Member
Okay, I'll bite. How did you bend a car fender using only your right foot?
jimihendrix1
Well-Known Member
jimihendrix1
Well-Known Member
Rob also only weighs 170lbs. Weight has zero to do with hand, and finger strength.
Kung Fu Master Don Buck RIP, could lift a 180lbs man over his head with his little finger. He was also undefeated in over 1000 Judo matches. He was also Master of Chi, and Mas Oyamas prized student. Oyama is considered the greatest martial artist to have even lived.
Mike Dayton is Don Bucks prize student.
Mike Dayton, who is considered to have the strongest fingers on record can lift 2x 120lbs women over his head with his little fingers, and can also do a little finger 1 arm pullup on either arm. He has also swam 50 miles in the open ocean, and can survive a regulation hanging. Bend any US Mint Coin.
Mike is also Master of CHI, 4th Dan Kyokushin Karate, 10th Dan Taekwondo, and 8th Dan Judo. At one time Mike was also #2 on the list for pullups. He did 212 pullups at 215lbs bodyweight.
Mike was also 1976 Mr America He weighs 215.
Mike is also #2 in the world in the back lift. Right behind Paul Anderson. Mike did a 5980lbs back lift. He stood underneath the backend of a Bekins Storage Van, and stood up with it on his back. He can also bend metal files, and wrenches ect. He can tear a deck of cards into 8ths. You dont want the dude to pinch you. He can also squeeze an NBA basketball till it pops. He did this on TV in the 80s on Guinness Book of World Records Show. he actually did 2 of them. One after the other.
Paul Anderson did 6300lbs, and weighed 350lbs at 5'7" This record has stood since the 50s.
Mike also won the Wrist Roller contest in 1979 Worlds Strongest Man, despite being the 2nd smallest guy in the contest. Franco Colombo was the smallest at 190lbs.
Colombo was also winning the contest overall, but the contraption they used to have the refrigerator race broke, and shattered Francos knee. Franco sued CBS, and won $1,000,000, and came back 2 years alter and won Mr Olympia, though many thought Tom Platz should have won. Platz still has the best developed legs of all time. 39 years later.
Kung Fu Master Don Buck RIP, could lift a 180lbs man over his head with his little finger. He was also undefeated in over 1000 Judo matches. He was also Master of Chi, and Mas Oyamas prized student. Oyama is considered the greatest martial artist to have even lived.
Mike Dayton is Don Bucks prize student.
Mike Dayton, who is considered to have the strongest fingers on record can lift 2x 120lbs women over his head with his little fingers, and can also do a little finger 1 arm pullup on either arm. He has also swam 50 miles in the open ocean, and can survive a regulation hanging. Bend any US Mint Coin.
Mike is also Master of CHI, 4th Dan Kyokushin Karate, 10th Dan Taekwondo, and 8th Dan Judo. At one time Mike was also #2 on the list for pullups. He did 212 pullups at 215lbs bodyweight.
Mike was also 1976 Mr America He weighs 215.
Mike is also #2 in the world in the back lift. Right behind Paul Anderson. Mike did a 5980lbs back lift. He stood underneath the backend of a Bekins Storage Van, and stood up with it on his back. He can also bend metal files, and wrenches ect. He can tear a deck of cards into 8ths. You dont want the dude to pinch you. He can also squeeze an NBA basketball till it pops. He did this on TV in the 80s on Guinness Book of World Records Show. he actually did 2 of them. One after the other.
Paul Anderson did 6300lbs, and weighed 350lbs at 5'7" This record has stood since the 50s.
Mike also won the Wrist Roller contest in 1979 Worlds Strongest Man, despite being the 2nd smallest guy in the contest. Franco Colombo was the smallest at 190lbs.
Colombo was also winning the contest overall, but the contraption they used to have the refrigerator race broke, and shattered Francos knee. Franco sued CBS, and won $1,000,000, and came back 2 years alter and won Mr Olympia, though many thought Tom Platz should have won. Platz still has the best developed legs of all time. 39 years later.
Attachments
jimihendrix1
Well-Known Member
Mike Dayton
- Mike Dayton is certainly no stranger to readers of Iron Man. His study of Chi has been gaining popularity, but he still remains best known for his extraordinary feats of strength. Mike's most fabulous feats involve the use of hand and arm strength, such as bending coins, breaking handcuffs, tearing tennis balls and smashing baseball bats. He is currently on the refuse-entry list in over 100 sporting goods stores throughout the Midwest.
