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No Covid-19d-19 Here Or in North Korea: Turkmenistan

Barkley Rosser | October 25, 2021 5:44 am

Healthcare

No Covid-19d-19 Here Or in North Korea: Turkmenistan

Yes, Turkmenistan is among the few nations on the planet claiming to have not had a single case of Covid-19, along with the DPRK, aka “North Korea.” The October 16 Economist reports, after noting the arrest of Nurgeldi Halykov, who reported that the British ambassador got it, who was, of course, arrested:

“Social-media networks and news websites are blocked. Police surveil mobile phones that can circumvent such censorship, Turkemenistanis cannot even access Zoom.”

Barkley Rosser

3 Comments

Fred C. Dobbs says:

October 25, 2021 at 8:53 am

Known as AY.4.2, the so-called “delta plus” variant has been found in Massachusetts

A new COVID-19 subvariant that is spreading rapidly in the United Kingdom is already here in Massachusetts, health experts say.

Known as AY.4.2, the so-called “delta plus” variant is believed to be even more contagious than the highly transmissable delta variant. One expert said it could be 10% to 15% more contagious than delta.

So far, the mutation has been detected in Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., California, North Carolina and Washington state, according to Outbreak.info.

Concerns about delta plus are currently very high in the U.K., which is seeing a surge in cases. The new subvariant had accounted for about 6% of all cases at last check.

But U.K. government health officials have said it’s too early to tell whether the mutation poses a greater risk to public health than the delta variant, which itself is significantly more infectious than the original COVID-19 strain.

Although AY.4.2 is being monitored, it has not been classified as a “variant under investigation” or a “variant of concern” by the WHO — that is, it has not been identified as having genetic changes that are expected to affect virus characteristics such as transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, diagnostic or therapeutic escape. …

Health officials are remaining calm about the delta subtype, for now, noting that it’s crucial to keep an eye on the mutation but not to panic. …
run75441 says:

October 25, 2021 at 2:02 pm

Barkley:

I would guess it means they are lying, or have superior resistance to Covid? I gues we need to get some of their blood and draw the antibodies out of it.
Kaleberg says:

October 26, 2021 at 12:27 am

Officially, North Korea has very tight controls over its borders, but, in practice, the border with China is extremely porous. Smugglers regularly cross the river. Now and then one of them doesn’t pay off or gets caught in an anti-smuggling drive, but North Korea relies on smuggling. I’m guessing the situation is similar in Turkmenistan.