I stopped masking in public very briefly when they were saying it was okay after getting double vaxxed. Waited the proper amount of time for immunity to kick in and then some, and I immediately got COVID 🥲
Fool me once, etc. I’m never doing that shit again, and it’s a little disturbing to me how little people care about others’ health or their own. You’d think naked self interest would get people masking if empathy doesn’t, but apparently not.
Covid never ended; my boyfriend just tested positive last week. And it won't end since it's a mutating virus. But it's nowhere near as deadly as initial variants, and the curve flattened a long time ago. I wouldn't still call it a pandemic.
HKU5-CoV-2 was found by a Chinese research team led by virologist Shi Zhengli, known as "Batwoman" for her work on coronaviruses, especially at the Wuhan Institute, which has been at the center of the theory suggesting COVID-19 came from a lab leak—something Shi has denied.
RFK Jr announced a new program to give underprivileged kids pet bats. Due to the demand, many are expected to come from China, but will not be affected by tariffs.
It lacks context, but they aren't just stumbling on the bat viruses. They look for them. China has the best virus hunters in the world and they spend all their time specifically hunting for weird bat viruses to take back to the lab. There are hundreds (thousands?) Of bat viruses that have been collected, cataloged, and experimented on in China, at the WIV and other labs.
If you had an area prone to viruses in bats, wouldn't it be easier to build a research lab near there, rather than far away? If that's what ypu are researching?