One of the most important, and certainly the most used parts of the body are the hands. Although there are no trophies for good hand development, hand strength is a necessity for performing the lifts which will give the rest of your body that outstanding physique.
By working your hands you will also develop your wrists and forearms. You will notice an increase in your lifts from using a regular hand routine. Chins will also become easier. Having a good hand routine also helps when the wife asks you to open a mayonnaise jar, and in numerous tasks around the house. Anyone interested in performing feats of strength realizes the importance of having strong hands. Hand routines also help increase dexterity and coordination in the fingers. Another good side effect is a well developed and cut up forearm.
In other articles I have explained the mental application of Chi which I use in performing my feats of strength.
"A Complete Guide to Learning and Understanding Chi Mind Control"
http://goo.gl/TA3BvM
But just as the body could not function without the mind to direct it, so the mind requires a body in good tone and shape to direct.
Since so many of my feats of strength require use of hand strength, I have developed as extensive training routine. You will probably not use all of the exercises I do. You must look at your own needs and decide how you want to develop your hands.
My hand routine is divided into three sections. The first is weight training for the hands. Weights develop hand, wrist, and forearm strength.
The second area is Chi training. These exercises work not only the muscles, but also the tendons to achieve additional strength and endurance. The Chi exercises help in developing coordination and quick reflexes.
The third area is Kung Fu hand training. This area works primarily on toughening the skin of the hands in order to withstand hard blows or extreme pressure.
Weight Training
Wrist Curl
Sit on a bench with your feet resting flat on the floor. Hold a barbell in your hands, with your forearms resting on your thighs. Your hands should hang out over your knees, with the backs of your hands facing the floor. Lift the barbell as high as possible without moving your forearms from your thighs.
Perform 3 sets of 20 to 25 repetitions every other day.
Reverse Wrist Curl
This is performed in the same position as the Wrist Curl, except that the backs of your hands should be facing the ceiling.
Perform 3 sets of 20 to 25 repetitions every other day.
Hand Squeeze
In the gym I often use the handles of dumbbells for this exercise, however, anything which you can form a fist around will work. If you use dumbbells leave them in the rack and squeeze the handles as hard as you possibly can, for about seven seconds. If you choose to use this exercise I suggest you read the Chi Training section for instruction on achieving maximum exertion.
The Chi Towel Squeeze exercise is the same as this one. This exercise should be performed once a day, every day.
The Grip
Stand in front of a power rack so that the barbell is about mid-thigh height. Lift the barbell off the rack and hold it until your hands give up and drop the barbell back down to the rack pins. You should use about 100 more pounds than you can deadlift.
This exercise should be performed once, every day.
Chi Training Exercises
To achieve maximum benefit from exercise you must learn to work your mind as well as your body. Always remember that your mind has ultimate control over strength. The Chi exercises are designed to increase the strength of your mind and your muscle.
These exercises don't just stretch the muscles, they push blood into the center fibers and also work the tendons. These exercises require concentration and imagination. No gym equipment can work a muscle the way your mind can, but you must use your mind to increase and benefit from the exercise.
In performing these exercises you must concentrate all your mental energy on the point you are working. You must forget that the rest of your body exists, and concentrate only on your hands. Before beginning the exercise relax your whole body. Let your arms, legs, back and neck go limp. Take inventory. Is everything relaxed? Your toes? Your jaw? Your eyebrows? Your forehead?
Once you have relaxed, begin to take in several deep breaths of air, just as if your were about to start a heavy set of presses or squats. Take one last breath of air and hold it.
Now focus all your energy, mental and physical, on your hands. Immediately tense your hands and exert as hard as you possibly can.
Do not gradually work your way up to an exertion.
IMMEDIATELY focus all your energy on your hands.
Do not give your mind the time to wander.
Do not breathe out.
Do not relax.
Tense as hard as you possibly can and then tense harder.
Use your imagination to make this simple movement seem monumental.
Watch your hands tense and harden as you do these. Think to yourself the count of seven seconds. Do not actually count to seven, just imagine seven seconds (or thereabouts) passing. After seven seconds, relax completely.
