Vaccine Narrative Dismantled

Dr Tess Lawrie & Bev Turner Dismantle Dr Adalja’s COVID Vaccine Narrative

Our trust in authority is badly misplaced

Once we realize this, we’ll be a lot better off. I use inflation as an example. Is raising interest rates really the right solution? I don’t think so. Here’s what I would do about inflation. Continue reading….

18 Jul, 2022 10:43

WHO declares new virus outbreak

Ghana reports its first cases of the highly infectious Marburg virus
WHO declares new virus outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) is sounding the alarm over a new virus outbreak after two cases of the Marburg virus disease have been reported in Ghana, marking the first time the deadly Ebola-like virus has been found in the west-African nation and only the second time it has been seen in the region.

In an article published on Sunday, the WHO says that blood samples taken from two people last month in the southern Ashanti region of Ghana suggest that they both had the Marburg virus.

Both of the patients had symptoms such as diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting, and died within a day of being admitted to hospital in late June. One of the patients was 26 years old, the other 51.

Now, more than 90 contacts of the two patients have been identified and are being monitored by both the WHO and regional health authorities. The global health agency says it is also assisting Ghana by providing protective equipment, bolstering disease surveillance, testing, tracing contacts and increasing public awareness of the risks and dangers of the disease.

“Health authorities have responded swiftly, getting a head start preparing for a possible outbreak. This is good because without immediate and decisive action, Marburg can easily get out of hand. WHO is on the ground supporting health authorities and now that the outbreak is declared, we are marshaling more resources for the response,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

The Marburg virus is described by the WHO as a highly infectious viral haemorrhagic fever similar to the well-known Ebola virus disease. The disease can be transmitted to people from infected animals such as fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials.

The onset of the illness is said to be sudden, with high fever, severe headache and malaise. It’s also noted that many patients develop severe internal or external bleeding within seven days of being infected.

3 die of mystery illness in Tanzania

3 die of mystery illness in Tanzania

“The public is therefore advised to avoid caves inhabited by bat colonies and to cook all meat products thoroughly before consumption,” Ghanaian health authorities advised.

While case fatality rates have varied from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks, depending on the strain of the virus, there are still no approved vaccine or antiviral treatments for the disease. Doctors may only use supportive care such as rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids and treatment of specific symptoms to improve survival of patients.

The first outbreak of the Marburg virus ever reported was in Germany in 1967. Since then, outbreaks and sporadic cases of the disease have been reported in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, according to the WHO.

The deadliest outbreak so far has been in Angola in 2005, where over 200 people died from the disease.

 

 

 

 

 

GoFundMe Seizes $10 Million of Trucker Protest Fundraising

GoFundMe Seizes $10 Million of Trucker Protest Fundraising, Will Give to Charities Instead

By Omid Ghoreishi
February 4, 2022 Updated: February 5, 2022

 

GoFundMe says it won’t be giving the C$10 million ($8 million USD) raised to support the truckers protesting COVID-19 mandates to the organizers anymore, saying it will instead work with the organizers to send the funds to “established charities verified by GoFundMe.”

“To ensure GoFundMe remains a trusted platform, we work with local authorities to ensure we have a detailed, factual understanding of events taking place on the ground,” the fundraising platform said in a statement on Feb. 4.

“Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform.”

GoFundMe added that it has “evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity.”

John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) which is providing legal representation for the organizers, told The Epoch Times that the linking of protesters to violent or unlawful activity is unfounded.

“I would like to see what evidence there is,” Carpay said. “That’s political spin.”

Carpay said the organizers have maintained that the protests are peaceful.

“It’s a constitutional freedom to protest peacefully,” Carpay said.

He also said that it’s his understanding from people on the ground that people can move freely in Ottawa, and for example in a recent case an emergency vehicle was able to “rapidly race through the streets because the trucks were neatly parked off to the side.”

“They’re not obstructing the daily lives of people in Ottawa, and they’re committed to peace and non-violence,” he said.

The Epoch Times reached out to GoFundMe for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

Epoch Times Photo
Trucks parked in downtown Ottawa as demonstrators continue to protest COVID-19 mandates and restrictions on Feb. 2, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

GoFundMe had earlier put a freeze in withdrawal of the funds as it undertook a review “to ensure it complies with our terms of service and applicable laws and regulations.”

Keith Wilson, a lawyer from JCCF representing the organizers, had said earlier at a Feb. 3 press conference that GoFundMe has been “bombarded with an orchestrated social media and other campaigns to try and shut [the fundraiser] down.”

Ottawa police have made a few arrests while the protesters remain in Ottawa. On Feb. 1, the Ottawa Police Service announced that it had charged one man with mischief under $5,000 and another man with carrying a weapon to a meeting. Police charged another man from Quebec while in Ottawa on Feb. 2 in relation to “threats and comments made on social media.” Police say there have been no injuries or riots during the protests.

“I have it on very reliable information that people from the movement were not associated, and that offences related to property damage, and just an assault this morning, committed by agitators were witnessed and reported by a trucker and one of our volunteer security personnel, which was reported to the police and handled by the Ottawa Police Service,” said Daniel Bulford, a former RCMP officer who worked as a sniper to protect the prime minister and is now helping the protest organizers, at the Feb. 3 press conference.

Preliminary data shows there has been a decline in police-reported street crime since the protest began in downtown Ottawa, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

In the week prior to the protest, there were 31 police calls for crimes such as robbery, assault, drug trafficking, public drunkenness, and other crimes in the Ottawa district the protest is set up, but there were only three reports of street crime since the protests began, Blacklock’s Reporter said.

In a Feb. 4 post on Twitter, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson thanked GoFundMe for “listening to the plea made by the City and the Ottawa Police to no longer provide funds to the convoy organizers.”

“I’m hopeful that limiting their access to … funding and resources will restrict their ability to remain in Ottawa,” Watson said.

GoFundMe had earlier allowed withdrawal of C$1 million by the organizers to be used for expenses such as fuel and food for the protesters. The fundraising platform said in its Feb. 4 statement that donors may submit a request for a full refund of their donation until Feb. 19.

The trucker convoy demonstration initially started as a protest against the federal government’s requirement for truck drivers crossing the U.S.-Canada border to have COVID-19 vaccination, but became a large movement as many across Canada opposing various COVID-19 mandates and restrictions joined the protest.

Farmers join the trucker convoy in Ottawa

The convoy converged in Ottawa on Jan. 29, and many protesters have remained in the city, parking their trucks and vehicles by Parliament Hill. Sounds of horn honking by protesters can be heard throughout the day.

The protesters say they will remain in the nation’s capital until the government removes COVID-19 mandates.

The organizers have now set up an alternate donation site on GiveSendGo, which they say will ensure the money gets to the protesters. The donation site had raised over $175,000 in just a few hours after its creation.

Omid Ghoreishi

SENIOR REPORTER
Omid Ghoreishi is an Epoch Times reporter based in Toronto.
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