The Chi exercises can be done daily. Do them only once a day.
The Towel Squeeze
Follow the above guidelines, relax, breathe fully and hold the last breath. Holding a towel or other object which you can make a fist around, squeeze as hard as you possibly can.
Forearm Bend Back
Remember to relax, breathe fully and hold your last breath. Bend your hand back at the wrist, trying to touch your knuckles to your forearm. Your fingers can be in any position you want. Pull back as hard as possible. Perform for each hand separately. After seven seconds relax.
Fist Pull
Again, relax, breathe fully and hold your last breath. Form a fist with your hand, then, bending your wrist, attempt to touch your fingers to your forearm. Pull as hard as possible. Perform for each hand separately. After seven seconds relax.\
The Spider Web
Again, relax and breathe fully, holding your last breath. Spread your fingers and thumb as far apart from each other as possible. You may hold your hands in any position you desire. This exercise may be performed with both hands at once. These exercises come directly from my book "Chi Mind Control".
Kung-Fu Hand Training
These exercises toughen and strengthen the outside skin of the hand. Calluses are developed only over a period of time. Be sure to build your calluses slowly. If you break the skin open you will only delay building the callus until after the injury has healed.
Depending on your needs, you may want calluses only on your knuckles, the sides of your hands or your finger tips. The only way to form calluses is by repeated pounding.
To start, I suggest pounding into a rug or other slightly cushioned object. Punching bags are ideal for callus building. You should pound hard enough to make your hand numb and as your calluses form you can increase your pounding.
You should pound an object about 500 times every day. It is important to work on developing calluses every day for success.
For strength and calluses in the fingertips try doing pushups using only the tips of your fingers and thumb. Your fingernails must be cropped very close for this one. You may find that you have to work your hands for a while before you can do it, but as you improve you will find that you can not only do pushups on your fingertips, but on only your index fingertips!
You should do one set of all you can do, every day.
Another good callus builder for fingertips and knuckles is to pound your hand into a bucket of sand. This is good for fingertip calluses because the sand provides a brace to keep your fingers from bending backwards when you push into it.
You should do this about 30 times per hand, every day.
For finger strength, a good exercise is to squeeze a tennis ball, using your fingers only. You should perform this one hand at a time, and can do it every day.
I use all of these exercises for my hands, and as I said earlier, hand strength is invaluable, in lifting and in everyday life. Take advantage of simple exercises. Very often they do the most for your general health and abilities.
Rob Roy
Well-Known Member
kelly4
Well-Known Member
jimihendrix1
Well-Known Member
Trump reportedly thinks coronavirus deaths are overcounted. Experts say the opposite.
A senior Trump administration official told Axios he expects President Trump to begin publicly questioning the coronavirus death toll in the United States.
Experts mostly agree the data isn't accurate, but for the opposite reason — the consensus is that deaths are being undercounted, while the official said Trump and some of his aides think the numbers are inflated. There's no evidence the number of fatalities has been exaggerated, but Axios reports Trump wasn't pleased when New York added 3,000 unconfirmed but suspected COVID-19 cases to its tally.
Some on the Trump team reportedly believe hospitals have a financial incentive to identify coronavirus cases since Medicare gives them a 20 percent bonus for COVID-19 treatment, Axios reports. It's unclear if Trump shares this view, and no one in the administration has publicly accused hospitals of misdiagnosing patients.
Other officials told Axios that Trump doesn't think the numbers are fraudulent, but that the lack of "uniform reporting standards in the United States" means the data is murky. That may be true, but again the question among most experts is about how many coronavirus deaths have been missed due to lack of testing, rather than added unnecessarily. Read more at Axios.
Trump CONTINUES to spread misinformation during a public health crisis, and to try to find ways to downplay what's happening.
Before Trump, every President listened to the advice of scientists and understood implicitly the limitation of his own knowledge in confronting major challenges. Not Trump. He knows more about Al Qaeda than our generals, more about climate change than scientists, more about the impact of federal reserve policy than the Board, and more about the virus than our best public health experts.
A senior Trump administration official told Axios he expects President Trump to begin publicly questioning the coronavirus death toll in the United States.
Experts mostly agree the data isn't accurate, but for the opposite reason — the consensus is that deaths are being undercounted, while the official said Trump and some of his aides think the numbers are inflated. There's no evidence the number of fatalities has been exaggerated, but Axios reports Trump wasn't pleased when New York added 3,000 unconfirmed but suspected COVID-19 cases to its tally.
Some on the Trump team reportedly believe hospitals have a financial incentive to identify coronavirus cases since Medicare gives them a 20 percent bonus for COVID-19 treatment, Axios reports. It's unclear if Trump shares this view, and no one in the administration has publicly accused hospitals of misdiagnosing patients.
Other officials told Axios that Trump doesn't think the numbers are fraudulent, but that the lack of "uniform reporting standards in the United States" means the data is murky. That may be true, but again the question among most experts is about how many coronavirus deaths have been missed due to lack of testing, rather than added unnecessarily. Read more at Axios.
Trump CONTINUES to spread misinformation during a public health crisis, and to try to find ways to downplay what's happening.
Before Trump, every President listened to the advice of scientists and understood implicitly the limitation of his own knowledge in confronting major challenges. Not Trump. He knows more about Al Qaeda than our generals, more about climate change than scientists, more about the impact of federal reserve policy than the Board, and more about the virus than our best public health experts.
this is true. we have a president who won't test or track? we're blind. why is he doing this?What if This Coronavirus Lockdown Is Only the Beginning?
MAKE NO PLANS
recent COVID-19 forecasts suggest Americans should be ready not just for a months-long shutdown, but also to potentially return to the practice again.
In other words, some epidemiologists and other scientists closely studying the pandemic increasingly seem to be veering toward a long-term, multilayered approach—including repeated periods of social distancing.
What if This Coronavirus Lockdown Is Only the Beginning?
“It's like a fire... You have to keep suppressing it,” one expert said.www.thedailybeast.com
Rob Roy
Well-Known Member
That's a good plan.
Similar to deadlifting off a block without a belt or using a cambered bar for bench pressing, really helps to increase the numbers.
Speaking of increasing the numbers, won't attributing deaths to covid virus that aren't FROM covid virus increase the numbers too?
doublejj
Well-Known Member
jimihendrix1
Well-Known Member
ginjawarrior
Well-Known Member
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
but seriously now, something out there is definitely killing people at a much higher rate than one might expect. what ever you attribute it to.....
Where deaths are far above normal
Deaths Above or Below Normal, by Location
Deaths in these places are at least 10 percent higher than the normal level.
New York City
23,000 excess deathsMarch 15 – May 2
New Jersey
5,300 excess deathsMarch 15 – April 11
Illinois
1,400 excess deathsMarch 15 – April 11
Massachusetts
1,100 excess deathsMarch 15 – April 11
Maryland
500 excess deathsMarch 15 – April 11
Colorado
200 excess deathsMarch 15 – April 4
Vermont
50 excess deathsMarch 15 – April 4
Wyoming
40 excess deathsMarch 15 – April 4
True Pandemic Toll in the U.S. Reaches 377,000 (Published 2021)
Since coronavirus struck, more people have died than usual in every state of the country, with 23 states seeing deaths above normal peaking in the last two months, according to a New York Times analysis.
jimihendrix1
Well-Known Member
Most of the infections on the East Coast came from Europe, and is slowly spreading. Thats the reason for more deaths on the east coast. Scientists are also saying a more deadly, mutated version of the virus came from Europe
As states around the nation begin to relax their restrictions, the findings demonstrate that it is difficult, if not impossible, to prevent those actions from affecting the rest of the nation.
Geneticists have analyzed and shared more than 2,000 samples of the virus from infected people. As the virus infects new people and replicates, it picks up mutations along the way. These mutations typically do not change the behavior of the virus, but they can provide a signature of a virus’s origin.
Most samples taken in Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Idaho, Wisconsin and many other states carry distinct mutations that can be traced back to viruses introduced into New York.
Over all, Dr. Grubaugh estimated, viruses spreading from New York account for 60 to 65 percent of the infections identified across the country.
Other scientists said that they would like to see more samples before calculating precise figures. But they agreed that New York’s prominence in seeding the national spread appears to have begun in early March, two weeks before stay-at-home orders were put in place.
“New York acted as the Grand Central Station for this virus, with the opportunity to move from there in so many directions, to so many places,” said David Engelthaler, head of the infectious disease branch of the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Arizona.
The most commonly detected viruses tied to New York have a distinct genetic signature linking them to outbreaks in Europe. Those spreading from Washington State have a signature linking them directly to China.
At this stage, scientists say, genetic fingerprints alone are not sufficient for pinpointing the source of the viruses. But travel patterns and case histories of early known cases support the idea, they said.
“It is a combination, still, of what genomic epidemiology and shoe-leather epidemiology is going to tell us,” Dr. Engelthaler said.
Scientists modeling the progression of the disease nationally said the prominence of New York as a national hub was broadly consistent with their findings, although the picture was still emerging.
“I would say this is not surprising in a sense,” said Alessandro Vespignani, director of the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University in Boston. “The picture emerging is consistent with numerical models.”
Earlier research by Dr. Vespignani showed just how rapidly, and invisibly, the outbreak exploded in New York. By March 1, when the first coronavirus case was confirmed in New York, the city probably had over 10,000 undetected infections, his research group showed.
New York and Washington State are not the only sources of the outbreak. Other large domestic hubs contributed to the spread, scientists believe, and a more diverse genetic mix is still seen in some places around the country, particularly in the Midwest and parts of the South.
Even as domestic travel began to drive the outbreak, some infections were still seeded around the country by international travelers, geneticists said. It is possible, experts said, that some of the virus samples attributed to New York may have instead been seeded in other cities by direct flights from Europe, or from travelers laying over in New York before traveling elsewhere.
For that reason, some scientists said they would like to see more samples before linking the majority of infections in the United States to New York.
“I think that’s probably the story line that’s going to emerge, but I’d like to see more data,” said Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Mount Sinai in New York.
analysis of travel data supports the idea that the chains of infection originated in New York, experts said. The number of cases across the country was closely related to how many travelers each place received from New York in early March, based on anonymized cellphone tracking data from Cuebiq, a data intelligence company.
“It looks like most of the domestic spread is basically people traveling out from New York,” said Dr. Kari Stefansson, founder and chief executive of deCODE Genetics, a leading genome analysis firm based in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Last week, Dr. Andersen of Scripps Research and other scientists analyzing the outbreak in New Orleans reported that all of the samples taken from New Orleans were from the line linked back to New York. The virus swept through the area in March and has killed more than 1,000 people.
As states around the nation begin to relax their restrictions, the findings demonstrate that it is difficult, if not impossible, to prevent those actions from affecting the rest of the nation.
Geneticists have analyzed and shared more than 2,000 samples of the virus from infected people. As the virus infects new people and replicates, it picks up mutations along the way. These mutations typically do not change the behavior of the virus, but they can provide a signature of a virus’s origin.
Most samples taken in Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Idaho, Wisconsin and many other states carry distinct mutations that can be traced back to viruses introduced into New York.
Over all, Dr. Grubaugh estimated, viruses spreading from New York account for 60 to 65 percent of the infections identified across the country.
Other scientists said that they would like to see more samples before calculating precise figures. But they agreed that New York’s prominence in seeding the national spread appears to have begun in early March, two weeks before stay-at-home orders were put in place.
“New York acted as the Grand Central Station for this virus, with the opportunity to move from there in so many directions, to so many places,” said David Engelthaler, head of the infectious disease branch of the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Arizona.
The most commonly detected viruses tied to New York have a distinct genetic signature linking them to outbreaks in Europe. Those spreading from Washington State have a signature linking them directly to China.
At this stage, scientists say, genetic fingerprints alone are not sufficient for pinpointing the source of the viruses. But travel patterns and case histories of early known cases support the idea, they said.
“It is a combination, still, of what genomic epidemiology and shoe-leather epidemiology is going to tell us,” Dr. Engelthaler said.
Scientists modeling the progression of the disease nationally said the prominence of New York as a national hub was broadly consistent with their findings, although the picture was still emerging.
“I would say this is not surprising in a sense,” said Alessandro Vespignani, director of the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University in Boston. “The picture emerging is consistent with numerical models.”
Earlier research by Dr. Vespignani showed just how rapidly, and invisibly, the outbreak exploded in New York. By March 1, when the first coronavirus case was confirmed in New York, the city probably had over 10,000 undetected infections, his research group showed.
New York and Washington State are not the only sources of the outbreak. Other large domestic hubs contributed to the spread, scientists believe, and a more diverse genetic mix is still seen in some places around the country, particularly in the Midwest and parts of the South.
Even as domestic travel began to drive the outbreak, some infections were still seeded around the country by international travelers, geneticists said. It is possible, experts said, that some of the virus samples attributed to New York may have instead been seeded in other cities by direct flights from Europe, or from travelers laying over in New York before traveling elsewhere.
For that reason, some scientists said they would like to see more samples before linking the majority of infections in the United States to New York.
“I think that’s probably the story line that’s going to emerge, but I’d like to see more data,” said Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Mount Sinai in New York.
analysis of travel data supports the idea that the chains of infection originated in New York, experts said. The number of cases across the country was closely related to how many travelers each place received from New York in early March, based on anonymized cellphone tracking data from Cuebiq, a data intelligence company.
“It looks like most of the domestic spread is basically people traveling out from New York,” said Dr. Kari Stefansson, founder and chief executive of deCODE Genetics, a leading genome analysis firm based in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Last week, Dr. Andersen of Scripps Research and other scientists analyzing the outbreak in New Orleans reported that all of the samples taken from New Orleans were from the line linked back to New York. The virus swept through the area in March and has killed more than 1,000 people.
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jimihendrix1
Well-Known Member
Travel From New York City Seeded Wave of U.S. Outbreaks
New York City’s coronavirus outbreak grew so large by early March that the city became the primary source of new infections in the United States, new research reveals, as thousands of infected people traveled from the city and seeded outbreaks around the country.
The research indicates that a wave of infections swept from New York City through much of the country before the city began setting social distancing limits to stop the growth. That helped to fuel outbreaks in Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and as far away as the West Coast.
The central role of New York’s outbreak shows that decisions made by state and federal officials — including waiting to impose distancing measures and to limit international flights — helped shape the trajectory of the outbreak and allowed it to grow in the rest of the country.
The city joins other densely populated urban hot spots around the world, starting with Wuhan, China, and then Milan, that have become vectors for the virus’s spread.
Travel from other American cities also sparked infections across the country, including from an early outbreak centered in the Seattle area that seeded infections in more than a dozen states, researchers say. Even if New York had managed to slow the virus, it probably would have continued to spread from elsewhere, they say.
But the Seattle outbreak proved to be a squall before the larger storm gathering in New York, where, at the end of February, thousands of infected people packed trains and restaurants, thronged tourist attractions and passed through its three major airports.
During crucial weeks in March, New York’s political leaders waited to take aggressive action, even after identifying hundreds of cases, giving the virus a head start. And by mid-March, when President Trump restricted travel from Europe, the restrictions were essentially pointless, the data suggest, as the disease was already spreading widely within the country.
Acting earlier would most likely have blunted the virus’s march across the country, researchers say.
“It means that we missed the boat early on, and the vast majority in this country is coming from domestic spread,” said Kristian Andersen, a professor in the department of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research. “I keep hearing that it’s somebody else’s fault. That’s not true. It’s not somebody else’s fault, it’s our own fault.”
A lack of testing obscured the true extent of the outbreak for months, and officials acted on incomplete and sometimes conflicting information. The enormous growth of New York’s outbreak partly reflects its volume of international visitors, especially from Europe, where most of its infections came from.
Dani Lever, communications director for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, criticized federal authorities, describing an “enormous failure by the federal government to leave New York and the East Coast exposed to flights from Europe, while at the same time instilling a false sense of security by telling the State of New York that we had no Covid cases throughout the entire month of February.”
A White House spokesman, Judd Deere, said that Mr. Trump had acted quickly. The president blocked most visitors from Europe starting on March 13, more than a month after he restricted travel from China.
“Just as he acted early on to cut off travel from the source of the virus, President Trump was advised by his health and infectious disease experts that he should cut off travel from Europe — an action he took decisively without delay to save lives while Democrats and the media criticized him and the global health community still did not fully comprehend the level of transmission or spread,” Mr. Deere said.
Now that infections are dispersed around the country, travel from New York is no longer a main factor shaping the progression of the epidemic, researchers said.
New York City’s coronavirus outbreak grew so large by early March that the city became the primary source of new infections in the United States, new research reveals, as thousands of infected people traveled from the city and seeded outbreaks around the country.
The research indicates that a wave of infections swept from New York City through much of the country before the city began setting social distancing limits to stop the growth. That helped to fuel outbreaks in Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and as far away as the West Coast.
The central role of New York’s outbreak shows that decisions made by state and federal officials — including waiting to impose distancing measures and to limit international flights — helped shape the trajectory of the outbreak and allowed it to grow in the rest of the country.
The city joins other densely populated urban hot spots around the world, starting with Wuhan, China, and then Milan, that have become vectors for the virus’s spread.
Travel from other American cities also sparked infections across the country, including from an early outbreak centered in the Seattle area that seeded infections in more than a dozen states, researchers say. Even if New York had managed to slow the virus, it probably would have continued to spread from elsewhere, they say.
But the Seattle outbreak proved to be a squall before the larger storm gathering in New York, where, at the end of February, thousands of infected people packed trains and restaurants, thronged tourist attractions and passed through its three major airports.
During crucial weeks in March, New York’s political leaders waited to take aggressive action, even after identifying hundreds of cases, giving the virus a head start. And by mid-March, when President Trump restricted travel from Europe, the restrictions were essentially pointless, the data suggest, as the disease was already spreading widely within the country.
Acting earlier would most likely have blunted the virus’s march across the country, researchers say.
“It means that we missed the boat early on, and the vast majority in this country is coming from domestic spread,” said Kristian Andersen, a professor in the department of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research. “I keep hearing that it’s somebody else’s fault. That’s not true. It’s not somebody else’s fault, it’s our own fault.”
A lack of testing obscured the true extent of the outbreak for months, and officials acted on incomplete and sometimes conflicting information. The enormous growth of New York’s outbreak partly reflects its volume of international visitors, especially from Europe, where most of its infections came from.
Dani Lever, communications director for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, criticized federal authorities, describing an “enormous failure by the federal government to leave New York and the East Coast exposed to flights from Europe, while at the same time instilling a false sense of security by telling the State of New York that we had no Covid cases throughout the entire month of February.”
A White House spokesman, Judd Deere, said that Mr. Trump had acted quickly. The president blocked most visitors from Europe starting on March 13, more than a month after he restricted travel from China.
“Just as he acted early on to cut off travel from the source of the virus, President Trump was advised by his health and infectious disease experts that he should cut off travel from Europe — an action he took decisively without delay to save lives while Democrats and the media criticized him and the global health community still did not fully comprehend the level of transmission or spread,” Mr. Deere said.
Now that infections are dispersed around the country, travel from New York is no longer a main factor shaping the progression of the epidemic, researchers said.
Rob Roy
Well-Known Member
Good point. Most of my old training partners and gym associates had bench press related shoulder injuries and some of us got that with persistent hip injuries as an added bonus.
Seemed to coincide with the rise of powerlifting in the 1970s and the decline of Olympic lifting. "How much can you bench" became a trap and sort of a diversionary substitute for overall strength.
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
The Problem With Stories About Dangerous Coronavirus Mutations
There’s no clear evidence that the pandemic virus has evolved into significantly different forms—and there probably won’t be for months.
The Problem With Stories About Dangerous Coronavirus Mutations
There’s no clear evidence that the pandemic virus has evolved into significantly different forms—and there probably won’t be for months.
As if the pandemic weren’t bad enough, on April 30, a team led by scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory released a paper that purportedly described “the emergence of a more transmissible form” of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. This new form, the team wrote, “began spreading in Europe in early February.” Whenever it appeared in a new place, including the U.S., it rapidly rose to dominance. Its success, the team suggested, is likely due to a single mutation, which is now “of urgent concern.”
The paper has not yet been formally published or reviewed by other scientists. But on May 5, the Los Angeles Times wrote about it, claiming that “a now-dominant strain of the coronavirus could be more contagious than [the] original.” That story quickly went … well … viral.
But “the conclusions are overblown,” says Lisa Gralinski of the University of North Carolina, who is one of the few scientists in the world who specializes in coronaviruses. “To say that you’ve revealed the emergence of a more transmissible form of SARS-CoV-2 without ever actually testing it isn’t the type of thing that makes me feel comfortable as a scientist.” She and other virologists I’ve spoken with who were not involved in the Los Alamos research agree that the paper’s claims are plausible, but not justified by the evidence it presents. More important, they’re not convinced different strains of the coronavirus exist at all.
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